Last weekend Jolly took us to Chirk, a small town in North Wales between Wrexham and Oswestry.
We stayed at Lady Margaret’s C&M Club Site which is beautifully situated in woodland. The site offers good sized pitches to suit all preferences, be it the shade and privacy of trees or open grassy areas. We loved this site and the location, it’s pretty with a sense of space, and the sun shone too which always shows a place at its best. We had noted some comments on the site reviews about facilities needing upgrading but we can’t comment on the showers because we used Jolly’s onboard shower as we always do. However, we used the toilets which were fine and spotlessly clean.
The wardens were very welcoming, smiling, chatty and laid back despite always being busy with a steady flow of arrivals and departures.
The site is located beside Chirk Castle, a grade I listed 13th Century fortress built during the reign of Edward I. It was sold to the Myddelton family at the end of the 16th Century and descendants of this family still live in part of the Castle today. You can just lose yourself wandering through the grounds, admiring the ornamental statues, or join a guided tour of the state rooms, and visit the tea room and shop.
There’s a striking entrance to the Castle in the form of intricate ornate white wrought iron gates, bearing the Myddelton Coat of Arms. Dated 1719, they’re the work of local brothers, Robert & John Davies. We stopped a while at these gates to admire the intricate detail of the work on them.
Ornate gates at Chirk Castle
The gates bear the ‘Red hand of Chirk’. A tale of how this symbol came about relates to a Lord Myddelton issuing a challenge to his twin sons as he lay on his death bed. Chirk Castle was to be passed to his eldest child but he was unsure which son had been born first. The sons had to race on horseback around the estate, the winner being the one who returned first to touch his father’s deathbed, thereby inheriting the estate.
Legend has it that as the feuding sons returned neck-and-neck running towards the chamber, one of the sons tripped. Fearing he would lose the race and the inheritance, he drew his sword, sliced off his own hand and threw the bloody thing(!) onto his father’s bed thereby claiming his right to the inheritance.
Lucky that he had his sword ‘handy’ wasn’t it …
We noticed this symbol in places throughout Chirk as we wandered around the town on our first afternoon. It’s about a half hour walk from site but we rode our bikes down. We ate later on at a café/restaurant on the main street, called ‘The Castle Bistro’. It’s a delightful, cosy bistro with a friendly atmosphere. We enjoyed some very tasty, well presented food washed down with a cheeky bottle of rosé wine. Mmmm.
The Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal runs through Chirk and we got out on the bikes the next day to enjoy a scenic bike ride and a little photography along the canal towpath from Chirk Railway Station, over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and into Trevor Basin (NCN route 84) where there’s a Visitor Centre.
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the tallest aqueduct in the world, with its 18 arches it stands at 38 metres (126 feet high) and was built between 1795-1805. It’s recognised as being the first great masterpiece of Civil Engineer, Thomas Telford. We walked our bikes across as you can’t cycle it, and the pathway is quite narrow with just enough room for people to pass by. It’s quite an experience to cross it, especially if you aren’t too keen on heights. You can take a narrow-boat ride across if you prefer.
We stopped for a wander around Trevor Basin, and ate lunch at the Telford Inn there. This building was initially called Scotch House, and the name is still visible in the glass above the doorway. The house was used by the Supervisor of the construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and sometimes by Thomas Telford too. The building was converted into a pub from a private dwelling in 1981. We had a lunch snack here and a nice pint of Telford Tipple outside in the beer garden overlooking the canal.
Afterwards we took NCN route 85 along the canal towpath into Llangollen, stopping off briefly for a swift one at The Sun, Trevor . When we arrived in Llangollen we noticed it was very popular with visitors and no shortage of shops, pubs and restaurants. It’s definitely somewhere to return to on a future Jolly adventure. As it was, we had only called in to check it out and didn’t have a great deal of time to explore it much.
We cycled over Llangollen bridge to grab a pint at the Corn Mill an old mill turned modern bar/restaurant which has still managed to maintain a lot of its original features including the water wheel that turns behind the bar. From the outside decking area, we watched the white waters of the River Dee and were lucky to see a steam engine departing from the station across the water.
We then re-joined the canal towpath for our return ride back to Chirk. In all, throughout the day, we probably cycled a leisurely 19-20 miles and had cycled up an appetite so we decided on tea at the Chirk Tandoori in town. Not before Bri got pooped on by a bird outside the Hand Hotel though *snigger* 😮
Even early evening the Chirk Tandoori was full and clearly a popular place with locals. The food and service was great and it was like travelling back in time as Indian restaurants go – we even got a carnation on leaving! Lovely.
With that, another Jolly jaunt came to a close and the following morning the journey home flowed nicely, no hold-ups. Next adventure will probably be Cumbria way.
In the meantime, I need to get to the gym after all that lovely fodder and before the next adventure! 😊
ONWARD!>>>>
Suzie & Bri
THE JOLLY MAJESTIC 