The start point for this route, tiny Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog huddles beside lanes near the head of one of the northern Welsh Marches’ glorious, hidden valleys. The Afon Ceiriog, which transects the walk springs from the nearby scarp of the lonely, lofty Berwyn Mountains, flowing through this community sited in what the former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George described as ‘A little piece of Heaven on Earth’. This undulating, invigorating walk to the fringing moors is rewarded by memorable views to the Berwyns, believed by the Celts to be the faerie kingdom of Annwn, the gateway to the otherworld.
[1] From the inn, cross the river bridge and fork left at the junction up a very steep lane rising between haymeadows and past two farms.
(A) The first of these, Pen y Bryn, was where John Ceiriog Hughes was born, renowned as the most talented Bard of the Victorian era.
Beyond the top farm (keep left) the lane roughens beside a conifer plantation.
Views left stretch across wind-ruffled sheep pasture to the long ridge of the Berwyns; to the right the knolly, enclosing hills of the Ceiriog draw the eye – in 1923 plans to flood this verdant Arcadia with two reservoirs for Warrington were defeated.
Beyond the gates the track emerges onto heather moor, curling round easily before hair-pinning around the top of a thin valley.
[2] About 150m past this point, a distinct grassy track forks right. You should split the angle between the main and lesser tracks, walking across un-pathed heather and over a cross-track to find a stile. Beyond this, sight the old gateposts mimicking standing stones and walk past these to a distant gate and stile. From here, fade right to a guidepost and large boulder amidst the rough pasture, then keep ahead to put a fence on your right. Remain with this to the far corner, where there’s a guidepost and gate. Turn right down the field-side track to use another gate shortly after. Past trees, a lone hawthorn and adjacent fingerpost are reached. Use the gate left here onto a slatey track, before bending right along a developing field road – this eventually becomes tarred and falls steeply to the main valley road.
[3] Cross to the right and turn sharp left down the rougher lane, dropping to cross the Ceiriog on Pontricket Bridge. Pass to the right of the white cottage, joining a steepening tree-lined track, soon tempered by concrete reinforcement. Persevere with this, eventually breaking free of the trees and reaching a gateway onto tarmac. Keep ahead for 100m to the junction and bear right, joining the course of the Ceiriog Cycle Route, a superb, elevated lane with ever-better views into the faerie hills of Annwn.
[4] At the T-junction go left then right towards Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog. As you reach the hard left bend, take the waymarked gate left, joining a rough field road that gains height over the lane. Stride along this to and straight across a wide cross-track, just past a fir plantation.
[5] In a further 300m, use the waymarked gate right. Look directly ahead for a stile beyond the tongue of rushes and cross over it. Past more rushes, use the field gate left into access land. Take the green track which strikes ahead left beneath the low knolls. At a split in 150m, stay on the lower track; this declines around the hillside, falling easily via a series of gates into the tranquil Nant y Glôg valley, with a stream to your left. A final gate leads to a track behind a cottage, then a lane ahead takes you into the village centre.