Bersham Iron Works, Nant Mill, and Around Minera 19th February 2025.

 

St. Mary's Church, Bersham.

One of the weirs on the Afon Clywedog in Big Wood, Bersham.

Snowdrops on the banks of the Afon Clywedog near Bersham.

Snowdrops on bank / verge on the way to the Coed Power path.

The start of the Coed Power Path to Nant Mill.

The Afon Clywedog from the road bridge at Nant Mill.

Our first gnome encounter!

It doesn't look good on Minera Mountain!

Looking back at our lunch spot at the Minera Lead Mines Visitor Centre.

It's hard work working out the choir finances!

The new to me track leading to Minera.

"This one is easy, it's  in English!"

Obstacles on the path from Minera down to the Afon Clywedog.

Next time, I think we will use this bridge and the path on the west ide of the Afon Clywedog.

Hopefully it would be less muddy than the one that we used today.

The Afon Clywedog.

This is he Footpath sign that we should have taken earlier in the day.

This walk wouldn't be the same without seeing a Jacob's sheep.

Another Jacob's sheep in the field between Minera Lead Mine Visitor Centre The Nant.

Distance: 8.1 miles. Climb: 1125’
Time: 5 hours 7 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: 4.4 Celsius at the start. 5.5 Celsius at lunch time. 4.8 Celsius mid-afternoon.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 2 – Maily calm with no noticeable wind, but at one point mid-afternoon as we approached the Minera Lead Mines for the second time, we did experience a 4.6 m.p.h. Light breeze.
Group: Martyn, Fran and Mike.
The weather was rather overcast and light rain forecast did accompany us on and off during the morning.
Arriving at the start, it was very noticeable how crystal clear the Afon Clywedog looked, and this was the same every time we walked near to the river.
Sorry to report we only saw 35 gnomes today, the rest must have gone on holiday!
Arriving on the outskirts of Coedpoeth, we made the mistake of taking the first signed path rather than the second! However, for Fran, this turned out to be the highlight of the walk as we met a couple of dog walkers and Fran found out the one of them was also a Welsh learner like her, and she was also on a course at Wrexham but on a different day.
Good practice speaking Welsh back to the Minera Lead Mine Centre.
It was a bit early for lunch, but we decided to take advantage of the picnic tables before looking at our options for the afternoon.
We decided to head back to Minera, in the opposite direction to the way we would have gone had we not taken the wrong path earlier on.
We arrived at Minera Primary school where some children were playing football on the playground. A couple of balls came over t8he wall onto road. We retrieved them, but I’m not sure that is what the teacher in charge wanted!
We encountered a fair bit of mud on the paths and several cleanings in the river, ultimately proved pointless.
Overall, an enjoyable walk with some Snowdrops spotted and improving weather in the afternoon. We even managed to use one track that I had never used before - always an added bonus to any walk.
Birds seen or heard today: House sparrow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Common starling, Carrion crow, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, European robin, Black billed magpie, Great tit and Coal tit
After walk drinks were enjoyed at home as Mike needed to be home early in order to catch a train at about 18-00.
Th advantage for me was that I was home before 16-00, plenty of time to clean my boos outside before Sunset!