Wepre Park, Ewloe Castle., Aston Hill, Ewloe Green and Northop Hall 18th December 2024

  

The start of our walk.

Plenty of water coming over the weir.

Another bridge over Wepre Brook and a small waterfall feeding the brook.

Looking up to Ewloe Castle.

A different aspect of Ewloe Castle.

The path descending south east from the Castle towards Castle Hill Farm.

We decided this was a no go zone!

This way doesn't look much better!

This was the best way to go!

The start of the disused railway line leading to Broadoak Wood.

The new Broadoak Woods Information Board.

Walking in Broadoak Woods.

Mallards about to take to the water at The Rosie.

Mallards om The Rosie.

The Rosie information Board - in many languages, but not Welsh.

It had pictures of all the fish that you can catch in The Rosie, one of which, the Ide, I had never heard of before.

Walk stats: 8.0 miles. Climb: 653’,
Time: 4 hours 40 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h. Overall Walk average: 21.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: 13.0 Celsius at the start. 12.6 Celsius at lunch.
Beaufort Wind Force: Max 3, just a Gentle breeze
Group: Martyn, Nigel and Fran.
It was around a barmy 13 Celsius throughout the walk, and even the Gentle breeze didn’t stop us discarding some of our outer clothing.
It was a pleasant stroll through Wepre Park as far as Ewloe Castle before emerging into open country to follow several field paths.
The path around Aston Hill was at times a challenge to get around or under several fallen trees.
Lunch was taken by the War Memorial in Northop Hall, where we took advantage of two benches.
Our return route took us through Broadoak Wood as far as the outskirts of Connah’s Quay.
Arriving at back at Wepre Park two of us returned to the start by going round The Rosie, while Fran decided to collect some Crab apples and met us back at the car. On this occasion several people were fishing, although we didn’t see any fish being caught.
Birds seen or heard today included: Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Jackdaw Woodpigeon, Rook, Pied wagtail, Collared dove, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Blue tit, Mallard, Moorhen, House sparrow, Black billed magpie and European robin.
Overall, an enjoyable walk, celebrated by drinks at the Central Hotel in Shotton where Stonehenge Danish Dynamite went down well.

Rhosesmor, Sychdyn and Northop 13th November 2024

 

Moel y Gaer, but not on our route today.

The Clwydian Hills, but I can't see Moel Famau!

Are they sheep or cattle?

Just very small cattle!

On route towards Ram Wood.

The Gwysaney Hall Sycamore.

Gwysaney Hall.

Or lunch spot.

The path to Northop from our lunch spot.

I've had better views from my lunch spot!

Saint Eugain's and Saint Peter's Church, Northop.

Looking back towards Saint Eugain's and Saint Peter's Church, Northop.

Heading towards Soughton Farm.

A good view before hitting the road back to Rhosesmor.

Autumnal colours in Coed Cefn.

A close up of the Autumnal colours in Coed Cefn,

Walk stats: 8.9 miles. Climb: 902’,
Time: 5 hours 7 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall Walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: 11.5 Celsius to 12.5 Celsius
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0-1. Mainly Calm, but occasionally just about a Light air.
Group: Martyn, Fran and Nigel.
The weather forecast indicated that there was little chance of rain, winds around 8 m.p.h., but some Sunshine.
This was pretty accurate, although we see brief see more spells of sunshine than on suggested on the forecasts.
It did feel quite cool as we set off from Rhosesmor, but it wasn’t long before I felt my Paramo jacket was the right choice.
Leaving Rhosesmor we took the path heading near to Cefn-eugain. This was a mistake as several stiles on this route were broken and not so easy to get over (at least not for me!). In future, when we do this walk, we will use the alternative path following the Wat’s Dyke Way.
We also had problems finding the path through the wood on the way to Ram Wood. We eventually found the stile we needed to escape and continue on the planned route, but we never made it to Ram Wood!.
We also missed out Big Wood by taking the path on the south west side of Gwysaney Hall. It meant a little more road walking, but did miss out the notorious boggy section through Big Wood.
Lunch was taken on the path heading towards North, south east of Soughton Hall (hotel).
Fruit cake was again provided, and this time there was even more evidence of cherries in the pieces of cake on offer.
Distant views weren’t that clear, although the mast on Moel y Parc was easy to see, we never saw the top of Moel Famau.
Birds seen or heard included: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Rook, European robin, Common blackbird and Woodpigeon
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inna t Halyn, where the Lees Bitter went down well as did the welcoming wood burning stove next to where we sat.
Sarah has done a good job in bringing the Brit back to life. The menu looked pretty good too.