Rhosesmor Sychdyn and Northop 10th January 2018

looking towards the Dee Estuary as we leave Rhosesmor.

Moel Famau from West of Cefn-eurrgain.

Heading for Ram Wood,

Moel Famau above Coed Bryn-eithin - still on track, but not for much longer!

How bright is that Sun?

Enjoying lunch.

Approaching Northop across the golf course.

Walk stats: 8.9 miles. Climb: 590'.

Time; 5 hours 2 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, David S., Celia, Ed, Paul and Scrumble.

This turned out to be a glorious day for walking, warm and sunny all day. I suppose our only complaint would be the fact that the Sun seemed to be directly in our eyes for much of the walk. I suppose I should be grateful for being able to walk in a short sleeved shirt at the beginning of January.

 Some of our views today were quite stunning, particularly towards the Dee estuary and to some extent towards Moel Famau.

 It must be our age, but every walk we seemed to stray off course at least once, but today we did it twice.

 The first time we should have headed South east through Coed Bryn-eithin, but ended contouring in a more Easterly direction, but strictly speaking not on a path and ended up passing just below Sarn Galed.  We then crossed a very boggy area supposedly on a path, and picked up our route again at Quarry Farm.

 All went well for the next few miles, eventually taking us through Sychdyn to a path running between Soughton Hall and Northop Country Park golf Club.

 It was along this path that we found a fallen tree that had been cut into smaller sections to clear the path, Luckily these smaller sections of tree trunk provided suitable perches for us to enjoy lunch in the Sunshine.

 Just after The Green, one man and his dog left the rest of to return to the start along the country lanes, while the rest of us decided to follow the described walk, but alas didn't so very well! Alas we soon picked up a track made from concrete blocks and followed all the way to the road and Wat's Dyke Way, but that was our mistake, we shouldn't have headed up the field in a South west direction and not followed the Eastern fence line as we did! This again was not on a right of way, but at least it was a path and easy going.

 We arrived back at the car, having had a very pleasant walk, but a little surprised that the climb was only 590', it seemed much more!

 Birds seen or heard today included: House sparrow, Woodpigeon, Black-billed magpie, Common pheasant, Rook, Jackdaw, Raven, Carrion crow, Black-headed gull, Common buzzard and Blue tit.

 As the Brit was closed for renovations and the Blue Bell wasn't yet open , we ended up at the Fox and Grapes in Harwarden for refreshments. Three real ales to choose from, but none very inspiring, but at least Celia had her sort of lager to enjoy! Unfortunately this meant that Ed missed out as he needed to head in the opposite direction. Normal service should resume in the middle of February.

A Llanddulas Adventure - Not to be Repeated 6th January 2018

Craig y Forwyn from the Afon Dulas Valley.

Pen-y-corddyn-mawr  from the Afon Dulas Valley.

Ed using secateurs to make it possible to cross the style.

Barbed wire tares on jacket east to see.

The other side of the stile wasn't too good either!

Limestone escarpments to the South east of Llysfaen.

Panorama of the skyline to the South east of Llysfaen.

A Berwyn sheep South of Craig y Forwyn.

Llanddulas and Irish Sea - not much further to go.

The delightful North Wales Path along the East flank og Craig y- Forwyn.

Looking East towards Rhyd-y-foel and Cefn yr Ogof.

St Cynbryd's Church Llanddulas.

Celtic Cross St Cynbryd's Churchyard, Llanddulas.

Walk stats: Distance: 7.8 miles. Climb: 1455'.

Time; 5 hours 32 minutes. On the move walking average: 1.9 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.4 m.p.h.

I arrive quite early at the coastal parking area at Llanddulas to find a few birders looking for a Glaucous gull that had been spotted feeding on the carcass of a porpoise. I didn't spot it, but did manage to see a Common scoter out at sea.

  The weather was pretty good and never reached the low feel like 0 Celsius some forecasts had given. Even the North easterly winds weren't a cold or strong as we were expecting. 

 all was going well until we followed the wrong footpath and ended up on the Isallt Road heading for Llysfaen.

 This was the start of our morning MUD Challenge that has made this walk, a walk never to be repeated, at least the part around Cefn-Fran Farm. We had problems finding the way through the farm last time, it was even worse this time! We were directed around the East side of the farm building, only to be forced through six inch deep claggy mud that we tried to avoid by going close to the perimeter. Unfortunately Ed slipped and ripped his jacket on the  barbed wire. Se eventually ot back on track following the line of the path as shown on the OS Map, but as in the past we couldn't find a way of crossing the fence to the path that we could see beyond. We overcame this by using a nearby gate and eventually arrived at the stile leading onto the road. Once again secateurs were needed to cut away some of the Holly encroaching over the stile, before we managed still with a little difficulty to get over the stile and onto the luxury of the tarmac.

 Even though I reported the lack of footpath signs around the Cefn-Fran Farm and the difficulties presented, nothing has been done. This is an experience that I do not  want to go through ever again.  As far as I am concerned Cefn-Fran farm, Dolwen  will for ever be a "NO GO AREA".

 Cleaning boots when I got home took twice as long as usual, but it was a job that couldn't be left to the next day, removing the claggy mud. was hard enough without letting it set.

 Having escaped from the disaster area around Cefn-Fran, things started to get better, it was time to look for a suitable place to stop for lunch. We soon found a fallen tree that we could sit on as we had lunch, looking South, happy to know that we would never have to go on those paths around Cefn-Fran ever again. 

 After lunch we set off with Llysfaen  ahead of us and with good views of the Limestone escarpments to the South east of Llysfaen that the North Wales Path followed.  We would then be on good paths that we knew, all the way back to Llanddulas. This we did - we were able to enjoy the rest of the walk without having to think about claggy mud. Different thought now - how many times will we have to wash our walking trousers to get them clean! The answer - at least two maybe three times!

 Birds seen or heard today included: Common scoter, Great cormorant, Herring gull, Blue tit, Common blackbird, Mistle thrush, Carrion crow, Raven and Common buzzard.

 Arriving back at the car, thankful that our Llanddulas Adventure was over - time to look for as suitable hostelry to celebrate. In my case, the Blue bell Inn at Halkyn, where I called in for a take away of real cider. I should sleep well tonight!

A Frodsham Round 3rd January 2018

St Laurence's Church, Frodsham.

At the Memorial on Frodsham Hill.

There's always someone looking for a rest!

Looking over Frodsham toward the Weaver and Mersey.

On the sandstone Trail across Frodsham Hill.

On the sandstone Trail across Frodsham Hill.

Spot the raindrops on the camera lens.

Expecting rain soon.

Crow Mere.

We can see the Weaver and Mersey Estuaries.

Liverpool across the Mersey.

Walk stats: Distance: 9.2 miles. Climb: (GPS 2270' wind assisted reading) nearer 1100' in reality.

Time; 5 hours 16 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Phil and Jim.

This was the first of our weekly Wednesday walks, and only four of us braved the windy conditions. We started with the climb to the Memorial on Frodsham Hill, where picked up the Sandstone Trail. This was probably the best section of the walk, despite the muddy condition of the path. In fact we didn't get away from the mud until we reached the Manley Road after lunch.

 Lunch was taken along the Sandstone Trail, just after passing Snidley Moor Wood at a spot sheltered from the wind and unbelievably in Sunshine. We even had a fallen tree trunk to sit on.

 The worst of the mud was to come after lunch on a path that headed Eastward past The Royalty to the Manley Road.

 After our earlier mud experiences, we were reluctant to take any path that crossed muddy fields and ended up following minor roads until we picked up a footpath at the end of the road going West from Crow Mere.

 This path led to Beacon Hill where we followed a path labelled NCW and The Delamere Way until it came out on a road that led to St. Laurence's Church with less than a mile to go to the cars.

 We didn't see many birds today, but those we did included: Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Herring gull, Woodpigeon, Great tit, Blue tit and House sparrow.

 Overall an enjoyable walk, especially in the morning, with a little too much road walking in the afternoon, but on this occasion it was probably for the best. after saying goodbye to Phil and Jean, we all headed home. I celebrated our first Wednesday Walk at home with a cup tea with a drop of whisky in it of course!

West Kirby and Grange Hill 1st January 2018

Hilbre Island from Grange Hill.

Looking towards the Dee Estuary from Grange Hill

Looking towards Leasowe Lighthouse from Grange Hill.

emerging from the middle path through the sand dunes South of Red Rocks.

Walk stats: Distance: 5.6 miles. Climb: 347'.

Time: 2 hours 47 minutes. On the moe walking average: 2.6 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.1 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Phil, Celia, Sue and Dave P.

Despite the late start, I was up early so that I could cut the whole fruit cake into appropriate sized pieces. So few people were turned up for the walk that I still have enough pieces to bring on each walk for the rest of the month.

 Arriving at the Marine Lake at West Kirby, it was obvious that we couldn't go around the lake at the start of the walk, so we decided to complete the walk by heading for Grange hill first, leaving the Marine Lake to last.

 All dressed for Winter walking as we set off, soon thinking we had got the dress code wrong. Warm sunshine and no wind brought a few beads of sweat on at least one person's brow.

 The views from Grange hill were superb, particularly towards the Dee Estuary and Mersey Estuary.

  After descending Grange hill, Sue's injured heal was playing up, so three of the group had an early exit from the walk.

We changed the walk slightly by following the footpath alongside the public golf course all the way to Hoylake station, missing out the trek in front of the club house at the Royal Liverpool Golf Course.

 We decided that Red Rocks would be a good place to stop for lunch, but were met by a cool breeze, forcing us to try to find a place with a little shelter. We found this along the middle path through the sand dunes, It was only the grassy slope of the dunes that we sat on, but at least the dunes shielded us from most of the wind and the Sun was still shining.

 Just after lunch, clouds mustered and before long it was raining, not a lot, but enough to be a little annoying.

 Thankfully as we went round the Marine Lake the wind and rain was more on our back/side and with only a few hundred yards left before arriving back at the cars, the rain stopped and the Sun was shining. 

 I don't think I have seen so many people on a walk as we saw today, and most of them had at last one dog!

 Birds seen or heard today included: Great crested grebe, Dunlin, Turnstone, Common redshank, Eurasian curlew, Oystercatcher and Common blackbird.

 Overall a very pleasant and enjoya ble walk, and we definitely had the best of the day weather-wise!

 After walk drinks were enjoyed when we got home - on this occasion just a cup of tea!

Walks and Dates December 2017

Happy Christmas Everyone

Advanced Notice
Change of Walk Day.
I have decide that starting in January 2018,
I will be switching the mid-week walk day 
from 
Thursday to Wednesday.
The reason for changing the day is to give my knees an extra day to recover before the Saturday walk.
It also means that our Annual Meal will also be switched to the Wednesday.
Advanced notice.
Harris Hikers Annual Meal 2018.
Probable Venue: The Red Fox, Thornton Hough. 
This is another Brunning and Price hostelry.
Date: Wednesday 7th February 2018.
I haven't approached the Red Fox yet, and won't do so until early in January 2018, so if you prefer another venue, I am open to suggestions.

I will contact everyone by e-mail in December to check how many are interested in joining us for the meal.
Saturday 2nd December 2017.
Postponed.

Pincyn Llys from Bontuchel.
This walk will now replace the Gwydir Forest walk originally planned for the 9th December.

Walk stats: Distance: 8.9 miles. Climb: 2187'.
Start Forest Car Park near Bontuchel Grid ref: SJ08165708.
To get to the car park at Ruthin follow the through route and at the rugby club roundabout take the B5105 road towards Llanfwrog. Just after passing the church and the narrow bend in the road, take the right turn signposted to Bontuchel and Cyffylliog. At Bontuchel turn left immediately after crossing the bridge over the river. Follow the road uphill. The Forest car park in about half a mile up the road on the left.
This walk is taken from Dave Berry's book "Walks Around Hiraethog Moors and Lakes." However his walk starts at Cyffylliog, but parking there isn't easy. Starting from Bontuchel allows to get round that problem, but does involve walking along a about a mile to link in with the described walk. The walk explores the undulating upland pastures and forest between Cyffylliog and Clocaenog as well as following open side valleys and forest around Pincyn Llys.
 This has always been a favourite walk for the group, but I do like to include it now and again. It is four years since we last did this walk.

Thursday 7th December 2017.

St. Cwyfan's Trail and More.

Distance: 9-10 miles. The main part of the walk is taken from Dave Berry's book "Walks in the Clwydian Hills
Start: Roadside parking in Llandyrnog on the Llangynhafal road (Gladstone Terrace) . Park on the wider part of the road after Nant Glyd. Grid ref: SJ109650.
Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.
The main part of the walk is taken from Dave Berry's book "Walks in the Clwydian Hills" and the extension is around the lower slopes of  Penycoddiau along the Clwydian Way.
It is described as a delightful walk in the countryside North of Llandyrnog and visits the smallest church in the Vale of Clwyd.

Saturday 9th December 2017.
Pincyn Llys from Bontuchel. 
Postponed - Billy no mates again!
See 2nd December 2017 for details.
Gwydir Forest From Llanwrst. Cancelled.

Distance: 9 miles. Climb: 1200'.
Start: Llanrwst car park, behind library and PC. Grid ref: SH796616.
Leave Chester at 08-30 a.m.
This walk is taken from Carl Roger's book "Walking in the Conwy Valley. It is described as a moderately strenuous walk with some sustained ascents, mainly on good forest tracks. it explores the Eastern section of Gwydir Forest with its numerous lakes.

Thursday 14th December 2017.

Burton and Parkgate.

Distance: 8-10 miles. Climb: 500'.

Start: Roadside parking on Denhall Lane next to benches overlooking the marshes. Grid ref: SJ301747.

Leave Chester 9-00 a.m.

The Burton circuit is taken from Jen Darling's book "Walks in West Cheshire and the Wirral". This walk is just 5 miles, but we will extend it. Last time we did this walk trying to find the exact path through Burton Wood to Mill Lane proved to be a challenge, it may be this time too!  
 The extension will involve some road walking through Neston to link up with the Wirral Way and onto Parkgate. The return route will use coastal paths as much as possible and pass Neston Old Quay and Denhall Quay on the way back to Denhall Lane.
There is an option to miss out Parkgate and shorten the walk by about 2 miles and the climb by about 100'.
The 27' / 8.2 m high tide is around  08-15, so we shouldn't have any problem using the coastal path as long as it isn't flooded for other reasons.
 It is possible that we may see Marsh harriers and Hen harriers hunting over the marsh, soit may be worthwhile bringing binoculars with you.

Saturday 16th December 2017.

Deganwy Castle and the Great Orme. 
Postponed.

Distance:10 miles; Climb:1900'.

Start:Roadside parking near the Public Conveniences on the West shore of Llandudno. Grid ref:SH773819.

Leave Chester 9-00 a.m.

The main walk today is the Deganwy Castle walk taken from Dave Berry's book "Walks on the North Wales Coast". Sections of this walk have been known to be muddy in the past.

The extension to the walk , after returning to the car, will involve most of the circuit of the limestone plateau on the Great Orme, including a visit to the trig point and descent via the Monks' path to the toll road. There are plenty of options to shorten the walk if required.

Thursday 21st December 2017. 
The original walk has been changed. 
The New Walk is described below

Ysceifiog-Caerwys and More.
This will be our last walk on a Thursday before our switch to a Wednesday.
Last we sampled the fruit cake that I made a couple of months ago, but there is still enough left, so I will be bringing some again this week. 
Make sure you let me know that you are coming so that I know how many pieces of cake to bring.

Distance: 8 miles. Climb: 1500'.

Start: Ysceifiog, park adjacent to the children's play area. Grid ref: SJ152715.

Leave Chester 9-00 a.m.

  in view of the considerable amount of rain/snow we have had recently, I have decided to change the walk as in the past we have found the original walk to be very muddy where cattle have been grazing.
 This new walk is based on a walk taken from the Liverpool daily Post around 1955 and is described as a ramble exploring woodland scenery, sylvan paths and pretty lanes. Our walk start at the tranquil village of Ysceifiog and heads for the interesting small town of Caerwys.
 The described walk is linear a it assumes that people are using buses, so we will complete the walk by exploring paths and lanes on the South side of A541.
 Much of this walk attempts to avoid the mud, by using quite lanes, but if we feel we the urge to slip and slide across muddy fields there are plenty of opportunities if we so wish!

Saturday 23rd December 2017.

No walk.

A Ysceifiog Round 21st December 2017

Our first encounter with Ysceifiog mud!

Local residents checking that we leaving their field.

Where is the footbridge? It's there somewhere!

The view from my lunch spot!

The village of Ysceifiog seems a long way off.

Moel y Parc from a bridleway South west of Ysceifiog.

Walk stats: Distance: 6.4 miles.Climb: 1083'.

Time: 4 hours 27 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.0 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.4 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Roger, Jim and Mal.

The weather today was unseasonably warm, with temperatures in the low teens Celsius. Overcast and with little wind to cool us, my glasses frequently steamed up.

 Although the walk had been changed to try to avoid known muddy sections, it wasn't long before we encountered the worst of the mud as we entered a field after crossing a footbridge at the East end of Ysceifiog Lake.

  The next part of the walk was along a pleasant path on the West side of Ysceifiog Lake to a road that went past Ddol Nature Reserve.

 We decided to take a short cut along a wooded path to the Caerwys road, unfortunately this path didn't quite go to the road and ended at farm building. This was pointed out to us by the landowner, who still kindly allowed us to continue rather than forcing us to retrace our steps.

 On arriving at the B5122 Caerwys road, we soon realised that this was a much busier road than the 1955 walk description suggested.  We decided to miss out the climb to Caerwys and instead headed South towards Afonwen. It was our intention to extend the walk on the South side of the A541 to compensate.

 This we did by following a path that took around the South side of Bryn yr Eithin to link up with our planned route near a footbridge over the Afon Disgynfa.

 By now it was lunch time, but as yet we hadn't come across a suitable place to stop, so we plodded on up hill again and decided that  the grass verge near Plas Gwyn was the best we would get. Thankfully as we ate our lunch no vehicles went past us on this narrow road.

 After lunch we decided not to explore the Waen-dymarch path and instead to stick to the road to the Sarn fisheries. 

 We did manage to explore two bridleways that we hadn't used before that led to the Ddol-Yscefiog road.

 We arrived back at the car a little earlier than expected but still with legs letting us know that a reasonable amount of climb had been involved.

 Birds seen or heard today included: Carrion crow, Mallard, Tufted duck, Coot, European robin, Treecreeper, Great tit, Long-tailed tit, Black-billed magpie, Common starling and Sparrowhawk.

 As this was the last walk planned for a Thursday, it was thought appropriate to go to the Britannia Inn at Pentre Halkyn for after walk drinks as this was the hostelry that we visited after our first Thursday walk in Autumn 2005.

 As ever, the Lees bitter was excellent.

 We can look forward to visiting the Britannia Inn again in mid February after scheduled refurbishment starting in early 2018.

Burton and More 14th December 2017

St. Nicholas' Church, Burton.

On the path through Burton Wood.

Are we still on the right path through Burton Wood.

Moel Famau from the Burton to Neston Road.

Looking across the Dee estuary towards the Clwydian Hills from the Burton to Neston Road.

Lost sheep?

The Sandstone track leading to the Wirral Way.

A delightful new lunch area on the Wirral Way East of the Neston Cutting.

On the Dee estuary path from the Old Quay heading towards the Harp Inn.

The Harp Inn - chosen location for after walk refreshments.

Walk stats: Distance: 8.0 miles. Climb: 414'.

Time: 3 hours 58 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.0 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Sue and Michel, Mal, Jim and David S.

Today looked like being a good day for walking, although we were expecting it to feel pretty cold with strong cold winds gusting in. Once again, we were lucky with plenty of warm sunshine and only the occasional cool breeze to keep us cool.

 In the past we have always been unsure about which path to take through Burton Wood, but today we had success and kept to the described route throughout.

 As on previous walks, Mill Lane from Ness proved to be busy with traffic, but all vehicles slowed as the passed us.

 The second bonus today was finding a new area of seats made out parts of tree trunks arranged in a circle around a large piece with a carved bear on one side. This was a perfect lunch spot and being in the warm sunshine was another bonus.

  This was the last walk before Christmas for some of the group, so the traditional fortified fruit cake was provided.

 The muddiest part of the walk was dropping down from the Wirral Way to the Old Quay where the access to one of the gates was surrounded by water that looked too deep for our boots, we had to climb over the nearby fence with two horses looking on.

 Sections along the estuary were a little waterlogged, but nothing that we couldn't cope with. As we passed the Harp Inn, we noticed that its new opening hours were Noon to 11-00 p.m. each day, so we decided to return later for our after walk refreshments.

 We arrived back at the car, having had a really enjoyable walk, missing out on all the bad bits that had been in most forecasts for the area.

 Birds seen or heard today included: Woodpigeon, Common buzzard, Little egret, Black-billed magpie, House sparrow, Eurasian curlew, Common blackbird, Goldfinch, Carrion crow, Common chaffinch, Fieldfare, European robin, common kestrel, Lapwing, Grey heron, Teal and Black-headed gull.

 On returning to the Harp Inn at Ness, one side (the one with a roaring fire) was too full, but thankfully there was room for us in the other room. Holts' Bitter was the beer of choice, but Mulled wine with a mince pie went down particularly well. Two types of coffee were sampled too.