The Maelor Way starts off from a canal bridge in Grindley Brook, and winds its way through rolling countryside and farmland, finishing in Bronygarth, next to Chirk Castle.
It was from this starting point that Nic Owen and myself took on the challenge to complete this route from start to finish. Luckily for us, the weather was perfect, with an overcast sky and cooler temperatures, we were protected from the recent heatwave. The first 10-15km is well sign posted and had recently been cut free from vegetation by more likely, the local council and not local landowners. It appeared that recent council investment had also included plentiful sign posting and a number of composite floored bridges, which made the traversing of the path easy and a pleasure. We ran past the pretty Hanmer mere and church, and it wasn’t long before the route met our expectations, and delivered a number of sections which included nettles, briars, thistles and thick wooded areas. These areas made the going slow and torturous and cut our legs to shreds! We battled on, and the sight of the glorious River Dee soon eased our pain. We had a few navigational errors but these only cost us a few minutes. However, we encountered one impassable section of Maize crop at Overton on Dee, which required us to divert for about a kilometre, before resuming back on the path. A long push on a tarmac road was a welcome relief, and it wasn’t long before we were approaching the finish, which seemed to last an age.
There is a permissive path from the finish to Chirk castle, which makes for easy car parking and pickup.
I would highly recommend this route, although an early Spring or Autumn attempt may be more suitable to avoid the dense vegetation.