Cilcain, Moel Ffrith, Moel Famau, Moel Dywyll and Moel Llys-coed 28th March 2018

All times on photos are GMT - forgot to change the time on my camera!

Lambs in the opposite our start point.

Looking over Fron towards Moel Famau from our start point.

View of Moel amau from the edge of Cilcain.

Primrose flowering by the track we shouldn't have been on.

Decision time Moel Famau or a muddy path?

Moel Famau won - this is our lunch spot.

Attempting the bag technique - and it worked!

On Offa's Dyke Footpath heading for Moel Llys-y-coed.

The normal descent of Moel Llys-y-coed till filled by a snow drift.

Is this the final view of Moel Famau just before getting back to the cars?

The last View of Moel Famau from our start taken at 18-25 BST.

Walk stats: Distance: 8.4 miles, (9.5 miles for me), Climb: 1884'.
Time: 5 house 4 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.1 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
On the move walking average on my newest GPS : 2.5 m.p.h. (after lunch only).
Group: Martyn, Sue Pelissier, Mike, Jim, LeRoi and Mal.
 If you believed the weather forecast given on Tuesday, you would have stayed at home. Thankfully six of us didn't and enjoyed a really good walk in what you could say was variable weather conditions including warm sunshine, hail, snow, drizzle, but very little wind. Most of the walk was completed without any precipitation falling.
 Our only problem was a farmer and son who were a little stroppy when we went up the track to the farm when we missed the sign for the footpath.
 Arriving at Moel Famau, we sheltered on the South side while we had our lunch as it had just started to snow.
 As we headed along the Offa's Dyke Footpath towards Moel Arthur, the Vale of Clwyd was bathed in sunshine - this was probably our best views of the day, although w did get good views of Moel Arthur as we descended Moel Llys-y-coed.
 We arrived back at the cars, having had a good walk and feeling better for it.
 Birds seen or heard today included: Common chaffinch, Great tit, Raven, Jackdaw, Rook, Common pheasant, Carrion crow, Black-billed magpie and Common buzzard.
 After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where the Lees Bitter tasted particularly good, one dissenter had a Guinness and the Latte coffee looked good.
 Arriving home, I found that I had lost one of my gloves, not one three really and decided to return to the start to see if I could find it. It wasn't there, so I decided to walk up the road as far as the riding farm, as I remembered stopping a couple of times. It wasn't at the spot where I took the last view of Moel Famau, but it was where I had stopped just before. A time to rejoice over not one lost glove being found, but three!  The moral of the story is to always check your pockets after investigating a happy bush!

Wem, Grinshill, Clive and tilley 24th March 2018

The first of the Yellowhammers seen today.

On one of the better field paths.

The second sighting of Yellowhammers.

Standing on the corner waiting for ....

The entrance to Clive.

View from our lunch spot in Corbet Wood on Grinshill Hill

Our lunch spot.

At the toposcope on The Cliff, Grinshill Hill.

At the trig point on The Cliff, Grinshill Hill.

On The Cliff, Grinshill Hill.

The parish church at Clive.

Never miss an opportunity!

The Manor at Tilley.

Walk stats: Distance: 9.3 miles. Climb: 489'.

Time: 5 hours 8 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. (2.7 m.p.h. on the newest GPS). Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Mike sand Celia.

Weather wise this was a good day for walking, pleasantly warm at times, no rain and a little sunshine.

 Crossing farm fields is never that exciting, but at least today we had the delight of seeing and hearing Yellowhammers and Skylarks. This is the first time that I have seen Yellowhammers for quite some time.

 We arrived at Clive just about at mid-day, and headed for Corbet Wood where we noticed a picnic site was located on the OS map.

 This turned pout to be a good choice where four large stones made perfect perches as we had lunch, at the same time enjoying views through the trees to the village of Grinshill below.

 After lunch we set off downhill on a path that took us through the old quarry, an interesting place to explore had we the time to do so.

 At Clive we visited the local parish church, where one of the local parishioners gave us a brief history of the church and its links with the Bibby family as well as telling us about recent restorations that had been made.

 Our afternoon trek started well, but soon turned to a trudge across a very muddy-clay field, that did very well at sticking to our boots.

 This dampened our enthusiasm a little and we completed the walk by opting for a longer stretch on the B5476, but including walking through the delightful village of Tilley with its many old black and white timbered buildings. Tilley was a bonus that had we kept to the planned walk we would have missed completely.

 Birds seen or heard today included: House sparrow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Collared dove, Blue tit, Great tit, European robin, Common blackbird, Great spotted woodpecker, Wood nuthatch, Goldfinch, Common buzzard, Common pheasant, Skylark, Mallard, Bullfinch, Winter wren and Yellowhammer.

 This had been a low level walk that had challenged our leg muscles more than we expected - possible a dry Summer day after a period of no rain would have made our experience of certain places a little better.

 After wealk drinks were enjoyed at the Horse and Jockey at Grindley Brook, where Weetwood's Cheshire cat and Ruddles Best were two of the beers sampled from the six that were on offer.

 Believe or not we were even home in time to watch the Boat Race if we so wished!

Hawarden and its Environs 21st March 2018

On the path near Hawarden Golf Course.

Looking towards the Cheshire Plain from the Stoney Hill Footbridge over the A55.

Daffodils on the North side of the Old Warren Road.

Looking over Airbus from Cherry Orchard Road.

At least they knew we were coming!

Beluga approaching over Blacon.

Beluga landed at Hawarden Airport.

First glimpses of the old Hawarden  Castle.

Lunch in the woods in Hawarden Park.

Lunch over, time for the extension!

The gate into Hawarden Park.

The tower of the Old Hawarden Castle.

Celandine in flower.

Is one of these trees St. Deiniol's Ash? 

Apparently not - it was a house!

Walk stats: Distance: 9.3 miles. Climb: 820'.

Time: 4 hours 45 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h. (2.7 m.p.h. on my newest GPS). Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Jim, Mal, Ed, Mike, Celia, Wendy and David S.

This turned out to be a good day for walking, pleasantly warm when we were in the sunshine, but rather cool when the Sun disappeared behind the clouds. Thankfully that didn't happen often.This was a day when flowering Daffodils  seemed to be the dominant flower on show, but there were good banks of Celandine too.

 Our route didn't take us to any great height, but we did get some good views from Cherry Orchard Road, especially towards the Cheshire Plain and the Airbus Factory.

 We were lucky to see the Beluga 4 as it came into land at Hawarden Airport.

 Lunch was taken in the woods in Harwarden Park, just before the old corn mill, where fallen trees made suitable perches.

 After lunch we set off on the extension part of the walk and did a short loop in the grounds of Hawarden Park, taking us a little nearer to the site of the old Castle.

 It was in these grounds that we lucky enough to see a Green woodpecker, the first that I have seen for some time.

 The rest of the extension was somewhat contrived, bu at least it did exercise our legs for a little longer, and surprisingly it wasn't as muddy as I expected it to be.

 The last part of our walk went close to St. Deinliol's Ash, but I don't think we saw it or even knew what we were looking for!

 The last climb of the day was up the steep path through the church yard at Hawarden and on past the Old Gladstone Library and back to the start.

 Birds seen or heard today included: House sparrow, Black-billed magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Wood nuthatch, Common pheasant, Common buzzard, Common blackbird, Great tit, Mallard, Canada goose and Woodpigeon.

 After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Fox and Grapes in Hawarden, where Weetwoods Cheshire Cat was sampled by most of us, although Ringwood's Razor Back had some takers.

A Different Limestone, Lead and More 14th March 2018

The Othr-y-foel lime kiln, South of Moel y Gaer Hill fort.

Moel Fammau, just in cloud.

Lunch time, West of Pant-y-pwll quarry.

Moel-y-gaer Hill Fort South of Pant-y-pwll quarry.

On a path that we didn't expect to be on, trying to get back on track!

Lime klns on the West side of Bryn Mawr Quarry - nearly back on track.

A new name for the Bryn Mawr Quarry.

At the trig point on Halkyn Mountain.

Heading for the twin masts at Catch.

Nearly there - well not really!

Walk stats: Distance: 10.7 miles. Climb: 2048' wind assisted on the GPS but in reality nearer to 1000'.

Time: 5 hours 29 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. (New GPS gave on the move walking average  + 2.7 m.p.h.) Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Ed, Celia, Fran and Mike.

Arriving at the start it didn't take us long to realise that the feel like temperature was going to be just above zero and we set off with hats, gloves worn by everyone. Thankfully it did didn't rain, and on much of the walk we were shielded from the cold wind.

 Views today weren't that clear, with low cloud lying over Moel Famau and the Clwydian Hills.

 In the morning route finding was OK and we arrived at our lunch spot just after mid-day, finding a suitable bank on which to sit on the West side of Pant-y-pwll quarry.

 Our route finding/map reading skills went down hill after lunch and we strayed of course and ended up on the North west side of the Bryn Mawr Quarry that resulted in the walk being extended by nearly 2 miles.

 As we approached the lime kilns near the Bryn-mawr quarry, we met a guy looking for his drone that the strong wind had blown it off course and out of his control. unfortunately we couldn't help him - our eyes hadn't been lifted to the skies for some time as we quickened our pace to get back on track.

 As we climbed to the trig point on Halkyn Mountain, better views came into view, particularly across the Dee estuary.

  We arrived back at the car, feeling pretty tired, but in a way pleased that we had completed a walk of nearly eleven miles for the first time in 2018. An enjoyable walk for some, dull by others, but tolerated as being good exercise out in the fresh air and at least it didn't rain!

 Birds seen or heard today included: House sparrow, Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Common buzzard, Blue tit, Dunnock, Great tit, Meadow pipit, Sparrowhawk, Black-billed magpie, Redwing and Fieldfare. 

After walk drinks were enjoyed at the recently well refurbished Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where the Lees bitter was back to its usual best and went some way to reviving most of the weary ramblers present.

Llantysilio Green and around Barber hill and the Vivod Estate 7th March 2018

The Horseshoe Falls from the Llantysilio Green Car Park.

The Horseshoe Falls and the River Dee.

Taken from the Llantysilio Green Car Park path to the Llantysilio Green parish church.

Llantysilio Green parish church.

Snowdrops in the grounds around Llantysilio Green parish church.

The start of the steady climb through the trees out of Llangollen 

On the snowy path through Cae-Madog Wood.

Not one of our best lunch spots, but at least we would be in the Sun, if it decided to  escape from behind the clouds.

Looking North east over Ty Newydd towards the Llantysilio Mountains, Rhuabon Mountain and The Eglwyseg Escarpments.

Time for a rest, but some claimed they were just admiring the view towards the Eglwyseg Escarpments.

Castel Dinas Bran from the seat near Bryniau-mawr.

The Chain Bridge Hotel from Berwyn Halt Station.

Looking towards Llangollen from the middle of the Chain Bridge.

Walk stats: Distance: 7.9 miles (8.4 miles on newest GPS). Climb: 1241'.

Time: 4 hours 35 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Ed, Mike, Celia and David S.

 This turned out to be a glorious day for walking and we set off in warm sunshine. Thankfully I had decided to leave my jacket in my rucksack -  others discarded layers on route. We experienced very little of the cooling wind that had been forecast and little more than a few spots of rain towards the end.

 We did encounter a little snow on the path through Cae-Madog Wood and the track near Bryniau-bch and Bryniau-mawr.

 Our main objective was to visit Llantysilio Green Parish Church, hoping that the Snowdrops would still be flowering  - they were, but past their best according to the "experts"!

 After emerging from Cae-Madog Wood, most of the group rebelled and refused to take the snow covered path heading South east towards the North Berwyn Way. This meant a trek up the road in search of a different lunch spot as the one I had planned was on a section of the North Berwyn Way.

 as a last resort we ended up having lunch on the road junction before heading downhill towards the Vivod Estate. Three found tree stumps to sit on, one found a convenient stone and two just sat on the bank. Not the best location, but at least we were in the Sunshine and had a decent view, It was a bit breezy at this the highest point on the walk, so it was necessary to put on jackets again.

 As ever when descending the road towards the Vivod Estate, we had superb views across the Dee Valley to the hills beyond.

 We arrived back at the cars, quite tired, with legs complaining that they weren't used to 1200' climb!

 Birds seen or heard today included: Blue tit, Great tit, Dunnock, Mallard, Grey wagtail, Black-headed gull, Common pheasant, Woodpigeon, Wood nuthath,, Jackdaw, Common starling, Black-billed magpie and Mandarin duck.

 After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Chain Bridge Hotel, where brews from Stonehouse Brewery were sampled (Sundander and Station Bitter).

 after ordering our drinks Mke decided that we needed more fresh air, so we sat outside, still in sunshine, but not entirely convinced that we had made the right decision to agree with him. It was as  we sat outside overlooking the river that David spotted two ducks on the water - these turned out to be a pair Mandarin ducks, I suppose this made it worthwhile sitting outside, spotting the two coach diesel train pass through Berwyn Halt on its way to Corwen certainly didn't!