Ruthin, Marchweil and leaving Wales

Well….after spending a number of weeks in Wales we were finally on our way, with regret back to England. We had climbed all the Welsh 3000ft mountains, wild camped in remote valleys, met some wonderful people and cycled through some of the most sublime landscapes in the U.K.

Cycling out of Wales was tough……more than it should have been…..I guess we just did not want to leave. But we did have good reason too….I had been planning to do a spot of family history at the Ruthin center for family history research. It’s based in the old prison in Ruthin…….the cells are now research study rooms. We found a nice place to wild camp right by the river with very few people and the next day we headed to the family history center for a day of research. I got the bug for this from my father….I would always ask what he had turned up whenever visiting home, I wish now I had accompanied him on those research trips he and Mum did did…..and asked more questions….but there we are. Well anyway when Dad passed on I held onto his research notes and over the years continued to delve into the past.

The visit to Ruthin proved very useful and confirmed our Welsh ancestry and pushed the male line back to the early 1600’s…..Great stuff……

Oh and Aaron built a catamaran out of driftwood and took some images of the local wild life….. He was invaluable in the research center spotting several ancestors in the records

Our next wild camp was in a small wood in the village of Marchweil where some ancestors of mine lived in the 1600’s…..

This was not such a brill campsite…..some insects got to enjoy our blood here. So we packed up as quick as we could and headed for Malpas…… where our ancestors continued farming into the 1700’s.

In Malpas I wanted to have a look in the grave yard to see if I could find out where my ancestors where buried….unfortunately a lot of the grave stones have been removed and are now part of the cemetery boundary wall and much eroded….so they may be there but sadly now unreadable…..

Llyn Fynnon to Betws-y-coed

Waterfalls at Betsw-y-coed…..

Llyn Fynnon 7 nights wild camping

Llyn Fynnon was one of the top high lights for this tour…..We just did not want to leave despite the long steep climb to bring supplies. Being approx. 2.5 miles from the main road and set at the start of a climb to reach Carnedd Llewlyn……. it was a perfect place to explore and to finish climbing the Welsh 3000 ft mountains…..