GBP
I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite places in North Wales today. There's so many gorgeous corners from coast to mountains, it's rich in beauty and history & I always get excited going home in between tours. Feel very lucky to have grown up in Rhydymwyn and have it all so close to explore. Feel free to add your own reflections or adventures in the comments below, this is just skimming.
The Clwydian's or Bryniau Clwyd are a series of hills that run from Coed Llandegla to the coast near Prestatyn. Rhydian and I walked these peaks every day when we were recording Hitch & I climbed most of them in one day (or at least that's how it felt!) on my Offa's Dyke Charity walk in 2015. A more leisurely way to enjoy them is via Moel Fammau (the highest point) & if you take your binoculars you can see the Red Brick studio in the distance from the summit. I also love Penycloddiau, which is to the North of Moel Fammau. It's been an inhabited spot across the ages, with digs uncovering a huge Iron Age hillfort that spans around 64 acres & a Bronze Age burial mound that is 3500 years old. The views are stunning in all directions & the wind blows the busy mind away.
20 miles to the West, takes us to the little village of Llangernyw in Conwy, home to one of the oldest trees in the world, the Llangernyw Yew. Estimates put the tree at between 4,000 - 5,000 years old (the oldest known living tree in the world, Methuselah in California is 4852 years old) . It sits in the cemetery, it's beautiful trunk fragmented by an old oil tank that's since been moved. I always feel like it should have a name, something intimate & meaningful to reflect the trees magnificence. Last time I was there, I called the tree Coryn mistakenly thinking it was the word for wizard , not spider. haha. Wizard is Dewin. After lots of tree admiring, the pub in Llangernyw is also very nice, The Old Stag.
Cool side legend.
The tree has a place in Welsh mythology where it's associated with a spirit known as Angelystor - the "recording angel" who can predict the name of parishoners who will die in the coming year. Good party trick that, very popular.
Next up, Ynys Llanddwyn in Sir Fôn Anglesey.
