Glyndŵr's Way

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Glyndŵr's Way
Welshpool is one of the trail heads
Length	135 miles (217 km)
Location	Wales
Designation	National Trail
Trailheads	Knighton, Wales Welshpool
Use	Hiking

Glyndŵr's Way (Welsh: Llwybr Glyndŵr) is a long distance footpath in mid Wales. It runs in an extended loop through Powys between Knighton and Welshpool. The whole route of Glyndwr's Way is 217 km / 135 miles long.

[edit] The Route & its history

Glyndŵr's Way was granted National Trail status in the year 2000 to mark the millennium and the 600th year anniversary of an ill-fated but nevertheless long running rebellion in 1400. Its name derives from the early fifteenth century Welsh prince and folk hero Owain Glyndŵr, who won significant battles close to the route and who held a Welsh Parliament in Machynlleth where he was proclaimed Prince of Wales.

With Offa's Dyke Path and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, it makes up the third National Trail in Wales.

Glyndŵr's Way begins in Knighton, on the English border, where it links with Offa's Dyke Path. Running in a giant horse-shoe shape , it passes small market towns such as Llanidloes and quiet villages including Abbeycwmhir and Llanfyllin, traversing central Mid Wales to Machynlleth near the Dyfi estuary and back again across Wales via Lake Vyrnwy and the valley of the River Vyrnwy to Welshpool, close to the English border.

[edit] Detail

The route does not actually pass through Owain Glyndŵr's homelands in the valley of the River Dee, Wales near Llangollen, sheltered below the nearby Berwyn range. In fact Offa's Dyke Path passes closer. But they are not far off the route and well worth a detour by car, or even on foot, for those particularly interested in the man himself and his true context in the landscape.