Brymbo horseshoe

Perhaps more accurate to call this the Nant y Ffrith horseshoe, although that wouldn't be strictly geographically precise either. I cycled to Cefn y Bedd, staying within lockdown rules, intent on exploring the urban side first. Again, this is a function of lockdown. There was a time, not long ago, that I was exploring the South Pacific, West Africa, Central America, the Caucasus. Now I get my kicks from the Wrexham suburbs. A week or two ago, I did an interesting loop through this post-industrial landscape from Gwersyllt to Bryn Teg and Wrexham. Today, I headed to Sydallt, climbing up to join the Blast Road through the terraced streets of Brymbo to gain the site of the old steelworks, now regenerated as a little park: it's a very interesting town, of course, with a fascinating industrial history. From here, I left the urban half of the horseshoe and ran down to the Bwlchgwyn road. On the other side of this, a charming 3k (very undulating) route leads along the Glascoed road to join more familiar terrain above Ffrith. This comes out at the hairpin in Bwlchgwyn after another lengthy climb. From here, steep paths lead down to Nant y Ffrith, before a long climb goes up into the woods and eventually joins the rocky path to the top of Pen Llan y Gwr, a huge contrast with the other side of the valley. Next comes the familiar 'dream descent' from woods to road, then down to Ffrith village, then Cymau, and through the Ffrwd nature reserve back to Cefn y Bedd and a bike ride home.