Castell Dinas Brân

I drove to Llangollen in North-Eastern Wales after an overnight stay in Capel Curig, Snowdonia. I was on my way home, but had chosen this diversion to visit Castell Dinas Brân, just North of Llangollen and within walking distance of a car park in Llangollen itself. The photograph above shows the steep approach path on the most direct route up.

The views looking back as I climbed were spectacular as you see.

Castell Dinas Brân was a prominent hilltop castle, said to have been built about 1260 AD on a site that had once been an Iron Age fort. The name means Crow Castle or Crow Hill amongst other translations.

The site is now open to the public and there is plenty to see within the ruined walls and to the countryside beyond. The ditch in the photograph below is part of the Iron Age site.

I spent an hour or so looking around the ruins, taking photographs before beginning my descent by a different route. On the way I passed through an interesting gate on which there was a symbol of a crow, such as that from which the castle takes its name.

The track from the castle ruins led to a normal road and pavements beside fields at first with farm animals to photograph.

That road led down to another which I crossed and continued my downward route to Llangollen, a pretty tourist town which I’ll include photographs of later in the photobook. The descent had some attractive viewpoints which I’ve photographed below.