This month’s walk is the Rhosllanerchrugog Mountain Reservoir Country Walk (distance: 5.5 miles/approximate duration: 3 hours) and is reproduced by kind permission of Rights of Way, Wrexham Council (rightsofway@wrexham.gov.uk).
Areas covered: Rhos – Ty Mawr – Esclusham Mountain – Bronwylfa – Rhos
This walk is a gentle climb up to Esclusham Mountain passing the reservoirs of Ty-Mawr and Caellwyd and includes a short section of moorland. It begins at the Sun Inn, Hall Street, Rhosllanerchrugog (grid reference 289468).
Plenty of parking space is available nearby and there are regular bus services from Wrexham (phone 01978 266 166 for information).
Please ensure that dogs do not stray from the footpaths and keep them on a lead in fields with sheep and on the open mountain where the grouse are easily disturbed. The route is not suitable for wheelchairs, buggies or small children.
This route may be linked to the Coedpoeth – Nant Mill to Bronwylfa walk we will feature in next month’s edition to create a nine-mile walk.
Route – Great Western Railway Line
Starting from the Sun Inn, Rhos, follow Hall Lane for a short distance away from the village towards Park Lodge with its stone relief depicting the sun. The emblem is believed to be part of the Jones family crest, owners of Llanerchrugog Hall in the late 18th century.
Retrace your steps for a few metres to take the path through a long narrow open space. This way was once a Great Western Railway line linking Rhos with Wrexham. Leave the surfaced path where it turns right onto a residential road and continue along the grass to the far-left corner of the open area. At the road, turn left and continue for about 200 metres until you reach the quarries by Llwyneinion Wood.
Bwlchgywn and Ruabon Hillforts
Leave the road, taking the signposted path on the left into the wood. In summer, you will see honeysuckle blossom in luxuriant splendour along this footpath that may have been part of a link between the hillforts at Bwlchgwyn and Ruabon. In approximately 200 metres, you meet a well-used path crossing at right angles: turn left and, in roughly a straight line, cross five fields to the road.
Turn right and follow the road for 200 metres. With the farm, “New Buildings”, on your right, turn left into a lane. After a while, you can see the Ty-Mawr Reservoir through the hedge on the right. This reservoir was the second one built by the Wrexham Waterworks Company. Ignore all gateways to arrive at a T-junction with a stand of trees opposite.
Cae-Llwyd Reservoir
Turn left, cross the old stone bridge and go through the gate. Ignore the path to the right and follow the track straight ahead up the hill. If you look back, you will get a splendid view of Cae-Llwyd Reservoir. This reservoir was the first one built by the Wrexham Waterworks Company.
After you pass through a gateway under the Scots pine, take the track that diverges to the right. The track curves left by some oak trees and then bends right. Make your way over to the gateway on the right. Cross the nearby stile, rejoin the main track and bear right, heading towards the corner of the forest. Follow the path which gradually converges with the fence on the right, meeting it by the stream. As you cross the moor, look out for grouse, buzzards and kestrels.
Tan-Y-Fron Cottage
Cross the stream via the stepping stones. Follow the path, which gradually makes its way right towards the double fence, parallel with the wall. Six hundred metres further on, cross the stile to follow the path down the hill. Do not go towards the mast. At the corner of the stone wall by the old buildings, bear right and continue down to the road via the stile by the gate. Turn right and follow the road round to the left.
At Tan-Y-Fron Cottage (grid reference: SJ274488), notice how the stream runs under the buildings. Your next stile is on the right, under the power lines. Bearing slightly to the right, cross the field and pass through the hedge between the oak and ash trees. Continue in the same direction to cross the bridge near Plas Yn Fron (Brow Hall).
Pentrebychan Brook
Now walk straight across the field, go over the stile and continue along the road to the wood, passing the waterfall on Pentrebychan Brook. Bearing left, follow the road past the large oak tree to the junction and turn left. Continue past Wrexham and East Denbighshire Water Company’s Gronwen Filter Works. Continue along the lane to the entrance of the 16th Century cottage, Tan-Y-Lan. This is a grade-II listed building with an exposed crude cruck in the gable end.
Take the path to the right of all the buildings. Follow this path, at first enclosed, and then via kissing gates along a field edge to a lane. Where the lane bends left, take the stile on the right into a conifer plantation. At the cross-paths, turn left along the main footpath down to the lane. Turn right and then right again at the road junction, towards Rhos. Now retrace the first part of the walk by passing the quarries, turning right onto the disused railway and turning left at the road, back to the Sun Inn.
If you experience any problems on this walk or if you would like to make any other comment, please contact Public Rights of Way, telephone 01978 292 057.
Route taken from wrexham.gov.uk/assets/pdfs/walking/cw_route6.pdf. There is also a map at wrexham.gov.uk/assets/pdfs/walking/cw_route6_map.pdf.
Thanks to Wrexham County Borough Council for supplying us with this walk. Please visit wrexham.gov.uk and look for ‘self-guided walks’. The featured photo is courtesy of Grace Wood Photography. Many thanks to John Marchant for the other photos. For more of our walks, click here.
