Friday 10th September, Llangollen circular, 6 miles

Attendees: M.Sadler, A.Sear, B.Grater, P.Grater

I set off from New St on the 9:25 train with no other members until Smethwick Galton Bridge where I was joined by Andy Sear. We arrived in Ruabon on time with about a 15 min wait for the bus connection. On arrival in Llangollen we were met by Beata and Paul Grater, doubling our numbers. From Llangollen we followed the River Dee for a short distance before making our first steady (steepish) ascent along a quiet wooded lane which became a track via Bryniau Mawr and then descended another lane to Berywyn where we had a look around the preserved train station. From here we crossed the Dee via the C19th chain Bridge, restored in 2015, and then followed the Llangollen canal briefly to its source at the River Dee and Horseshoe Falls. We broke for lunch here encountering some cows that came down to the river for a slurp and the only very light shower of the walk which caused us no issue as it was still very warm. On our way again we made a short ascent up to and across the road to join a well defined (steepish) path up Velvet Hill. This was a fair climb but broken by some less steep sections along the way. On the top it was still very warm without even a slight breeze. We had another break taking in some great 360⁰ views of Llangollen, the castle ruins, the remains of the Valle Crucis Abbey and the surrounding hills in the distance. Off on our way again we followed the spine of the hill a short distance before descending a (steepish) fern lined path crossing a road by the Abbey. We then went onto a track crossing a wooden bridge over a steam and climbed a short distance through woodland until negotiating a ladder stile and then onto an easy track taking us to the Llangollen canal and final 1 mile walk into town. Other than the two steepish climbs, a very easy going walk where we were pretty lucky considering the weather forecast. It waited till we got in the pub before belting it down, albeit only briefly.