A Walk Llangollen 8" April 2023

Walk lead by Peter Hitchcock, distance 11 miles.

 Welcome to a walk with beautiful views and on a trail trodden on for hundreds of years!!  From the car park, with its 30p cash or card toilets, we strike north across the river and up steeply (no choice) past the canal café and school to the base of Castell Imus Bray.  Today, we shall not be climbing up to this ancient ruin, rather, we shall detour westwards to eventually join Offa’s Dyke path further up the valley. We stay on this famous track for nearly 4 kms towards World’s End at the end of the valley with a fantastic vista ahead of us. 

Once past Crag Arthur, we climb to the top of the ridge before returning south initially along the escarpment edge but then meandering more into the moor (there’s a word for that which I don’t know!) for a change of view and softer path.  We eventually descend down to Offa’s Dyke Path just east of the Castell but, on heading back into Llangollen, we do an “Owen Glendwr” and sneak down the southerly flank of the fortress – unseen! We enter the town walking past the canal café again but it’s only an arrow’s throw to the pub by the river.  After the recent heavy snow in the area, some of the paths are quite muddy but, more importantly, some of Offa’s trail is single-file on the side of the escarpment so, for anybody who is a bit dodgy on balance, this may not be the walk for you today. (see photo above) But we can chat before we set off.  All told, a little over 11 miles with quite a few ‘ups and downs’ but great scenery on a lovely day with great views of Snowdonia. (Yr Wyddfa to be PC!).

C Walk Llangollen 8" April 2023

Walk lead by Bill Farr, distance 6 miles, ascent 600 feet.

After refreshments the route takes us west along the canal tow path to the Motor
Museum. We then head north up a footpath that takes us into picturesque countryside
We leave this footpath and descend some steps to cross the Eglwyseg River and pass
the rather grand ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey. We continue west until we meet the
main road before taking a minor single track road that takes us south around the back
of Velvet hill, towards the River Dee

There is another short road walk to Llantysilio Parish Church where we join the
footpath back down to the River Dee at the Horseshoe Falls. Here we also see the
start of the Llangollen Canal fed by the River Dee.

We return along the tow path passing the Chainbridge Hotel, the Motor Musem and
the Royal International Pavilion and disperse into Llangollen to explore the town.

 

 

Llangollen, B walk, 8th April

Walk lead by Andrew Phillips, distance 7.5 miles, ascent 1,200 feet.

We start at the Canal wharf, cross the bridge and head up towards Castell Dinas Bran. This is the steepest part of the walk. The route circles the Castle hill and joins the Offa’s Dyke Path along the foot of the escarpment, heading north. At Ty Newydd the route turns west along a lane until it joins the Clwydian Way as far as Abbey Cottage. The route then passes to the north of the remains of Valle Crucis Abbey, passing Abbey Grange Hotel and Camp site, before turning south, towards the river and canal. We will then follow the canal tow path back to the start.  Distance 7.5 miles. Total ascent 1,200 feet. At least 50% of the walk is on paved lanes, and there are a small number of styles.

 

 

Ambleside Walk Photos

Ambleside walk photos. 11 March 2023, Brian Thorne.

 

Coniston Old Man, Wetherlam, Great Carrs and Crinkle Crags

Fairfield from Lilly Tarn

A Party above Grasmere

Ambleside, C walk, 11 March

Walk lead by Gwyn Jones, distance 5.5 miles (Approx)

A fairly easy walk to start the season.  From the coach park we walk into the town to the Esquire café before we have our refreshments etc. From there we take the road out of the town and pick up the lane which takes us to Rydal Mount. At the church yard we sit to eat our lunch before dropping down to cross the river and head towards Rydal Water.  Here we turn back on ourselves towards Ambleside -  but there will be an option to continue up to vist Rydal caves  before we do. We then ascend a short hill before we descend to pick up the road back to Ambleside.

 

 

A walk, Loughrigg, 11 March 2023

Walk lead by Brian Thorne

Approx 9.5 miles with 435 metres (1427 ft.) of climbing.

 

Towards Grasmere from Loughrigg Fell.

A circular walk from Ambleside with stunning views from every point of the compass!
Leaving Ambleside via St Mary’s Church, our route climbs sharply before levelling out at Lily Tarn. Another sharp ascent leads to the cairn on Ivy crag before the final climb to Loughrigg summit. The descent from here is quite step and broken in parts until we reach Loughrigg terrace and make our way to Rydal cave. Then it’s down to the western shore of Rydal Water and a steady return to Ambleside via Rydal Hall.

Rydal Cave.

“A” walk route.