1903 Elatine hydropiper in Dcnbi^h^Jiire 61 



Elatine hydropiper in Denbighshire. 



By E. M. Wood. 



Two summers ago I spent a short but delightful holiday 

 away among the moors and valleys of Denbigh, in a district 

 but little known to the ordinary run of tourists, as it lies 

 in an obscure part of the country between the Clwyd and 

 Conway Valleys. The country, of course, is hilly, and on 

 this account the district is not very easily accessible, at 

 least from one of the nearer railways — the L. & N.-W. 

 Railway, — but more easily reached from Denbigh town, 

 although the approach from Abergele is most attractive 

 and picturesque. In either case the distance is not beyond 

 the powers of a good walker, and the village carrier will 

 always call for one's luggage at the most convenient 

 station. 



The village of Llansannan itself, where I had most com- 

 fortable "diggings" at a farmhouse, cannot boast of any- 

 thing approaching architectural beauty, but the surround- 

 ings are such as to compensate for any deficiency in the 

 buildings themselves. The village lies in a deep hollow 

 surrounded by hills and shut away from the outer world, 

 — a regular " Sleepy Hollow," but most attractive for this 

 very thing to those who enjoy a quiet holiday, to those who 

 most care to poke about in a new place regardless of con- 

 ventionalities, to those whose love of the country and all 

 things pertaining thereto is most keenly developed. 



Geologically, I fancy, the country abounds in shale-rock, 

 sharp flakes of which are not exactly easy for climbing 

 about among. The principal river, which waters all this 

 fertile valley, is the Aled, springing from the lake of that 

 name, high up on the moors to the south of Llansannan, 

 and having many tributary streamlets to join it at intervals 

 on its course to the Elwy. 



The numerous valleys which radiate from the larger and 

 wider Aled Valley (each has its own particular purling 



