Border Hopping in Chirk

Our final walk was around Y Waun and Glyn Ceiriog AKA Chirk and the Ceiriog Valley on the Welsh/English border. Chirk is thought to be a corruption of church as the original Welsh name was in fact “Eglwys-y-Waun” (Church on the Moor), with the Welsh name now shortened to “Y Waun”. Chirk was a staging post on the London to Holyhead Mail Road.

On what turned out to be a beautiful, dry, settled, sunny, hot day we parked up at The Davies' Gate of Chirk Castle, a Marcher fortress dating to 1310, built by King Edward I. It overlooks the Ceiriog Valley and Berwyn Mountains to the south and Clwydian Range to the north. The estate parkland is a tranquil Site of Special Scientific Interest with veteran trees and an important habitat for fungi, bats and deadwood invertebrates. We followed paths through the estate starting on the Llywyn-y-cil walk and then joining the woodland walk until it brought us round to the castle.

After lunch we proceeded to visit part of the castle gardens. The garden has modern and old-fashioned roses, a woodland garden, herbaceous borders, alpine rockery and Yew topiary. There are good views of the surrounding area, particularly to the south of here.

After leaving the gardens, we joined a(nother) section of the Offa's Dyke path, past “The Oak at the Gates of the Dead” or “Crogen Oak”, a tree thought to be more than 1000 years old. It is located on the site of the 1165 Battle of Crogen and near the burial site of the dead from the battle. The battle took place during Henry II's 1165 campaign against an alliance of Welsh Princes' led by Owain ap Gruffudd who was the grandfather of Llywelyn the Great. Owain ap Gruffudd (born c. 1100) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170. He was called "Owain the Great" (Welsh: Owain Mawr) and the first to be styled "Prince of Wales".

Crossing the Afon Ceiriog (River Ceiriog) and the Welsh/English border, we had a steep uphill climb through a field with good views back towards the castle. This is one of three places where Offa's Dyke path meets the Shropshire Way.

From here we dropped down into Bronygarth where we had to take a detour following part of the footpath being washed away. At this point on the Offa's Dyke Path and the Shropshire Way, it is also part of the Llwybr Maelor Way and the Ceiriog Valley Walk. The former is another long distance footpath. We followed the valley east through Pentre Wood to Pont-Faen (stone bridge) where we crossed the border once again.

We stopped for a tea and cake break before proceeding to Chirk Aqueduct and Viaduct. The Chirk Aqueduct is a 70ft/21m high, 710ft/220m long navigable aqueduct of the Llangollen Canal, striding across the border. Adjacent to it is the Chirk Railway Viaduct. The Aqueduct is part of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Llangollen Canal World Heritage Site and was built between 1796 & 1801 by William Jessop and Thomas Telford; it has ten circular masonry arches. The Viaduct was built by Henry Robertson in 1846-48 and opened in 1848; it has ten spans with round arches and stands 30ft/10m above the Aqueduct. Both can be seen from the Aqueduct footpath/towpath.

Just down the towpath is “Chirk Tunnel”, known locally as “The Darkie” due to being pitch black, was one of the first in the UK to have a towpath and was built between 1795-1802. The walk from here took us back up through woods to the castle gates where we'd parked.

Moel Arthur

We followed a gentle route, through the park/Clwyd Forest, the southern-most of four routes from the car park. The route follows a bridleway contouring the hillside gradually ascending from 190m AOD to 300m AOD over a mile and about 45 minutes walk.

Joining the hill road above Glyn Arthur, we proceeded east until we met the Offa's Dyke path. We followed the signed path northwards up a steep 500m climb before departing the Offa's Dyke path to climb to the summit.

The hilltop is crowned by the earthworks of an Iron Age Fort built over 2000 years ago by Celts. At 450m Moel Arthur provides extensive views including Moel Famau to the south.

Continuing northwards on a small path down the hill, we rejoined Offa's Dyke path and followed it back to the car park.

Llangollen

First stop was the photo stop for the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct; designed and built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop, Pontcysyllte means “ the bridge that connects” and is part of a World Heritage Site.

The walk starts properly by crossing one of the traditional 'Seven Wonders of Wales'. Built sometime in the 12^th Century and improved some 200 years later by John Trevor, Bishops of St. Asaph, Llangollen Bridge over the River Dee has been rebuilt and altered several times.

We followed the signposted path to Castell Dinas Bran, through a snicket and up Sunbank Walk to “The Pancake”. From there is a 20m zigzag climb to the summit. On the summit are the ruins of a medieval castle built in the 1260's by Prince Gruffudd ap Madoc but abandoned in 1282.

A much larger prehistoric settlement covered the top of the hill long before the castle in about 600BC. The Hillfort would have been naturally protected by a steep slope to the north; the rest was surrounded by ditches and an eastern embankment.

Dinas Bran is sometimes referred to as “Crow Castle”. Bran is Welsh for crow; crows and other corvids an often be seen flying around the castle. The views from the top are the dramatic limestone escarpment called “Eglwyseg Rocks” leading to “World's End” in the north; the east is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and canal World Heritage site; the south is dominated by the Berwyn's and in the east is another hill fort, Moel y Gaer, in the Llantysilio Mountains.

The walk proceeded down the other side of the hill. Before meeting the Offa's Dyke path, it kicked back following the bottom of the hill and joining the history trail. The path skirted along the hillside of Fron Fawr with views across the Eglwyseg River valley and Coed Hyrddyn.

We came out near the Pillar of Eliseg whose origins date to the 9^th Century. An inscription recounted the family tree of Cyngen ap Cadell to his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog (Eliseg). The origins of the mound on which it stands dates to at least 4000 years ago to the early Bronze Age and was probably topped by a cross.

Further on is the Valle Crucis Abbey, the ruins of a medieval Cistercian abbey built in 1201 by Madog Ap Gruffydd Maelor, Prince of Powys. It's Latin name (Valley of the Cross) refers to the nearby Eliseg's Pillar.

Skirting round Coed Hyrddyn, we joined the canal for the last mile of so of the walk, Llangollen Canal. This is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales on the Wrexham-Denbighshire border.

Moel Famau and Foel Fenlli

A reasonably challenging and steep route lay before us through woodland and moorland to Moel Famau, in the heart of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley. The route to the summit was along a clearly defined forest track from Coed Moel Famau car park. Passing through Forestry Commission conifers, the area is reputedly home to Willow Warblers, Chaffinches, Goldcrests, Wrens, Robins, Great Tits, Blue-tits, Whinchats and a few Redpolls. Sparrow Hawks and Tawny Owls have also been sighted.

Emerging into moorland, wildlife purportedly seen here include Kestrels, Buzzards (we saw one), insects,voles, Red Grouse, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Ring Ouzels. From there it was a short, sharp ascent to the summit (though there was the option of an alternative longer, but easier route).

At the summit, the highest point of the Clwydian Range at 554m/1818ft, are the remains of the Jubilee Tower, built to commemorate George III's (mad King George) 50 years reign. The foundation stone was laid with great ceremony on Thursday 25^th October 1810 when 3000 people climbed the summit.

The tower, designed in Egyptian style, with a rectangular base and four bastions topped by a simple obelisk, was intended to reach a height of 115ft. Instead, the work was never fully completed. In 1846 the tower was already crumbling and a guidebook to North Wales warned that “in all probability it will tumble down”. It was another 16 years before the tower collapsed, suddenly on 28^th October 1862, in the aftermath of storms lasting a couple of days and narrowly missing two people.

There are exceptional views from the summit and this is reported to be one of the finest viewpoints in Wales: Snowdon, Cader Idris, North Wales Coast, Isle of Man and parts of Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and the Pennines included.

There was a steady descent following the Offa's Dyke trail down the the Bwlch Pen Barras car park, passing Corsican Pines en-route. The trail was very well marked until the car park was reached. From there, we continued following the Offa's Dyke path for an ascent up to Moel Fenlli, one of a string of hill forts along the range.

The walk takes you round the western perimeter of the Hillfort crowning the summit, but we briefly left the Offa's Dyke path to climb to the top (511m). The earthworks rise to 35ft above the outer ditch in places and completely enclose the hilltop. Two entrances originally gave access to the fort and a wooden palisade would have topped the ramparts. There was such a cold wind that we didn't stay long but reportedly within the defences, remains of over 30 hut circles, along with fragments of 5^th Century Romano-British pottery and coins have been found.

We re-joined the Offa's Dyke path and followed the contouring path past a belt of conifers, woods and fields before leaving it be a large stone-built farmhouse, following a track (and a short section of lane) back to the car park.

Bryn Alyn & Moel Findeg

An excellent walk with superb views of the central Clwydian Range. The route skirted the limestone escarpment of Bryn Alyn; we added a detour to admire the views from here. Via the woods and pastures of Nercwys Mountain, we walked though Moel Findeg Nature Reserve (created in 1999), up to the Moel Findeg Summit.

Bryn Alyn is 408m high and a Site of Special Scientific Interest with dramatic west-facing limestone cliffs. It is the 8412^th highest peak in the British Isles and 985^th highest in Wales. Rare in Wales, but found on Bryn Alyn, is a limestone pavement. Views of the Clwydian Range to the west includes the conical top of Foel Fenlli, Moel Famau, Moel Gyw and Moel Llanfair, with views east towards the route.

By contrast, Moel Findeg is 364m high with views east over the Cheshire Plain and Wirral. Hazily, much of the Clwydian Range could be seen in the west. The summit itself, known as the Bishop's Chair, is within the 56-acre local nature reserve with a unique example of lowland heathland. Old quarries and lead mines lie hidden within birth woodland and heathland of the reserve.

Minera Quarry Nature Reserve

Minera Quarry has been associated with limestone extraction for over 2 centuries. Parts of the site have naturally regenerated since 1994, now hosting many rare and threatened species, including three bat species (including the Lesser Horseshoe, Brown Long-Eared and Natterer's) and cliff-dwelling birds such as The Peregrine. There are also many species of plants specialising in limestone grassland: orchids (frog, pyramidal, fragrant); round-leaved wintergreen; autumn gentian and moon wort etc.

The site also includes industrial heritage features relating to lead mining and limestone works including old lime kilns, as well as important geological formations.

Mold (Yr Wyddgrug)

 

Mold, which has a totally different name in Welsh, Yr Wyddgrug, relates to the bailey hill where the Normans built a castle. Mold is an historic market town, gateway to the Clwydian Ranges and birthplace to a renowned Welsh novelist, Daniel Owen. Indeed where we were staying was in Llys Daniel Owen after one and the same.

Yr Wyddgrug means “prominent mound” and it is believed that there was an ancient mound, cairn or tumulus here that provided a prominent position for the Normans to build their castle. This is where the Welsh name comes from.

After the Normans had built their castle, it was described in Latin as “high hill” - Mons Altus – and in Norman French as Mont-Haut. One theory is that Mont-Haut morphed into Muhauld then to Moald before finally becoming Mold. The Motte and Bailey Castle was built by Robert de Montalt, so the other theory is that the name of Mold could have morphed from that.

Cittaslow, part of a trend known as the Slow Movement, has made it to Mold which is the first Cittaslow town in Wales. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city/settlement's use of spaces and flow of life/traffic through them. Cittaslow resist globalisation whereas a transition town aims to increase self-sufficiency from a grass-roots level by reducing the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction and economic instability, but theoretically a town could be both, I suppose.

Walk around a heart of Wales Spa Town / Llandrindod Lake Park Woodland Walk - Llandrindod Wells (Powys)

Set in a valley 700ft above sea level is the spa town (and what was also the largest inland resort of Wales) of Llandrindod Wells. The famous curative springs are said to have been used since time immemorial. Today's walk, due to be 4 miles turned into over 8.5 miles as areas have now been built on and waymarkers are missing.

Eventually we found our way to Shaky Bridge, so called because the original bridge was only about 30” wide in old money (about 3/4m) and was made up of boards suspended on wires; a notice warned that no more than three people should cross the bridge at once. Today's more substantial bridge was built in 1940.

The bridge crosses the River Ithon (which is a tributary of the Wye and joins it about 4 miles south-west of the town) and a grass track takes you up to St. Michael's Church. There has been a church of some kind here since before the Norma times, though some of the remaining stonework dates to the 13^th Century. A large part of the present Church, however, dates to the 1890's. The craggy hill towering 300ft behind the church was the site of Cefnllys Castle, built in the 13^th Century by Roger Mortimer. Cefnllys was granted borough status by Henry VIII until 1885; the borough contained only three houses!

Towards the latter part of the walk was the 35 acre Forestry Commission wood called Cwm-Brîth Bank and the viewpoint of Little Hill; 1,165ft above sea level. Romans inhabited this area around the 1^st century AD and may have used this. The start and end of the walk was at 'The Lake', a 14-acre lake with carp, tench and beam plus mallards and swans. This was also Kite country; with a kite feeding station only 11 miles away in Rhayader. We saw a couple of kites circling on the thermals and heard several more.

Circular walk around the limestone crag with the Prince's Castle - Carreg Cennen (Brecon Beacons National Park)

Right on the western tip of the Brecon Beacons National Park is the limestone crag on which Carreg Cennen (Cennen Rock) Castle stands. The 5-mile walk retains the crag with its 300ft vertical cliff as an impressive spectacle throughout the walk. The steep slopes and cliff made the site easy to defend.

There is evidence that the site may have been occupied in the Iron Age and later by the Romans. The original castle was built by one of the Welsh Princes in the late 12^th Century. Rhys ap Gruffydd (d. 11 97), Welsh Prince of Deheubarth, built a stronghold and admin centre for Is-Cennen. Over the next century the castle was fought over and changed hands a number of times. In 1277, King Edwards I of England seized the castle, which was demolished and replaced by the more impressive fortress, the ruins of which we see today. It was mainly undertaken by John Gifford, an English Lord who fought with Edward I to defeat the Welsh. In 1362, it was inherited by John of Gaunt who eventually passed it onto his heir, the future Henry IV. In 1403 the castle fell briefly after a long siege to the Welsh army of Owain Glyndŵr. During the Wars of the Roses, it became a Lancastrian stronghold but surrended in 1462. In the summer of the same year, 500 men were paid £28 5s 6d to destroy the castle. Apparently it was to prevent it becoming the base for local robbers though it was said to have been the Yorkists who paid this and they may have had other motives.

The site has the additional protection of being a local nature reserve, SSSI and a Geopark. The cliff provides a resting place for birds and safe havens for rare plants. Sessile Oak and Ash grow on the slopes. The fault which created the crag overlooking Cennen Valley divided the landscape into sandstone and limestone which provides habitats for different types of plants. Limestone supports Ash trees whereas Oak prefers sandstone.

Part of the walk, at almost 1000ft above sea level, was along the western flank of the Black Mountain range. Nearby were unusual long, low, glass-covered mounds, known as Beddau'r Derwyddan or Druid's Graves. These were actually man-made rabbit warrens. The soil is too poor to form natural burrows but as rabbit used to firm an important part of the country-person's diet, these mounds were constructed to allow the rabbits to live and breed in them; a non-intensive form of rabbit farming.

One other unusual feature was the natural cave, incorporated into the castle defences, reached by a narrow passage carved out of the rock. In the days before COVID19, it was likely that people could enter the passages, lit by narrow openings in the outer wall and see the cave.

Entering the castle was through a gap in the outer wall on the eastern side, in between what would have been small drum towers. In the outer ward was the lime kiln and quarry. Entry to the castle was up ramps, where bridges would have been over deep pits. The eastern wall also had the latrine outlet.

We also had a stop in Cilmeri where Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was killed in December 1281. A memorial was constructed in 1956 as a focal point for an annual day of remembrance on his death day. Nearby is the well where his apparently severed head was washed to take to Edward I. Lovely!

'Under milk wood' Dylan Thomas walk - Laugharne (Cardiganshire)

Breakfasting in the sunshine overlooked by Laugharne castle beside the River Corran was the first stop on our 'Dylan Thomas walk' exploring places connected with the stormy welsh Poet's life. Laugharne, pronounced 'Larn', was granted its 1st charter in 1307 & retains some of its medieval traditions. One of these is a town council known as the Court Leet presided over by a Portreeve, elected annually. Laugharne also had the reputation as a haunt for pirates during the 16th century; close as it was to shipping in the Bristol Channel.

Originally fortified in the 12th century, Laugharne Castle remains date mainly from the Tudor times. Sir John Perrott rebuilt the castle at the end of 16th century after it had been twice sacked by the Welsh. It was a royalist stronghold during the civil war but fell in 1644.

The shore path takes you almost to the Boat House, now a museum, where Dylan Thomas moved to in 1949 with his wife Caitlin and their two children with a third on the way.

A steep set of steps takes you to Dylan's shed where he did most of his writing including Under Milk Wood and his last poems. The path alongside was originally known as 'Cliff Walk', but renamed 'Dylan's Walk' in 1958.

At the end of Dylan's Walk, the path continues through woodland connecting with the Wales Coast path. Through fields and up a stony lane, the path eventually becomes a tarmac road which takes you down to St. Martin's Church.

St. Martin's Church, the parish church of Laugharne dates from the 14^th Century and was restored in the 19^th Century. The grave of Dylan Thomas is marked by a simple, white wooden cross. He died in New York in 1953 during a lecture tour of the States.

A green lane brings you back into town and the shore. A couple other buildings of note are the elegant Town Hall, rebuilt in 1746 and Braun's Hotel, reputedly one of Dylan Thomas' favourite haunts.

In the opposite direction, rejoining the Welsh Coast Path, of which the first part is known as Dylan's Birthday Walk, was a mainly woodland walk around Sir John's Hill and then following alongside reclaimed marshland. Sir John's Hill, inspired one of Dylan Thomas' poems: “Over Sir John's Hill, The Hawk on fire hangs still....”

Finally summiting the ridge that separated the Laugharne to Pendine Road from the marshes, we descended into Broadway where we were staying.

Preseli Coast Clifftop walk - Dinas Island (Pembrokeshire)

A circular walk along a section of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Pen Dinas, National Trust owned, is now joined to the mainland but 12,000 years ago was separated by a river estuary. Even now the connection is a valley with marshland. The first part of the walk from Cwm-yr-Eglwys up to the highest point of Dinas Island, passes the massive sea-stack known as Needle Rock and Pwllglas.

Cwm-yr-Eglwys is valley of the church in Welsh and named after an ancient church largely destroyed by a storm in October 1859. Dedicated to St. Brynach and thought to have been founded in the 6th Century, today's remnants are the bell-cote & west wall. The same storm wrecked 114 ships along the coast of Wales.

Needle Rock is sheltered from prevailing south-west winds but nonetheless we had a strong wind and gusts as we hiked along the cliff-side path. The stack is a nesting site for many birds in season but it was occupied by a lone shag and a handful of herring gulls, as we passed by.

The rocky outcrop known as Pwllglas had gracefully curving rock layers, evidence of vast tectonic forces that have folded the Earth's crust.

At 463ft above sea level is Dinas Head. A lone Raven was sighted, though large numbers nest on the cliffs in March. Gannets were seen flying around but they will dive for fish off the headland. A ruin of a coastguard look out station was just off the crest of the head.

We continued following the path round the island until we reached 'civilisation' at Pwllgwaelod. Here was the toilet stop and a disused 19th Century lime-kiln. Before the coming of the railways, limestone was unloaded for coasters (ships) and burnt in the kilns to make quicklime to be spread on the acid soil of local farms. The nearby Sailor's Safety Inn always displayed a light after dark to help guide vessels across Fishguard Bay; it was built in 1593.

The final disabled access path behind the pub to Cum-yr-Eglwys passed a marshy area reputedly home of sedge warbles, grass-hopper warblers and reed buntings as well as an assortment of butterflies.

Hillfort at the Lonely Heart of Wales - Lampeter (Ceredigion)

We stopped the night in a coaching inn, built in 1700, in the traditional heart of Lampeter on the southern border of Ceredigion. The coaching inn, the Royal Black Lion Hotel in the High St. was an important halfway stop between Aberystwyth & Carmarthen where the horses were changed. The county court was also held there until 1820 when the Town Hall was built on the opposite side of 'The Street'

Lampeter was on the Roman route linking the garrison towns of Caernarvon & Carmarthen, so had been a bustling street for hundreds of years, The town was granted its earliest charter in 1284 but most of the buildings that exist now are Victorian.

Taking a detour through the grounds of the University of Wales, Lampeter (latterly known as St. David's College), we learnt it had been founded by Dr. Thomas Burgess to train Welsh youths for ministry. From 1803 to 1825 Dr. Burgess was Bishop of St. David's and later became Bishop of Salisbury. The site occupies what was previously a fortification to command this stretch of the Teifi valley. Lampeter Castle may well have started life as simple wooden tower with an outer ring of defences that was destroyed in the 12th century, but in 1403, the rebuilt fortress held out against Owain Glyndŵr.

Crossing a tributary of the River Teifi, a babbling brook, we headed up the hill to a farm. Passing trees that looked like giant feet with roots protruding horizontally, we made our way to Mount Pleasant Wood.

Home to numerous birds, it also contains a 300 acre mixed wood called Long Wood Community Woodland. Formed in 2002, the Community Group made up of local volunteers and paid staff are custodians of this natural reserve with over 9 miles of footpaths and bridleways. They aim to continue sustainable woodland management, creating new areas of broadleaf habitat, conserving the woodland for wildlife and increasing public awareness. In 2011, the group were able to buy the woodland from the Forestry Commission.

We followed the tree-lined track to the crest of the hill to almost 800ft above sea level. It was an old drovers track, believed to have been used since prehistoric times. Perched on the top of the hill, some 400ft above the floor of the Teifi valley is the iron age hill fort known as 'Castell Allt-goch'. It was thought that this ancient fortification was probably protected by two banks and ditches.

With the return part of the route stopped by a parade of just milked cows slipping and sliding their way back to the fields along a very muddy track we retraced our steps back down the Drover's Track.

Heading back though the town, we walked to Brondeift Church next to the site of an old railway bridge. Nearby was the bridge crossing the River Teifi. Its source, 20 miles upstream, is a 1898 acre bog and nature reserve; the bog was created from a lake formed after the Ice age.

Our final stop was St. Thomas's Square, all that is left of an area of common-land that the freemen of the borough jointly owned. One of the chapels on the square, Soar Chapel, was established in 1841, leased to the independents sect for one shilling a year. In 1874 the present chapel was built. A narrow street bought us out on the High St. next to the pub.