"Easter Around Chirk" Chirk by nickandchris

Chirk Travel Guide: 21 reviews and 99 photos

England Or Wales?Close To The Border.....

This page is about our Easter stay in the small town of St. Martin's, about 5 miles east of Chirk. I think St. Martin's is in Shropshire whereas Chirk is in Wrexham (one of these new-fangled counties that are forever being created.)
We stayed on a Caravan Club CL. just out of the village and spent most of our time walking, mainly along canals.
The area is rather flat compared with Cumbria and it wasn't until we returned home that we realised how much we had missed the hills.Still, it made walking non too strenuous for the likes of Nick and I who definitely don't walk enough!!!

Red Brick and Flat Country....

View from Chirk castle (flat.....)

We were disappointed with the architecture around here, most of the towns and villages seemed to be surrounded by the most hideous modern houses.It almost seemed like a competition to see who could come up with the most out of place house. Strange. And all in red brick as well.(So sorry for anyone reading this who may live in one of these!!!) (See Berriew page for a complete contrast.)
We spent happy hours watching the canal boats navigate locks and lifting bridges, thinking it seemed a nice way to travel the country. That was when the sun was shining. Then it rained and blew a gale and we thought maybe not so pleasant in those conditions.Canals abound around here, with the Shropshire Union, Mongomery and Llangollen and rivers are plentiful also, with the Severn, Ceiriog,Perry and Efyrnwy to name a few.
Offa's Dyke is found in these parts, the ancient frontier between England and Wales which runs for 177 miles.It's a major attraction for walkers with many circular walks incorporating the Dyke.

Are We Welcome...?

Shropshire Union Canal

Chirk itself we didn't actually get to have a look round. We were always passing through. One thing that did annoy us was that we couldn't find anywhere to park to have a look at the aqueduct. Infuriating. As for Oswestry, the carpark we came across had a height barrier on it so Nick promptly roared out of the town declaring that Oswestry would never get any custom from us!!! Why do councils do this? Don't they want our business? The strange thing is that nowhere in the entire area, over the 5 days we were there, did we see any signs forbidding overnight parking.
Despite not being able to look round the towns (I'm not a town person anyway) we thoroughly enjoyed our Easter break in our newly acquired motorhome. Still minor problems to be ironed out with the van but overall, a success apart from one night being bogged in.
I'm not sure that we would return to this area, too flat and not architecturally interesting enough, although there are lots of attractions within the area. Also, too far from the sea for our liking. We are undoubtedly "coast" people and suffer withdrawal symptoms when absent from it for any length of time.

Pros and Cons

Pros:A relatively quiet and little known area
Cons:Not enough hills!!!!!
In a nutshell:Plenty of places to visit and things to see....

Last visit to Chirk: Apr 2006
Intro Updated Apr 20, 2006
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Reviews (9)

Old tramway across bog for transporting cut peat - Chirk

Fenn's and Whixall Mosses Things to Do (8)

On our last full day, we decided to head for somewhere quiet so out came the map to look for reasonably interesting... more travel advice

Chirk Castle Gardens Things to Do (8)

Wonderful gardens, created and landscaped in 1764 by William Emes, with lawns, shrubberies, topiary, lime tree avenue... more travel advice

Oswestry Race Course Things to Do (8)

Supposedly a popular beauty spot, the old racecourse common set high above and to the west of Oswestry. It was a hugely... more travel advice

Whittington Castle Things to Do (8)

This is a 12thc. moated castle under reconstruction.Most of the castle was covered in scaffolding and fenced off as... more travel advice

Hotels (1)
Quiet CL

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Comments (10)

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Evenith666 Jan 15, 2010 at 7:39 AM

hey, really enjoyed your tips! My family are from St Martins between Chirk and Oswestry. Me and my dad are doing the Offa's Dyke walk in the summer, from Prestatyn to Chepstow and am really lookin forward to visitin this area!
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budapest8 Nov 29, 2009 at 1:22 PM

Loved your tips and pictures. Just got back from a short visit to N.Wales. Reading your accounts of the weather in yr neck of the woods, guess we were very lucky with the weather. Thx for sharing. Greatings from Budapest
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Maria250 Jul 8, 2008 at 11:14 AM

Awesome page & tips on marvelous castles! Wonderful accommodation tip too, would love to stay there some day!!
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SLLiew Oct 5, 2007 at 9:45 AM

Nice place for walks and exploring castles. I can imagine myself there reading your pages. Thanks for sharing. SL
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Spincat Jan 15, 2007 at 10:08 AM

You are zooming up to top of VT with your ratings and deserve it! I have never been to this part of the world and your portrait makesme see why it has never grabbed that much; but you made it sound interesting despite the slightly flat-sounding landscape.
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luckyzen Sep 23, 2006 at 5:04 AM

Hi Christine, Thanks for dropping by! Once again, I am amazed at your pages and the wonderful descriptions. The pic's which go along with it are great. Love those castles...beautiful!!
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margaretvn Sep 3, 2006 at 6:34 AM

enjoyed your page - I used to work in Oswestry so I explored that part of the country then.
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nebulaflash Jun 14, 2006 at 9:19 PM

My sister-in-law and her husband live in Shropshire. Her twin lived in Wrexham. The old towns and villages look so peaceful and solid after living here on the west coast of Canada.
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scottishvisitor May 30, 2006 at 11:32 AM

The Castles would interest me - the weather seemed to turn out nice after all the rain -
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sandysmith Apr 22, 2006 at 8:14 AM

looks like you had decent weather anyway..better to stay in the Lakes I would think!