An amazing walk if you are staying in the North Wales coastal area is walking from Moel Famau to Bodfari along a small section of the Offa’s Dyke. There is a good reason why the Clwydian Range is officially an ‘Area of Outstanding Beauty’. As you read this, it may well be Wales’s fourth National Park. This walk, taking you along the Clwydian Range, is quite simply stunning. When you follow the walkers on Facebook (as I do) many will say the Clwydian range is the most beautiful part of the walk from Chepstow to Prestatyn.
For me and my hometown of Prestatyn, Offa’s Dyke is a place of legend that I grew up with. We are one end of the ‘Dyke’ and now a famous walk. Even films have been made – Arthur’s Dyke, with the walk as the backdrop.
I was raised to believe Offa built a huge earth barrier and incorporated natural features (e.g. – the Clwydian Range) as a bulwark to keep out the nasty Welsh from his kingdom of Mercia. As you get older and read a lot more on the subject, it is less likely to have anything to do with Offa, as almost nothing appears in the written record until many hundreds of years after its completion. ‘Others’ including the Romans are contenders to have engaged on such a project as they did with the Scots. Then again the Romans took credit for the roads, where many were long in existence before the Romans came to Britain. More discouraging for Prestatyn, experts on the subject believe it ends somewhere else altogether. However, the fact that almost every hill in the Clwydian Range has an iron hillfort upon the top, would hint that some kind of longstanding border was being protected.
The English King Edward the First, known as Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, built the castle at Rhuddlan in the late 13th century, along with many others at this time (Flint, Conwy, Caernarvon, Beaumaris and Harlech) to subjugate the Welsh after his conquest of Wales. His English and Welsh vassals built the castles in the vale at Denbigh and Ruthin. You can see Denbigh Castle quite clearly for much of the walk.
Edward’s great, great grandson Owain Glyndwr would come back and capture and control many of the castles in his lauded rebellion as the ‘last true Prince of Wales’.
The views are 360 for much of the walk. Looking across to Merseyside, Chester, the Irish Sea, and Liverpool Bay and of course the glorious Vale of Clwyd reaching out below you. Looking towards Snowdonia from left to right are Moel Siabod, Snowdon, Tryfan, Pen Llithrig y Wrach, Carnedd Llewelyn, Foel Fras and Tal-y-Fan to the right.
Our hike, according to the excellent OS Survey App, was from Bwlch Penbarras to Bodfari would be just under 9 miles/ 14.25 kilometres and should take 4 hours and 57 minutes. We completed it in under 4.
My sister Sharon and I enjoyed the walk on Sunday the 6th April 2025. The weather was a beautiful spring day, after a week of dry weather. However, there was an easterly wind with quite a bite. Luckily for most of the walk we were walking along the left-hand side of the hilltops so had shelter.
We had earlier parked Sharon’s mini in the large car park at the Dinorben Arms in Bodfari and drove on with my vehicle where we parked near the Bwlch Pen Barras car park. Parking on the road saved us a few pennies. The car park is just a short distance from Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, commonly referred to as Llanbedr DC. We would be heading back towards Prestatyn. As I write this there is talk of Denbighshire Council introducing a cafe (buns and cakes, not egg and chips) and facilities. With sympathetic construction I believe this is a great idea. The morning we were there (yes it was a sunny Sunday so what did we expect) was extremely busy. It would seem that Liverpool had emptied for the day with Liverpudlians swarming over Moel Famae. Toilets and refreshments would seem to be common sense if introduced in keeping with the surroundings.
I personally was pleased to see so many people of all ages enjoying their Sunday. I would imagine the walk is challenging if you don’t engage in much physical exercise, as it is about an hour each way or 1.7 miles to the summit according to the OS Maps App.
To me it is a ‘Hollywood Hike’, simply magnificent views and a lot packed in for relatively little effort.
To a bleating chorus of lambs and sheep we struck out.
The base of the Jubilee Tower can be seen atop the summit of the enigmatically named Mother’s Hill according to Wikipedia. The base of the Jubilee Tower remains in its ‘wuthering’ glory. Egyptomania started early in North Wales. The tower, an Egyptian Obelisk no less, was to be built to commemorate Mad King George’s 50 years in the reign in 1810. Not a roaring success, much like George’s reign. It was designed by a Chester architect to be 115 feet high. It started out well enough. 5000 people attended the laying of the foundation stone, along with roasting oxen, generous libations, musicians, dignitaries and ‘beautiful women’.
Within just a few years the surveyor and the architect were not talking and the money ran out. To be fair it must have been a bit of work getting the stone up there. Only 2/3rds completed. After two days of storms some 52 years after they started work, the tower collapsed, leaving the ruins of what we see today. An oversized windbreak where you can shelter out of the wind and eat your ‘butties’. The Georgians and the Victorians were certainly an odd lot. I had always wondered what possessed them to build such an item in seemingly the middle of nowhere, on the Clwydian range.
However, when you reach the ‘tower’ it becomes a little more apparent. You can see Liverpool stretching out before you. Some 15 miles as the crow flies. I would guess Moel Famae, and even more so with a big tower on top, is easily visible for miles and miles around. Perhaps the City scousers look towards the green Welsh hills and yearn to be up in the unsullied air and the rural idyll. It might explain why so many of the walkers were clearly from Liverpool and had come to be amongst the ‘Woollybacks’ for a day. ‘Woollybacks’ is a pejorative term the Liverpool City folk disparage those from outside the ‘city’. Interestingly, well to me anyway, it was actually a term used to disparage country folk from outside the city of Chester. Therefore, everyone in Liverpool is actually a ‘woollyback’ in its original sense. In Roman and medieval times to avoid paying the entrance fee on market day. Naughty Welshmen, and others I am sure, would throw a sheep on their back as a disguise, and sneak through the sheep and cattle runs under the magnificent walls as farmers from many miles came to do their business. The Welsh were clearly playing up as in 1403 the Earl of Chester (later Henry V) issued an ordinance prohibiting Welsh people from entering or remaining in the city after sunset, with the threat of decapitation for violation. However, this was bang in the middle of Owain Glyndwr’s rebellion so a little more understandable.
Lancashire and the Lake District stretch on behind the Wirral and Liverpool. You can see Blackpool Tower on a clear day. You might see one of a number of ghosts who walk the paths and byways of Moel Famau. A lady in a blue dress dancing at the summit, or a thin soldier in an old uniform or even a phantom volcano.
On the other side of the vale, Ruthin can be seen nestled nicely. The first copies of our national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, were printed in what is now the ‘Siop Nain’ on Well Street, Ruthin. I remember my teacher telling us the last time Owain Glyndwr was seen (alive or otherwise) was on market day in Ruthin 600 years ago.
The ‘correct’ Offa’s Dyke route is easy to follow. The Acorn Badge kindly appears if there is a doubt on which way to go. After descending into the valley, and starting the ascent of Moel Arthur the number of people on the path drops dramatically. There are a few cars parked in the car park. This would be a great place to park if you were coming to explore the Iron Age hillforts on Moel Arthur and Penycloddiau.
Thankfully the path does not head straight upwards but runs to the east of it as illustrated in the picture.
Moel Arthur has many legends of its own. Some are to do with Arthur and buried treasure. Interestingly in this part of Wales, Arthur in the oldest stories, is the bad guy, with his nephew Medraut, or Mordred in English being the hero. In the centre Ruthin you can see the ‘Maen Huail’. ‘Huail stone’. Arthur beheaded Huail after, as well as having the same woman as mistress, Huail embarrassed Arthur over his limp. A tad overreaction.
Another ghost, the ’Grey Lady’ is mischievous but compassionate.
A legend states that there is an iron chest buried on the hill. The location is haunted by an unearthly ball of light, which sometimes appear to lead treasure hunters. When the site is reached, a violent storm will spring up and drive the raiders away. A number of walkers have reported storms appearing out of nowhere and forcing them down off the hill.
The path taking you around the east of the hill, once more gives you views across the Flintshire Plateau, then the Wirral to Liverpool and beyond.
As you now approach Penycloddiau you will pass next to the wood above Llangwyfan – Coed Llangwyfan. My Mum worked for twenty years at the Fron Yw, a nursing home on the outskirts of Llangwyfan. You would pass the buildings where the Tuberculosis Hospital used to be. People were brought from the fetid, claustrophobic, illness-inflicting atmosphere of Manchester and Liverpool to be treated and convalesced in the sweet fresh air of the Welsh countryside.
There are a number of paths to explore on Penycloddiau. It hosts one of the largest iron Age Hillforts in Wales. The hillforts are better discerned from aerial pictures, but I love being in truly ancient places where our ancestors were active. In 2017 excavations by the Clwydian Range Archaeology Group found a significant number of bronze age tools dated to around four thousand years old.
It was interesting for me to be so close to a modern structure, the TV and Radio transmission tower on Moel y Parc. This is visible to a wide area.
You can also look back from whence you came, Moel Famau – the queen of all she surveys.
You now get your first glimpse of Bodfari, and your final lingering descent begins. You pass by well-kept farms and over the River Wheeler. Not quite the Mississippi but I will wager there is a great deal of human history entwined. The river valley takes you up to Mold. It was just off the A541 running next to Bodfari, that the World-Famous Mold Gold Cape was found. It was named number 6 in the list of British archaeological finds of all time, selected by experts at the British Museum for the 2003 BBC Television documentary Our Top Ten Treasures.
Wicca folk since antiquity have found a home in Afon-Wen.
It is unclear if the stone circle in the grounds of Penbedw are authentic or a folly. Often the Georgian and Victorian follies were over the top. If they are a folly then they are particularly underwhelming. It is my limited experience that richer folks enjoy their privacy (don’t we all) and would prefer they were a folly and not entice visitors.
Bodfari is blessed to be in such a stunning location. Bodfari is put forward as the lost Roman Fort of Varis. The name certainly suggests this – Abode of Vari. Note also the Welsh Alphabet having no V and a single f having a v sound.
Prestatyn further along the Dyke, is also a contender with it’s Roman Bathhouse.
The dark age Christian zeitgeist passed through the vale included Bodfari.
This was pure Christianity out of the wild places before the more ‘worldly’ Roman Catholics arrived and the influence of Rome. Crushing Celtic Christianity. Celtic superstar Saint Winifred was purported to have met with St. Ddeier at Bodfari. Famous for a lost spring and healing children. Although improbable he met Winifred, the fact the meeting would enhance Winifred’s reputation in her biography indicates his importance and that of the spring.
After descending the mountain, crossing the river Wheeler and then the main road you will see the Bodfari ceramic sign. No need to use the main road to find your way to the pub, if this is where you parked your car. Continue along Maes Y Graig, which conveniently turns into a public footpath and takes you passed Bodfari pond. If you happen to be here in early Spring after dusk, even as early as Valentine’s Day you will see thousands of toads traversing nearby fields and roads migrating to the Bodfari pond.
The Dinorben Arms is a lovely Pub and always a special treat. Our ending place.
I remember well the much-loved old Dinorben Arms, with its nooks and crannies, hobbitlike corridors, secret snugs and real fires. The smorgasbord was a treat for hungry travellers. The pub closed following some hard times and poor hygiene reports in 2007. It reopened in 2017. Some serious investment has resulted in an asset to the community and surrounding area.
Look out for the dining table where they have incorporated the old well in the main dining area. This was near the old back entrance to the pub. I am pleased they kept it.
As I have already spoken about the ghost wandering the mountain tops I will mention a few of the non-paying residents at the Dinorben. As well as the ‘mischievous’ (when this is used about spirits, I think it means terrifying to some and at least scary to most) ‘uncanny watcher’. He provides an unsettling presence. An elegant long-haired lady dressed in black floats around the upper floors, and the ghosts of a man and a child can be seen and the sounds of talking. Whilst looking across the vale to a field right of nearby Aberwheeler you might see a malevolent branch of the Tylweth Teg dancing. Coblynau – ‘Knockers’ to some, ellyllon to others – goblins, possibly the scariest British Fairy encounter ever recorded. But that is a story for another day.
A rooftop terrace overlooking the Vale of Clwyd is a precious place to enjoy a diet coke, and a soda and lime, as myself and my sister did as diners tucked in downstairs. There is even a lift to save your weary legs. Our reward for a beautiful walk. On other visits I have partaken of the food and a glass or two of beer, but not today.
Hiking for several hours atop the vale, amidst a world so much greater than ourselves, is an experience to be savoured. The ancient permanence of the heath. ‘The sea changed, the fields changed, the rivers, the villages, and the people changed’ yet the heath remains. Iron Age forts and roman battalions, Celtic springs and 18th century quarries. A sunny spring afternoon in lamb-loud glades.
Must do it again sometime.
Written by Jimmy Platt, Landlord,
Red Lion Inn, Llanasa
Sources:
Wikipedia, Curious Clwyd, Dinorben Arms Website, Aberwheeler and Bodfari Community Facebook page, ‘Beachcombing’s Bizarre History Blog.
