North East Wales

and it has more than a few accolades, as the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB is all around Llangollen as well as being part of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal Word Heritage Site. The  11 mile corridor of World Heritage Site which stretches from Horseshoe Falls in Llantyslio  along the canal across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct  which lifts the canal across the Dee Valley to Chirk. The castle was built in the 1260s by the Welsh Ruler Prince Gruffudd ap  Fadoc, on the site of several earlier structures, including an Iron Age hill fort dating back to 600 BC. This did not stop them transforming Plas Newydd, the little cottage they chose, into the Gothic residence of their dreams, complete with well-stocked library and decorative gardens, while trying their hand in a little farming, and carrying out rigorous correspondence and self-improvement.

Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter It was such a fine example that it was pulled down stone by stone and rebuilt in exactly the same way in the St Fagan’s Museum in the 70’s and can be visited as part of the tour. With her four marriages to high profile Welshmen including a Salisbury, a Clough, a Wynn and a Thelwall , her six children and over thirty grandchildren who all went on to form some of the country’s richest families has made Katheryn one of the most influential women in Welsh history. At the age of fourteen he started working in his father’s printing company the now famous Gwasg Gee, but continued to attend the grammar school in the afternoons.

The Clywedog Valley Trail is a linear walk which follows the River Clywedog from Minera Lead Mines to the west of Wrexham, to King’s Mill, approximately 5.5 miles downstream, south- east of Wrexham town centre. The Clywedog Valley Trail is a linear walk which follows the River Clywedog from Minera Lead Mines to the west of Wrexham, to King’s Mill, approximately 5.5 miles downstream, south- east of Wrexham town centre. Walking amongst nature is so awe inspiring, allowing us to share carpets of bluebells, a fleeting glimpse of a Kingfisher, meandering rivers, waterfalls, ancient trees changing with the seasons, providing shelter for a myriad of species All of these and more can be experienced on the Clywedog Valley Trail, which follows the River Clywedog from Minera Lead Mines to the west of Wrexham, to King’s Mill, approximately 5.5 miles downstream, south- east of Wrexham town centre. Minera Lead Mines, Nant Mill and Erddig); play in the play area at Nant Mill; play hide and seek in the woods (Plas Power and Erddig); paddle in the water; play Pooh sticks (Erddig); find the way across the river on stepping stones or through the wooden maze in Plas Power woods; look out for wooden sculptures of pigs in their styes at Nant Mill and the impressive King Offa in Plas Power woods, where carved wooden insects can also be spotted.

The name literally means ‘Mother Mountain’ in Welsh, and at 554m (1818ft) it is well named as the highest summit in the Clwydian Range AONB. Sitting in the middle of the heather-clad hills of the central part of the Range,  Moel Famau offers stunning views across the Vale of Clwyd to Snowdonia and the North Wales coast. Over succeeding decades various rebuilding schemes failed for lack of money and support until 1969 when the Denbigh and Flint branch of the Country Landowners’ Association decided that their contribution to European Conservation Year 1970 would be to tidy up the ruins and secure them from further deterioration. The summit of Moel Famau is a place which is often used to mark special events  in 2010 thousands of people made the ascent to mark the bicentenary of the Jubilee Tower with an unforgettable evening of fireworks, lasers, lanterns, dancing and music.