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.