An excellent and hilly walk through the the Clwydian Range from Clwyd Gate above Ruthin to Bodfari.

Date walked: 1st April 2022

Distance:  11.5 miles

Maps used:  OS Explorer  264: Vale of Clwyd (downloaded onto my phone)

Guide used: Walking Offa’s Dyke Path by Mike Dunn published by Cicerone in 2016

***********

It would be difficult to surpass yesterdays walk but todays trek was going to continue within the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB so we were expecting some great views. Ian The Baggage turned up on time to whisk us back up to Clwyd Gate and before 9am we were on the path and climbing a wide track towards Moel-eithinen Farm.

Moel Eithinen was the name of the hill to our left; its lower slopes being grazed by contented sheep in the early morning sun.

It was a lovely morning but still cold and there was still some dusting of snow on the ground where we paused to look back to Moel Gyw – yesterdays last hill climbed.

Still climbing gently along the side of a small coniferous wood….

….Moel- eithinen Farm  farm sat comfortably on the side of the hill.

The Guide describes its barns as “roofless” but they seem in place to me.

A little way past the farm our path took a left turn, taking us alongside Clwyd Nurseries.

Not a nursery at all but a small plantation

From here we crossed a closely grazed field that climbed quite steeply towards the col of Bwlch Crug -glas.

The col gave us our first impressive view of the day over the Vale of Clwyd and to the somewhat formidable hill of Foel Fenili.

We needed to drop down to the base of the hill reaching a collapsed stile in a broken down stock fence.

The route climbs steeply up the hill for a while; a chap coming down from the summit told us that our route takes us around the side of the hill; a fact confirmed by the map.

But it wasn’t this path we needed that would have led us down to a road but one going in the same direction but higher up.

The trouble was, we didn’t find it – according to my map on the phone we had passed the turning. Frustrated we went back down for a bit and then took what was probably a sheep path until we saw above us a marker post. Clambering up the rough grass we reached the post but were still unconvinced that the path it marked was ours.

Picture of uncertainty

It was very narrow but at least it was going upwards and in the right direction.

It just didn’t seem worn or wide enough to be the Offa’s Dyke Path.

It was slow going for the next half a mile as we skirted the hillside, losing and then re-finding the path. Eventually we found ourselves above the mountain road that led to Bwlch Penbarra.

I had forged ahead at this point and waited for Bob to pick his way along this still narrow path.

Looking decidedly grumpy

Bwlch Penbarra has a car park, picnic benches and a viewing point over the Vale of Clwyd.

I’d be surprised if it wasn’t favoured with an ice-cream van come the summer but today the car park was near empty. A coach had disgorged a small party of youths who were accompanied by several adults I took to be youth or care workers and who headed off up the track to Moel Famau.

Moel Famu is the highest peak in the Clwydian Range, a country park and clearly an important local tourist destination. The wide track to its summit was an easy climb…..

… though where it got a bit steeper towards the summit the authorities had installed a defibrillator, just in case.

On top of the 1,817 feet summit stands the Jubilee Tower. 

Youths at Tower

Built to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of King George III, as towers go it’s a somewhat squat affair. Originally this Egyptian style building….

… designed by one Thomas Harrison, had an obelisk on top but apparently this collapsed dramatically in 1862 and funds were never raised for its rebuilding. Nevertheless it makes for a good location for a selfie….

… and there are fine views to be had over the Vale of Clwyd….

Red capped Bob with snow capped Snowdonia in the distance

… and to the Dee Valley.

You can’t make it out in this pic but we could see the Airbus factory on Deeside

After a decent clamber….

Yeah, not quite sure what Bob was doing here

…. we picked up the path once more…..

…. heading East towards the next hill of Moel Dywyll. Though in fact this hill was hardly noticeable, the far more imposing one of Moel Arthur drawing one’s attention.

There’s no doubt that this is the kind of walking I like best – high up and with wide views. At the same time Its odd that I almost resent having to climb down a hill only to climb up another one. And here was a a good example.

It was a very steep descent off the side of Moel Llys-y-coed to get to the road at the base of Moel Arthur and looking up from the bottom I was glad that our route took us off to the eastern side of this hillfort rather than over the top (though the views from the summit would have been fab).

But another thing about hill walking is that its seldom as hard as you think it will be to scale that next hill, and we were soon back to the marker stone that took us north, away from the summit.

Half a mile of down the other side of the hill….

…got us to another  little road with a car park at Coed Llangwyfan….

… after which we had a longish pull through the side of the wood…..

… followed by a narrow gorse lined section…

….and then a grass path through heather….

….to reach yet another hillfort site – Penycloddiau.

Said in the guide to be one of the largest hillfort sites in Wales

Pause for a pic.

The Guide would have had us admiring the superb northern defences of the hillfort with a series of ramparts and ditches overt the next few hundreds of yards but this was lost to us as we just enjoyed  views ahead of us with our first sighting of the sea.

I wasn’t aware that Offa’s Dyke shares the route of the Clwydian Way here.

We might have been on it since Llangollen

A steady decent from the hillfort…..

….and a first signing for our destination of Bodfari……

…. took us by an excellent ruin….

….to a hamlet called Aifft where a huge new house was under construction.

A little climb from there around the southernmost side of Moel y Parc on an excellent green lane….

… gave us our first sighting of Bodfari village. It was about 3.30 by then. Bob was going to finish at Bodfari and had arranged with Ian The Baggage (the owner of the B&B I was staying at) that we would meet him around 5pm then take him back to his car at The Swan Inn at Pontfadog. So we were on time. Huzzah. It was an easy walk down to the road at Berllan.

We followed the road for a few hundred yards then left to cross a field and and stream…..

….. to bring us to the A 541. Turning right onto the road we found our path again opposite the rather sad looking Downing Arms.

We were really quite tired by this time and the “seriously steep lane” (according to the Guide) that we needed to climb was not welcome. Having reached the top the Offa’s Dyke Path would have taken us further up the hill only to come down to this lane about half a mile further along. We decided we could live without this last climb and so just followed the lane to where the path re-joined the lane. As we walked along it Lorraine (wife of Ian the Baggage) drove by and told us that she would put the kettle on. Llety’r Eos Ucha is just 100 yards from the path. (incidentally there is no guest WIFI at the place though you will probably have a mobile signal).

Lorraine brought us tea (though I would have offered some bikkis if it were me) and we were glad to remove our boots and enjoy the view back to where we had just been walking.

It had been another great walk and I was sad to see Bob go. This would have been one of those occasions where I would have welcomed an evening meal at the B&B but its not on offer here. There was a pub (The Dinorbin Arms) back in the village but having had a shower and changed I was loathe to walk the 3/4 mile back to it for supper and then another 3/4 (uphill!) home. Ian and Lorraine don’t offer a lift so having had a bit of a rest I later managed the walk down and booked a cab to get me back. And I’m glad I did as the pub, its food and beer were all excellent.