HORSESHOE AMONG HILLS

DAY OUT: Afon Dyfrdwy (River Dee), Denbighshire | Afon Dyfrdwy is the largest river in North Wales, but its wildlife is suffering. Julie Brominicks explores a project that aims to restore it to its natural state, before ambling its autumn banks

- Julie Brominicks

Springing from hills south-west of Llyn Tegid through which it flows, Afon Dyfrdwy (the River Dee) capers across Wales to the border, then dances north to Chester before flowing into the waterway that separates North Wales from the Wirral.

Estuary salt, sand and silt are hard to reconcile with the clear chattering waters upstream. But the contrast is one that salmonids (Atlantic salmon and sea trout), which are heading upriver now to spawn, know well.

WHAT LIVES BENEATH