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Friday - today was going to be an easy day after yesterday's fairly hard third day! We'd had this idea when eating in the Telford Inn the night before when we'd picked up a leaflet about the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and we thought we'd enjoy a 45 minute "cruise" across the aqueduct which is often called "the stream in the sky".
When planning the day we gave consideration to the following day and felt with a gentle walk we'd be in better shape for a long stretch on Saturday especially as the weather forecast looked promising for the weekend and there was flat terrain towards and alongside the River Severn.
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| On the way back from the pub the previous evening we'd spotted the Post Office only yards from the lodging so we'd prepared an envelope home to take the map we'd finished with. So it was 10:02 when we emerged from the Post Office and walked along the A539 - the route we'd taken last night.
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When we arrived at the canal and the Ribbon Plate Boatyard we soon discovered it had closed down for the season and the sole activity centered on boat maintenance. Disappointment was rife as we walked on to the aqueduct itself. |
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It was built between 1795 - 1805 by Thomas Telford and stands on eighteen piers of local stone. the central piers over the River Dee are 126' high up to the iron work. The aqueduct forms part of the Shropshire Union Canal. |
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| The canal itself runs in an iron trough which is 1007' long, 11' 10" wide and 5' 3" deep and is the largest in Britain. The iron was supplied from foundries at Shrewsbury and water for the canal is fed from the River Dee at Horseshoe Falls at Llantysilio near Llangollen. |
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We were soon joined by a group - two groups actually! - of walkers from the Wirral doing a seven mile loop to include a stretch of the canal. No sooner had we joked and photographed the first five when along |
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the other two who were slightly "disgruntled" at missing the action. Film although precious is no object when faced with walkers armed with sticks!!
We spent a long time at the aqueduct which accounts to a greater extent for today's low average walking speed in the table later on the page.
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Coming across the canal we noticed a narrow boat so we waited for it to complete its crossing.
It had come from Chirk and was going to be dry-docked for repairs this winter. The occupants hailed from Edinburgh and the boat was called The Saucy Mrs Flobster which we felt quite unusual until Jamie Davies explained that it was named after a |
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1940 Beachcomber story about a boat so rotten that it couldn't be burned so it had to be restored.
After Sue and Jamie moved away, we'd wished we'd met them on the other side of the aqueduct: we might just have got our "cruise" if we'd asked! |
| Sightseeing now over, it was time for the walking to begin. It was a mild, fairly warm day despite the very grey skies and the canal bank walk was pleasant. |
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| The canal path is left at Irish Bridge where a road crosses over. Once up on to it one takes the first stile on the right. The lush wet grass was a change from the comparatively dry canal bank and it got to work straight away on us removing the encrusted Llandegla peat. |
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After crossing two fields we met the northernmost section of the dyke visible on the route. It was quite exciting crossing over it and then walking to the left with the dyke at one's side. This was short-lived as we came onto the busy A5 which had to be crossed. |
A couple of fields on, one comes to a lane; walking along this section we met Roger from the Isle of Wight who was staying for a few days with his brother-in-law at Trefonen. We discovered he had similar interests and had just finished walking the 100 mile South Downs Way in July. Further conversation revealed a 50 km challenge walk organised by the island's youth hostels on the first Saturday in October.
Heading across more fields it started to rain and having a stile to cross - with an "obstacle" closeby on the other side - |
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we stopped to don a coat. The animal watched our every action but then decided to concentrate on its mate so over the stile we went; we skirted these animals in a wide arc fairly hurriedly! |
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| Walking along the road to Tyn-y-Groes, passing a woodland patch across fields to our left, a gap in the trees suddenly revealed Chirk Castle. The castle is owned by the National Trust and is open to visitors during the spring and summer. |
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It was a late Marcher stronghold completed in 1310 after the defeat of the last native Prince of Wales and lived in continuously since then. The outward appearance of high sandstone walls with massive drum towers enclosing a courtyard has changed little. Inside, the castle has been restored and elegant plasterwork, furniture, tapestries and furniture will be found. There are also beautiful formal gardens.
We were not allowed to take the permissive route through the castle's grounds as it's open only from April to September. The rain had stopped and the official route was exceedingly pleasant - crossing fields, skirting woodland before dropping down to a farm at Crugen Wladys. |
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There was a polite notice on a tree requesting respect for animals in the farmyard which produced empathy on reading BUT all we found were dogs chained to kennels - one for each building it seemed! |
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| Time was 12:55. Arriving at Castle Mill we crossed the B4500 and climbed up the minor road opposite. There was a convenient wall at the cross-roads under a signpost, the design on which we hadn't met before. Here we enjoyed a twenty minute break for lunch in the brief warm sunshine. |
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We soon entered a very muddy green track after lunch and found the going difficult uphill. Coming down towards us was Brian Smith of Orchard Cottage situated farther up the hill. He was off delivering apples to a friend. He told us of his access difficulties and the legal battles still continuing after several years with neighbouring farm owners. We were walking up his only access and his Land Rover was the cause of the slippery surface! |
| The green lane petered out by heavily padlocked farm gates and we climbed a steep field (more land rover tracks) passed Orchard Cottage and came to another well renovated building called Australia Cottage. At the top of the field, time 13:37, we stopped at a stile for a breather and turning around, found an excellent view of Chirk Castle. |
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Crossing a track we climbed up onto the dyke itself and for the next ½ mile or so were on the east of a very high dyke bank suffering in places from erosion. Walking along a wide track we came to a gate with a stile adjacent to it. Having a rest on the far side of it was Philip Scriver with his dog Tess. |
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His firm English Wanderer organises walking tours / holidays and he was recceing a walk for a group of school inspectors for the following day. He was good company and we walked together for the rest of our route to the B & B. His dog was the best behaved animal we'd met - leaving sheep well alone and usually waiting to be told to jump a stile. |
| Walking to the right of the dyke in some pleasant woodland we came across a remembrance card weighted down with a couple of small stones and two small sprays of flowers covering a freshly dug patch of soil. We read the card written in fresh blue biro which refered to a male relation and replaced it. After discussing the find, Philip remarked that it would have surprised us both if the card had referred to King Offa! |
| At 15:45 we came to a stile which reminded us of how far we'd travelled on the route - announcing PRESTATYN 49 MILES on one side and CHEPSTOW 127 MILES on the other. Twenty minutes later we were at the crossroads at Carreg y Big where we bade farewell to Philip and Tess and were looking forward to a cup of tea. |
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| A warm welcome; muddy boots no problem; come straight in! Warm water, brush, dubbin to hand. Milk in fridge. Prospect of clean clothes by morning. What more could a weary pair of boots need? |
Needs checking for errors! If you find any, please tell us!
| Walk Statistics |
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| Day |
Hr |
Min |
Mins |
Miles |
Ascent |
Conversations |
Photographs |
Mins per mile |
mph |
4 |
6 |
3 |
363 |
10.0* |
1625' |
5
| 27
| 36.3 |
1.65 |
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| * Includes 0.5 m : sightseeing! |
B & B Details |
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Mrs Kay Brown, Carreg y Big, Selattyn, Oswestry, SY10 7HX
Tel: 01691 654754 |
The accommodation was excellent in the converted building on the left of the property with a "stable" door. Downstairs: bedroom - twin beds, toilet, kitchen with microwave & washing machine, drying room. Upstairs: bedrooms (2) - twin beds, bathroom, shower room, lounge, bedroom - bunk beds. Own staircase and staircase to dining room. |
B & B |
12.50 |
| Meal : Tomato Soup, Omelette, boiled potatoes, veg mixture of onions/ courgette/peppers, profiteroles and cream (coffee - self-made in own kitchen) - really excellent food!
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7.50 |
Drink : 2 cans lager (purchased with raisins and washing powder) |
1.50 |
| Packed Lunch/flask of coffee |
3.50 |
TOTAL |
£25.00 |
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© Scarpa - Page last updated 04/12/97
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