A good number of riders gathered at the Gallery Tea Rooms in
Hawarden. It was also good to see Dave H out on a bike again – he was joining
Bryan W and Jim on a shorter ride and I believe the brisk riders were off to do
something incredibly steep. That left
the moderates: Andy B, George, Clive and myself. I’d been looking for a change to our usual
routes out from Hawarden and also a different lunch stop. I picked out a destination
almost due south from our start – the Tyn-y-Capel in Minera.
As we set off we immediately found ourselves in drizzle and
in one form or another we were in damp and murky conditions all day, albeit
relatively mild ones. We headed out through Buckley and skirted around Mold to
pass near Nercwys and Treuddyn. We were climbing steadily upwards throughout,
but only had to surmount one steep chevroned hill. We turned left at Rhydtalog
to reach Four Crosses and our high point of the day at just over 1,000 feet.
Then it was steeply downhill into Minera and to the Tyn-y-Capel on the right.
The Tyn-y-Capel sits looking over the valley towards the
Clwydian Hills. Apparently the building has its origins as a hostelry for
pilgrims making their way over Esclusham Mountain to Valle Crucis Abbey, near
Llangollen. It’s also one of the 50 best pubs in Wales according to Wales
Online. The large pub has extensive terraces where you could sit in the sun and
admire the views on a summer’s day. No such luck today, indeed no views at any
point on our ride. Inside we found good
value food and drink. I had an excellent
pint of “The Cat in the Chapel”, which seemed a very Welsh name for a beer. While we ate, George told us of the “Free Solo”
movie he’d just seen about the El Capitan climb in Yosemite, and this led to a
general discussion about climbing. We then moved on to Brexit! - soon it was time to leave.
Our return took us downwards on the B-road by Coedpoeth. At
one point heavy rain forced me to stop as the combination of a wet screen and
wet glasses meant I couldn’t read the map. We then followed a zig-zag of urban
roads through Pentre Broughton to find our way to Gwersyllt. We took the busy
road to Llay roundabout, and after the traffic lights, followed lanes back
northwards to Penymynydd. We said
goodbye to Clive and Andy, before passing through Bilberry Wood and onto
Hawarden car park.
We had covered only 30 miles, but travelled in a less
familiar direction from Hawarden which, as Clive pointed out, brought us into
the neighbourhood of the rides we used to do from Alwyn Waters. We also found a good pub, which we will remember
for future use.
SH
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