New pilgrimage route for Conwy Valley

A new 22-mile pilgrimage route linking five churches in the Bro Celynnin Ministry Area has opened as interest in walking spiritual paths continues to grow.

Llwybr Celynnin is a figure-of-eight trail that follows existing footpaths between Conwy and Llangelynnin, where it joins the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way.

Walkers can collect a stamp at each church in a specially designed pilgrim passport, creating a record of their journey through the valley. 

Local artist Hope O’Dell created the passport, while pupils from Ysgol Porth y Felin and Ysgol Llangelynnin designed the stamps used along the route.

The route has been developed amid renewed interest in pilgrimage, including the BBC series Pilgrimage: The Road to Wild Wales, which followed seven celebrities along the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way.

The route begins or ends at St Mary’s Church in the centre of Conwy, which contains surviving parts of Aberconwy Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in the 12th Century.

It continues through the Conwy Valley to Llangelynnin Church, an ancient church overlooking the valley and already visited by walkers following the longer North Wales route. Churches included in the route are:

• St. Mary’s Church in Conwy
• St. Mary’s Church in Caerhun
• St. Benedict’s Church in Gyffin
• St. Peter‘s Church in Llanbedr-y-Cennin
• Llangelynnin Old Church above Henryd

The trail was launched at St Mary’s Church, with a pilgrimage exhibition and a events with the children of two local church schools.