The Dee and Thereabouts

Month: May 2026

  • Above the Dee Valley

    (Sunday 10th May, 2026)

    39 metres (127 feet in old money) above the Dee Valley to be more accurate. Yes, we went over to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wrexham County Borough this morning. Although the sun popped out occasionally to remind us of its existence, the temperature struggled to get any higher than 12°C which seemed colder at height. Still, it was a reasonably bright day and we had some magnificent views from our vantage point in the sky!

    road bridge

    Looking down at Cystylltau Bridge, which was constructed during the 17th century.

    Berwyn Railway Viaduct

    Looking west towards Berwyn Railway Viaduct

        The aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal across the valley and, as you’d expect, this particular stretch of water is popular with narrowboats although, today, we saw two teams of canoeists crossing over as well. There is a towpath on one side of the aqueduct, providing great views over the River Dee as it courses through the valley below, and this was busy with people crossing from both sides.

    Dog being chauffered

        This dog is clearly used to being chauffered across the aqueduct.

    It certainly makes a difference looking down on the green tree canopy below, rather than leaning back and looking up. As you can see from the photographs, the foliage is absolutely flourishing everywhere.

    Dee Valley 2

        The cast-iron trough that carries the water has to be cleaned and maintained of course. This happens every five years: each end is closed and a plug opened to drain the water into the River Dee below. It’s basically the same as emptying your bath at home, although this is a slightly bigger bath!

    Sculpture

    The words on this sculpture by Anthony Lysycia are from Sir Walter Scott who had described the aqueduct as ‘the stream in the sky’. Scott had also wondered how fishes could swim above flying birds, hence the central depiction.  

    Narrowboats moored

        Thomas Telford and William Jessop get the credit for building the aqueduct, although they did get a little bit of assistance from the more than 500 men that were also involved in the work over a period of ten long years. There’s a little museum at one end of the aqueduct where you can learn all about its history. Quite fascinating.

    Boats reflected

        While there are railings on the towpath side, there aren’t over the far side: I’ve been over in a narrowboat only the once and remember looking out of the window and not seeing anything other than sky on that one side! It really was a thrilling experience (a bit hairy, to be honest). The aqueduct is well worth a visit, whatever form of transport you opt for.

    Dee Valley

    Although holes were drilled to take railings, they were never actually added to the far side of the canal’s cast-iron trough.

    Gripping the edge

    While this looks like you’d get a close view of the valley below, it might not be to everyone’s taste!

  • The Lush Woods

    (Sunday 3rd May, 2026)

    Over to Loggerheads Country Park in Denbighshire this morning. despite the low temperature (9°C), it was dry and the air was full of birdsong. In fact, even as we left the car park we heard a Chiffchaff singing from a nearby tree: we caught a brief glimpse of the bird before it climbed out of view.

        As we approached the stone bridge that leads onto the Leete path, a stoat sprinted across our route. It was gone in the blink of an eye and, for a brief moment, I was the only one who seemed to have seen it. However, another walker confirmed he’d seen it too which was reassuring!

    garlic Loggerheads

    Wild garlic in full flower

        We were last here at the end of March when most of the trees were still leafless and there were very few flowers growing, but what a difference we saw today. Welsh poppies, primroses and dog violets offered splashes of colour on each side of the path. The white flowers of the wild garlic were carpeting the undergrowth from the edges of both banks of the river now, and the mild aroma was just lovely.

    Welsh poppies Loggerheads
    dog violets Loggerheads

    Welsh poppies and dog violets

        The ash, hazel, and sycamore trees that line the path are all in leaf now, as are other trees such as beeches and birches that lie deeper in the woods. Together with the ferns and mosses (and evergreens!), everywhere you look there are vibrant shades of green. It was such a visual contrast to our last visit.  

    Dipper on another rock

    White-throated Dipper

        We were very pleased to see that the White-throated dipper was back at Loggerheads – we hadn’t seen any Dippers here since early February, although they might simply have been exploring another part of the river. This particular Dipper watched the waters from a rock, bobbing up and down in characteristic fashion. Every so often it walked into the river, submerging itself to collect aquatic invertebrates or whatever else it might find edible. It then took its food across to what we’re certain is its nest: the Dipper kept going to the same place and coming back with its beak empty. We suspect that the female might have already laid her eggs inside the nest, so we’ll keep watch and may have more to report at a future date.

    Dipper on rock
    Dipper in Alyn

    Top: Dipper, mid-bob and, bottom: Going for a dip. (If you look closely at each picture, you can see it has caught some food in its beak).

        A constant patroller of this stretch of the River Alyn is the Grey wagtail. We usually see just the one bird, but today we saw two of them keeping each other company. We’ve mentioned before on this blog that Dippers and Grey wagtails share very similar habitats and, while we quite often see both species at the same time, I don’t think we’ve ever seen them so close to each other before. At one point, one of the Grey wagtails was feeding only a metre or so away from the Dipper, which was also feeding. Each bird nonchalantly continued to concentrate on its own little section of water as if this was all perfectly normal.

    Grey wagtail 3rd May

    Grey wagtail

        The freshwater invertebrates and flies that Dippers and Grey wagtails both feed on does depend on there being good water quality. Considering all the negative reports on the state of UK rivers, the fact that both of these bird species are present on this stretch of the Alyn – and are breeding here – is a good sign of the river’s condition. Let’s hope it stays that way.

        All along the Leete path we seemed to have been followed by the same Song thrush today, although I suppose there may actually be more than one thrush at Loggerheads – who knows? Anyway, just as we regained the path and began to wend our way towards the café, ‘the’ (or maybe ‘a’) Song thrush landed on a branch overhanging our path and gave us a terrific solo rendition of its repertoire. Brilliant!

    Song thrush Loggerheads

    Song thrush

    The important stuff

    To The Mill House café (Tŷ’r Felin) for some of life’s little essentials: the usual cappuccinos with a Lemon curd blondie for Col and a Biscoff brownie for Stu. Very enjoyable!