In Search Of St Cynhafal 6th June 2013

One of the many Buttercup Meadows seen on the walk today.

St. Hychan's Church South west of Gellifor.

Cows with unusual shaved sections on their back and rump, some with numbers.

The first time that I have seen cows marked in this way.

On one of the bridleways, now shaded by the foliage on the adjacent hedges and trees, but still with plenty of Bluebells in flower.

Obviously a time to enjoy relaxing in the glorious sunshine to let lunch go down.

St Cynhafal Church, with its roof and external walls now beautifully restored.

Open to the public, se we were able to see inside too.

It was nearly "off with his head"!

New Llangynhafal Stocks replaced a few years ago .

Distance: 7.9 miles. Climb: 614'.

Time: 4 hours 32 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Tim, Annie and Phil.

Instead of parking in Nant Glyd, we parked just around the corner on the Llangynhafal road, which we thought was much better, as the road was much wider and not near any bends!

What a glorious day for walking this turned out to be. As forecasted it was sunny all day and temperatures must have reached into the twenties.  the route had sections of shaded bridleways and  minor roads, as well occasionally we were exposed to a very pleasantly cooling breeze.

Our slower than usual overall walking average was largely my fault as I kept on stopping to look at many flowers and the occasional butterfly. Flowers seen today included: Cow parsley, Pignut, Creeping buttercup, Meadow buttercup, Dandelion, Red campion, White campion, Lucern, Bluebell, Spanish / hybrid bluebell,  Daisy, red clover, Common dog violet, Hawthorn, Herb robert, Cowslip, green alkanet, Red dead nettle, Common nettle, Primrose, Honesty and Forget-me-not.

There were plenty of different grasses as well as one field of quivering Red fescue.

The field of quivering Red fescue, very close to Llandyrnog and our start point.

We also saw a few butterflies, mainly Large whites and Small whites, although we did see a Speckled wood and a Green veined white.

Birds seen or heard today included: Barn swallow, House martin, Common buzzard, Blue tit, great tit, Carrion crow, Rook, Jackdaw, House sparrow, Song thrush, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Black-billed magpie, Dunnock and Common pheasant.

Overall this turned out to be a superb walk in almost perfect weather conditions, just right for the day, and leaves much better memories of the route than the first time that I did in continual rain!

After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where as usual the Lees bitter was the beer of choice.