A memorial plaque to a much-loved dog who loved coming to West Kirby is among those installed on the new seating on South Parade.
The plaques were attached to the benches that used to be on the seafront before the new wall was built.
Claire Grundy, who is from Warrington, has a plaque that pays tribute to her late black labrador, Otis, who died in 2020.
It does not just commemorate the many times Otis had accompanied her to West Kirby to enjoy a day out and the obligatory splash around in the water – but is also a geocache location.
Otis the labrador
Geocaching is a popular hobby for many which bills itself as ‘the world’s biggest Treasure Hunt’. People leave items or other ‘treasure’ hidden at a location and other geocachers use the GPS facility and an app on their smartphone to navigate to it.
As Otis’ plaque is now back in-situ in more or less the same place as the original bench, Claire and Otis’ geocache site is now fully operational once more.
Claire said: “Our plaque is close to the marine lake that is where I remember Otis swimming, going to see people sailing – and eating any spare bread thrown for the gulls; he was the most hungry of them all!
“West Kirby was Otis’ favourite day out and we’d drive an hour from Warrington for him to enjoy it. As we also enjoyed geocaching, the plaque is also somewhere that other geocachers come to the area to search for.
“Many have said they’ve taken a detour to find it and then spend the day there with an ice cream or coffee and enjoy the view. More than 120 people have visited to find it so far, so it has other benefits as well as being a place I come to remember him. He was very special to me.”
