PASSAGE WITH A WELSH PRINCE
Trace a National Trail through the loveliest tracts of Mid Wales, created to celebrate one of this land’s greatest heroes, says Paul Bloomfield
Owain Glyndŵr is a tantalisingly elusive figure on his namesake trail. The presence of the nearmythical 15th-century
Welsh leader is frequently sensed yet forever just out of sight; behind the trees, around the next bend, beyond the ridge.
But in the wild beauty of the scenery – the heather-purpled moorland, glassy lakes, wind-scoured crags and sylvan valleys – his spirit is palpable. Some say he never died, but remains in a cave hereabouts, one day to emerge and liberate his homeland from the English.
QUIET LANDS
Glyndŵr’s Way was created to celebrate the 600th anniversary of his ill-fated revolt against Henry IV’s forces, launched on 16 September 1400, when he was also proclaimed Prince of Wales – the last native Welshman to hold the title. This 135-mile National Trail meanders from Knighton to Welshpool via some of the prettiest parts of Mid Wales, passing sessile oak stands, upland heath and emerald farmland, visiting comely villages, Roman fortlets, ancient lead mines and cheerful market towns.
In spring you will amble greenways lined with nodding daffodils and woods carpeted in bluebells; in summer, you will be serenaded by skylarks, perhaps even spot a hen harrier soaring above. What you won’t meet are crowds: overshadowed by Snowdonia to the north and bigger name Welsh trails, Glyndŵr’s Way is delightfully peaceful.
MOOR, GORGE AND ALE
The 15-mile leg between Dylife and Machynlleth offers a lovely snapshot of the route’s attractions. First, cross high moorland where you might spy circling red kites and, to the south, the five peaks of Pumlumon, where Glyndŵr won his first great victory in 1401.
Beyond, skirt pine-clad Clywedog Gorge and veer north to the raw bulk of the area’s tallest peak, Foel Fadian. Passing a solitary cascade and tumbledown pit buildings, cross boggy moor to the lake of Glaslyn, its mirror sheen wrinkled by paddling wildfowl.
The path then cuts between a vertiginous bluff and Foel Fadian’s scree slopes, dropping towards emerald fields. From here it is a sharply undulating but blissfully rural section to Machynlleth, an artsy little town where the engaging Owain Glyndŵr Centre, on the site of his 1404 parliament, recounts his story. Nearby Caffi Alys is the spot for a snack and local Glyndŵr Ale.