North East Wales Holiday Cottages

More About Cottages in North East Wales

Moel Famau is the high point at 554 metres, and on a clear day you can see the Eryri (Snowdonia) peaks one way and the Cheshire plain and the Mersey the other. It is one of the most walked hills in the north-east.

South of the hills the Dee valley cuts east to west through Llangollen, with the canal running along one side and the steam railway along the other. Wrexham sits east of both of them, near the border.

There is a ruined tower on top of Moel Famau, square-based and unmistakable from miles off. It went up in 1810 to mark fifty years on the throne for George III, which made it the first jubilee tower anywhere in the country.

It was never finished. The money ran out, the work stopped, and a storm in 1862 brought down most of what had been built. What is left is a stump with a viewing platform on it, and everyone still calls it the Jubilee Tower.

The hills are now protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, covering the Clwydian Range and the Dee Valley together. Iron Age hillforts sit one after another along the ridge, and the banks of several are still clear underfoot, on the same line the Offa’s Dyke Path takes.

The usual way up is the circular walk from the car park at Coed Moel Famau, about three and a half miles with a fair amount of climbing in it, and you can do it in two to two and a half hours.

The route comes back along the Offa’s Dyke Path across open ground, and in clear weather that is the stretch people remember. Take a coat whatever the forecast says: there is no shelter on the ridge at all.

South of the hills the Dee valley gives you the flat alternative. The canal towpath east of Llangollen runs level all the way to Telford’s aqueduct, four miles along.

Between the two you can fill several days without driving far. Erddig sits on the edge of Wrexham, Chirk Castle lies south of it, and the Horseshoe Pass out of Llangollen is worth the petrol on its own account.