Holywell Common and Racecourse 28th July 2016

Setting off on Holywell Common, but not in the rain.

On the Holywell Racecourse, bring up the rear behind French Filly and Yorkshire Tyke.

Horses' Leap Notice at our lunch spot.

Horses' Leap from the bench at our lunch spot.

Not the expected location for an A5 sign to Holyhead in a field adjacent to the A55 South east of Pantasaph.

At the Pen-y-Ball Monument.

A reminder of the mining heritage around Brynford.

Walk stats: Distance: 7.9 miles. Climb: 514'.

Time: 4 hours 35 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Annie, Phil and David S.

The forecast for today wasn't good and if you believed the forecasts most suggested that it would be heavy rain all day. Thankfully they were wrong and the three most important times in the walk, the start, lunch and arriving back at the call were all in dry periods.

 We set off across Holywell Common, soon realising that we would encounter long wet grass and similarly wet high Bracken, keeping dry would be a challenge even without heavy rain. 

 Passing Holywell golf course we were surprised to see wild Raspberries, very small but still good to taste.

 The grass around the Western end and Norther side of the Racecourse was particularly long and wet  and where our boots picked up many grass seeds. We also encountered the local farmer who explained the demise of the Grand Stand. We also observed three men with metal detectors behaving badly near some frisky bullocks and were surprised when they quite calm when we went near them.

 After escaping from head high Bracken East of the Racecourse we approached the Brynford Road. David hadn't seen the Horses' Leap, so headed East along the road to locate it. To our surprise there was a bench there, just the right size for all of us. It was a good place to have lunch. Annie declined the offer of sitting on the same bench a three "old" men!

 After lunch as we approached the Pen-y-Ball Monument it began to rain a little heavier and the clouds suggested that this rain wasn't going to clear any time soon. No one was keen to walk in the rain all afternoon, so we decided not to embark on the extension to Pantasaph and head back to the cars.

 We arrived at Bryn-Sannan and found we had lost David S. He now joins a very select group of three with Celia and Roger of people that we have temporarily lost on walks. We set off on a search of the paths that we thought he could have taken, but as we were doing so David contacted us on his mobile, informing us he was already back at the car!

 Birds seen or heard today included: Common buzzard, Barn swallow, Common swift, House sparrow, Blue tit, Yellowhammer, Common blackbird and Woodpigeon.

 We arrived back at the car, having had a good walk, drier than expected, but with our boots requiring a little TLC.

 After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where the Lees bitter tasted good, I'd almost forgotten what it tasted like. The present tenants are planning to leave in September, so if it's too long to go until 15-00, we still have a location for refreshments, even if there are signs outside advertising for new people.