The lanes and byeways of Treflach are pre historic indented and sunken into the landscape worn away by millenia of travel. To the passerby the importance of the area is unseen, a point where ley lines cross was a place of pilgrimage, originally 5 Yew trees in a circle that were cut down in the late 1940’s due to the War-Ag views on efficient farming. On olde maps a pinfold is located in the area- just a wall now stands- it was a place cattle drovers slept en route, where the cattle would be rested and watered over night in a field, to the major cities. The high routes where safer and more direct and avoided the toll roads.
When the land was enclosed in Treflach in the mid 18th century hedges where planted on top of the walls as they were cheap to maintain and stock proof. A hedge provides more haven for wildlife than an equivalent area of thicket as more light and more food opportunities are made available and act as a corridor for wildlife to move for safety. The old walls under the hedges today provide excellent hibernation nooks and crannies for many insects. After the Agricultural Revolution the Industrial Revolution turned the local green lanes into a busy highways. Coal, lime, sand and stone were quarried and carted by pony. Local farmers metalled the lanes with stone to improve their quality of life- it wasn’t until the 1850’s that the local branch railway line took over and the byways became quiet again to walk cattle and sheep and transport milk to Oswestry market where Oswestry Railway Station was the hinterland for Liverpool.