A Circuit of Holywell part 2 14th February 2015

"Here I go, route directions only in Welsh!"

Looking out to sea at Greenfield Dock, at first I thought it was  Roger making a protest about giving him the route directions in Welsh!

The Duke of Lancaster, now adorned with graffiti!

Starlings starting to gather near the Pen-y-Ball trig point.

Roger, showing that he knows where he is on his Welsh route map.
(Route Map from Ron Williams and Elfed Jones 's booklet "10 Walks Around Holywell".

A new section of the route for us, heading towards the "Pet Cemetery" at Brynford.

The first lambs of Spring that we have seen on a walk in 2015.

Our last descent towards Holywell and the start near to Holywell Town football ground.

Walk stats: Distance: 9.9 miles. Climb: 846'.

Time: 5 hours 40 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.1 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn and Roger.

The forecast for day we knew would be largely dull and overcast, and thankfully the Beeb were right in saying that the winds would be only around 6 m.p.h. In  reality I had the wrong gear on, Paramo gear was far too warm for today's conditions!

 We made good progress on a very familar descent through the Greenfield Valley to the coast and on the Coastal Path to the Duke of Lancaster - "Fun Ship".

 The tide was still well out, so the birds on the estuary were still a little too far out to identify, but a few were within sight using binoculars / monocular.

 The route from the Duke of Lancaster in this direction was new to us, and we anticipated a little bit of "dithering" on the rest of the route back to the start!

 As we approached the cottages by Llwyn Ifor Bach. we encountered our first problem, a jack Russell decided it wanted to follow us, and no matter what we said, it followed us past Mertyn Hall as far as Highbrook Farm, where thankfully we now found ourselves alone!

 Finding a lunch spot on this section was proving difficult, but thankfully Roger having to concentrate on his Welsh meant that we got until nearly 13-00 before he realised he needed food!

 We had lunch, sitting on a stone wall in Mertyn Lane, just North of Carmel.

 The next section of the walk to prove the most challenging, but Roger with his Welsh got us back to the start.

 Birds seen or heard today included: Common blackbird, Chaffinch, Song thrush, Mistle thrush, Wood nuthatch, Dunnock, Moorhen, Tufted duck, Common coot, Mallard, Common redshank, Oystercatcher, Eurasian curlew, Black-headed gull, Herring gull, Pied wagtail, Common buzzard and Common starling. 

 after walk drinks were enjoyed at the Blue Bell in Halkyn, where Roger could continue using his Welsh when talking to the barman.
 This was part 2 of the circuit described, but I'm sure this will be added to our regular walks around holywell as will part 1!