Walk Memories Chirk
Chirk
The latest East Lancs Coach Ramble, on the 4th June, was a unique venture. It was a borderland walk in the Chirk area, just south of Wrexham, straddling England and Wales- a border that in the past centuries had been a battle ground between the Welsh and the English.
A/B Walk
Twelve walkers set off from Chirk(y-Waun) on the A/B walk, covering about 9 miles. After a brief look at the Chirk canal aqueduct, we set off north along the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, where we encountered our first surprise- an unlit canal tunnel, where the towpath accompanies the canal through the darkness for about 400 yards. The bewildered walkers emerged into the daylight with mutterings of “wow”, although after about a mile a second, a shorter tunnel was encountered. There were quite a number of narrowboats on the canal and also a group of canoeists, who were brave enough to face the tunnels.
Growing alongside the towpath were many strands of Comfrey as well as Cow Parsley and Green Alkount. After a couple of miles, we left the canal to join the Offa’s Dyke Path, to head north. The Dyke was built by the Anglo-Saxon King Offa in the eighth century, as a defensive border between his Saxon Kingdom of Mercia and the disinherited Celts in the west, in what would eventually become Wales.
At one point we climbed a field with the Dyke very prominent off to one side. We had good views of Chirk Castle in the distance and also a lot of buzzards, some being mobbed by crows and jackdaws.
We crossed the River Ceiriog (Afon Ceiriog) into England, after descending through some woodland owned by the Woodland Trust, we again followed the river and passed beneath the impressive viaduct (railway) and the equally impressive aqueduct (canal).
We then headed uphill back into Wales and Chirk. The general consensus among the group was that we should return at some point in the future.
Tony Culverhouse.