free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
A really pleasant walk along a section of the Llwybr Ceiriog Trail giving some fine views of the valley. Although the car park (SJ234380) is private, if users park at the top end and leave the marked bays for the business that owns the land there are no problems with parking there at the present time. Leave the car park and walk up left towards the bridge, past St John's church and up the road a short distance (care needed, no pavement) to the little crossroads where the minor road is taken up to the right.
Just beyond a house and garage there is a marked footpath/track which leads across the hillside to Pentre Farm. Left up the road, left again to follow a track/lane, way-marked Ceiriog Trail, steeply up the hillside. The path bends back on itself quite steeply and you need to take the higher of the two gates. The track isn't that obvious in places, but does follow the edge of woodland (on your left) before crossing fields and then following a new fence (on your right) above a steep sided valley with a stream in it. Just when you're wondering if you've lost the path completely you reach a gate and a road. Turn left onto it, left again at the crossroads and then at Brynarddyn take the lane down towards Ty n-y-mynydd (there is a small wooded sign in the hedge which can be easily missed). The track to this hamlet is off to the left, which we followed (although other possibilities are indicated on the map). Beyond Ty n-y-mynydd the path becomes much steeped and rather resembles a river bed (which suggests that is may get a lot of water flowing down it in the wet). At a sharp bend/T junction in the track you need to turn left. Although footpaths through the woods were indicated on our LR1:25k maps, there were certainly not apparent on the ground and we returned to the rather steep, shale and rock-covered track again towards Ty n-twll until we reached the track back to Pentre Farm, where we re-traced our route back to the car park and the Swan Inn.
4.09 miles 6.58 km Ascent: +363m -354m Time taken: 3 hours (Naismith: 1h 55m)
Our route was very much based upon David Berry's walking guide "Walks Around the Berwyn Mountains and the Ceiriog Valley" published by Kittiwake. If you are not familiar with the area, you could do a lot worse than get this little guide. I think it's excellent.
