20th February 2020: Minera (mod)

This would be our last visit to The Gallery café at Hawarden before Spiros retires at the end of March. Eight Easy Riders had gathered to wish him well. Jim and Trevor had come in civvies, John W was doing his own thing and Ken had to be home for lunch, but he joined Dave H, Keith, Andy B and Steve T for the ride. We decided that, since Dave was recovering from his gall bladder op and Keith hadn’t been out for a while due to a bad shoulder and the weather was awful, we’d make it a short one today. I’d found a ride on the blog to the Tyn-y-Capel pub at Minera which Steve H had led a year or so ago. At only 30 miles, it seemed to fit the bill for our ride today.

So, off we set out through Ewloe and Buckley (where Ken helped us to navigate the housing estate streets) to reach the A5118 near Llong. Ken peeled off here to head for home, whilst we struggled along the main road into the strong westerly wind before taking the long, steep hill to Pentre, skirting Treuddyn to reach Rhydtalog and Four Crosses. From here it was steeply downhill to reach Minera and Tyd-y-lan opposite the church.

It didn’t look open, but a quick look inside told us that all was well and we were soon settled in the warm pub, drying off gloves and other wet things on any radiators we could find. As well as the normal menu, there was a 2 course lunch on offer for only £7.95. Andy, Keith and I chose this option, whereas Dave went for a Moroccan surprise. He was more than a little worried when the waitress brought him a plate of salad, chips and wraps, but the sizzling sound of a dish of Moroccan chicken soon brought a smile to his face.

As we were eating, the sun came out so that when we set off for home the world looked a much brighter place. However, the wind was still very strong and we did get shot-blasted by a few snow showers as we took the B-road round Coedpoeth and zig-zagged through Pentre Broughton to Gwersyllt, where we joined the busy road to Llay. From there we found the quieter lanes to Penymynydd, where we crossed the A5104.  Andy left us here to take that road back to Mold, leaving Dave, Keith and I to navigate the footbridge over the A55 and then follow the track through Bilberry Wood back to Hawarden.

Yet again we’d started from the café in very unpromising conditions, only to finish the day in fine and dry weather. A short ride today, but good company and the drying weather made it all worthwhile.

See route map and/or gpx file download

ST