The best walks and hikes around Mochdre

Colwyn Bay Beach is a golden, three-mile playground perfect for seaside strutting! With its sleek, modern promenade and soft sands, it’s a haven for: Watersports: Ideal for jet-skiing or kayaking. Relaxation: Plenty of space for sunbathing and sandcastles.

The reference to "Ednyfed's Castle" is related to Ednyfed Fychan (c. 1170–1246), a powerful Welsh nobleman, warrior, and ancestor of the Tudor dynasty. He was the distain (seneschal or chief minister) to the Princes of Gwynedd, Llywelyn the Great and his son, Dafydd ap Llywelyn. Ednyfed's vast landholdings and manors were scattered across North Wales, and he is associated with at least two sites where a defensible residence or "castle" of a Welsh lord would have stood. What it was: This site, on Bryn Euryn hill, is traditionally believed to be the location of one of Ednyfed's main manors (or llys, a native Welsh court). The "Castle": The structure associated with Ednyfed would have been an earlier, probably timber, defensive structure like a motte and bailey castle, typical for a Welsh lord of the 13th century. Current Site: Today, the site is dominated by the ruins of the later 15th-century fortified manor house known as Llys Euryn, which was built on the same spot.

"This fascinating building is thought to be the smallest church in the British Isles, seating only 6 people. It is named after St. Trillo, a 6th century Celtic saint who built his cell here. The age of the present building is not known, as it has been heavily repaired over the centuries. St. Trillo’s original cell is more likely to have been made of wood and wattle, although he may have built a wall of stones gathered from the beach to protect it from the wind." You can find out more here; Source: https://colwynbayheritage.org.uk/st-trillos-chapel-rhos-on-sea-heritage-walk/

Rhos on Sea is described as neat, pristine and peaceful. There is a long seaside promenade and great views.

Mmmmm Hickory's Smokehouse. All the amazing flavours of the deep south. If you like your food, you'll not go wrong here. Been here so many times, and will continue to do so. great to refuel after a huge hike or bike ride.

Panoramic views of Penrhyn Bay, the little orme, conwy valley and all the way over to denbighshire.

The original chapel in the place of the later church in Rhos on Sea (Llandrillo yn Rhôs), was erected in the 13th century. It was built by Ednyfed Fycha, the seneschal of the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd, and was first mentioned in the documents in 1254. In the fifteenth and the sixteenth century century it was rebuilt and enlarged into the form of the present church. In 1552, a tower was added. Further modifications were introduced in the 17th centuries, and a thorough Victorian renovation was carried out in the 19th century. The church was erected on a hill and whitewashed, to serve as a landmark for sailors at sea. Probably because of the proximity of the sea on the tower, a smaller observation turret was added, to alert the local population in the event of pirate attack, being the plague of the seventeenth century. The church was situated on a high hill surrounded by a cemetery. In the 15th century it consisted of a rectangular nave without a separated externally chancel. In the 16th century, a southern nave of equal length and the same shape as the previous one was added, and a four-sided tower on the west side of the older nave. Porches have been added to both the southern and northern naves. The walls of the tower were 1.4 meters thick at the level of the battered plinth. It was topped with a breastwork mounted on a cornice and provided with a battlement with characteristic, stepped merlons, typical of many Irish churches.

The tranquillity of Bryn Euryn hill, 365 feet above sea level, belies a dramatic yet little known past. Iron and Dark Age strongholds, the medieval castle of a notable Welshman and a later fortified mansion have all been built here, and a Roman expeditionary force disappeared nearby. Bryn Euryn rises above the North Wales town of Colwyn Bay, dominating the old Welsh kingdom of Rhos. The ancient fortresses stood on its summit and the ruins of the fortified mansion are on its seaward slope. Historical records hint that Ednyfed had a castle here but where was it? The site commands extensive views of the Conwy Valley and coast, and was once the location of a hillfort, which was initially excavated in the autumn of 1997 for the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust. The excavations revealed a "massive, well-built" wall formed from quarried limestone, believed to have once been 3 m (9.8 ft) high and to have been fronted by 3.5 m (11 ft) of rubble. There were no archaeological discoveries permitting a certain identification, but the pre-Norman layout led David Longley, the study's director, to connect it with the early-6th century king of Rhos Cynlas the Red on the basis of the "Bear Den" (Latin: receptaculi ursi) mentioned in Gildas's passage on him and the surviving local name of the area as Dinerth, "Fort Bear" The hilltop was used again in World War II first as an observation post by the Home Guard; it was then used by the RAF as one of the first radar posts used to detect German bombers heading to Liverpool.[