Maria’s Love Chester article

Posted February 3, 2025



Our Publicity Officer, Maria, submits a monthly article to Love Chester magazine, relating to a club walk.
Read the latest story here.

Two rivers, two valleys

Denbighshire’s county town, Ruthin, is an attractive and historic place. It also offers the bonus of useful car parks to use as a base for a spot of walking. From here it’s possible to get up onto the undulating Offa’s Dyke Path that weaves its way northwards through the Clwydian Hills to the coast, and southerly along the borderlands to the Severn Estuary. There’s also easy access to less lofty routes along the Vale of Clwyd.

Chester Rambling and Hill Walking Club started one recent winter walk from the car park at Ruthin Craft Centre. Our leader had mapped out a route that kept us on lower ground, along and slightly above not one, but two valleys. The Clwyd and Clywedog rivers meander across the flatlands of the Vale of Clwyd, eventually meeting up some 4 miles north of Ruthin.

From our base we walked through the town to a footbridge that took us over the gushing waters of the Afon Clwyd. At the edge of Ruthin we began a short gentle climb to reach an elevated vantage point, where an awesome view of the Clwydian Hills stretched out in front of us. Basking in winter sunshine were the uplands of Moel Famau, Foel Fenlli, Moel Eithinen, Gyrn, Moel Gyw and the plateaued summit of Moel Llanfair. A glorious sight indeed, but a cool wind meant we lingered for mere moments before moving on. Our rural route took us down to Melin Meredydd on the banks of the Afon Clywedog. After heavy rain and snowfall during the previous couple of weeks, this river was also in full spate. Another footbridge crossed these swollen waters and at this point we changed course to head south on a track known as Lady Bagot’s Drive. The Bagots lived in a 17th century mansion nearby and this driveway enabled the lady of the house take a carriage ride along the riverside between the villages of Bontuchel and Rhewl. The track is especially beautiful in winter, when the deciduous woodland is leafless, clearing the way for a view of the river flowing by in the steep-sided valley several metres below us.

We followed this path for a mile and half before taking a sharp right up through the trees. The forest floor was carpeted with fallen leaves, and unlike the field paths earlier, was delightfully dry underfoot! Our route took us out of the woods and onto open land once more. Not for long, though. We were soon entering the trees again at Coed Orllwyn, before making our descent towards Rhewl, where the main A525 cuts through the village to link Ruthin with Denbigh. In days of yore drovers would have passed this way, travelling from Anglesey to London. No doubt they would have rested awhile at the village inn, giving the Drovers Arms its name. However, unlike our forebears, we ignored the lure of this hostelry and walked on to complete the last couple of miles of our hike.

This final stretch took us through fields of harvested maize, where lines of golden stubble looked wonderful against the backdrop of Clwydian Hills. Our footpath followed a parallel route not only with these hills, but the Afon Clwyd, flowing unseen along the valley floor a short distance away. We soon rejoined the river to retrace our earlier steps back to the car park. On arrival there, we de-booted and promptly availed ourselves of the welcoming cafe nearby.

This was a varied 7½ mile walk, traversing lush green meadows, arable fields with their crops long harvested, and woodlands bereft of their summer leaves. We’d seen and heard two rivers in full swell, and enjoyed those magnificent Clwydian Hills bathed in wintry sunshine!