In the footsteps of Wales’s heroic rebel prince: hiking Glyndŵr’s Way

Michael Sheen is preparing to portray Owain Glyndŵr on stage, prompting a writer to walk the 135‑mile Glyndŵr’s Way, the most remote of the 17 English and Welsh national trails, beginning near the border town of Knighton. The journey starts with a detour to the dog‑friendly Castle Inn at Knucklas, where medieval castle ruins—partially dismantled in the 1860s to build a railway viaduct—loom over the path, symbolising the elusive spirit of the last Welsh Prince of Wales. Along the way the writer, accompanied by his terrier Stevie, encounters shepherd ewes, a closed pub in Llangunllo, and the stark quiet of the hills, all while noting that Sheen himself has walked sections of the trail and believes the rugged landscape enabled Glyndŵr’s guerrilla warfare.

The trail weaves through sites that echo Glyndŵr’s 1400 rebellion, which began with a land dispute and quickly escalated into a widespread uprising that captured Edward I’s Conwy fortress and won a battle near Knighton before faltering after the Battle of Shrewsbury, where a young Henry V survived an arrow wound. Historical anecdotes pepper the walk: Shakespeare’s dramatised Glyndŵr (as Owen Glendower) claiming supernatural powers, William Blake’s 1819 vision of the prince, and the 19th‑century Victorian artist who painted Glyndŵr’s likeness using railway magnate David Davies as a model. The writer also discovers a copy of Francis Kilvert’s Diary in a bus shelter, linking the trail to broader Welsh cultural memory.

After five days the writer remains unable to “contact” Glyndŵr’s ghost, but the experience is enriched by stays at Brandy House farm and a cabin near Mach, where Glyndŵr briefly convened a parliament and a reconstructed 1460 abbey bears a mural of the rebel leader. The journey, supported by National Trails and Natural Resources Wales, highlights the scarcity of facilities along the route, the need for self‑sufficiency, and the enduring resonance of Glyndŵr’s legacy in Wales’s remote upland scenery, offering hikers both physical challenge and a tangible connection to the nation’s historic rebel prince.

⚡ Effects Interpreter