Ceunant Cynfal (Gorge) Walk from Llan Ffestiniog, N. Wales

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It didn’t take me long to check out the route which I posted yesterday, (since it was only about a mile long), so I also went to look at another, slightly more varied route, just down the road at Llan Ffestiniog. I’d seen that there was a nature reserve and waterfall marked on the map, but I didn’t expect to come across a rainforest… As the information board describes, (see pics 8, 9 & 10), the ancient woodland in the gorge is of international importance, being home to over 150 mosses and liverworts and rare lesser horseshoe bats. I also discovered that the river eventually flows into the river Dwyryd which runs right past our house. 😊

Just a note regarding some of the Welsh/English naming in both the title above and image descriptions below… I often see signs written in Welsh and English, like Rhaeadr Cynfal Falls. Now you might think that the Falls are called the Rhaeadr Cynfal Falls, but no… They save a bit of repetition and ink by putting the two languages together, since, in Welsh, most times what it is, like a waterfall (or rhaeadr), comes before the actual name, like Cynfal. It’s actually Rhaeadr Cynfal (in Welsh) and Cynfal Falls (in English). It can get very confusing, so, I’ve tried to simplify things by using the Welsh where I can, like Ceunant Cynfal, but put the English translation in brackets (in this case, gorge) afterwards.  I hope it helps! 

Coed Cymerau Isaf Walk

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“Where have you been?” I hear you all saying. 🤔 (And a big THANK YOU to those of you who did contact me to ask if I was OK. I was genuinely touched by your concern). But, the truth is, I’ve not been anywhere, very interesting anyway. That’s why I’ve not really had the opportunity to take any photos. OK, Jude and I did go to the County Show towards the end of August (and I may yet post some pictures of that), but otherwise it’s been a case of playing golf and looking after a new addition to our family, called Tomos…

Jude and I have been considering having a dog for a while but, as we’re always going here, there and everywhere, we’ve never really found the ‘right time’ or had the opportunity. However, last summer, we bit the bullet and chose Tomos from a litter of 9 English springer spaniels. As you can see from the pics below, he’s grown somewhat in the past 6 months… And, as any dog owner will tell you, when they’re young, they do take up a lot of your time. 

It was thanks to Tomos that yesterday I went to ‘reccy’ a short walk around Coed Cymerau Isaf (wood). As you can imagine, he likes to run free, off the lead and I was looking for somewhere a bit different from the usual fields and beaches nearby. Key elements are a relatively enclosed path with a lack of sheep or other animals for him to chase and this walk looks to be perfect. 👍👍😊

The Dee Way, Part 2, Day 5 (of 5), Parkgate to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake

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When Dave Berry created this route and wrote his book, I don’t suppose he envisaged a golfer doing it in reverse, as a sort of pilgrimage to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Well, that was more or less what it was, especially with The Open taking place there this year. Though I have to say that I was slightly disappointed upon arrival, as the course was not as ‘awesome’ as I’d imagined, partly perhaps because it was still covered in stands which were gradually being dismantled. (It looked just like a building site, with official entrance and exit gates for all the comings and goings of the articulated lorries).

The last ‘leg’ was also pretty boring because much of it followed an old, disused railway track, now turned into a recreational path cum cycleway, which is good, but, with trees and bushes almost all the way alongside, there were very few ‘views’ to speak of – apart from the odd glimpse of another golf course. (See pics 8 & 11). 👍😊

By the time I ’emerged’ at West Kirby, the wind had got up and it was nice to see a lot of people taking advantage of the various water sports now on offer. Though why the guy was running where he was (see pic 19), is completely beyond me! 🤔

My apologies for the quality of picture 14. I saw 4 or 5 similar looking dragonflies during my walk but it was the only photo I managed to get!

The Dee Way, Part 2, Day 4 (of 5), Chester to Parkgate

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As I looked out of the window before setting off, on what was due to be the longest section of the whole route at 15 miles (or 24km), the rain was pouring down (as was forecast for most of the day). So I donned my waterproofs and set off… To my amazement, as I stepped out of the B&B door, it had stopped and it didn’t rain again all day! 👍👍

The initial part of the route left Chester via a section of the city walls and along the Shropshire Union Canal. It then meandered through Saughall before crossing the A494 and A550 and reaching the parish of Shotwick, where I had lunch on the ‘2000’ bench and took a small detour to see the church. (See pics 7 to 20). From there it went through the delightfully named village of Puddington and past some beautiful houses in Burton. (Check out the bus stop shelter in pic 22, which not only had a bench with cushions, but also books to read while you waited for the bus!) From then on the path hugged the east side of Dee estuary, where I noticed hundreds of sheep grazing on the marshland. (See pic 27).

The Dee Way, Part 2, Day 3 (of 5), Farndon to Chester

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Day 3 of my walk had the best weather forecast and the route pretty much hugged the river Dee, on one side then the other, all the way to Chester. For the most part the going was very easy, apart from one particular section, where the usual nettles and brambles made life difficult. (See pic 15).

After donning my waterproofs to get through, worse immediately followed, as there was absolutely no path to be found alongside the field, planted with 7ft high maize. (See pic 16). There was only one thing to do and that was walk between the first two rows. (Pic 17).

As I approached Chester, I was pleased to see that people were taking advantage of the, now much wider, smooth flowing river, some in canoes, some on paddleboards and others by boat.

I think I even spotted a Roman centurion in the Amphitheatre… 🤔

The Dee Way, Part 2, Day 2 (of 5), Bangor-on-Dee to Farndon

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Not only did I have to contend with quite a few overgrown paths, gates and stiles, (see several pics below) but things got even worse when I came across locked gates. (Pics 5 and 9 are two good examples). Add into that a bit of rain and knee length grass, soaking your boots, and you can maybe forgive me for taking the ‘easy’ option down the road sometimes. I think it made it slightly longer, but much more pleasant!

It’s not all bad news though… My accommodation in Bangor-on-Dee had been, almost literally, between two good pubs, serving real ale and it was much the same in Farndon, where one pub was opposite my B&B (though it was closed on Mondays) and the other about 50 yards down the road. A further 10 minute walk took me across a bridge into the village of Holt, where another 2 pubs awaited (again though one was closed on Mondays). Well, you have to keep hydrated! 🍺👍😊

The Dee Way, Part 2, Day 1 (of 5), Chirk to Bangor-on-Dee

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Following on from my rather wintery walk along the Dee Way back in March, last week, Jude dropped me off in Chirk under overcast skies. Thankfully, it barely rained all day. What wasn’t so nice was the condition of the path, which was incredibly and annoyingly overgrown (with nettles and bramble thorns) in many places. As you will see from some of the pictures below (and there’s more in the days to come unfortunately) much of the route could not have been walked very often at all.

The highlight(s) of the day proved to be 10’s of Speckled Woods and possibly even more Gatekeepers, with the occasional Green-veined White thrown in for good measure. Quite surprising on such a dull day.

Butterflies, Ynys, North Wales

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The buddleia and bramble bushes in our garden have been awash with butterflies for the past two weeks – when the sun came out obviously. The gallery below shows ten different species, captured on three separate days.

Tomorrow, I set off on Part 2 of my Dee Way walk to Hoylake. Hopefully the weather will be a lot better than Part 1! 🤞🤞 My apologies in advance if I’m slow to respond to any Comments and/or to Like any of your posts.

Wales Coast Path Walk, Pwllheli to Criccieth, North Wales

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Jude and I have been taking online Welsh lessons for the past 2 years and it’s fair to say that Jude is much keener than I am. She’s taken every opportunity to attend refresher courses and the week before last, she attended classroom sessions Pwllheli.

Having completed 2 sections of the Wales Coast Path – from home to Dyffryn Ardudwy, going south, and from Ynys to Criccieth, going north – I decided to take advantage of her journey to Pwllheli and walk back along the path to Criccieth.

As you will see the day was rather dull to start with and the route itself didn’t look to promising, with a long beach and road sections, but, I hope you will agree, it all turned out rather nicely in the end… 😊

Porthdinllaen Peninsular Walk, Morfa Nefyn, North Wales

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One of the beauties of being retired, is that when the weather is fine, you can go out and do ‘stuff’. But that does mean ‘stuff’ gets in the way of blogging… However, when it rains (as forecast for today and the next few days) it means you have a chance to catch up. So, my apologies to Jude’s mum, Angela, who came to visit a couple of weeks ago now. I know she always reads my posts and has probably been wondering whether she missed this series of photos.

We took a trip over to Morfa Nefyn to walk around the peninsular. The coastal path goes around several holes of the Morfa Nefyn 9 hole ‘Point’ or Blue golf course (and as such makes it quite tricky for golfers to play when there are lots of walkers milling around – not that there was anyone on the course while we were there). For any golfers out there, or anyway, check out these flyover videos – particularly the 1st and 4th holes. It’s quite a challenging course.

Anyway, I digress… No sooner had we arrived, I noticed several butterflies fluttering about the bushes at the edge of the car park. After 10 minutes of running up and down, I was particularly pleased to capture a Ringlet, as I don’t recall seeing one since arriving back in the UK. 😊👍