It's a bit of a hill!

A reader who was walking on Moel Famau at the weekend asks:

“I was bitten by a tiny black insect on Saturday. It resembled a lady bird..but black no marks…smaller that an lady bird. My hand is like a balloon now. Any idea what it was? I was on the roadway on the yellow walk..not in the heath land.”

Any suggestions as to what could have done that? Please a comment below.

Many thanks to Adam Kent for sending in this photo of what he believes is a red-legged partridge. Adam took a photo of the bird on Moel Famau back in autumn 2010 and wonders if such a bird has ever been seen before on Moel Famau?

If you know any more please leave a comment below.

I couldn’t make the trip myself due to a prior engagement but it seems I missed quite a spectacular show up on the summit of Moel Famau last Sunday.

Judging by a couple of the comments others readers on the site have left on this post it seems that traffic was something of a problem?

The BBC north east Wales team have published a great set of photos of the evenings events – make sure that you take a look at them all right here.

The 25th October 2010, marks the 200th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Jubilee Tower situated on the summit of Moel Famau. In 1810, 200 years ago, 5000 people hiked to the top of Moel Famau, to watch Lord Kenyon of Flintshire  as he laid the tower’s foundation stone on behalf of the Prince of Wales.

Rightly so, the event is being celebrated and you’re invited to the party! The organising team behind Jubilee Tower 200 have put together a website detailing the event details along with some great information relating to the history of Moel Famau. Please do ask them any questions that you have about the forthcoming celebrations.

Wrexham-based artist Chris Oakley has been commissioned by Flintshire and Denbighshire councils to install a light beam in the tower. The installation will involve a vertical beam of light, visible during the hours of darkness. The four sides of the tower will be lit with video projection illustrating the historical and contemporary meanings of the tower, using images and text created through a number of community workshops. Hopefully there’ll be clear night skies and the light beam might be viewable from far and wide.

The BBC North East Wales team have also published an item about the event on this page – I’m not sure if there is a problem with the short video but it won’t currently load for me.

Don’t forget to visit the Jubilee Tower 2oo website.

Mrs Miller, a recent visitor to Moel Famau writes in to warn dog owners about the dangers of blue algae.

This is a warning for all dog walkers. On Thursday 2nd September I walked my 7 year old healthy springer spaniel dog. I walked in the area of the summit during which time he drank from a stagnant black pool, 40 mins later he was unconscious and fitting.I called upon the Ranger who came and helped me down to my vehicle. I immediately went to the Vet where he continued fitting. They put him on a drip but said he would not last the night. Miraculously he has survived but his coordination is affected. The vet said it was most likely caused by THE HIGHLY TOXIC BLUE ALGAE. We have been so lucky that our much loved dog has made it.I believe warnings should be put out and a lot of water ways have alreay put alerts out eg Bala, The Lakes.

Just spotted an interesting article in the Denbighshire Free Press debating whether Moel Famau is an old volcano!

Apparently not, but this article makes for an interesting quick read!

Silly me!

Some time ago whilst messing around in facebook (I tend not to use it) I created a fan page for Moel Famau as an exercise in seeing what fan pages were all about. I then forgot all about it until today.

It seems that facebook now send out a weekly email for fan pages and I received one today. As it transpires I’ve been neglecting over 40 fans of the page. Sorry about that!

I’ve done a little bit of tinkering and you can now view the updated Moel Famau fan page.

Any tips/corrections always welcome.

I’ve just caught sight of this money saving offer from Blacks so I though I’d share it with you.

You can get £10 off when you spend over £50 by entering the code Over50 at the checkout page. Offer expires on Wednesday 31st March 2010.

They’ve also got a promotion on North Face fleeces with up to 25% off.

Click here to take a look.

Many thanks to Chris Attwood for letting me know about his Moel Famau webcam.

You’ll be able to enjoy the view by visiting this page – I suspect we’ve missed a view of a snow covered summit now, but I suppose you never know!

Many thanks to Nick at BBC northeast Wales for alerting me to a short video of the Clwydian Range. You can view the video and read more about the Heather and Hillforts project right here.

If you like seeing photos of the area then you’ll find lots of great images at the popular photo sharing site flickr.com – new images are added every week by walkers, locals, etc.

Also, thanks to you all for offering your thoughts on the proposed Moel Famau zipwire proposals.