Capturing the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley One of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes
Special issue We celebrate as AONB gets bigger
Fancy a pint? Something’s brewing on Moel Famau
Scorched earth Why our moorland is going up in smoke
10 of the best Days out that don’t cost a penny
Plus: follow our food trail, push our buttons and join our day of the triffids
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www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk
Welcome Room with a view page 4
A taste of heather page 6
Burning ambition page 8
10 free days out page 10
Our Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has just got a lot bigger. In November 2011, the protected landscape of the Clwydian Range AONB was extended to include much of the Dee Valley. This includes the towns of Corwen and Llangollen, major historical landmarks such as Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Chirk Castle and Valle Crucis Abbey and stunning natural features including the Eglwyseg Escarpment, Horseshoe Pass and Esclusham Mountain. It adds a further 230 square kilometres to the 160 square kilometres of heather, hillforts and limestone cliffs that make up the Clwydian Range. It’s the first new area of land in Wales to be awarded AONB status for 26 years. This means that it’s officially recognised as one of the nation’s most important landscapes. But this isn’t just about walls, hedges and heather moorland. It’s about all the people who live and work here – the farmers, tourism operators and small businesses that help their communities to thrive. We don’t want to make it more difficult for these people. We want to help. And being in the newly titled Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB means access to funding and support that can make a real difference.
The missing link page 12
In this special issue of our magazine, we want to welcome new partners such as Wrexham County Borough Council into the AONB. And we want to showcase some of the work we’re already doing in the north to give people in the south ideas of how we may be able to help. Working with graziers on heather management, for instance. Helping food producers to develop a food trail that’s bringing them new customers. Supporting local projects through the Sustainable Development Fund.
Revenge on the triffids page 14
Over the next few months we’ll be talking to people in the Dee Valley, finding out what their priorities are and asking them to get involved in running the AONB. We hope to see you at one of our consultation events. Or you could just call in at our office in Y Capel, Llangollen for a chat. Carolyn Thomas Chair of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB
Stroll your way to fitness page 16
Cover shot Castell Dinas Brân, Llangollen © Orange Imaging
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Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB
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www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk
Room with a view Inside the new audio-visual room at Loggerheads Country Park Š Eye Imagery
State-of-the-art technology is bringing the history of the Clwydian Range to life at the touch of a button.
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Some people call it a self-guided interactive table with a dual projection system. But staff at Loggerheads Country Park refer to it simply as “the room with a view”. Housed in a little stone building next to the restored water mill is an audio-visual experience that brings together everything from the evocative cine films shot by WH Crawford in the 1940s and 1950s to the latest flyover footage from the Heather and Hillforts project. Just wander in, seven days a week, use the huge touch screen to navigate the film archive, hit the play button and watch your clip materialise on the wall in front of you. It’s so simple a child could do it. Even technophobic adults will find it hard to go wrong. And when you’re outside again you’ll see the world around you with fresh understanding. “This is a small room that packs a big punch,” says Carolyn Thomas, Chair of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB. “It provides a window on the landscape and communities that make this area so special. “Visitors to Loggerheads will be able to get a real flavour of its biodiversity, its history and its culture. We’re getting people reconnected with the landscape and with their own heritage.” The project has been funded by the Heather and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Scheme and the Countryside Council for Wales’ Communities and Nature Project. It draws on just a small part of the AONB’s rich archive – much of which underlines the importance of farming in conserving the special landscape of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley.
Talking to farmers at home and in local livestock markets, author Lorna Jenner collected many wonderful old photographs and stories from the times when milking, shearing, haymaking and harvesting were all done by hand. Vincent Vaughn of Cilcain recalls tying string round the bottom of his trousers to stop rats running up his legs during threshing. And he tells the tale of Robin Hood VII, a stallion from the White Horse pub, who once served 390 mares in a season – and was given a bottle of Guinness after each one.
From top Shire stallion in 1920s Denbigh (courtesy Dilys Jones) / threshing in the 1950s (courtesy Ken Lewis) / demonstration of a Ferguson Tractor (courtesy Bryn Jones). All from “100 years of Farming in and around the Clwydian Range”.
“I’ve tried to catch the essence of farming in the Clwydian Range and to document some of the changes that have taken place over the past century,” says Lorna. “I have been overwhelmed by the warm reception from the farming community. My only regret is that I had to be so selective and so much good material has been missed out.” Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. There are plans for a major oral history project to build up a digital archive of farming in the area within living memory. Schools and colleges will get involved in memory gathering and a “museum in a box” will tour venues showing photos and playing sound recordings. The AONB has already backed the project and hopes are high that the Heritage Lottery Fund will approve the bid.
“100 Years of Farming in and around the Clwydian Range” is available from the
And while touch screens can be very exciting, sometimes there’s no substitute for curling up with a good book. “100 Years of Farming in and around the Clwydian Range”, for example, published with help from the AONB’s Sustainable Development Fund.
Clwydian Range Centre at Loggerheads, all local bookshops and by mail order from www.moldbookshop.co.uk
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A taste of heather In the world of food and drink, provenance is everything. No wonder the Clwydian Range is becoming a trusted brand. Natural Beauty in a glass. A beer, in short, that tasted of heather.
Phill Blanchard at Hafod Brewery
Phill was given a few armfuls of it from the slopes of Moel Famau and asked to work his magic. So he retreated to his new Hafod Brewery, just a stone’s throw from Loggerheads Country Park, and began to experiment.
Phill Blanchard is a resourceful man. And he likes a challenge. Not many people considering a career change would have decided to start their own brewery – and then built all the equipment themselves from scratch. So problem-solving Phill was the perfect man for the job when Heather and Hillforts project officer Erin Robinson was looking for someone to brew a beer with a difference. A beer that captured all the appeal of the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding
He thought about an infusion in the old Scottish ale style but decided that would have to wait for the three-week window when the heather was in flower. Then he had a brainwave. He set fire to the heather. The idea was to produce a smoked beer – a Welsh version of a German rauchbier. “I soon discovered,” says Phill ruefully, “how flammable heather is. It’s packed with oils. I nearly lost my beard.” He rigged up a combustion chamber which allowed him to smoke both the malted barley and the hops. He tried different parts of the heather and found
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that young leaves imparted a fresh, piney, fragrant quality to the beer. “I didn’t want it to be like drinking a pint of bonfire,” says Phill. “I wanted to produce a beer that would sell, a very subtle smoked beer that would appeal to a lot of people.” The result is Moel Famau Ale. A dark beer that conjures up the purple-clad hills of the Clwydian Range and even, with its smoky tang, the regular burning that’s needed to keep the heather moorland in tip-top shape. You might have thought it was a niche taste. Not a bit of it. Moel Famau Ale has become Hafod Brewery’s bestseller.
Food miles A quality landscape produces quality food. That’s the logic behind the launch of the Clwydian Range Food Trail.
Now Phill’s considering what other components of the local landscape he can employ. Gorse, for instance, which tastes of coconut. Or maybe Clwydian Range honey, produced by 30 hives under the care of bee keeper Richard Jones. In the spring and early summer his bees
It takes you through some of the most spectacular views in the Range, from Loggerheads through to Ruthin, Denbigh and beyond. Along the way you’ll meet producers of delicious foods, all using local ingredients wherever possible. People like master chef Andreas Brunzel of Leonardo’s Delicatessen, whose chicken, leek and laverbread pie came out on top at the British Pie Awards.
feed on the mixed flowers of the Vale of Clwyd. Then at the end of July he moves them to the foothills of Moel Famau, within reach of the abundant flowering heather. And once they start producing sumptuous heather honey, not even Phill would think of making beer from it. Because this honey is for connoisseurs. Most of it will be sold as cut comb, the most highly-prized of all honey. From October onwards, look out for it in local farm shops and in Caffi Florence and the Clwydian Range Centre at Loggerheads Country Park.
Hafod Brewing Company 07901 386638 www.welshbeer.com
The aim, according to Chair of the Food Trail Group David Jones, is not just to encourage visitors to explore this beautiful and productive landscape. It’s to let residents know what’s on their doorstep. And to get local businesses trading with each other. So when you spend the night in a hotel or B&B, you might find sausages from Rhesgoed Farm Shop on the breakfast menu. Or smoked fish from Old Forge Trout Farm in your packed lunch. And if you’re not driving, you could wash it down with a bottle of Rosies Triple D Cider, pressed, fermented and matured on a farm 1,000 feet above sea level. The Food Trail is raising awareness of the importance of farmers and producers in shaping one of the finest landscapes in Wales. That’s why it’s backed by the AONB through the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Development Fund. Clwydian Range Food Trail 01824 705802 www.foodtrail.co.uk
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Burning ambition Heather management through controlled burning
Graziers and countryside officers are working together to renew our heather moorland. Which means more black grouse and fatter sheep.
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Moel y Parc near Bodfari is perhaps best known as the home of the tallest structure in North Wales: a 235 metre-high TV transmitting station. But it’s also part of 1,800 acres of heather moorland that carpet the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains, much of it designated common land and farmed by generations of graziers. Three-quarters of the world’s remaining heather is here in the UK. But this internationally important habitat for species such as black and red grouse, merlin and hen harriers, skylarks, meadow pipits and bilberry bumblebees hasn’t happened by accident. It’s the result of thousands of years of human activity. And right now it’s down to people like Gwyn Rowlands. Left to itself, the heather would grow leggy, collapse and die. It would be ousted by invasive species such as rowan, bracken and European gorse. And slowly the landscape would revert to woodland. No use for conservationists. And no use for graziers like Gwyn. Because his stock would get lost in the tick-ridden bracken and there would be no young heather shoots to fatten up the sheep. So for the last few years Gwyn and his fellow graziers have been heather burning to encourage vigorous new growth. They’ve been cutting down gorse and spraying bracken. And they’ve been doing it with the help of Nick Critchley, Moorland Field Officer for the Heather and Hillforts Project, and a team of volunteers. “They helped us with manpower and expertise to begin with and after the first couple of years we had the confidence and experience to do it for ourselves, although we still borrow equipment such as fire beaters,” says Gwyn.
“The knowledge of previous generations of graziers was in danger of being lost. It’s been a very valuable exercise that has opened up big tracts of land, so it’s much easier to manage the sheep and they’re coming off the hills in better condition.” Right across the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains, Nick Critchley and countryside officers such as Llangollenbased Rhun Jones are working with farmers to manage up to 120 acres of heather and bilberry every year by cutting or burning. They’re also working hard to repair the damage caused by drivers of motorbikes and 4x4s who think an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a suitable place for an illegal racetrack. “We are down to the bedrock in places,” says Nick. “It’s devastating for the habitat and for grazing – sheep don’t eat mud. So far we have repaired about seven acres of damage and helped to remove another one of the barriers that are preventing people putting stock on the mountains.” Nick Critchley Moorland Field Officer – Heather and Hillforts Project 01352 810614 nick.critchley@denbighshire.gov.uk
Above from top Up to 120 acres of heather are cut or burned every year / black grouse habital doesn’t happen by accident / the AONB contains 1,800 acres of heather moorland. Below The sheep come off the hills in better condition
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10 free days out In these days of austerity, you may be relieved to discover so many activities in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley that won’t cost you a penny. Far too many to tell you about here – you’ll have to visit our website for the latest list. But in the meantime here are 10 things you could try without putting your hand in your pocket. All of them should keep you busy for a few hours at least. And if you sample several together, you could be up with the lark and back home after sunset.
go bilberrying They’re fat, purple and delicious. And they tell you that the moorland is in good condition. Join a Bilberry Hunt at Moel Famau – and whatever you do, don’t forget a container for your berries.
get the grin factor
visit a country park
Our mountain biking is some of the best in Wales with challenging climbs, technical singletrack and swooping descents. It’s all part of a new Cycling Centre of Excellence designed to deliver what aficionados call the grin factor. See www.ridenorthwales.co.uk
Loggerheads, with its steep limestone cliffs and riverside walks, is the gateway to the Clwydian Range. Moel Famau attracts 200,000 visitors a year to its dramatic heather-clad slopes. And Tyˆ Mawr has donkeys, pigs, sheep, rabbits, chicken, ducks – and llamas. With dramatic views of Cefn viaduct thrown in.
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watch a meteorite Take a two-mile guided walk to Caer Drewyn hillfort to see (weather permitting) the annual Perseids meteor shower. We’ll even provide soup and a roll in case it’s chilly.
walk across an aqueduct see a hillfort It will be a bit of climb but it’s worth it. There’s a spectacular chain of six Iron Age hillforts stretching from Moel Hiraddug in the north to Caer Drewyn in the south. The Heather and Hillforts project has brought one of Wales’s most important historic landscapes to life.
Not just any aqueduct, mind. Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at Trefor is the crowing glory of a World Heritage Site that comprises 11 miles of the Llangollen Canal. Just make sure you have a head for heights – it’s 126 feet tall. You can recover yourself in the revamped visitor centre.
view the range from a beach And while you’re at it, you could search for mermaid’s purses (the egg cases of sharks and rays) at Gronant Dunes or help us improve the habitat for sand lizards or little terns. You could even take Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail back along the Clwydian Range.
go orienteering Not sure what the Ladies of Llangollen would have made of it but there’s a new orienteering course in the garden of their famous home at Plas Newydd. Sir Walter Scott and Wordsworth have wandered the grounds and now it’s your turn.
detect a bat
hunt some bugs
Explore Coed Nercwys or Loggerheads Country Park at night. With luck you’ll encounter nightjars, bats, owls and moths. Bring a torch and some insect repellent. We’ll provide the bat detectors.
They probably won’t mind. Learn how to find creepy crawlies at Loggerheads Country Park, go river dipping at Plas Newydd or make a home for the little creatures in your own garden.
For more ideas and events, pick up a copy of Denbighshire Countryside Service’s “Out and About” booklet or visit www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk/news-and-events
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Main picture The 1876 Chain Bridge Below left to right The original 1817 structure / the 1930 suspension bridge / the bridge today, sold for ÂŁ1. Courtesy Llangollen Museum and Llangollen Town Council.
www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk
The missing link Sold for just ÂŁ1, this survivor of the Industrial Revolution is in a sorry state. But its finest hour could still be to come if an ambitious restoration gets the green light.
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The Chain Bridge at Berwyn near Llangollen must surely be one of the most remarkable locations in Britain. The River Dee rushing below is just one of four great arteries that virtually touch here. On the opposite bank is Berwyn Halt railway station, stopping point on the famous Llangollen Steam Railway. Just beyond that is the A5, Thomas Telford’s monumental LondonHolyhead road. And behind you is Llangollen Canal, hand-cut through solid rock, with the Horseshoe Falls just a little way along the towpath. You’re standing at the gateway of a World Heritage Site that stretches all the way to mighty Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at Trefor and beyond. It’s the Spaghetti Junction of the Industrial Revolution. But this part of the Dee Valley is also astonishingly beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that it’s within the newly designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chain Bridge itself, however, has seen better days. It’s so dilapidated and unsafe that it’s been closed since the 1980s. And it was recently sold by the owner of the adjacent Chainbridge Hotel for £1. The buyers were Llangollen Town Council, whose patch includes the south bank of the river, and Llantysilio Community Council, who look after the north side. They paid 50p each. Small change, perhaps, but they have big plans. With the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, they want to restore the bridge, reopen it to the public and improve the path up to Berwyn Halt railway station to make it wheelchair-friendly. This means that people could travel from Llangollen by horse-drawn boat, cross the Chain Bridge and return on the steam railway – or vice-versa. The reopened bridge would not only create a major tourist attraction. It would also restore a vital local landmark and, through a lively programme of education and interpretation, allow the community to reconnect with its own history. “It’s such a missing link that needs to be replaced,” says David Walton, Chair of
Llantysilio Community Council. “I have lived here most of my life and, like many other people, I remember using the bridge. It was a big part of local life.” The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a development grant so the councils can submit a detailed bid. If approved the £325,000 project could be finished by the end of 2013. No one is counting their chickens but Jennifer Stewart, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales, can see the potential: “We were impressed with the proposals to restore this significant landmark, which is of historical engineering importance,” she said. “The project will provide great opportunities for local people to get involved and play their part in saving a piece of their local heritage for future generations.” The Chain Bridge has had three lives already. Entrepreneur Exuperius Pickering built the original structure in 1817 – linking the canal and the A5, bypassing the tolls at Llangollen and enabling him to corner the local coal market. His bridge always looks a little flimsy in old photographs but the strength of its wrought-iron chains enabled it to hang on until it was replaced in 1876 by Sir Henry Robertson using iron from the Brymbo works. This second bridge succumbed to the worst floods in living memory in 1928 and was completely swept away. Some of the pieces ended up as far downstream as Chester. It was rebuilt in 1930 by Robertson’s son along the lines of the Menai Suspension Bridge with six chains supporting the bridge deck and two chains below. Almost certainly the latter were Pickering’s original chains, reused more than 100 years later. That could make them the oldest working part of any bridge in the UK. Not to mention the oldest suspension bridge chains still in place anywhere in the world. Llangollen Town Council 01978 861345 www.llangollentowncouncil.co.uk Llantysilio Community Council 01978 861451
From top Llangollen Steam Railway / Horseshoe Falls / Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
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Revenge on the triffids Himalayan balsam is an invasive plant species from a faraway land that’s taking over our waterways. But an army of volunteers is fighting back.
It doesn’t look much like a triffid. In fact Himalayan balsam with its sweet-smelling pink flowers looks rather attractive swaying gently on a riverbank. The Victorians certainly thought so. They brought it back from trips to the east and planted it in their gardens. But they should have left it in the Himalayas where it belonged.
Main picture Himalayan balsam Right Volunteering in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley
Because this ornamental plant, otherwise known as policeman’s helmet, is an invasive species that’s doing untold damage along our watercourses. It forms dense stands up to three metres high that choke native vegetation, provide little or no food for our wildlife and stop frustrated anglers getting to the water. Then it dies back, leaving great bare patches of riverbank that are prone to erosion.
It even has exploding pods that can shoot out seeds to a distance of seven metres. Seeds that can begin to germinate underwater. So once established it spreads downstream like wildfire. Unless you do something about it, that is. Which is where the Alyn Valley Himalayan Balsam Project comes in. Since 2008 this project has mobilised local councils, statutory agencies, conservation bodies, community groups and an army of volunteers to eradicate the invading plants all the way along the River Alyn from Llandegla to Mold. And what’s the best way to kill a triffid? Well, you can do it with a strimmer. You can try a flail. Or you can use chemical control.
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But if you’ve got the people power at your
used to be a sea of pink there are only a few
disposal, the best way is to pull up the
plants left.
shallow-rooted plant by hand, break the stem and leave it well back from the river
“The seeds are only viable for two or three
to compost.
years so, once we have eradicated all the plants and eliminated the source, the
It’s vital to do this when the Himalayan balsam is in flower but before it goes to seed – otherwise you’re likely to do more harm than good. June is the best time. That’s when you’ll see volunteers in wellies and gloves yanking up armfuls of balsam all along the Alyn Valley. Some will be in ones and twos, doing their own thing, while others
riverbank should stay clear.” Graham Harvey was one of the first volunteers to get active. He and his friends have been tugging out Himalayan balsam clogging a tributary of the river Alyn near his house.
will be part of big organised groups.
His motivation is simple: “It’s on my doorstep
“The volunteers have been really committed
lovely area and I’d like to pass on as much
and their work is already starting to pay
as possible to the next generation in the
dividends,” said Denbighshire’s biodiversity
state we found it. I suppose it’s a question
officer, Lizzie Webster. “In some places that
of being public-spirited.”
and it shouldn’t be there,” he says. “This is a
We need your help It’s not just balsam bashing. Each year countryside volunteers in Denbighshire alone put in about 5,000 hours of work. They get to do everything from drystone walling, hedge laying and heather burning to counting natterjack toads or listening for black grouse. Volunteering is good fun, gets you out in the fresh air and teaches you new skills that look good on your CV. And it means you’re putting something back into the landscape. Because an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty doesn’t just happen. It needs constant work. Denbighshire Countryside Service 01352 810614 www.clwydianrangeaonb.org.uk/volunteering Flintshire Countryside Service 01244 814931 Wrexham Countryside Service 01978 763140
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www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk
Stroll your way to fitness Walking doesn’t have to mean slogging through the countryside for hour after hour. Sometimes all you want is a quiet stroll and a nice view. Two new Community Miles routes around Llangollen and Tremeirchion could fit the bill. Like the existing walks in Llandyrnog, Denbigh and Clywedog, they take routes that people are already using, improve them with new stiles, gates and bridges – and waymark them so you don’t get lost. The result is a series of short walks designed to get people fitter (there’s a calorie counter for every walk), boost local businesses and promote public transport.
Events 2012 There’s always plenty happening around the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley. Here are just a few of the highlights for 2012.
“We want to get more people out in the countryside by improving existing rights of way,” explains Denbighshire Countryside Service’s Access Officer, Hannah Salisbury-Arndt. “The Community Miles routes only take an hour or so but they are still very rewarding with wonderful views.” Community Miles is part of the Rights of Way Improvement Plan funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and administered by the Countryside Council for Wales. Look out for the leaflets – and for new Community Miles routes in Llandrillo and Graigfechan that should be ready by the end of 2012.
Mon 27 August, Cilcain Show www.cilcainshow.org.uk Sat 1-Sun 2 September, Corwen Walking Festival www.corwenwalkingfestival.co.uk Sat 22-Sun 23 September, Mold Food and Drink Festival www.moldfoodfestival.co.uk
Wed 1-Sun 12 August, Ranger Wooley’s Mission countryside theatre tour www.denbighshirecountryside.org.uk
September, Open Doors Denbighshire www.opendoorsdenbighshire.org.uk
Thurs 16 August, Denbigh and Flint County Show www.denbighandflintshow.com
Sat 20-Sun 21 October, Llangollen Food Festival www.llangollenfoodfestival.com
Fri 24-Mon 27 August, Gw ˆ yl Gobaith Music Festival, Northop www.gwylgobaith.org
Mon 17 December-Wed 2 January, Christmas at Loggerheads www.caffiflorence.co.uk
Partneriaeth Cynllun Datblygiad Gwledig Sir Ddinbych Denbighshire Rural Development Plan Partnership
Funded through the Rural Development Plan (financed through the European Union and the Welsh Government) and the Sustainable Development Fund. Written and designed by whitefox-design.co.uk Published by Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB in July 2012. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publishers can accept no liability for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions or for any matter in any way connected with or arising out of the publication of the information. Printed on uncoated paper sourced from well managed and sustainable forests and certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council.