I travelled up to Chester following my walk on Mynydd Llangyndeirne to help out my son and partner Gianna look after a newly acquired puppy, a springer named Holly.

Gianna had arranged a day off on the Tuesday and I was not required for that day and so I met with my brother in law, Andy for a walk.

The destination was to be Llangollen for a walk up to Dinas Castell Bran and then along the limestone escarpment of Creigiau Eglwyseg.

Route

It was a clear day albeit windy and the views were excellent whilst walking up the hill to the ruined castle and continued throughout the day.

Nothing changes in Wales

Towards the Clwydian hills

Creigiau Eglwyseg

Ruins of Castell Dinas Bran

Once on the escarpment we found a spot out of the wind for lunch and then carried on eventually finding a marked path leading down from the escarpment on to the lanes leading into Llangollen.

Heading down into the wind

An interesting way down

Looking back up

Another view of the ruins

A very full Afon Dee at Town Falls

The day finished with a welcome cup of chocolate and a festive mince pie.

The rest of the week was spent doing my utmost to train the puppy to realise the toilet area was outside and that her needle sharp teeth were not for eating me. Best of luck Rhodri and G.

I made my usual telephone call to “The Navigator” on Sunday evening only to be told I was to be the guide on Monday suggesting a walk near my home.

Route

So on Monday the 7th December a full group was assembled consisting of Mr and Mrs Navigator, Paul, Chris, Daisy the Dog and me.

We left the village of Llanddarog and headed south on lanes and up to Mynydd Llangyndeirne  passing the huge limestone quarry. This quarry has been in production for a considerable time and we have seen it eating into the mountain for the 35 years we lived here.

An old lime kiln near the quarry

Letter boxes for the few properties on the hill

Once on top of the hill (mountain seems an excessive description) we walked through some very muddy areas, the group had been forewarned about conditions, and up to the trig point where a panorama view point had been erected showing the various areas that can be seen.

They were warned it would be muddy

Two toned Daisy

No, it is not what it looks like!

Lunch was had out of the wind and we then set off on the return leg, encountering even more mud until we reached the more firm track taking us back to the road. Another footpath was taken leading to the fishing ponds of Garn Ffrwd. It was then lane work down to near White Hall, Cil-yr Ynys and then another footpath through Glanyrynys leading back to Llanddarog.