So; I've got a metal detector and now I need somewhere to search. I'm almost a virgin (well, I once found 2 or 3 £1 coins and the world's supply of ring-pulls on a beach using a homebrew detector but that's almost like being a virgin - right?) and the local area is riddled with listed historic sites where I can't search so I need to do some lateral thinking.
I Googled for packhorse trails locally and came up with one about 15 miles away that's listed on a tourist website, complete with printable directions. Well, today I was going to brick up an old doorway at home, but I've just had the week from hell at work and I just had to get out in the country and that doorway will still be there next weekend (long weekend around here - we have Good Friday and Easter Monday as public holidays, then I've got the next four days off as well, plus the following weekend. 10 days straight - yessss!)
So, I got out the 1:25,000 scale map, printed the directions and walked that trail. The website said 5 miles; 2 1/2 hours; the map showed lots of contour lines really close together so I took walking poles too! Forgot the GPS, but never mind. Started in a little village in the hills, down about 500 yards of road and went into the forest. After a little way it went down almost vertically for a few hundred feet til it hit a track which I supposed to be the trail. I can see now that it wasn't; that came after about 1 1/2 miles when I turned over an old bridge next to a viaduct. Unfortunately the trail has been surfaced with granite chippings for the walkers, but the banks are still original and intact. There's an old formula to establish the age of a hedgerow; count the number of different plant species in 100 ft and multiply by 100 to get the years. I found 12 different species . . . . .
It goes uphill very steeply towards an old hall (like a manor house) and I stopped to listen to the birds but I couldn't hear them over a loud banging noise, couldn't figure out what it was until I realised it coincided with my pulse
Must be getting old. Took the opportunity to check my pulse; it was 120 so I'm not as unfit as I imagined - it was steep and long. Came across some old trees in the hedgerows too - Welsh oaks 3 feet through and some thicker birches which had been coppiced - the new growth was 6 - 8 inches through.
The packhorse trail peters out a little further on and I joined what is thought to be a section of Roman road for a little way, then it was steeply downhill on a tarmac road for maybe 1/2 mile until I took a footpath over a stream. There's a modern footbridge over the stream; if you look in the water you can see black cobbles of coal outcroppings. My dad used to mine coal about 5 miles from there; there was a huge coalbelt in the region which used to employ many thousands of men but mostly in deep mines - I don't think there were any drift mines hereabouts. Just over the bridge a tree had blown down in the storms we had last week (85 mph winds) so I took a look in the crater where its roots had been. Found a little piece of coal about 1" x 3/4" and took it home to show the family. I also found a piece of stone in the size and shape of an arrowhead but there were no toolmarks so I don't suppose it had been worked which is a pity cos it would really have been cool to find something that old "eyes only."
From there it went uphill again very steeply through the forest and out into a field. The directions said to go left over three fields; there are stiles to go over but they are high! The second field had cows in it; one of the cows had its back to me and I noticed it had narrow hips and broad shoulders. As I got closer it ficked its tail and I could see a LARGE pair of pink gonads dangling there. Damned if I was walking all the way back just to avoid an uncut Charolais bull, so the only way was forwards. Luckily he had a field full of cows to think about and he only glanced at me as I passed; I was more worried about a big Fresian cow whose little calf was the other side of me and they were both getting agitated. Still, I got by without incident and into the third field. As I passed through this field I came to a pair of standing stones; according to the directions I printed off the website they mark the entrance to a disused ancient ford over a stream. A few yards further on I crossed a stile onto a road, where a bridge has replaced the old ford - and even the bridge looks really old!
200 yards up the road , I crossed a stile into another field from where you can see a 17th century farmhouse which used to be a resting place for packhorse trains en route between mid-Wales and Chester. I had to go through the farmyard to pick up the path on the other side, then after about 400 yards I was on roads back to where I had parked the car 1/2 mile away.
It had started raining as I got out of the car and got heavier and heavier as the walk progressed; by the time I got back to the car I was soaked through even though I was wearing my Berghaus Glacier Peak walking jacket; my jeans were stuck to me and made climbing stiles really difficult. I would have no hesitation at all in recommending Hi-Tec V-Lite Low Event walking boots for their waterproof qualities; although they are leather they didn't let a single drop of water in - the only water came over the top. Comfy too 8)
Ok, so much for the terrain; now to get to the point - IF I was able to get permission to detect along the walk I've just been on, where would be the best place to start? The packhorse trail? There's a river at the lower end with a bridge - how did they cross before the bridge? What's in the river? By the trees on the packhorse trail? (I' ve heard that before banks, people would bury their riches by a prominent tree before going into town to avoid having it stolen. Unfortunately, a lot of them never came back to collect it . . .
) The disused ford? Anybody and everybody would have had to use it - and the Romans who infested the area customarily threw a coin into a river before crossing to appease the spirits of the water. The farmhouse where the packhorse trains rested - there must be some history there, surely?
While I was out and about, I took some photos on my phone, which I've posted here:
http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/cliveadams23
cos the pictures were too big to upload to this site.
Hope you all enjoy the scenic views of North Wales which not too many outsiders get to see.
Thanks in advance for any advice and comments
trukker
I Googled for packhorse trails locally and came up with one about 15 miles away that's listed on a tourist website, complete with printable directions. Well, today I was going to brick up an old doorway at home, but I've just had the week from hell at work and I just had to get out in the country and that doorway will still be there next weekend (long weekend around here - we have Good Friday and Easter Monday as public holidays, then I've got the next four days off as well, plus the following weekend. 10 days straight - yessss!)
So, I got out the 1:25,000 scale map, printed the directions and walked that trail. The website said 5 miles; 2 1/2 hours; the map showed lots of contour lines really close together so I took walking poles too! Forgot the GPS, but never mind. Started in a little village in the hills, down about 500 yards of road and went into the forest. After a little way it went down almost vertically for a few hundred feet til it hit a track which I supposed to be the trail. I can see now that it wasn't; that came after about 1 1/2 miles when I turned over an old bridge next to a viaduct. Unfortunately the trail has been surfaced with granite chippings for the walkers, but the banks are still original and intact. There's an old formula to establish the age of a hedgerow; count the number of different plant species in 100 ft and multiply by 100 to get the years. I found 12 different species . . . . .
It goes uphill very steeply towards an old hall (like a manor house) and I stopped to listen to the birds but I couldn't hear them over a loud banging noise, couldn't figure out what it was until I realised it coincided with my pulse
Must be getting old. Took the opportunity to check my pulse; it was 120 so I'm not as unfit as I imagined - it was steep and long. Came across some old trees in the hedgerows too - Welsh oaks 3 feet through and some thicker birches which had been coppiced - the new growth was 6 - 8 inches through. The packhorse trail peters out a little further on and I joined what is thought to be a section of Roman road for a little way, then it was steeply downhill on a tarmac road for maybe 1/2 mile until I took a footpath over a stream. There's a modern footbridge over the stream; if you look in the water you can see black cobbles of coal outcroppings. My dad used to mine coal about 5 miles from there; there was a huge coalbelt in the region which used to employ many thousands of men but mostly in deep mines - I don't think there were any drift mines hereabouts. Just over the bridge a tree had blown down in the storms we had last week (85 mph winds) so I took a look in the crater where its roots had been. Found a little piece of coal about 1" x 3/4" and took it home to show the family. I also found a piece of stone in the size and shape of an arrowhead but there were no toolmarks so I don't suppose it had been worked which is a pity cos it would really have been cool to find something that old "eyes only."
From there it went uphill again very steeply through the forest and out into a field. The directions said to go left over three fields; there are stiles to go over but they are high! The second field had cows in it; one of the cows had its back to me and I noticed it had narrow hips and broad shoulders. As I got closer it ficked its tail and I could see a LARGE pair of pink gonads dangling there. Damned if I was walking all the way back just to avoid an uncut Charolais bull, so the only way was forwards. Luckily he had a field full of cows to think about and he only glanced at me as I passed; I was more worried about a big Fresian cow whose little calf was the other side of me and they were both getting agitated. Still, I got by without incident and into the third field. As I passed through this field I came to a pair of standing stones; according to the directions I printed off the website they mark the entrance to a disused ancient ford over a stream. A few yards further on I crossed a stile onto a road, where a bridge has replaced the old ford - and even the bridge looks really old!
200 yards up the road , I crossed a stile into another field from where you can see a 17th century farmhouse which used to be a resting place for packhorse trains en route between mid-Wales and Chester. I had to go through the farmyard to pick up the path on the other side, then after about 400 yards I was on roads back to where I had parked the car 1/2 mile away.
It had started raining as I got out of the car and got heavier and heavier as the walk progressed; by the time I got back to the car I was soaked through even though I was wearing my Berghaus Glacier Peak walking jacket; my jeans were stuck to me and made climbing stiles really difficult. I would have no hesitation at all in recommending Hi-Tec V-Lite Low Event walking boots for their waterproof qualities; although they are leather they didn't let a single drop of water in - the only water came over the top. Comfy too 8)
Ok, so much for the terrain; now to get to the point - IF I was able to get permission to detect along the walk I've just been on, where would be the best place to start? The packhorse trail? There's a river at the lower end with a bridge - how did they cross before the bridge? What's in the river? By the trees on the packhorse trail? (I' ve heard that before banks, people would bury their riches by a prominent tree before going into town to avoid having it stolen. Unfortunately, a lot of them never came back to collect it . . .
) The disused ford? Anybody and everybody would have had to use it - and the Romans who infested the area customarily threw a coin into a river before crossing to appease the spirits of the water. The farmhouse where the packhorse trains rested - there must be some history there, surely?While I was out and about, I took some photos on my phone, which I've posted here:
http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/cliveadams23
cos the pictures were too big to upload to this site.
Hope you all enjoy the scenic views of North Wales which not too many outsiders get to see.
Thanks in advance for any advice and comments
trukker
