Cylch Whittington

About trip

Distance: 6 miles, Minimum Time: 2hrs 30mins, Difficulty: Moderate, Description: The name Llangollen Canal is relatively recent; originally it was called the Ellesmere Canal, and later became part of the Shropshire Union system. The earliest stretch to be built was the one running south-west from Frankton to the important limestone quarries at Llanymynech, which was opened in 1796. This was later linked to the Montgomery Canal, and that name was applied to the entire 35-mile (56km) stretch from Frankton Junction to Newtown, Powys, which was completed in 1819. The Ellesmere Canal was extended to Llangollen, and a northern branch was planned via Ruabon, which would have ultimately linked the Dee and Mersey to the Severn at Shrewsbury, but this was never built. It was only when canal-boating for pleasure took off in the later 20th century that it was renamed the Llangollen Canal. Its most famous landmark is the great aqueduct at Pontcysyllte, which carries the canal in an iron trough 120ft (37m) in the air. Although the canal negotiates some hilly country, the only locks between Frankton and Llangollen are the two at New Marton, on Walk 29. A Community Castle. You can hardly miss Whittington Castle, right at the start of the walk. Uniquely, it is owned and run by a local community trust, which acquired a 99-year lease in 1999. Castles are plentiful in these lands near the Welsh border, and though the site may not look particularly strategic at first glance, it was once largely surrounded by difficult marshes. Parts of the area are still poorly drained and remain susceptible to flooding; there's a glimpse of this in the later stages of the walk. The castle began, like many others, as a Norman motte-and-bailey, built by William de Peverel. The fortress passed to his daughter and then by marriage to the Fitzwarine family, who rebuilt it in stone in the 13th century. After the defeat of the Welsh, the castle became neglected. Damage inflicted during the English Civil War was not repaired, apart from the 19th-century renovation of the gatehouse, until the Preservation Trust became active in the 1960s. While you're there: Oswestry, once the headquarters of the Cambrian Railway, was a hub for services to North Wales. One of the former engine sheds now houses the Cambrian Museum of Transport, which chronicles Oswestry's railway history. The Cambrian Railway Society regularly steams up one of its locos on site and there is plenty of railway memorabilia. What to look out for: The dismantled railway met near the end of the walk was originally the Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway, opened in 1863. (Its course is crossed again, less obviously, on Walk 27). In 1864 the line became part of the Cambrian Railway, which in turn was absorbed into the Great Western in 1923 and nationalised in 1948. The line closed in 1965. Where to eat and drink: There is a tea room at the castle, a shop near by and two pubs, Ye Olde Boote and the White Lion. The Jack Mytton Inn at Hindford is an appealing place with a canalside garden. Directions: Cross a pedestrian crossing in front of the castle and follow the Shrewsbury road (B5009), using a footway on the left. After about 0.5 mile (800m), cross a stile on the left and follow a waymarked path across three fields to a corner by a copse. Walk along a field-edge, with the copse on your left. Cross a gap in the corner, then go obliquely across another field as indicated by a waymarker. A prominent oak tree is a useful guide. There is a gap near the tree, but you may have cross nettles to get to it. In the same direction cross the next field to a lane and turn left. Keep left at forks and continue to the A495. Turn right for a few paces, then cross to the other side. Join a footpath that runs along the left-hand edge of a field to a stile and footbridge. Beyond these, keep going along the field edge until a gap in the hedge. Go through, then continue in the same direction as before, soon going up a bank. Meet the canal at Pollett's Bridge (No 6). Join the tow path and go under the bridge. Follow the tow path to Hindford Bridge (No 11), then go up to a lane. Turn right past the Jack Mytton Inn, then right again, signposted "Iron Mills and Gobowen". After half a mile (800m), opposite a no-through road, go left over a stile. Walk down a paddock to the far end, then cross a stile on the right. Follow a fence to a footbridge, continue to another footbridge and keep straight on across marshy ground to a stile ahead. Cross the next field, aiming just left of a copse. Go through a gate and then left by a field-edge. Join a track that soon bends right beside a dismantled railway. Look out for a stile giving access to the railway. Turn right on the former trackbed for a few paces, then up the bank on the left - watch out for the remains of steps concealed in the undergrowth here. Cross a stile to a field, turn right to the far side and cross another stile. Bear left to a large oak tree, then continue to a lane. Follow it to Top Street and turn right, then left to Whittington Castle.