Around Chirk, Including the Castle and Tunnels 20th March 2019

Emerging from the Chirk Bank Tunnel.

The woodland path on the Llwybr Maelor Way.

Plenty of water in the Afon .Ceiriog.

Chirk Castle on the skyline.

Limekilns on the roadside on the way to Pont Carog.

The Afon Ceiriog from the bridge with the paque commemorating the Battle of Crogen.

A young lamb seeking protection from its mother.

Lunch time is over - ptreparig to leaeave Chirk Castle.

Chirk Castle from the coach park.

Heading North west from Chirk Castle.

Abundant Primroses along the hedgerows.

Wynnstay Hall on the skyline.

A Mistle thrush in fields West of Plas-Offa.

Back on the towpath heading for Chirk.

Lesser celandine on the bank above the canal.

Emerging from the tunnel on the North side of Chirk.

Walk stats: Distance: 8.8 miles. Climb:710'.

Time: 4 hours 32 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Ed, David S. Wendy, Celia and Fran.

Overall this turned out to be a glorious day for walking, mainly blue skies and warm sunshine all day - Sunhats and shorts recommended.

 On arriving at Chirk, we found that the car park was already foll, so ended up parking on Station Road, probably the start point of choice whenever we do this walk again.

 On this occasion we started the walk along the canal heading South through the longest of the two Chirk tunnels, a good way to start this walk, reducing the overall climb of the walk a little.
 On the higher parts of the walk, distant views were good, Wynnstay Hall stood out prominently on the skyline and the ridge on the North side of the Ceiriog Valley looked superb against the largely blue sky.

 The Afon Ceirog was higher that usual , although at least one Dipper was seen.

 Lunch was taken at Chirk Castle,where conveniently placed tree trunks near the Coach Park provided suitable places to sit. Throughout lunch we were able to bask in the warm sunshine. Lunch was a little longer than usual, it was so pleasant just sitting in the warm sunshine and no-one showed any eagerness to set off. 

 There were plenty of Spring flowers along the hedgerows, requiring plenty of stops a and much debating a we attempted to identify them. Was that one Common bistort or Common broomrape or even Butterbur? It was in fact Butterbur.Other flowers seen included: Primrose, Lesser celandine, Daffodil, lesser periwinkle, Common daisy,Common dandelion, Green field speedwell and Common dog violet. Plenty of garlic smells as we went through woodland, bt still a little early for Ramsons to be in flower.
 Birds seen o heard today included: House sparrow, Blue tit, Great tit, Goldfinch, Rook, wood nuthatch, Common blackbird, Jackdaw, Canada goose, Greylag goose, Dipper, Mallard and Common buzzard.

 The last parrt of the walk was along the canal and involved going through the shorter of the two tunnels.

 Overall a very enjoyable walk, culminating in a well earned drink at the Pant-yr-Ochain at Gresford on the way home. Titanic Plum porter and Purple Moose Snowdonia Ale went down paticularly well.

Harris Hikers Annual Meal 13th March 2019

In Plas Power Wood.

No-one was keen to cross the Clywedog on these stepping stones/

"Where's me Mum?"

The Afon Clywedog from one of the footbridges.

Starting on the return journey from The Nant.

Time for a drinks break at Nant Mill.

An Eagle wood sculpture at Nant Mill.

Wood Sculpture in Big Wood.

Wood Sculpture in Big Wood.

One of the water falls along he Afon Clywdog through Big Wood.

Waterfall near the point where water was extracted for the leete.

Sweet violet near Bersham Iron Works.

At the Pant-yr-Ochain.

At the Pant-yr-Ochain.

Group: Martyn, Annie H., Sue and Michel, Nigel, Fran, Wendy and  Ian. Anne and David S., Sue and Dave P., Pauline and Jim, Celia, Margaret and Roger, Naomi and Mike.

  19 of us enjoyed an excellent meal at the Pant-yr-Ochain at Gresford, where once more the waitress looked after us superbly.

 A big thank you to everyone for the thank you card and contributions to the printing cost.

Eight of us went on a short walk before going to the Pant-yr-Ochain.

The Walk. 

The Clywedog Valley Between Bersham and The Nant.

Distance: 4.3 miles. Climb: (wind assisted GPS reading 978') realistically about 462'.

Time: 2 hours 15 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.7 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.

Winds gusting to over 40 m.p.h had been forecast, so we were all a little concerned. We shouldn't have worried, we were well sheltered from the wind as we walked along this quite steep sided valley. Only twice did we feel any wind, and even then it wasn't that strong.Much of the time we were in warm sunshine

 Walking through these ancient oak woodlands on both sides of the river was delightful, Plas Power Wood should be good for Bluebells later in the year

 The Afon Clywedog had lots of water coming down, and both of the ford crossing, if used would have given us wet feet. The volume water coming over the top of the waterfalls made so much noise as they crashed into the water below, that they drowned anyone trying to speak.

 We were able to have a drinks break on the return leg of the walk, where we had a choice of seats at our disposal Some were lucky enough to find chairs with back rest, others had to be grateful one one of the picnic tables.

 The final part of the walk the Big Wood/Kings Wood is delightful and along the way are wood sculptures/carvings to admire.

 Not many birds seen or heard today, those we did see included: Common blackbird, Common buzzard, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, Great tit, Winter wren and European wren.

Overall a great day, made more so by so many people being able to make it this year.

Abergele and Moelfre Isaf 9th March 2019

Looking towards the Great Orme from Pensarn Beach at the start of the walk.

the path heading to the watchtower.

The watchtower on Tower Hill from the exit gate from Coed Abergele.

That's the way back to the car, but not just yet.

The watchtower from the minor road North of Moelfre.

It was a bit breezy on Moelfre Isaf.

Made it!

The view from our lunch spot sheltering in a small quarry North of Moelfr Isaf.

Not another "Scruffy", still with us a mile after joining us at Moelfre.

Lime kilns on the North west side of Pen-y-graig.

Walk stats: Distance: 9.3 miles. Climb: Wind assisted GPS reading 2971' ( In reality about 1350'.

time 4 hours 43 minutes. On the move waking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.9 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn and Jim.

Arriving at Pensarn Beach, it nwa somewhat breezy, so much so that I had a job to open the car door to get out.

 Undaunted by this we set off, knowing that we would be battling against the wind at times, but at least there was no rain in the forecast. It was on the cool side, and  fleece and mitts were needed for comfort, but so were shades at times.

 Route finding was straight forward, except for sections being a little overgrown around one or two stiles.

 The path through Coed Abegele to the Watchtower on Tower Hill was well defined, and was OK as soon as I realised we had to take the left turn up the steps.

 after visiting Watchtower, we retraced our steps the kissing gate and the path along the North side of the wood. this path was well defined in places, but only perseverance through the overgrown sections led us to the stile that we wanted.

 Arriving at Moefre, we decided to head for the trig point on Moelfre Isaf, but nearing the top, it became so windy that we could hardly stand up.

 We didn't linger for long and rapidly descended to the small quarry by the road, where we sheltered from the wind as we had our lunch.

 After lunch, we were soon heading South across a series of fields, and in the second field, a very friendly Collie decide it wanted follow us. It seemed to know exactly were we were going, leading us to every stile and gate Some fields had sheep in, but thankfully this dog seemed happy about sheep and didn't attempt to worry them in any way. When would this dog turn back - would it turn back or would we have another "Scruffy" on our hands! 

 we were nearly back in housing on the outskirts of Abergele, when a rather stiff kissing gate prevented the dog from following us any further.

 We arrived back at the car to find that the wind hadn't subsided in any way and the Dark Sky app suggested the wind was gusting to mover 30 m.p.h.

 Overall a very enjoyable walk despite ending up with rather muddy boots thanks to following the paths on the West side of the Afon Gele.

 Birds seen or heard today included: Herring gull, Common blackbird, Blue tit, Great tit, European robin, Common pheasant, Woodpigeon, Dunnock, Mistle thrush, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Rook, House sparrow and Common chaffinch.

 Afterwalk sdrinks were enjoyed at the Blue Bell Inn at halkyn, where Lees Bitter and Purple Moose's Colan Lan brews were sampled.

Around Fron Hen, Loggerheads and the East Side of the A494 6th March 2019

Looking towards Fron Hen from the start of the walk.

Bryn Alyn from the track  around the East side of Fron Hen.

Walking through ........

Llanferress from the track  around the East side of Fron Hen.

Following this path for the first time.

Another new route for HH's walks.

Daffodils on the voadside as we approached Loggerheads.

Blossom on a trees next to Loggerheads Country Park Entrance.

The first new path after lunch new path for HH's walks.

Llanferres from the path South west of Mount Pleasant.

The car is somewhere up there!

Walk stats: Distance: 8.3 miles. Climb: 1304'.

Time: 4 hours 36 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h. (2.6 m.p.h. on my newest GPS). Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn , David S and Celia.

This turned out to be a better day for walking than we were expecting, although we were forced to put on waterproofs for about an hour. Even so it wasn't heavy rain and thankfully it wasn't as windy as the forecasts had predicted. when the Sun managed to escape from behind clouds it felt quite warm.

 This was a varied walk using paths on both sides of the A494. Distant views were good, particularly from the higher points of the walk.

 as usual the muddiest section was on the track South west of Fron Hen farm  where many sheep had trodden around feeding troughs.

 We decided to have lunch at Loggerheads Country Park Visitor Centre, where we were able to sit in the warm sunshine, taking advantage of one of the available picnic tables.

 After lunch, it wasn't long before we were faced with the main climb of the afternoon, up a path running from the A494 along the West side of he Colomendy Outdoor Centre.Grounds.

 This walk was one suggested by David S, and it included 9 sections of path and roads that I hadn't previously used on walks, and we even went past one or two more that could be included in new walk in the future.

 This was the biggest climb for some time, so most of u arrived back at the car with tired legs, thankfully still dry and looking forward to celebratory refreshments in a nearby ostelry.

 Birds seen or heard today included: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Dunnock, Blue tit, Great tit, Black-billed magpie,House sparrow, Common blackbird, Woodpigeon, Common buzzard, Winter wren, Eoropean robin and Song thrush.

  After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Druids Inn at Llanferres, where Purple Moose's Snowdonia Ale went down well, and there was even a suitable lager on offer for Celia, posh crisps too!

 This is becoming  a very pleasant hostelry, well worth supporting if you can get there earlier enough to enjoy your drink as it promptly closed at 15-00.

 Overall a good day out on a day we thought we might have to stay at home

Nelson Pit, Lyme Park and Poynton Coppice 2nd March 2019

Looking East from the Macclesfield Canal towards Cage Hill in Lyme Park.

The Macclesfield Cana South west towards Poynton.

At the Cage on Cage Hill, Lyme park.

Lyme Hall from Cage Hill.

The Boestones - Saxon Crosses.

Shutlingsloe from near the Bowestones.

The Cage from the path North of the Sponds.

The woodland link path from the Macclesfield canal to the Middlewood Way on the way to Poynton Coppice.

Walk stats: Distance: 10.3 miles. Climb: 1554'.

Time: 4 hours 44 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. (2.7 m.p.h. on my newest GPS). Overall walk average: 2.1 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn and Jim.

Unsure what sort of weather we would get, we set off hopeful that we would get back to the car before any rain started.  In the end it turned out to be just right for walking,on the cool side in the breeze, but not enough to make you want to put gloves on.It threaten rain just after lunch, but thankfully stopped before we had to put on waterproofs.

 Arriving at Lyme park, we met the crowds, Lyme Park was so busy that they had to open up their overspill car park.

 Climbing towards the Bowestones, we were lucky enough to hear several Skylarks singing, but we only managed to spot one of them.

 Later on we saw a Meadow pipit displaying its characteristic parachute descent.

 Distant views were good, especially from our highest point of the da near the Bowestones.

 We ended up having lunch on the North Cheshire Way, North west of Moorside.

  On this occasion we completed a circuit of Poynton Coppice, which at this time of the year, out a couple of miles on the walk, but didn't offer much more.

 Nevertheless this was an enjoyable walk, and somehow w had managed to avoid meeting up with any of the large number of of D of E youngster that were getting ready to set off from Nelson Pit as we arrived,

 Birds seen or heard today included: Mallard, Canada goose, Blackcap, Dunnock, Long-tailed tit, Tufted duck, Blue tit, Great tit, European robin, Black-billed magpie, Woodpigeon, Meadow pipit and Skylark.

 After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Netherton Hall, Frodsham, where the Lees Bitter was our beer of choice.