Walks in & around the area

Walks In The Area
If you like walking there are some very beautiful walks in the area.

Offa’s Dyke Footpath enters the area in the North and crosses the B4393 just West of Rhos Farm. If you travel South it takes you past The Nea on Tredwerwen Lane and on towards Rhydesgyn. Alternatively, South of The Nea, you can make a left turn and join the:

Severn Way, basically follows the route of the Argae (flood embankments) in a North-Eastern direction coming out on to the B4393 at Llandrinio Bridge. The Severn Way then goes over the bridge follows the route of the argae on the southern side of the River Severn.
The Argae is also a public footpath and follows the routes of the rivers Severn and Vyrnwy.
From the Montgomery Canal Towpath you can enjoy the abundant wildlife and plant life that is to be found on the canal, a conservation area.

Criggion. For the more energetic, although not within the Llandrinio area, a challenging walk/climb is up the Breidden Hill to Rodneys’ Pillar, from where you can observe Llandrinio and the surrounding areas – on a clear day the view is literally as far as the eye can see. To get there, travel over Llandrinio bridge and take the first right. Follow the road around to Criggion Quarry. At the quarry turn left and a couple of hundred yards up the road turn right into the Forestry Car Park and follow the signs.

Features Of Interest.
Before the Act for the Enclosure of Commons in 1788 large portions of the Parish were open fields and the district of Haimwood was almost entirely so, being a marshy common, covered with bushes and numbers of sheep and hundreds of geese pastured on it. The area was entirely surrounded by the rivers Severn and Vyrnwy as a branch of the Severn cut across to the Vyrnwy along the course of the Sychpwll (dry ditch). The majority of the roads follow Roman routes – the B4393 through the village, Tredwerwen Lane and the bridge, through Haimwood to the site of the old Cymmerau Inn and ferry to name a few. There used to be a wooden bridge crossing the Sychpwll by The Mount before the building of the argaes.

The area has a number of interesting features:
Argaes – flood embankments constructed in the fields alongside the river in 1799. Without the argaes, settlements on the floodplain would be subjected to severe and regular flooding. A Public Footpath runs along the top of the argaes.

Site Of The Cymerau Inn – translated as ‘The Boat Of Camerar’ it is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Severn and Vyrnwy and accessible via the footpath on the argae or can be viewed from Melverley Bridge. Mentioned as early as 1575 when Queen Elizabeth I appointed Commissioners to “survey and amend the sewers etc of the river Severn…“. It was once a stopping place for drovers which is indicated by three pine trees (they were visible from a distance and were a sign to drovers that there was accommodation available there for them and their animals). The pines are all that remain today of the Inn – the family who ran the Inn were all drowned when crossing the Severn to Crew Green and the Inn was never lived in again. The Inn had a cockpit alongside it and boatmen (in coracles) would bring cockerels there to do battle.

Offa’s Dyke:
Running the length of Wales this feature also passes through Llandrinio. Erected in about 780 AD by Offa, the Mercian King, as a boundary between his kingdom of Mercia and Wales it was also meant to be an obstacle to plunderers who frequently raided his territory. Originally it would have stood about 20 feet high but it is still a prominent feature and a Public Footpath.

Montgomershire Canal:
Forms part of the community boundary and was constructed 1815-1825, making the conveyance of goods and wares far easier than the previous use of the river or horse and cart. Sold to the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in 1846 it was also used for transporting limestone from Llanymynech Hill. An old limekiln is situated where it adjoins the community by Maerdu. It is intended to re-open the canal for navigation.

Cambrian Railway:
Constructed in 1861 the line passed through the community until it was a victim of the Beeching cuts in the 1960’s. The old railway bridge is still in place however and is crossed when travelling from the village towards the junction of the B4393 and A458 at Maerdu.

Domen Gastell:
A motte and bailey timber-built castle South of Llandrinio bridge built in the early Norman period. It served to command the upper navigable reaches of the Severn, to guard the two fords adjacent to it and by Lower House, Criggion and to control the multitudes that used to gather there in the Fourteenth Century for the purposes of barter and exchange at The Fair. Now mainly hidden within the argae but can just be seen.

Crosswood Camp:
Situated by Crabtree Corner, mainly in the field between the Recreation Field and Crabtree, it is an early enclosure most likely formed to give protection to the plundering parties that King Offa was so concerned about. Oval shaped, measuring 600 x 450 feet, it is cut through by the main road but would have commanded the two main routes that crossed at this point – hence Crosswood.

Village of Pubs:
In the past the village had a number of pubs – The Butchers Arms (where Laburnum House used to be, now the site of Severn Trent’s sewage treatment plant), The Crown (now the property known as Severnside) and The Boat House (by the bridge). The Boat took its name from the boat that used to come from Bridgnorth after the fairs and markets had ceased and carried away the local produce. An Inn frequented by the boatmen of the Severn it became a Tontine Club, notorious for its drunkenness and rioting. The Bell Inn (now known as Bell Cottage) was situated by Maerdu alongside the canal.

The Punch Bowl Inn is the only surviving pub, still doing a very healthy trade and ‘serving’ the community well with good beer and good food.
It is one of the very few part stone-built properties in the area (now rendered) and has been a key element in the community’s history. It was the centre of social activity with the Punch Bowl Club at the beginning of the 20th Century.
There used to be a tin-built annexe in which dances and social events took place. The outline of the roof of this annexe is still visible on the gable end wall by the car park. For many years there was also a thriving and very successful Air Gun Club shooting at the Punch Bowl. It maintains the tradition of holding a Harvest Festival and Produce Auction, usually held in October.
When visiting the Punch Bowl don’t miss the opportunity to look at the photographs in the bar of the army DUKW’s (amphibious vehicles) saving the livestock and people from the floods in Haimwood.