Offa's Dyke Path: Pontcysyllte to Pen-y-stryt

Wednesday 31st August 2022

After a very cold night I woke to sunshine and an eagerness to be going, so soon after eight o’clock I set off from the Llyn Rhys Campsite along the Offa’s Dyke Path. I had been walking along this trail in a northerly direction for a week and a half by this point and the previous day on the trail I had reached the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct so to continue I needed to get back there. A direct route took me over Ruabon Mountain while the trail goes around, but first I needed to get over Cyrn-y-Brain and the Offa’s Dyke Path was the best way to do that. Therefore, in Pen-y-Stryt, I picked up the trail and followed it up the hill, through the conifer plantation of Llandegla Forest where a signpost was missing, but I soon realised and retraced my steps to the junction that I had missed and eventually reached the top. Leaving the plantation, I entered a vast moor that was covered in heather and bilberry accompanied by the frequent squawking of grouse as they flew off when I approached. The sunshine that I had woken to was soon gone as clouds began to cover the sky, but this would only be temporary and soon I was enjoying sunshine again on this holiday. Eventually I reached a narrow road that the Offa’s Dyke Path follows for more than a mile, but at the first hint of a path on my left I turned off the road to climb over Ruabon Mountain.

 

The ground cover on this hill was more mixed than earlier with bracken and gorse adding to the kaleidoscope of colours, while towards the Dee Valley were fantastic views, particularly in the direction of Maesyrychen Mountain. After passing over the top of the hill I descended into a wood where a narrow footpath took me through the valley of the Trefechan Brook to Top Reservoir, which was almost empty, and where I branched off onto a network of footpaths that took me through many grassy fields to reach the village of Trevor, however, route finding was almost impossible. Any paths that I did come across were not actually right-of-ways and they led me astray. Sometimes there were multiple stiles or exits from the fields and once I took the wrong one. And eventually I reached a field that was completely overgrown with thistles and bramble, so despite having a right-of-way it could not be traversed and I had to find a way back out and onto another way down the hill. This diversion took me into the delightful wooded valley of the Tref-y-nant Brook and eventually I successfully managed to traverse the maze and reach the village of Trevor.

At Trevor Basin, I stopped beside the canal to have my lunch before setting off along the towpath to resume my walk on Offa’s Dyke Path, soon branching off to climb up to a road and towards Trevor Hall. The trail continues through adjacent woods for a great walk that was very relaxing despite some deceptive signposts and eventually I emerged to great views along the Dee Valley and towards Castell Dinas Bran. Unfortunately, the sun had chosen this moment to go in so the views were not as good as they could be and it would take a while for the sun to emerge again. Soon, I climbed onto a road that I stayed on for a long time as I crossed the steep slopes below Trevor Rocks on a Panorama Walk that slowly took me past stunning views of the Dee Valley and past the detached hill whose summit is topped by the ruins of Castell Dinas Bran. Once I was past the hill the sun came out again to show off the valley at its best, but I was now becoming more mesmerised by the steep hillside ahead of me, decorated by the rocks of Creigiau Eglwyseg. Eventually I came off the road to take a fabulous path that crosses the steep slopes in truly mountainous surroundings.

I had been looking forward to this point in my holiday for a long time and the superb path did not disappoint. I crossed the rocky gulch above Bryn Goleu onto scree slopes that were thrilling to traverse below serrated crags with awesome views into the Dee Valley and blue skies overhead. I love narrow terrace paths such as these that traverse steep slopes on rocky ground and the delights continued for a long time. After passing below Craig Arthur and Craig yr Adar rock was eventually replaced with bracken and woodland and I reached World’s End at the head of Eglwyseg Glen. Rejoining a road I climbed up onto the moorland top and back onto the route that I had taken at the beginning of the day to retrace my steps over the flagstones that easily led me through the moorland to the conifer plantation of Llandegla Forest and back to my campsite. This was an epic walk through stunning scenery. Apart from the fiasco descending through the fields to Trevor, this walk was a dream that included a colourful moorland crossing, some good woodland walking and a glorious traverse of the crags below Eglwyseg Mountain on paths that are reminiscent of those in the Lake District, and there is no greater praise.