We venture a few hundred yards outside Wrexham for this month’s walk. If you’d like to see some more of our walks, click here.
Overview
The first part of the walk is along country lanes, but it soon takes you across rolling meadows, along cart tracks, and through areas of woodland.
The walk is 6.6 miles long and one of the gentlest I can remember in terms of gradients. There is a fairly overgrown stretch, so you’ll need arm and leg protection from the nettles and brambles that will try to sting and snag you when you least expect it!
You’ll also need a pair of anklehigh boots, as a couple of brief boggy areas may catch you out if you’re wearing walking shoes. The total ascent is about 835 feet or about 255 metres, with the highest point being 995 feet or just over 300 metres.
Starting Point
I started off at the southern end of Moreton Park (near Dobbies) on the A5070 (Chirk Road) (postcode: LL14 5DG; https://what3words.com/tilting.reduction.inspects).
To get there, leave the A5 at the Gledrid Roundabout. Take the second exit if you are coming from Oswestry or the fourth exit if you are heading south from Wrexham. The route is reasonably dogfriendly, although you do pass through several fields that contain cattle and sheep.
Field exits were mainly gates, but there were also stiles you might have to lift a dog over. There are stretches along country lanes, so you need to keep your dog on the lead.
Important:
Your safety is our top priority. Before attempting any of our walks, you must read and understand the disclaimer at lovewrexham. com/walk-disclaimer.
Directions
Gledrig Roundabout
Facing the Saxon Homecare Centre, cross over Chirk Road and turn left. Follow Station Road towards Weston Rhyn. Cross the bridge after about a quarter of a mile and carry straight on. You’ll reach a level crossing after another 0.25 miles and then the disused Plough Inn and Weston Rhyn Primary School a few minutes after that.
Turn left at the school and go down the southern stretch of Old Chirk Road. Turn right after about 5 minutes (1) as you reach a stile on your left (you’ll see a railway tunnel further down the road just before you turn). Hop over the stile in the left-hand wooden fence after two minutes.
Head diagonally right and you’ll cross a small stream after a minute or so. Follow the righthand hedge and tree line, walking underneath some power lines. You’ll soon come to a double stile and a small bridge over a stream. Cross those to leave the field.
Butcher’s Arms
In the next field, head for the left of the magnolia cottage fence perimeter and use the stile in the wooden fence to exit. Turn right onto the lane and walk past the house on the left with the sign for the Belgian Malinois and the hens and geese.
Walk past Weston Hall farm on your left. Turn left at the T-junction after about three minutes, and you’ll find yourself back on Station Road for the next quarter of a mile. Be careful as there’s no pavement, and you’ll have to use grass verges.
Walk as far as the Butcher’s Arms (2) and then turn right down Coalpit Lane. Follow the gravel track for a few minutes, hop over the stile, and follow the yellow waymarker arrow straight on (not the one to the left).
Follow the right-hand hedge and tree line across the field. Walk along the narrow track that diverts slightly to the right towards a metal cattle gate. You’ll hear a stream to your right, which you then cross.
“Bull in Field”
Walk through the longish grass, heading for the stile next to the blasted oak ahead and slightly to the right of the Tudor-style house. Once over the stile, follow the left-hand hedgeline towards the white house. Hop over the stile onto the lane. Turn right and then immediately left by the red postbox (3).
Turn left after Laundry, Primrose and Rhos Cottages onto Dinas Lane. Walk along the lane for about 10 minutes, enjoying the views to the left. The lane takes a sharp turn to the left. You’ll see a track on the right with a metal gate ahead of you saying “Bull in Field”. The public footpath goes across the field, but for safety’s sake, we’re going to take the track on the right to circumnavigate the field.
Walk up the track, which bends to the left. Ignore the turning on the right and pass Forester’s Cottage, also on the right. As the track turns sharply left at the cream-coloured bungalow on the right, take the slightly overgrown path immediately to the left of the gateway to the house (4).
Hay for Sale
You’ll walk up a short slope and then scramble up a bank to reach a stile to the left. Walk straight up the slope of the next field. Aim for another blasted tree above and ahead of you. The stile to exit this field is to your right at the brow of the hill, but the other side leads into a dense patch of nettles.
It’s much easier to walk straight on through the gap, following the tyre tracks in the ground. These tracks bend to the right and then to the left. Walk up the narrowish, stony path up to the metal cattle gate.
Climb over the gate and turn right to go through another gate. Walk along the right-hand fence and hawthorn tree line. Unhook the chain on the gate with the “Hay for Sale” sign on it and walk through (5).
You’ll find yourself on a narrow, track that gets rather overgrown. It is passable, but you should make sure your legs and arms are covered, as you will be walking through patches of brambles and nettles for the next 10 minutes (or a third of a mile). Walk through the metal walker’s gate that is far too low for the post latch at the end of the overgrown pathway.
Offa’s Dyke Yurts
You’ll be rewarded with an amazing view to your right. Walk past the barn on your left and then along the farm track with the stone wall and hedge also to your left. You’ll pass a weather station down to your right. Cross the cattle grid and turn right onto a lane. You’ll be on this lane for about half a mile or 8-9 minutes. Pass Offa’s Dyke Yurts on your right after about 5 minutes.
You’ll see a rust-coloured gate on the left-hand side just past Fron Isaf. Go through the metal walker’s gate to the left of the larger one and walk slightly diagonally right down the field. Aim for the pair of hawthorn trees next to each other at the bottom of the slope (6). I didn’t have to climb over the stile, as the gate next to it was wide open. Follow the right-hand fence and tree line.
Exit this field over the stile ahead of you in the far corner of the field. Beyond the stile is a twoplank bridge and a metal cattle gate. Turn immediately left and then right to walk around the horse enclosure. Follow the enclosure fence to the far end of the field and turn left so you walk past the house on your right.
Temple Wood
You’ll see the exit gate just ahead of you in the same fence line. Walk down the short, narrow path to the lane and go straight across, taking the track to the left of the house called Temple Garth.
You’ll walk along a short tarmacked lane with a grassy strip down the middle. Pass the house called Quinta Manse on your left and across the “crosspaths”. Hop over the stile ahead of you. Walk across the short area of field and then over the stile in the fence dead ahead. Follow the barbed wire fence line and overhead power lines on your left. Temple Wood is to your right.
The gate ahead of you has fallen off its hinges, so you can walk through the gap rather than using the stile. The exit stile for the next bit of field is to the right of the metal cattle gate. Turn left onto the lane. After a few yards, you’ll come across a curious low tunnel to your right that runs over a disused track (7). If anyone has any information about the tunnel or track, I’d be glad to hear from them.
Walk through the short tunnel and up the tree-covered pathway. Hop over the stile into the next field. Follow the left-hand fence line up the slope. Exit the field over the stile hidden away in the far corner ahead of you. Follow the path made in the grass down the hill of this next field. Walk past the yellow arrow waymarker attached to the hawthorn tree stump.
Cross the Railway Line
Exit the field over the stile attached to the oak tree to the left of the farm buildings. Turn left once on the lane. Pass the shed and the horse box on your right. The road bends sharply to the left as you walk past the cottage on the right. Take the woodland path to the right, which almost makes you double back on yourself. The River Ceiriog runs along the valley floor down to your left.
Follow the path along the lefthand fence and hedge line over stiles and across a field. After about 10 minutes, you’ll come to a railway line, so go down the concrete steps and cross carefully (8). Go up the steps on the other side and follow the short concrete path to the right. Follow the left-hand hedge and fence line through the field. You’ll notice the distinctive railway fencing to your right.
Look to the right through the trees to see Oaklands Hall and its turret and steeple. Exit the field through the metal gate set into the fence. Go over the short drive for the Coach House on your left and go through another metal gate almost immediately after the first one.
Chirk Bank
Follow the narrow path between the houses down to a road. Turn right, then left and go through the wooden gate on your right with “Rotarian Roger Hudson, 1936-2011” on it (9). This is Chirk Bank.
Walk slightly diagonally left, aiming for the yellow arrow waymarker to the right of the largest of the trees in front of you. Once past the waymarker, exit the field through the metal walker’s gate with another yellow arrow waymarker. Walk along the path in the grass that follows the left-hand fence and hedge line.
Turn left over the kissing gate on the left and go along the short path through the wood towards a dog-friendly stile that takes you out of the wood. Walk across the field and through more metal kissing gates. Walk over the stream and along a gravel path with pointed metal railings to your left.
Follow the metal railing perimeter around to the left (10) and turn right once on the lane. Follow the lane the short distance back to Station Road. Turn left and retrace your steps to the Gledrig roundabout.
Congratulations – you’ve finished the walk!
