Another Walk on both sides of the Afon Clwyd Between Rhuddlan and Rhyl 14th February 2024

Daffodils in the car park at Rhuddlan Nture Reserve.

Rhuddlan Castle from the road bridge,

St. Mary's Church, Rhuddlan.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!

Goosanders on Brickfield Pond.

The Clwydian Hills above  Brickfield Pond.

Trains in tht Rhyl Marine Lake Miniature Railway engines shed.

Rhyl Marine Lake looking sad partially filled with water.

The view from our lunch spot, Pont y Ddraig, Rhyl.

The view from our lunch spot, looking across the river to the Foryd Road Bridge .

The Clwydian Hills in cloud from the West Bank of the Afon Clwyd.

Mute swans grazing in fields West of the Afon Clwyd.

Waders including Oystercatchers and Dunlin trying to keep their feet dry as the tide comes in.

A Dunlin on its own on the West bank of the Afon Clwyd.

"Can't you keep up?"

Striding along the West bank.

Good news that awful stile has been replaced and now thee is a gate.

Jus a few Snowdrops in Rhuddlan Nature Reserve.

Rhuddlan Castle from Fagan's Field in Rhuddlan Nature Reserve.

Mute swans on the pond in Rhuddlan Nature Reserve.

Miniature Daffodils n Rhuddlan Nature Reserve.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 8.5 miles. Climb: 466’ (Wind assisted GPS reading)
Time: 5 hours 48 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.7 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 2.0m.p.h.
Temperature: 10.5 Celsius at the start. 14.0 Celsius at lunch in the arm sunshine.
Beaufort Wind Force: 2-4, mainly a Light breeze, but a few times it gusted to s an 18 m.p.h. Moderate breeze
Group: Martyn, Nigel, Fran, Mike and Ed.
This was a good day for walking, almost perfect, I didn’t even have to change my shirt at lunch time and only used two handkerchiefs - two because I managed lose one after lunch as we walked on the embankment on the western side of the river after lunch.
I was comfortable wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt throughout the walk.
Lunch was taken using the picnic benches at Rhyl Harbour, a good spot to have lunch as toilets are available as well.
Largely a birdwatching walk (a bit of self indulgence on my part), but the surprise of the day was probably seeing the engine shed open and being able to see the miniature trains waiting to come back in use for the tourist season. Volunteers were working getting the track ready.
Bird wise the surprise of the day was seeing a large number of Mute swans grazing on the fields west of the river.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, Mallard, Goosander, Eurasian curlew, Black tailed godwit Wigeon, Moorhen, Common coot, Tufted duck, Dunlin, Little egret, Meadow pipit, House sparrow, Greenfinch, Long tailed tit, Dunnock, Mute swan, Common redshank, Canada goose, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Oystercatcher, Great cormorant, Black billed magpie and Lapwing.
Overall an enjoyable walk completed in more sunshine than we expected.
After walk drinks were enjoyed a Rake Hall, Little Stanney, where beers from the local Weetood and Brimstage breweries enjoyed by some. The tea wasn’t bad either!

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Another Llugwy and Lledr Round 10th February 2024

Looking towards Pont y Pair Along the Afon Llugwy.

The Afon Llugwy west of Pont-y-Pair.

The Afon Llugwy west of Pont-y-Pair.

The Miners' Bridge over the afon Llugwy.

The watefalls above the Miners' Bridge.

Not quite a waterfall, but still quite impressive.

One of the better bts of Sarn Helen on the way to Rhiwddolion.

Some of the remains of the village, Rhiwddolion.

The view decending Sarn Helen on the way to Pont-y-Pant.

The Afon Lledr at Pont-y-Pant.

The Afon Lledr at Pont-y-Pant.

So that's how you get into a tent box!

Lledr Hall Education centre,

The view from my lunch spot.

The Afon Lledr from our lunch spot.

What's holding that up?

Yr Eryri on the skyline.

Crossing the footbridge over the Afon Lledr.

The Afon Lledr from the footbridge.

Fallen trees that we had to negotiate on our way to Llyn Elsi.

Yr Eryri - Glyders and Bristly Ridge.

Just a glimpse of Llyn elsi through the trees.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 9.3 miles. Climb: 1791’
Time: 5 hours 48 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: 4.7 Celsius at the start. 5.6 Celsius at the start. 12.0 Celsius in bright sunshine at the highest point on Sarn Helen. 8.0 Celsius at lunch by the Afon Lledr. 8.8 Celsius by Llyn Elsi mid-afternoon.
Beaufort Wind Force: 1, at most just a Light Air
Group: Martyn, Mike and Ed.
This was a good day for walking and it wasn’t long before some of our outer garments were discarded.
There was plenty of water in both rivers giving good displays of lots of ware cascading over the rocks.
As ever the initial climb up Sarn Helen is quite tortuous as you have to watch your feet all the time.
However once we were past Rhiwddolion we came into bright sunshine and had good views of some of the high peaks in Yr Eryri.
Lunch was taken by the Afon Lledr east of Lledr Hall Education Centre.
After crossing the A470 and heading northward through the forest, we decided to take a slightly different route than usual ad follow some of the forest tracks to avoid one of the paths that we knew were notorious for being very boggy.
Unfortunately we didn’t realise that forest work had resulted in these tracks being less than perfect and in fat we had some felled trees to negotiate as well.
After a brief visit to see Llyn Elsi we descended on the usual forest tracks back to Betws-y-Coed.
We arrived back at the car having had a good walk and thankful to sit down and take the weight of our feet.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, Wood nuthatch, Song thrush, Mistle thrush, Mallard and Raven.
Overall an enjoyable walk completed in more sunshine than we expected. After walk drinks were taken at the Eagle Hotel in Llanrwst, but unfortunately I can’t say I enjoyed my pint, it was well past its best and I would have taken it back had there been an alternative available!

 

A Walk from Llantysilio Green in Search of Snowdrops 7th February 2024

First views of the Horseshoe falls.

descending from Llantysilio Green to St. Tysilio's Church

or

First encounters with a Chester Ramblers and Hill Walking Club Memer.

St. Tysilios Church ahead.

Snowdrops in St. Tysilio's Churchyard.

One for DS!

Snowdrops in St.Tysilio's Churchyard.

Inside St.Tysilio's Church.

The Horseshoe Falls enjoying the River Dee in spate.

More of the Horseshoe Falls enjoying the River Dee in spate.

The river still needs to be higher to release these captured trees!

It looks like pollution, but it's just natural breakdown of organic matter by the constant battering of fast moving water.

The River Dee trying escape under a blocking tree trunk near the Horseshoe Falls.

Reflections on the Llangollen Canal.

Catkins on the trees next the the Llangollen Canal - another good sign Spring is on its way.

Good views of Dinas Bran.

A good wood sculpture of a Raven as we headed downhill.

A delightful path leading to our lunchspot.

Distant views of the Chain Bridge,

"Early lunch" for those that are happy to stick to the route plan!

Valle Crucis Abbey from our lunch spot.

Eliseg's Pillar from our lunch spot.

The delightful followed straight after lunch.

Dinas Bran again - looking like a horse?

Snowdrops again.

Llantysilio Hall, another one for DS.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 8.0 miles. Climb: 1342’
Time: 4 hours 56 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h. (But we did have to wait for the Upton lot to arrive at the lunch spot after their extra mile or so and climb to the top of Dinas Bran)
Temperature: 4.7 Celsius at the start. 10.2 -11.2 Celsius at lunch. 8.0 Celsius mid-afternoon.
Beaufort Wind Force: 1, at most just a Light Air
Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Ed, Nigel, Fran, Mike and Ed.
The Snowdrops today were really good, not just in St. Tysilsio’s Churchyard, but in other places as well.
The River Dee today had plenty of water, making the Horseshoe Falls more impressive than usual and below the falls the river looked superb for the skilled enough to navigate it in a canoe or raft.
Four of us headed for the lunch spot while the Upton lot went AWOL, and thankfully we arrived to find the lunch spot vacant.
Mid-way through lunch another walking group arrived (the Chester Ramblers and Hill Walking Club) who appeared shocked to find other walkers had beaten them to the spot where they had planned to stop for lunch. They were happy to join us as we waited for the rest of our group to arrive and have their lunch. Fruit cake (not fortified and only baked yesterday) was provided to celebrate our Snowdrop walk.
After about 11-00, the Sun came out and blessed us for the rest of the day.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow Rook, Song thrush, Great cormorant, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, Collared dove, Blue tit, Wood nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wood nuthatch, Coal tit, Common peasant, Common buzzard, Mallard and House sparrow.
Overall an enjoyable walk completed in pleasant sunshine for most of the day. After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Sun at Trevor where most of us enjoyed Purple Moose’s Colan Lan bitter.