The start of the walk, but only as far as the bus stop in Flint.
Hoar frost, evident along most of the walk.
At the start of the path leading to the Greenfield valley past Battery Pool.
Battery Pool from its dam.
At Basingwerk Abbey- after PC's history lesson.
Bettisfield Dock with the A380 barge heading to Mostyn Dock.
Back at Flint Castle.
Walk stats: Distance: 9.5 miles. Climb: 430'.
Time: 4 hours 40 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h Overall walk average: 2.1 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Annie H., Sue and Michel, Carol H., Paul and Celia.
This was an unusual walk for the group in that we parked the cars at the end of the walk and caught a bus to the start, a £3-40 trip from Flint to Holywell - thankfully I had a Welsh bus pass!
The walk started in glorious sunshine, very cold with plenty of hour frost decorating the trees hedges and grassland area.
The gentle descent from Holywell through the Greenfield Valley was delightful, finishing with a history lesson as we went around Basingwerk Abbey ruins.
The main part of the walk was along the new Wales Coastal path from Greenfield Dock to Flint Castle, a route that was really superb. The tide was at its highest and consequently lots of waders were seen quite close up. The bonus was seeing the A380 barge sailing down the river on its way to Mostyn Docks and onto France.
This coastal path all the way back to Flint was delightful, well worth repeating at any time of the year, and especially around high tide as today.
At the end of the walk we went around the ruins of Flint Castle for another history lesson.
We walked past the cars for a short extension along the coastal path towards Flint Marshes / Oakenholt Marshes. This proved to be somewhat bracing as we headed into the Easterly wind.
Birds seen or heard today included: Common blackbird, European robin, Winter wren, Pied wagtail, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Common starling, Great cormorant, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Mallard, Common teal, Eurasian curlew, Common redshank, Oystercatcher, Tufted duck, Little egret, House sparrow, Black-b illed magpie, Moorhen, Common coot, Mute swan, Grey heron, Black-headed gull, Great black-backed gull, Herring gull and Fieldfare.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where some of us sat by the fire in turns so that we could warm up!
Overall a superb walk, a good walk on which to finish our walks in 2012.
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