Morda Valley and the Welsh Borders 29th March 2025

On Offa's Dyke Path on the west side of Selattyn Hill.

The first lambs seen today.

Old and new way marker signs.

A furrowed track, even after 9 years.

The first time that I have seen sheep drinking from a trough.

Lambs on the run.

Lambs on the run 2.

The well-preserved section of Offa's Dyke.

More of the well-preserved section of Offa's Dyke.

Looking back on the well-preserved section of Offa's Dyke.

The Morda Valley Road.

Solar farms are getting everywhere!

The view from our lunch spot today.

The same view from our lunch spot in 2016.

The border stone.

The view west from the Ceiriog Trail to Llechrydau.

Twins?

Heading to Caemor Wood along the Ceiriog Trail.

Northern views from Caemor Wood.

Storm damage on the northern edge of Caemor Wood.

We took the middle road.

Distant views of Shropshire?

The Offa's Dyke Path to Craignant and the start of our walk.

Invasive Comfrey taking over the verge

Distance: 9.6 miles. Climb: 1572’.Time: 5 hours 4 minutes.

On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.
Temperature: Around 8 Celsius for most of the walk. Mx 10.5 Celsius. Min 7.7 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 4. In the main, just a Light breeze, but it did gust to a 16.1 m.p.h. Moderate breeze as we crossed the more exposed and higher sections of the walk.
Group: Martyn and Mike.
The weather forecast today was looking dry with some Sunny intervals, so we were hoping to see the partial eclipse around 11-00 (paper with a pin hole at the ready).
With think we managed to catch the partial eclipse using the pin hole in a piece of paper and catching the image on another piece of paper, but the image was very small, so maybe not!
It was in 2016 when I last did the walk, so it was almost like a new walk for both of us.
Part of the walk was along a well-preserved section of Offa’s Dyke alongside a woodland.
Distant views weren’t very clear, but we could still see the Berwyns on the skyline as we had our lunch break.
We did see more lambs today, and unusually we saw one you with two lamb, one black, one white, both suckling at the same time.
Another surprise today, was seeing the amount of storm damage along the north side of Caemor Wood.
Birds seen or heard today: House sparrow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Chiffchaff, Blue tit, European robin, Common buzzard, Great tit, Woodpigeon, Raven, Shelduck, Jackdaw, Red kite, Skylark, Greenfinch, Song thrush, Mistle thrush, Mallard, Blue tit, Great tit, Common pheasant, Eurasian curlew and Wood nuthatch
Much of the walk was on hard surfaces, tarmac or stony tracks, but it didn’t stop us from enjoying the walk.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Pant-yr-Ochain at Gresford. It was very busy, and we were asked to move from the empty table, because they wanted to lay-up the table for someone else. They said we should have booked in as we came in. We ended up sitting on bar stools at the bar. Perhaps we will have to think of a different hostelry for refreshments in the future!

Conwy and Around Conwy Mountain 26th March 2025

Conwy Castle Walls near the start of the walk.

Conwy Harbour ahead.

A  Greenshank in Conwy Harbour.

A different  form of training rowing boat used on the sea.

The second boat coming home.

One of last years cygnets, not quite in adult plumage.

A Little egret on the stream flowing into the estuary.

On the North Wales Path, heading for Conwy Mountain.

A lone Mountain pony feeding next to the North Wales Path.

The higher path leading to Caer Seion (taken from the lower North Wales Path).

Caer Seion information board next to the North Wales Path.

Caer Seion is somewhere up there!

On the North Wales Path.

My first views of the sea  from the North Wales Path near our lunch spot.

Descending from Caer Seion to our lunch spot.

The old quarry from our lunch spot.

A few more Mountain ponies on Conwy Mountain.

Conwy from bridle path we used returning to Conwy.

Another good view of Conwy Castle from bridle path we used returning to Conwy.

Distance: 5.5 miles. Climb: 912’ (1100’ for those that visited Caer Seion)
Time: 3 hours 50 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.4 m.p.h.
Temperature: Max 17.2 Celsius at the end of the walk. 16.2 Celsius in the late morning along the North Wales Path and 14.7 Celsius at lunch.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 2. In the main, hardly much wind at all, although it did gust to a 6 m.p.h. Light breeze on the North Wales Path below Caer Seion.
Group: Martyn, Nigel, Fran and Mike.
The weather forecast today was looking good, dry with hardly any wind and temperatures in high double figures. This time the forecasters got it right!
I followed the lower North Wales Path, whilst the rest of the group took the higher path over Cer Seion.
Both routes give good distant views, the North Wales Path views inland towards Allt Wen, Maen Esgob and Tal-y-Fan and the Caer Seion Route giving in addition views towards the sea and the Great Orme.
Lunch was taken by the seat that had good views towards coast, Penmaen-bach and the path descending from Caer Seion. After lunch we decided that the right option was to cut the walk short and return to the car by the shortest route – the lower bridle path / off-road track on the south side of Conwy Mountain.
A few Spring flowers were out. These included Lesser celandine, Primrose, Greater periwinkle, Green alkanet and Daffodils.
Birds seen or heard today: House sparrow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Chiffchaff, Blue tit, European robin, Black billed magpie, Common buzzard, Great tit, Woodpigeon, Raven, Shelduck, Mute swan, Greenshank, Little egret, Jackdaw, Red-billed chough, Meadow pipit, Common kestrel and Wood nuthatch
Overall, a very enjoyable walk, done at a leisurely pace.
As one member of the group wasn’t feeling too good, we decided to miss out calling in at the Albion and headed straight home.
Home early, in plenty of time to clean my boot, feed the washing meal before enjoying something to eat – beef and onion sandwiches and a cheese and onion sandwich, accompanied by a pot of tea!

Chirk, Chirk Bank, Temple Wood and Chirk Castle 19th March 2025

St. Mary's Church, Chirk.

A delightful on the way to Temple Wood.

Mike climbing over one of the fallen trees that crosse6d our path today.

The delightful path goes under a road bridge.

The way to Temple Wood.

Emerging from the tunnel in Temple Wood.

The Temple ahead.

The Temple at Weston Rhyn.

The Temple at Quinta Hall, Weston Rhyn.

The replica stonehenge was built around 1830 / 1840 by Major West of nearby Quinta Hall.

At The Temple.

Fungi feeding dead wood.

Lesser celandine on roadside bank near Pont-faen. 

Distant views of Chirk Castle.

Our lunch spot by the canal at Chirk Bank.

The riverside path, heading for the aqueduct the viaduct.

Two young lambs approach.

Lambs in the Ceiriog Valley.

The viaduct and aqueduct from the west.

Starting o clear up the fallen trees  on the path leading to the grounds of Chirk Castle.

Daffodils and Chirk Castle.

A "dead" tree still standing after the Winter storms.

A roadside bank of Primroses.

Still a lot of work o b e done on the narrow gauge railway at Chirk Station.

A nice avenue of Daffodils in the park at Chirk.

Distance: 8.75 miles. Climb: 923’
Time: 5 hours 5 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: 8 Celsius at the start. 12.2 Celsius at lunch by the canal. Max 15 Celsius in the late morning sunshine near The Temple. Celsius at the end of the walk.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 2. In the main, hardly much wind at all, although at times it just about made a Gentle breeze.
Group: Martyn, Fran and Mike.
The weather forecast today was looking good, dry with hardly any wind and temperatures in double figures.
It was very noticeable that many trees had been blown down since Ed and I did the walk in August 2024. Both Temple Wood and Chirk Castle grounds were littered with several fallen trees.
Lunch was taken by the canal at Chirk Bank, where a convenient bench in the Sun, provided two of us with a good resting place before starting on the Chirk Castle part of the walk.
This was very varied walk, with the highlight being the young lambs seen in the field below the viaduct.
A few Spring flowers were out. These included Lesser celandine, Primrose, Greater periwinkle, Wood anemone and Daffodils.
Birds seen or heard today: House sparrow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Rook, Chiffchaff, Blue tit, Coal tit, European robin, Black billed magpie, Common buzzard, Great tit, Woodpigeon, Moorhen, Mallard and Wood nuthatch
Overall, a very enjoyable walk.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Pant-yr-Ochain at Gresford. Purple Moose’s Cwrw Eryri went down well as did Titanic Brewery’s Plum Porter. Fran enjoyed her pot of tea.