As Summer approaches, the Heather and Hillforts Project are asking people to join them on a ridgeline ramble along the Clwydian Range.
On Wednesday 26th May, you are invited to join a linear guided walk. Participants will meet at the top car park of Moel Famau, Bwlch Pen Barras, and will then be transported to Afonwen, where the group will make their way back along the Range to the car park using the Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail.
Helen Mrowiec, Heather and Hillforts Project Manager, said “This is a stunning walk and gives visitors and residents alike the chance to walk a linear trail without having the worry of getting back to their cars as we will provide transport. We will talk about the heritage of the area along the way and talk about what the Heritage Lottery Funded Heather and Hillforts Project has been developing over the last three years.
“The event takes place in the year the Clwydian Range celebrates its 25th anniversary of being designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). On this walk we will see lots of reasons why this area was given such a high status designation for its natural beauty.”
The walk takes a route through the stunning heather moorland of the Clwydian Range AONB and will take in a number of Iron Age hillforts- passing right through the hillfort of Penycloddiau, the remains of which are still strikingly visible today.
The heather-clad ancient settlements date back around 2,500 years. The hills have attracted people for thousands of years and Penycloddiau alone is visited by thousands of visitors every year.
Helen added, “We will enter Penycloddiau hillfort from the north and will be able to see the ramparts, the large banks and ditches, very clearly as we approach. These ramparts were dug by humans over two thousand years ago, before the Romans arrived in Britain, using shovels and picks made from animal bone and antler. This was a massive engineering feat and when you consider that the banks still look formidable today, after two thousand years of erosion, you can appreciate what an important place this is!”
The walk will also take in the reconstructed Bronze Age burial mound at Penycloddiau, over 4000 years old, Moel Arthur hillfort, and Moel Famau’s Jubilee Tower, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year- look out for more celebration events in the Summer and Autumn.
Please bring a packed lunch and suitable clothing and footwear. Meet at the top car park at Moel Famau, grid reference SJ161605, at 10am. This is a 7.5 mile, sometimes challenging walk, with some steep climbs, but with rewarding views, aiming to arrive back at the car park at around 4.30pm.
To book your place, please contact Loggerheads Country Park on 01352 810614 or email [email protected].
The event is supported by the three year Heather and Hillforts Project which is developing a £2.3 million initiative for upland conservation work and has received a grant of £1.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more information please visit www.heatherandhillforts.co.uk
The project’s progress can be followed on Twitter and Facebook by visiting www.twitter.com/HeatherHillfort or by joining the Heather and Hillforts Facebook fan page.
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported more than 28,800 projects allocating over $.3 billion across the UK, including over 1,800 projects totalling over £200 million in Wales. For more information, please visit www.hlf.org.uk
