21st October 2010: Bodidris Hall

I’m grateful to Clive for planning today’s route some weeks ago.  Nine set off from The Tudor Cafe anti-clockwise, with a view to enjoying the £5 lunch at Bodidris hall up on the Llandegla Moors.  We’ve passed it often enough in the past and as today was a lovely sunny autumnal morning, it was an ideal time to visit.  As the clocks change back in a week, there won’t be many more days with so much daylight.
The ride started fairly straightforward past Penyffordd, then west through Nercwys before climbing southwest to Eryrys.  It then looked completely different doing this ride in the opposite direction to previous visits, as we climbed up and over the ridge of Offa’s Dyke, down into the old drovers village of Llanarmon yn lal.  We followed the old cattle drovers’ lanes down through Llandegla & out onto the edge of the moors, entering Bodidris Hall by the tradesmen’s entrance.
Bodidris is unique in that the county boundary between Denbighshire and Flintshire literally runs through the centre of the hall, and the county boundary stone can be seen outside the front door.  Yes, it was that old rock the bikes lent against.  The Hall is alleged to be haunted by a monk, a soldier, a boy, a well-dressed woman and a dog.  I don’t remember seeing the dog at lunch.  The £5 lunch was well received, but portions were a little small, I thought.
Afterwards, we were met outside on the lawns by literally hundreds of pheasants, which were being raised for the slaughter later in the year on the surrounding moors.  Indeed, as we then cycled over the moors, the guns were out, blasting away.  It was interesting to see a group hunting the old fashioned way, with birds of prey waiting for the dogs to flush out the game (?) from under cover.  We continued the circular ride over Four Crosses, through Bwlchgwyn, down the Stepps and back to Caergwrle.  Though it was a short 45 kms, we had climbed 553 metres and felt we had done another good CER ride.
See route map and/or gpx file download.
BMac