Brymbo Heritage Group

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Walks

Welcome to our walks page!

On this page are fours walks around Brymbo and the surrounding area. You can print this page or download a printer-friendly pdf version by clicking here.

The walks are an ideal way to learn more about the industrial heritage of Brymbo first hand. The route of all of the walks can be found on the map below. There is a key to the map at the bottom of this page.

All of the walks begin from the Mount Pleasant car park in the centre of Brymbo.

Top Pool and Old Lead Works.

Distance about 2.5 Kilometres, 1.5 Miles.

From Mount Pleasant turn right along Waterside Way. Top Pool (11) on the left was a reservoir from where water was piped to the Steelworks. The water was then pumped back up the hill to the Cascades (12) on the right, where the water cooled before flowing into the filled-in Bottom Pool (13). Top Pool is now home for many water birds, fish, insects and amphibians. The remains of the Bottle Chimney (16) can be seen across Top Pool.

Turn left onto Pool Road and then right over the stone stile. Go left across the field and over the next stile. Walk down to the bottom of the field, keeping to the left of the stream. Cross the stream and head for the stile to the right. Climb over the stile, turn left and go over the roadside stile. Turn right onto Minera Road, then take the path on the left where the former Minera Mineral Railway crossed the road. Follow this path to Glascoed Road and turn left. A short distance along the road turn right onto the footpath which follows the old railway track. Take the next left over the stile and follow the hedge back up to Minera Road. Take care as you are hidden from the road here. Cross the road and take the path to the right of Hurricane House which stands next to Wilkinson’s Lead Works (15), now a private residence.

Climb up the hill passing the Bottle Chimney (16) which extracted the noxious fumes from the Lead Smelter. Go over the stile then head for the right of the hedge along the old tramway. To the right of the path is the site of one of Brymbo’s earliest schools, Rhos Hall (17), set up in the early 1800s and run by Miss Wilson of Brymbo Hall. At the end of the walk is the site of No 1 Colliery (18). Climb over the stile and on to Waterside Way.

Brymbo Hall and Old Engine House.

Distance about 2.25 Kilometres, 1.3 Miles

Walk down Brake Road and just before the crossroads turn right onto the footpath. The way runs alongside the Wonder Bank (25), the slag heap from the Wonder Colliery 26 and the nearby Blast Colliery. Turn right keeping alongside the high bank.

Further on the footpath runs close to the site of Brymbo Hall (27) which had its own Chapel and an Ice House. Pass by the stile and continue along the right hand side of the fence to see Offa’s Dyke (2) a little further on the left. Turn left around the perimeter of the Grid Station before emerging onto the Brymbo Road. There used to be a Smithy (28) on the corner. Turn right along Brymbo Road, walk past the derelict Sarn Chapel on the left, then Pen Rhos Farm which is on the right. A little further on is Penrhos Engine House (29) which was used to pump water out of the coal shafts.

Turn left from the Engine House and go back along Brymbo Road to take the path on the left just before Pen Rhos Farm. This path soon joins a former tramway which served the Pen Rhos Colliery. Follow the footpath back to Mount Pleasant.

Mount Zion.

Distance about 2.5 Kilometres/ 1.5 Miles

Walk along the Waterside Way from where there is a good view of Offa’s Dyke (2), then cross the Pool Road to Mount Zion. Follow the track that leads out of the houses. To the right is Cheshire View, the housing estate that was being constructed when Brymbo Man 1 was discovered in 1958. The track runs along Offa’s Dyke (2) for a short distance before turning to the right after a stile by the sports field. Walk to the left of the pylon, go down the hill then head for the church (21). At the bottom do not go over the stile but turn left before the fence. The path runs alongside the old Minera Mineral Railway track which served Brymbo’s Ironworks with lime, ore and coal such as from the nearby Pen-y-Coed Colliery (3).

Leave the track via a stile to cross a field to get onto the Minera Road over another stile.

Turn left on Minera Road. The wooded valley to the right was crossed by the Coed Talon to Brymbo Railway (7) which passed close by the Ffrith Colliery (8). Behind the trees on the left was Caello Brickworks (9) which exploited the local clay.

The route of the Minera Mineral Railway is again visible where it crossed the Minera Road. A little further on the left is a layby where you may see the Caello Coal Shaft (10) up the hill to the right.

Climb over the stile to the left of the layby then over the second stile to the right. Turn diagonally right to cross the stream near the roadside. Walk up the hill keeping to the right of the stream. At the top climb over the stile to the right, cross the field and go over the stone stile at the roadside.

Cross Pool Road to climb over the stile opposite. Follow the path by the Bandstand (14) and back to Mount Pleasant.

On the Blast Road.

Distance about 3.5 Kilometres/ 2 Miles.

Walk from Mount Pleasant down the steep Brake Road, an old tramway where coal was taken to the Steelworks. At the crossroads walk straight ahead onto Pen-y-Graig Road and follow it up to a point where the road bends to the left and the Cheshire Plain comes in to view. To the right is the Pen-y-Graig monument (19) which commemorates Brymbo’s industrial past. Several cottages used to stand on this site and a 1940s Lookout Post or “Pill Box”.

Continue downhill and turn left before the George and Dragon (20). Take the track on the left where the road bends to the right. Turn right just before some farm buildings to cross the former Minera Mineral Railway. After a short scrabble down, go over the stile and walk at the edge of the field to the left of the hedge.

At the end of the field climb over the stile and turn right along the lane passing St Mary’s Church (21). Follow the lane up to the junction and turn right then right again. This is the High Street once a bustling place with many shops. On the left just before the crossroads is the Garden of Remembrance (22) which has been the site of two churches. Part of the first church collapsed in 1869 and its replacement built in 1890 was unstable when demolished in 1977.

Continue in the same direction along Gwalia past the Miners Arms (23) and onto Blast Road. The road is so called after the Blast Furnace at the Steelworks (24). Iron ore, coal and lime were top loaded onto the furnace and burned to extract the metal from the minerals in the process called the Blast.

Keep left at the crossroads and climb up the steep Brake Road to return to Mount Pleasant.

Other Sites of Local Interest

Other sites of local interest are shown on the map below:

Map Key

1 Brymbo Man’s Burial Site	16 Bottle Chimney	31 Pentre Saeson Ironworks
2 Offa’s Dyke	17 Rhos Hall Dame’s School	32 Pentre Saeson Colliery
3 Pen y Coed Colliery	18 Brymbo No. 1 Colliery	33 Cae Pen Ty Colliery
4 Ffrith Toll Gate	19 Pen y Craig Monument	34 Bryn Mally Hall
5 Ffrith Pumphouse	20 George and Dragon	35 Bryn Mally Colliery
6 Ffrith Roman Site	21 St. Mary’s Church	36 Moss Tunnel
7 Viaduct	22 Gardens of Remembrance	37 The Lodge
8 Ffrith Colliery	23 Miners Arms	38 Safety Fuse Works
9 Caello Brickworks	24 Wilkinson’s Ironworks	39 Broughton Colliery
10 Caello Coal Shaft	25 Wonder Bank	40 Plas Mostyn Mawr
11 Top Pool	26 Wonder Pit	41 Vron Colliery
12 The Cascades	27 Brymbo Hall	42 Tanyfron Church
13 Bottom Pool	28 Smithy	43 The College
14 Bandstand	29 Penrhos Engine House	44 Tanyfron School
15 Wilkinson’s Leadworks	30 Lime Kiln	45 Plas Power Colliery

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