in the text. The river Dee is so heavily silted these days that it's hard to imagine that Chester was in medieval times a major port and the river lapped its western walls - hence Watergate. Pilgrims from Lancashire and beyond may well have taken the Mersey ferry run by the monks of Birkenhead Priory (dedicated to St James, patron saint of pilgrims - see priory seal), and crossed Wirral to Chester. Pilgrims from elsewhere in England may well also have gone via Chester, no doubt visiting the Holy Rood at St John's church and the shrine of Werburgh in the Benedictine Abbey, now the Cathedral. Some may well have taken a boat from Chester to Flint or the coast at Basingwerk, but most will probably have followed the coast, where there was a Roman road and where Edward I later built a road to link his coastal castles, roughly via what is now Broughton, Connah's Quay and Flint, to Holywell.
This whole area is however densely populated nowadays, with many busy roads to contend with. The many towns and settlements are mainly C19 or later. Only Hawarden, Northop, and Halkyn have churches of medieval foundation; the first two were heavily restored in Victorian times, and the last was demolished and rebuilt over the road. For this reason, I recommend two routes, described in more detail than the others: one via these 3 places, and the second more direct, which avoids the crossing of the A55. Both routes start and finish in the same way.
1. via Hawarden, Northop and Halkyn (33km)
a) find the canal and follow it west to the junction with the river
b) follow the path on the north bank of the river SW then NW (this is dead
flat, but with pleasant views to the hills - get your timing right and you
may even see the Dee Bore heading
upstream, as I did on my last walk along here)
c) cross the bridge at Saltney Ferry and follow the W bank to Sandycroft. The
peace of this path will be spoilt when the nearby Airbus factory is operational
and using the river.
d) take the curiously green path through the 'works', cross Sandycroft diagonally,
and take the footpath leading up to St Deiniol's Ash - an old farmhouse,
presumably named after a holy tree.
e) turn L up the hill and straightahead into the churchyard and to the church
of St Deiniol (founder of Bangor cathedral) (CPAT
- I particularly like the story of the statue being tried by jury! The Explorer
map erroneously shows the church as not having a tower). To visit the village
(Gladstone's home and an attractive place), continue straightahead. To the right is St Deiniol's
Library. (12km from Chester)
f) take the path west out of the churchyard (there is a well L), L at the
road, then R on the footpath which takes you past Trueman Hill, site of one
of the village's two motte and bailey castles (the other is Hawarden Castle), to the
railway line.
g) cross by the main road and take the lane past the golf course and Kearsley
Farm
h) turn L at the housing estate and follow the old path through the housing.
This is difficult to describe, but signed; you are heading for the FB over
the A494. Every time I visit this area, some
more buildings have been built
i) the path to the B5127 goes between the school and the hedge - not terribly
obvious.
j) turn L at the B-road and either continue straight on (the former main
road) or take the lane via Ewloe Green to cross under the A55, joining the
A494 (pavement) for an unpleasant 10 mins or so.
k) after the quarry, take the lane R and then L after the works on the nice though muddy bridleway to Minffordd.
l) take Spring Lane to Soughton Hall and Northop (CPAT),
Llaneurgain in Welsh, reputedly a clas, though there's little to show for
it now apart from the extraordinarily large tower. The churchyard is disappointingly
tidy. (9km from Hawarden)
m) take the B-road past the College of Horticulture (the lanes to the west
are longer but quieter if you prefer) and then the (muddy in parts) lanes
to Caeau Gleision and the path through Castle Wood (beware: paintball games in these woods!) to Halkyn (5km from Northop)
n) you emerge next to the original churchyard: unused for 150 years, circular with ancient yews and a completely overgrown well in the top left corner. Clearly, nobody tends these graves
any more; I am reminded of the closing lines of Middlemarch: "that
things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing
to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs".
The current church down the road is Victorian, but note the medieval crucifixion
stuck on a S buttress.
o) the next and final obstacle is crossing the A55 again. Take the path below
the pub, dodge the traffic on the A55 and continue to the path through Nant-y-Flint, and then as i) on the direct route below.
2. Direct (30km)
a) and b) as route 1
c) you may cross at any point, but I'ld recommend using the path on the railway bridge
d) head SW across the B5129 and head up Wepre Brook into Wepre Park. Though not marked on OS, there is a path on
the east bank of the stream (14km from Chester)
e) visit Ewloe castle (CADW) if you wish but climb the path before this NW
to Wepre Lane (you will notice the steep climb
after the flat path along the Dee!)
f) turn L along the road into Northop Hall (this is a busy road with a short
stretch with no pavement)
g) take one of the paths to the north of the village and head NW crossing
the B5126 to the church at Flint Mountain
h) take the lane W over the A5119, and then the path heading N to SJ233711. This leads into a very pleasant
path (can be muddy) through the wooded valley of Nant-y-Flint, roughly on
the line of Wat's Dyke
i) continue 4km NW along the lanes, at the end of which the path heads north
and up to the parallel lane. There are fine views to the hump of Beeston Castle
with the Peak District beyond, over the Dee estuary and the Wirral peninsula
to Liverpool's unmistakable skyline ('if you want a cathedral, we've got
one to spare'). Turn L (NW) here and then continue in the same direction
until the path descends steeply back down to the valley (Wat's Dyke again).
Warning: this descent is treacherous in wet conditions!
j) at the lane, turn L and up into Holywell (16km from Shotton/Wepre Park)