The Horseshoe Falls from the car park.
The Horseshoe Falls.
Daffodils next to the path leading to Llantysilio Church.
Llantysilio Church and its Snowdrops. Snowdrops in churchyard.
Snowdrops.
Inside Llantysilio Church.
Mike shows the Snowdrop flower,
The path to the moorland and Pen-y-bryn.
More of the path to the moorland and Pen-y-bryn.
Distant views of Dinas Bran.
Panorama of looking towards the Eglwyseg Escarpment and Dinas Bran.
Mike retracing his steps.
Information about Eliseg's Pillar.
Eliseg's Pillar.
Eliseg's Pillar.
The Clwydian Way that leads to our lunch spot.
Our lunch spot.
The remains of Valle Crucis Abbey seen from our lunch spot.
One the first lambs seen on our walks this year.
Mike tries the new gate on the way to Dinas Bran.
A recently painted narrow boat(part of the horse drawn fleet)
A Grey heron in the canal.
A splash of Snowdrops in the wooded area between the canal and the River Dee,
Distance: 7.6 miles.
Climb: 1368’.
Time: 4 hour 47 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: 10.5 Celsius to 17.8 Celsius at lunch sitting in the Sun.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 - 3, often no wind at all, but occasionally we could feel a Light breeze and once it gusted to a Gentle breeze.
Group: Martyn, and Mike.
The weather forecast for today was looking good, good enough to tempt me to wear my shorts for the first time this year.
However, drizzle was on the forecast for the afternoon – they were right, but it was more of dampness in the air, than real drizzle.
The first surprise of the day was on arriving at the Llantysilio Green / Horseshoe Falls Car Park. The car park had been revamped, it now has a good surface and there is a good PC. It was even open!
However, the car park is no longer free to National Trust Members. It is Pay and Display for everyone £6 for all day parking.
Just for a change, we decided to complete the walk in clockwise direction, leaving the two-mile canal towpath to the end of the walk.
Llantysilio Church was the first port of call to see the Snowdrops, they were pretty good, but perhaps a week earlier they may have been better.
Doing it in reverse, we thought would be straight forward, but we still managed to miss the lower path across Peny-bryn that we wanted. This meant we climbed a little more than planned until we realised and retraced our steps. However, it did mean we had some good views that we would have missed had we taken the lower path earlier.
Arriving at the Britannia (up for sale), we decided to change the route slightly and visit Eliseg’s Pillar and join the Clwydian Way (our normal path) near Abbey Cottage.
Lunch was taken at the usual pic-nic area created by “Korsakud” and friends.
Just as we finished our lunch, the drizzle / dampness in the air started, but it was never enough to make us put on our waterproofs.
Arriving at the canal, the boats were being prepared for the tourists, with the smell of paint still evident.
Just before the Motor Museum, we noticed a pink door in the hedge, it turned out that it was the entrance to a new canalside café. It wasn’t open today!
Birds seen or heard today included: European robin, Common blackbird, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Raven, Wood nuthatch, Common pheasant, House sparrow, Woodpigeon, Black billed magpie, Mallard, Dunnock, Common buzzard, Song thrush, Mistle thrush, Blue tit, Great tit and Grey heron.
Overall, an enjoyable walk, and one we thought seemed easier going in the clockwise direction.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Sun at Trevor, where Mike sampled Purle Moose’s Madog and I had an excellent pot of tea that came with another pot of hot water. I only just managed to drink it all! Once again, home in time to clean my boots outside before the light faded.
Two tracks on the moors that need exploring.
Tormentil in flower on the moors. 
