THE STORY
Historical walks around Oswestry
Visit to Chirk Castle
1st section to the Old Racecourse - Finding the footpath!
Getting wetter on Offa's Dyke
2nd section - Old Racecourse to Treflach and Oswestry
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Historical walks around Oswestry
The Oswestry area certainly turned out to have plenty of historical monuments for those who enjoy visiting such things. For me at least, ancient castles and earthworks as well as historic buildings add a lot of character to a place and make a holiday much more memorable. If going out for a walk (or a run) it’s a richer experience when you pass by sites which have their own stories to tell.
Offa’s Dyke isn’t exactly the Great Wall of China, but it had a similar objective – to keep hostile tribes at bay. It follows the tops of hills through the border country between England and Wales, and was built by the Saxon king Offa back in the 8th century. Apparently there are also traces of an earlier Mercian defensive ditch and bank known as Wat’s Dyke in Oswestry itself.
As we had a few days to spend in the Oswestry area, I was naturally keen to set foot on Offa’s Dyke, which is now followed by a long distance footpath. Since there wasn’t any interest from other members of the family in a day-long hike, I had to work out how to turn it into a cross-country run! We wanted to visit Chirk Castle anyway (it was a chance to make use of our National Trust for Scotland membership), and that provided a logical starting point.
From there I would be able to follow a route along the dyke on a hilly ridge for over 5 miles until it descended to the villages of Trefonen and Treflach, then turn north-east across fields and along quiet roads to get back to Oswestry.
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Visit to Chirk Castle
First we had a visit to Chirk Castle, about 10 miles south of Wrexham. A long drive runs up to it from the village of Chirk, through parkland, and the car park is situated next to the outbuildings which now house the ticket office and visitor centre. The road then bends up to the high ramparts of the castle itself, which appear very impressive and in good repair (see the photo).
There's a big courtyard inside, with various rooms off it that are open to visitors. One of these is a cafe that was busy the day we went, providing good snacks and lunches. After a good lunch we had a tour of the castle, and then I went back to the car to change into running gear.
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1st section to the Old Racecourse - Finding the footpath!
The sky was looking pretty grey as I set out in the direction away from the road we'd driven up, south. A drive led round to the left, below the castle, but I went through a gate into a field to the right where sheep were grazing, and I passed a big dead tree that looked like something out of a Harry Potter film before starting to descend down the grassy slope.
Looking at the map now as I write this up nearly two years later, I can see that the earthworks of Offa's Dyke actually run north-south between the Castle and the outbuildings, although the long distance footpath deviates from it to go round the west side of the castle grounds. So I must have followed a bit of the dyke on my way down this hillside!
There was a belt of trees at the bottom which I passed through, then over a stile (I think, or maybe I just clambered over a stone wall). In any event, there's a footpath marked on the map leading down to Castle Mill where a road bridge crosses to Bronygarth.
I was on the Long Distance Footpath now, and followed the signs up the hillside. It was a bit tricky in places - the OS map makes it look very straightforward, but I found myself walking up a path between cottages on the hillside, then following a sign for Offa's Dyke path up a slippery slope to the left, and losing track of the route. I must have missed something, as I came up to a high point beside a field where I could see back across to Chirk Castle but couldn't see any more waymarkers. There was a man out working in the field and I asked him the way. He pointed up over a bank (to the south-west), and I'd get to a small road that would cross over the path.
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Getting wetter on Offa's Dyke
Sure enough, I found the narrow road which led up to where the Offa's Dyke path crossed - at map ref 260370. Now I was on the dyke itself, as I could clearly see. An earthen ridge ran along the top of the line of hills, running down to fields on either side, but with a distinct ditch on the right hand side which would have given the Welsh enemy something extra to get across before facing the wrath and weapons of the Anglo Saxon defenders.
It all looked pretty peaceful 1200 years later, but the sky was becoming more threatening, and soon the rain started falling. I ducked under the hedge to put on a rain jacket and took the photo looking out across the field - not very inspiring but pretty typical of this section of the route.
The trail ran down across a little road and then more steeply down steps and across a well-built new footbridge, then up a short steep slope on the other side. There was a further descent a mile further on, towards the scattered little village of Craignant, where the route turns left along the road then right along another one which climbs back out of the valley.
More open countryside along the Dyke, before the path turns to the left then right onto a farm road, down to Orseddwen farm then back along the ancient earthworks for another mile. This brings it to a road junction, and the route deviates again from the dyke, climbing up the minor road over Baker's Hill.
This leads on to the edge of the Old Racecourse, described in more detail in the Oswestry Town story. It's only about 2.5 miles, or 4 km, west of the centre of Oswestry here, and there are various options if you want to cut the walk short and head down from here - either straight along the B4580 (which doesn't seem to be very busy) or along the minor roads and footpaths that criss-cross the slopes. This would make up a distance from Chirk Castle of about 8 miles - about 13 km - and would probably be enough for many walkers.
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2nd section - the Old Racecourse to Treflach and back to Oswestry
It wasn't as wet now though, so I carried on across the B4580 and the Old Racecourse, picking up Offa's Dyke Path again at the southern end where it entered into thick woodland. These woods cloaked the western flank of the ridge, and this 1.5 mile (2 km) section was one of the best parts of the route, gently downhill through trees with occasional views over the mile of so into Wales.
It brought me down to another minor road at a pub at the western end of Tyn-y-coed village. There was a road junction here, and on the other side the route went up a steep zig-zagging little road to another t-junction. On the other side of the road ahead of me, there was a way through to the path which crossed more fields and finally joined another lane leading into Trefonen village.
The route swung round to the right (south-west) across more fields, then south again to the farm at Ty-Canol, where I finished following the Long-Distance Footpath. I took the farm road down to Bwlch, and crossed the fields to the next village of Treflach.
Just as I got back to a road entering the village, my mobile phone rang. It was someone trying to sell me a seat at a conference linked with work. It was weird - the one moment during the holiday that I had to think about work, and I very quickly told the guy that I was running somewhere near the Welsh border and he should call me in a few days' time when I'd be at my desk!
At the main road in Treflach I turned north for a short distance then right along another attractive minor road, but by now I was feeling pretty exhausted. It was a long road, about 2.5 miles across undulating countryside past Gronwen and Nant y Caws, up to Morda.
There I turned left towards Coed y go, taking a right fork then soon after another right turn along a little lane which led down across the River Morda and up the final mile and a bit, back to Oswestry.
It had been quite a run - I was training for the Midnight Sun Marathon at the time, and this really gave me a boost to complete this route. For those not planning anything quite as strenuous, it would make a full day's excursion but a very rewarding one. A chance to get a real sight of the border country.
Contributed by: Andrew Llanwarne
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