Bonc yr Hafod History, nature and walks - Wrexham Parks, Countryside and Rights of Way Service
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Country Park Walks Leaflet
Wrexham Parks, Countryside
and Rights of Way Service
Bonc yr Hafod
History, nature
and walks
Bonc yr Hafod Country Park
The country park is situated on the outskirts of Johnstown, 3 miles
south of Wrexham on Hafod Road, near the the B5426 (Bangor Road).
Turn off the A483 onto the B5426 towards Johnstown, after 200 meters
turn right onto Hafod Road. The car park for the Country Park is ½ a
mile further on, on the left.
The number 6 bus from Wrexham passes the Gwalia road entrance to
the park, which is off Gwalia road opposite Glasfryn Road.
Bonc yr Hafod Country Park
Hafod Road,
Johnstown
Wrexham LL14 6HF
Telephone 01978 822780
The park is open all year round, however the car park is
locked at 7pm each evening.
This leaflet has been produced by the Parks, Countryside and Public
Rights of Way Service. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure
accuracy, Wrexham Borough Council cannot accept responsibility for
the consequences of any errors in this publication.
www.wrexham.gov.uk/countryside
Rhos Community
Council
Introduction
Bonc yr Hafod country park is a hill covered in woodland and
grassland, and lies on the site of Hafod Colliery. The hill is made from
mining waste dug up from the mine shafts and tunnels deep
underground. The colliery once employed over 1900 local people,
mainly from the villages of Rhos, Ponciau and Johnstown. The pit was
closed in 1968. In the mid 1990’s the spoil heap from the mine was
landscaped and the soil improved to allow trees to be planted and
grassland to grow. The success of the reclamation of the spoil heap is
reflected in the diverse and beautiful habitats present at Hafod today.
This leaflet details two walks, you can follow the lower level Hafod
Circular walk around the base of the hill or the Heritage and Nature
trail which takes you to the top of the hill, where you will be rewarded
with panoramic views of the whole area. The park has a number of
sculptures celebrating the men who worked in the local coal mines
and the park’s wildlife. The Park is now a SSSI(Site of Special
Scientific Interest) and a SAC(Special Area of Conservation). This is
due to the presence of Great Crested Newts, a protected species
which breed in the ponds on site. The Park’s rich wildlife also includes
skylarks, kestrels, butterflies and dragonflies.
Dogs
Dogs are welcome on these walks but please keep your dogs under
control and use the dog waste bins provided.
Coal formation in Hafod’s prehistoric forest 300 million years ago, the atmosphere was very rich in oxygen and carbon dioxide. This promoted the growth of lush forests inhabited by huge fern-leaved trees and giant insects. Over millions of years, a thick layer of dead trees and plants built up on the boggy forest floor. Later as conditions changed this was covered with heavy layers of sand and mud, squashing the forest remains under high pressure to form coal. Millions of years later, while extracting the coal, the miners enjoyed finding remains of the forest deep underground. This included studded tree trunks textured like pineapples, fossilised fern leaves and wings of huge insects. The miners collected the fossils and assembled them in an underground chamber, through which they walked every day admiring their finds. Former miner Ken Valentine takes up the story: ‘at one time we came across a studded tree trunk in the seam and rather than take it out, we went around it leaving it where it had been all this time, for us to see, it was very beautiful’
Coal mining at Hafod
A deep mine was sunk at Hafod home to get the potatoes
in the 1860s and worked for a on because their husbands
hundred years. Millions of tons of and sons would soon be
coal were dug up and sold. Gas home for dinner.
was also piped out of the mine to
fire the quarry tiles made nearby. To reach the coal seams, over
The clay works and the mine at 25 million tons of waste stone
Hafod were often in joint and shale had to be dug out.
ownership. Many of the miners’ This material was banked up to
homes in Rhosllanerchrugog are form the hill at Hafod. The
made from the bright red clay amount of coal dug out was far
dug up and fired at Hafod. greater, look at the hill at Hafod
and imagine an even larger hill
The local chapels exerted a of black coal. This coal was the
strong influence underground. reason why Johnstown and
Miners had to keep to high moral Rhos were built, with families
standards. Many miners walked moving from other parts of the
the mile or two to work or rode in country to work in the mines.
buses. At the end of the 6 Coal was the driving force of the
O’clock shift the mine’s hooter area’s economy and social
blew, a signal for the wives at structure for a century.
Hafod’s transformation from a mine to a country park The deep coal mining era in Britain came to an end in the last part of the 20th century, and Hafod was closed in 1968. In the 1970s Hafod tip was spread out and reshaped, mainly to stabilise it following the Aberfan disaster of 1966 when a coal spoil heap in South Wales slid down the hillside and covered many buildings including the primary school where 116 children and 28 adults were killed. The peaks of the Hafod tip were removed and the banks made less steep. For a short period in the 1980s, Hafod was reworked by a private company to extract coal from the tip. Terraces were dug in the hill and powder coal extracted, which was burnt to generate electricity. During the work, the tip was extended south covering over the area where the mine buildings had previously stood. In the mid 1990s following a consultation with local people, Hafod was landscaped. The soil was improved by adding wood residue and dried sewage sludge. A network of stone armoured drains was made to ensure that the tip would not be scoured away in the event of a flash flood. Three quarters of Hafod was planted with 80,000 native trees, the rest of the land given over to grassland around the path network. A car park was built at the site of the old bath house, and many kilometres of tracks and paths were built. Ownership of Hafod was passed to Wrexham County Borough Council in 1997. Aerial Views: Hafod Colliery to Hafod Country Park 1962-2009
1996-7 Hafod is transformed from mine to woodland Making storm drains 1997 Bare soil before tree planting Spreading wood residue 2003 Trees at about 3m tall Planting tiny trees 2011 Trees now 6m and growing fast
Biodiversity at Hafod
Bonc yr Hafod Country Park forms In the 1997 over 80,000 native
part of the Johnstown Special Area trees were planted in the park,
of Conservation. This strong they now form part the rich and
protected status is due to the varied habitat. The park also
population of Great Crested Newts includes a large open meadow,
that live in and around the park. which is cut each year to maintain
The Great Crested Newt is rare it as grassland. This large open
across its Northern European area of grassland provides an
excellent breeding area for
range, however the ponds in the
skylarks. Listen out for there
low lying areas around Wrexham
beautiful birdsong high above the
are a stronghold of this impressive park. Kestrels and Buzzards are
amphibian. Measuring up to six also common, attracted by the
inches in length, the males grow small mammals living at Hafod.
a spectacular crest to attract
females during the breeding As Hafod use to be a spoil heap
season in April and May. the soil is very low in nutrients,
which is very beneficial to Hafod’s population of frogs, toads
wildflowers. Soil poor in nutrients and newts are a tasty source of
allow the wildflowers to food for grass snakes. Look out for
successfully compete with grass. these beautiful reptiles, with their
In summer time the open distinctive yellow head, sunbathing,
grassland at Hafod is ablaze with or swimming in the ponds and
colour. Look out for the Common ditches around the park. These
Spotted Orchid which flowers all ponds also provide ideal breeding
over the park during June and July. sites for dragonflies and
damselflies. After laying their eggs
Hafod is home to variety of fungi, in the water, their nymphs spend the
including in the autumn a large first part of their life underwater
number of the iconic Fly agaric before emerging as these
toadstool. The poisonous Fly spectacular insects. They can often
agaric with its red cap and white be seen in the summer months
spots is the classic fairytale image hunting for insects and defending
of a toadstool. their pond from other dragonflies.
Hafod walks
Hafod low level Circular walk
Apart from a small hill at the 1. Leave the far end of the car
beginning of the route this is a park and follow the path up the
level walk around the base of the hill, before taking the first turning
hill. The walk takes you past the on the right.
Great Crested Newt breeding
ponds, wildflower meadows and 2. The path goes through oak
through woodland. woodland before dropping down
and eventually emerging onto a
The directions below assume
stone surfaced track. Follow the
that you are starting from the
track alongside ponds and ditch
car park. If you wish to do the
which are breeding sites for the
trail from the Gwalia entrance,
start reading at point 4 and Great crested newt. The railway
then continue the instructions line to the right carries the
from point 1. Shewsbury to Chester line.
3. Veer left before the large gate
and follow the path past the pond
on your right, and straight across
the main path.
4. On reaching the concrete road
turn left. Look out for the railway
tracks in the road, which use to
carry coal from the mine. The
concrete road soon turns into a
path, follow the path back to the
car park.The Heritage and Nature trail.
The route includes a series 4. This path will take you up the
interpretation panels and carved hill until you reach the summit of
oak posts, themed on the parks Bonc yr Hafod.
mining heritage and natural history.
5. Once you have enjoyed the
Following surfaced footpaths, the views and looked at the
trail leads you to the summit, where sculpture, continue past the
you will find a large stone sun dial summit and take the path straight
sculpture of a miner, and wonderful ahead which zig –zags down a
views over the countryside. steep bank turning right onto the
The directions start from the car path at the bottom of the bank.
park. If you wish to do the trail from
the Gwalia entrance walk past the 6. If you wish to return to the
Gwalia entrance of the park
pond and up the wide track to the
follow this path down the hill and
second turning on your left.
take the second turning on the
Follow the directions below from right. Follow this wide track until
point 3 onwards. you reach the Gwalia entrance,
otherwise just follow the path
1. Leave the far end of the car down to the car park.
park and follow the path up the
hill, taking the second turning
on the left.
2. Follow this wide flat track past
the first path which goes up the
hill on the right, until you reach
the second path on the right.
3. Turn off the wide track onto
this path and go up the hill and
take the second turning on
the right.Hafod
Walks
The Heritage
and nature trail.
1600m
Hafod low level
Corkscrew lane entrance circular walk
2400m
Parking
Information
panel
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6
25
2
4
i i
i
3 i 1
3 1
4
Gwalia EntranceNow you have finished your walk...
if you had been here 50 years ago in the words of an ex miners wife;
'It's 6pm and Hafod's
Hooter is blowing! The afternoon
shift is over. Time to put the
potatoes on, by the time
they are done, our husbands
and sons will be home'
To find out more about Hafod past and present go to
www.hafodhooter.co.uk
Do you know what this is? If not head
on over to the website to find out!
Text, Photos and illustrations by Huw Crompton, Gill Burt and
Wrexham Parks and Countryside service.
Designed by Bread and Butter Design 01978 844482You can also read
