On the last weekend of March, in 1919, a group of touring cyclists stayed at The West Arms (Llanarmon) having ridden through blizzards, all the way from near Chester. Their plan was to cross the Berwyn Mountains via the drover track which climbs Nant Rhydwilym, going ‘over the top’ at Pen Bwlch Llandrillo…
The group’s leader was Cycling journalist Walter McGregor Robinson, who went by the pen name ‘Wayfarer’. Despite the snowdrifts and hardships, the three touring cyclists competed their ride. A handful of drawings from their endeavour, drawn by the legendary illustrator Frank Patterson, do exist if you fancy digging a little deeper… A stone was first installed at the col by the Rough Stuff Fellowship, following Robinson’s death in 1956 – to celebrate the ‘open road’ and ‘Wild Wales’ that he loved and rode for.
One-hundred years, to the day, after Walter and co. set off from the West Arms, a group of us 50 cyclists left the Inn to follow in their tracks >> to ride ‘over the top’ of the Wayfarer Pass, looping back on lost lanes to Llanarmon, via Llangollen…
ER COF AM
WAYFARER
1877 – 1956
UN OEDD YN CARU CYMRU
A LOVER OF WALES
ERECTED BY THE RSF
Photos
Stefan Amato
Sources
David Birchall – WAYFARER – IN SEARCH OF WILD WALES