Michael decided that he and I needed a break and it would be a good idea to go on an off road trip to Wales. As Michael is not an off road or Land Rover enthusiast I was quite surprised. Mark decided he would like to go as well. So a quick call to the Abbey Grange hotel and accommodation was arranged for the three of us for 15th March 2012.
Land Rover Discovery 200 Tdi "Trigger"Thursday 15th March 2012
We set off comparatively early for Mark (about 9 o’clock in the morning) from Barnet and arrived late morning at Shrewsbury. We stopped here for the time honoured ritual of a Morrisons big breakfast followed by a quick route planning session. I had decided to try and track down some lanes we had driven in February 2002 but I was not exactly sure where they were other than near Llawnt.
We arrived at the entrance to the first lane at OS ref: SJ240313 it was a lovely sunny day as we progressed along the lane. We eventually arrive at a 5 bar gate at OS ref: SJ225325. We pass thru’ the gate and turn right the lane meanders along a line of trees. Fairly close to the end of the lane we crest a hill and on the downward slope we stop so Michael could take some photo’s.
We continue on to Llechrydau at OS Ref: SJ224340. Once here we turn left along a metalled road to “Spring Hill” at OS Ref: SJ211345. Here it is a little unclear as to the way forward. Its a long time since I’ve been here and I can’t remember exactly which way to go. We all get out of the Disco’ to examine a forestry commission notice before deciding which way to go. We turn off the metalled road and proceed down a dirt track that descends down through the wood. Eventually we arrive at the junction with the B4500 at Cwmclwyd OS map ref: SJ195354. From here its a sharp left turn onto the B4500 for a about a mile to Pen y Bont OS ref: SJ186343 where we turn left. We cross over a small bridge and proceed up a steep incline between 2 lines of trees. We exit the top of the lane at OS ref:SJ190336. We continue up the now metalled road taking the left fork at OS ref: SJ196334, where we forked off right onto a dirt track. We continued on this dirt track for some distance but I was unsure if we were on the correct lane. In the distance it appeared a farmer was driving his tractor to intercept us so rather than a confrontation we turned around at SJ205332 and beat a hasty retreat back to the junction at OS ref: SJ190336 where we turned left on the metalled road to Pensarn. We had intended to pick up the the next lane at OS ref: SJ171327 but in the event missed it completely and ended up at Dyffryn Ceiriog at OS ref: SJ157327. We pass straight thru’ the cross roads and proceed along the Ceiriog valley thru’ Pentre to the start of the Wayfarer at OS ref: SJ130356. At the entrance to the lane we meet a Disco’ and a Series coming the other way so we stop for quick chat to find out the condition of the lane. It’s always wise to be cautious if your travelling with one vehicle as it’s taken 5 hours before to extricate a vehicle without the aid of a tow.
We proceed down the Wayfarer and although the weather is mild there’s a fair bit of mist which obscures the views over the surrounding countryside. We stop at the visitors book location to sign the book. Its obvious some idiots have been “playing” around the location recently as the surface is badly cut up with deep rutting on one side of the track. There are also deep tracks cut into the grass where they’ve tried to climb up to summit of the rocky outcrop. Lucky I hadn’t come here when it was happening or there might have been angry words and I certainly would have taken the vehicle registrations and reported them. Whilst we were there a group of motorcyclists came by going the opposite direction. I notice that since my last visit in 2009 much of the surrounding area has been fenced off, I guess its inevitable given how irresponsible and selfish some people can be!
The time is now about 4:15 and after taking some video and photographs we continue on our way. We fork right at OS ref: SJ083366 and proceed to Rhos-y-maerdy at OS ref: SJ061387. We miss the right turn and instead descend straight down to the B4401 at Rhydyglafes OS ref: SJ049397. We turn right onto the B4401 and proceed up to Corwen where we join the A5 and go directly to Llangollen and the Abbey Grange Hotel. Having stayed here twice before we knew the routine and opted to have a relaxing drink and meal in the bar.
Friday 16th March 2012
After a good nights sleep I awoke to a lovely clear day, after breakfast we packed and checked out. As was our usual custom we sat down in the restaurant to plan our route for the day. We set out down the road to Llangollen, where crossed the river and made our way to OS ref: SJ234412, The lane rose steeply up the side of the valley and at Os ref: SJ236408 we turned off left up a steep climb which ran along the top of the wooded hillside. The views were terrific as we made our way to the junction at OS ref: SJ253404. From here we crossed over the junction and proceeded straight down the road opposite taking a right turn at the first cross roads Os ref: SJ254402. This took us down a 1:5 hill, we stayed on this road until we reached the junction at OS ref:SJ226397 where we turned left. We followed this road taking the left fork at OS ref:SJ215394 to Glyn Ceiriog. At the junction in Glyn Ceiriog (OS ref: SJ211381) we turned right and proceeded to the cross roads at OS ref: SJ202383. We crossed straight over the junction and proceeded between the houses directly onto the UCR. This was a steep narrow lane that rose steeply up between high rock walls. The Discovery only just cleared the side walls in places and I could feel the tension rise within me as we climbed ever upward. The lane eventually leveled out and the rocks gave way to a fairly even dirt track which ran between two hedgerows. We exited the lane onto a metalled road at OS ref: SJ189382 where we turned left and proceeded to the junction at OS ref: SJ177371 where we turned half right down the hill. At the church and telephone box we turned left down the steep hill to the bottom ending up at a 5 bar gate at OS ref: SJ170369. We changed drivers here and Michael took over for the ascent. It was a hard rock lane that climbed steeply up the side of a babbling brook, the sun was out and it was a glorious day. We stopped to take some pictures after about a quarter of a mile and the views are lovely, a perfect day. After our break we continued on our way and after about half an hour we were out on the mountain top and gently cruising along in terrain which I imagine was more like the Australian outback. Eventually after an hour or so we descended down into LLanarmon Dyffrybn Ceiriog. We joined the end of B4500 at OS ref:SJ158300 and we crossed over the river and turned immediately left down a metalled road. At OS ref: SJ172326 we turned right off the tarmac thru’ the gate and proceeded up the hill. We continued along this track ignoring the cross roads near the top of the hill. It was a deeply rutted, muddy track but the going was fairly easy. At OS ref: SJ172312 we stopped as it here that the lane was badly damaged (we got badly stuck in November last year).
We walked down to examine the damaged section. The weather was still beautifully sunny and a tractor was plodding its way over the distant mountainside. After some deliberation we decided to have a crack at it although I wasn’t confident we could get through on our own, bearing in mind the Discovery was wearing off road tyres. We spent the next hour or so scouring the mountainside for rocks and debris to throw in the deep trench that we needed to negotiate. We used a variety of rocks and car parts left by earlier attempts made by others. I explained the necessary strategy for tackling the section with Michael as this was his first time out. Then Michael and I walked back to the Discovery leaving Mark to take the video! In the event Michael and the Discovery passed through with comparative ease. Once through this section we crawled down the mountain side taking particular care on some of the trickier sections. I acted as spotter, Mark as cameraman and Michael drove and we reached the bottom without any mishap.
At the bottom of this section we crossed a stream and we took the opportunity to wash off some of the grime collected so far. When we reached “The Lawn” at OS ref: SJ176304 I noticed the resident of the first cottage still had his Jaguar blocking the exit onto the UCR (it was the same last November). We continued on the lane until we exited onto tarmac at OS ref: SJ177299. Here we swapped drivers and turned right and proceeded to OS ref: SJ168298 where we forked right onto a little used lane and proceeded to the farm at “Pant-y-maen” OS ref: SJ158305 (ignoring the left fork at OS ref:164296 as we were unsure of the viability of the exit). We later found the exit for this fork at Glas-hirfyn OS ref: SJ156296 to be OK. At Pant-y-maen we exited onto the tarmac at OS ref: SJ156304 where we turned left and proceeded to OS ref: SJ144278 (Llanarmon Myndydd-mawr). Here we turned off left down a small tarmac road which changed at OS ref: SJ148276 to a dirt track which ran between two hedgerows . It was fairly overgrown and quite narrow and I had got stuck down here twice before when coming in the opposite direction. This time however it was bumpy but uneventful, the hole I got stuck in before was no longer there, as the surface had been eroded back to bare rock. We continued down this lane crossing the stream at the bottom and then up the other side eventually we exited the lane at OS ref: SJ157275. We turned right and proceeded straight down to the B4580 where we turned left. We drove up the B4580 for about 2 miles to OS ref: SJ189274 where we turned right down a dirt track. We swapped drivers again at the top of the lane and Michael drove from here. This particular lane is always overgrown and it sounded as if someone was battering the side of the car with baseball bat as we proceeded down the lane. When we reached the end of the lane at OS ref: SJ192264 sure enough one of the door mirrors was hanging off. It was now about 2 o’clock so we decided to call it a day and set out for home. We turned left and eventually ended up at Llangedwyn, from here we took the Bwlchyddan road. We arrived at Llanfyllin passing “Green Door” B&B as we entered the town. We stopped here and had bacon and eggs for lunch before setting out for home.
We arrived back at London Colney on the M25 where we stopped to refill the tank. It took 65.9 litres and we had done 428miles giving an overall consumption of 29.57 mpg. Not bad for an old banger that’s done nearly 200,000 miles.
Life has been a bit hectic this year so it’s taken me 6 months before I’ve committed pen to paper and if it hadn’t of been for my notes made at the time there’s no way I could have written this trip up.
Until next time,
Dick