Yes, I have taken inspiration for the title of the walk from Four Weddings And A Funeral, which I watched the other day.
A Long-Term Ambition
Like the movie, this walk beginning in Pen-y-Cae is full of twists and turns and covers every type of landscape that the county has to offer.
The walk came in at nearly eight miles, which is the longest one I think I’ve done for the magazine. It had to be that long to fit in all five reservoirs and the visit to the Frozen Clock – a long-term ambition of mine.
The total ascent is about 905 feet or 276 metres, with the highest point being just over a thousand feet or 306 metres.
Starting Point
I started off in front of Penycae Salem Baptist Church at 35 Chapel Street (postcode LL14 2RG; what3words.com/recent. baroness.register).
Overview
The route is reasonably dog-friendly, although you do pass through several areas that contain sheep. Field exits are mainly stiles that you might have to lift a dog over. There are also stretches along country lanes, so you would need to keep your dog on a lead.
Important: Your safety is our top priority. Before attempting any of our walks, you must read and understand the disclaimer at love-wrexham.com/walk-disclaimer.
Walk Directions
Penycae Salem Baptist Church
Stand with your back to the church facing the graveyard across the road and turn left. Walk up the lane for a few yards and go past St Thomas’ church (1) on your left. Bottom Reservoir, the first of the five reservoirs you will pass close to, is on the other side of the high hedge on your right. It is currently empty from the looks of the aerial view on Google. You’ll see Top Reservoir more closely later on in the walk.
Pass Plas Ucha farm on your left. About three-quarters of a mile after St Thomas’ (approximately seven minutes), leave the lane to the right by the metal footpath sign (2). Take the left of the two directions – don’t go over the one in front of you. Walk up the slope, aiming firstly for the top telegraph pole. The stile to exit the field is just to the right of it. Don’t miss the amazing view to your left facing southeast.
Follow the upward path trodden into the grass and head for the two tall elm trees above you. Exit the field over the wooden ladder stile to the right of the elms. You’re now in a field of longer grass. Continue following the path trodden into the grass and walk to the left of the mound with the hawthorn trees. Look along the left-hand hedgeline and you’ll spot a green metal public footpath sign. Hop over the stile next to it, taking care with the drop down to the lane on the other side.
Sunny Bank Farm
Turn right and walk up the lane. You’ll start by passing a stile on either side and then Sunny Bank Farm on your left. After 0.4 miles, you’ll come to a farm called Tyddyn-Uchaf with a metal cattle gate to the left with a sign saying “No Through Road”. Go through the gate and walk up the stony bridlepath with the grassy middle strip.
Go through the wooden gate by the old stone kiln (3).
Follow the track around to the right and then to the left as it runs alongside an old dry stone wall to your right. After a minute or so, turn right through the metal kissing gate. You’ll see the site of the ruined water clock known as the Frozen Clock (4).
Ruabon Mountain
Look left to see Ruabon Mountain. Follow the path downhill, keeping the fence with the barbed wire strand to your right. Pass the wooden yellow arrow waymarker post to your right. The fence on your right gives way to a dry stone wall. Pass an old sycamore tree on your left and turn left through the gap in the nettles just after the tree. Walk uphill a few yards and then turn right through the thistles and down the slope.
You’ll have to cross a tiny stream a few yards further down. I walked to the left of the two silver birches next to the left-hand fence line to do this. Follow the path trodden into the grass through more thistles once across the stream so you pass the elm and the fallen tree on your right. Navigate the tall thistles as you walk downhill. Exit this section through the metal kissing gate.
Top Reservoir
Once through the gate, go down the slightly overgrown grassy path and continue along it until you reach the wooden bridge with the metal lattice over the walkway (5) at the bottom of the dell. The bridge is a little bit wobbly, but it’s still steady enough.
Walk on for a few yards and carry straight on, ignoring the path to the left. You’ll join another path coming from your left almost straight away. The pathway to the left was cordoned off due to forestry work when I was there in mid-June. Carry on along the narrow rocky path and you drop down to a very wide vehicle track that has been cut through the forest. Turn right (you couldn’t go left) and follow this broad track for about 10 minutes, with Trefechan Brook running alongside you to your right.
You’ll pass large piles of sawn timber until you come to Top Reservoir on your right after the bridge and sluice gate. The forest track turns into a lane once you pass the currently drained reservoir. Follow this lane for about a quarter of a mile until you reach the T-junction with the house called Bwythn Pen-y-Maes. Turn left.
Dryll Farm
Walk a short distance up the lane and take the first turning on the left before the two houses. Follow this rather deteriorated road for about three-quarters of a mile. You’ll pass Dryll Farm (with a bit of luck, you’ll see the magnificent blue flowers on the bush opposite). Walk through a gateway, past a yellow grit bin and follow the green metal public footpath sign straight on along the narrow grassy track. Don’t go right down towards Hill Farm. Go through the metal cattle gate and turn right along the grassy swathe that follows the dry stone wall to the right (6).
Take a moment to look to your left. You’ll see a curious patch of large trees on the upper slopes of the mountain. The Ruabon Mountain Lodge is inside this circle of trees. After about 0.4 miles, you’ll near the end of the grassy path. Avoid the waterlogged section just before the gates if necessary by hopping up onto the left-hand bank. Go through the two metal gates (*) and turn left along the lane.
Pant-Glas Reservoir
You’ll see the Pant-Glas Reservoir on your right as you make your way over two streams that run under the road (7). Turn left and hop over the stile just after Plas Drain Farm, about half a mile after you go through the two metal gates (*). Make your way across the field until you reach an old vehicle track (due north). Carry on along the track until it veers off to the left after a few yards. Go straight on and over the stile ahead of you and to the left of the magnificent copper beech.
Cae Llywd And Tŷ Mawr
Head towards the white cubic water tank inside the metal lattice ahead of you and slightly to your right. If the tank is not there, we’re aiming to walk along the right-hand edge of the trees in front of you.
As you reach the trees and fence line on your left, you’ll see the fourth reservoir on the walk. This is the Cae-Llywd Reservoir, and it has apparently been empty since the pandemic back in 2020 (8). As you continue walking alongside Cae-Llywd, you’ll also see the Tŷ Mawr reservoir down to your right – this one is definitely full! Follow the left-hand fence line through the bracken until you’ve passed Cae-Lylwd itself. Then go through the gate in the wooden fence on the left as you start to descend the meadow.
Walk down the track and hop over the stile to the left of the vehicle gate. Go straight on along the next track. This follows the Tŷ Mawr Reservoir around to the right and gets really close to the water at one point (9). Turn right as the lane you’re on joins another one and then right again onto another lane just after the stile on the right.
Stay on this lane for about three-quarters of a mile (ignore the lane on the right after 0.3 miles). Turn right at the T-junction with the Give Way sign onto Plas Drain Road (10). Go left through the wooden gate and down the drive of the first house on the left. Make your way through a metal gate and around to the right of the dilapidated outbuilding in front of you. Walk along the lefthand fence line.
The stile to exit the field is in the left-hand corner of the field next to a tall wooden post. However, it’s inaccessible due to flooding so you’ll have to leave the field through a gateway further up the slope.
Tai-Nant
Make your way back down to the left-hand fence line again and use the metal gate in the corner with the stream to leave the field. Keep straight on past the metal gates and follow the left-hand fence line. The field slopes above you and to your right as you head in a southwesterly direction. Head diagonally right and up the slope as you approach the fence in front of you. You’ll see the stile you use to exit the field.
Cross the next field and hop over the stile you see in front of you next to a metal cattle gate and a green metal footpath pole. Turn right on the lane and walk for a quarter of a mile until you get to Tai-Nant. You’ll pass Tainant Farm on the way. Stop for a minute to admire the charming hamlet with its babbling brook on your left (Nant Crogfryn), a bridge, and a red telephone box and letterbox (see feature image).
Cross the bridge and stay on the lane for just under three-quarters of a mile (**). You’ll pass a sign for a bridlepath (featuring a horse, a bike and a walker) on your left. You can reach Pen-y-Cae that way but it’s very overgrown, dark, soggy and a bit of an unsatisfactory way to end the walk. Instead, carry on along the road, ignoring the public footpath sign on the left just before the house at the half-mile mark.
Trefechan
Go through the hamlet of Trefechan and hop over the stile on your left just before the magnolia cottages on the right and after about the three-quarters of a mile mark (**). You’ll cross four fields following the path in the grass until you reach a larger fifth one. The path bends to the right and leads you to a stile in the hedgeline on your left. Walk along the narrow track that runs above and to the right of the previously-mentioned bridleway.
Make your way down onto Lambpit Street. Turn right and right again onto Hill Street. Turn right up the steps (11) by the three plants on the green almost immediately. Walk along the short passage between the houses and turn left when you get to Maes-y-Nant. Turn right onto Chapel Street and walk 100 yards to get back to Salem Baptist Church.
Congratulations! You’ve completed the walk!
If you’d like to see some more of our walks, click here.
