#gwynedd

[wild-e-eep]

Rainy day in North Wales.

[reasonsforhope]

"Two so-called “Celtic rainforests” in the UK are to be restored with a mixture of native planting and natural reforestation.

The hope is that they will provide rich habitats for dozens of species, improve groundwater quality and flood prevention, and allow residents and tourists to experience an exceptionally rare forest biome called temperate rainforest.

The most famous and largest temperate rainforests on Earth are found in the US states of Oregon and Washington, along Brazil’s Atlantic coast (known as the Atlantic Forest), and on New Zealand.

Pictured: Map of the global distribution of temperate rainforests. Source: Wikipedia

Britain, especially Wales, would have featured a certain amount of these Celtic rainforests in areas that experience high moisture content coming off the ocean, and low variations in annual temperatures.

One such place is Creg y Cowin on the Isle of Man, where 28 hectares (70 acres) of native Celtic rainforest will be planted by hand, and another 8 hectares (20 acres) left to regenerate naturally.

The Manx Wildlife Trust will be responsible for the project, and it anticipates “the return of oakwood dwellers such as wood warbler, pied flycatcher, and redstart, as well as raptors, owls, and woodland invertebrates.”

Historic agricultural dwellings called “tholtans” will be left on the landscape for their historical and cultural significance.

Elsewhere, in Gwynedd, North Wales, another 40 hectares (112 acres) of Celtic rainforest will be raised via a mixture of native planting and regeneration. The selected site is the peak and slopes of Bwlch Mawr, near the university town of Byrn Mawr.

“There’s real momentum now to restore and expand our amazing temperate rainforests, and it’s brilliant to see the Wildlife Trusts advancing their plans,” Guy Shrubsole, environmental campaigner and author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain, told the Guardian in the wake of the announcements."

-via Good News Network, 4/7/23

[thesilicontribesman]

Caer Bach Iron Age Hut Circle, nr. Rowen, Conwy Valley, Gwynedd, Wales

Sited just outside the hillfort and displacing part of its earthen ramparts, the hut circle is now a flat plateau of mainly small stones.

[sowhatifiliveinfukuoka]

My former life...

Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales (flickr)

Harlech Castle

[mothmiso]

Wales (2) (3) by mark his view

[opelman]

Typhoon by Treflyn Lloyd-Roberts Via Flickr: RAF Typhoon ZK341 speeds past Bwlch in the Mach Loop on a low level training sortie. Aircraft: Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 ZK341. Location: Bwlch yr Oerddrws, Gwynedd, Wales.

[aneverydaything]

Day 2261, 31 August 2024

Tryweryn River (Afor Tryweryn) at Bala, Gwynedd, Wales

I had taken part in the Pont Y Bala Parkrun this morning which follows this beautiful river along the path on the right hand side of the photograph

[deweydecimalchickens]

I spent the weekend walking the Ardudwy Way from Barmouth to Llandecwyn in north Wales, and it was mostly amazing. Pictures of the amazing bits to follow. However, here are some bits that went a bit wrong:

My first night in my one-person lightweight tent. Did you know these things tend to be much warmer if you remember to fully zip up the door flap? News to me!

As well as the aforementioned cows, there were horses on the path at one point. I have never seen horses in this area before. One was pretty chill and just grazed, but the other was noticeably panicky and actually got its shoulder under the chill one and forced its head up to stare at me. Oh well, time for another detour through another bog while avoiding eye contact and talking in soothing tones. This is why we wear waterproof socks.

Plan A had been to refill my water bottle from this stream. Then I saw the truly stupendous amount of hemlock-water-dropwort growing in it. I don't actually know if Britain's most toxic plant can poison the water it's growing in, but I wasn't going to be the idiot who found out it does.

The actual path is completely invisible and veers sharply to the right among the head-high bracken. You just had to sort of walk into it and see which bit let you through. The fake-ass path on the left was created by multiple people going the wrong way and then falling down a hole. Including me.

There was a whole extra valley like this. I didn't take photos but I was just stumbling through bracken, relying on knowing the trajectory of the path on the map, using my trekking poles like a cane in front of me because I couldn't see the ground, for about an hour. I also accidentally scared the hell out of a group of young people who hadn't realised they weren't alone in there, and were attempting to escape straight up the scree/craggy side. We've all been there, but they were making even slower progress than I was. I did keep an eye on them and make sure they got out okay.

I spent the last mile and a half running for the last train. In hiking boots and with my giant rucksack on my back. My filter water bottle fell off my rucksack at some point in this mad dash, so a) I littered and b) I was so thirsty I ended up drinking unfiltered stream water. (At least this was over 300m above sea level so didn't have hemlock-water-dropwort in it.) Luckily the train station was ready for people doing such stupid things.

I also have to hike in this ridiculous headgear because I started out with blue eyes and freckles and then took a medication that makes me more sensitive to the sun. No amount of sunscreen can stop me from going lobster.

I genuinely had a wonderful time, but yeah...

[lotolle]

Doodling a request for my dearest friend's wife! Her Baldur's Gate OC with her fave, Halsin~

[theshatterednotes]

British philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate in 1950 and mentor to Ludwig Wittgenstein

[hikinguk]

Dinorwic Quarry, Eryri National park

[wild-e-eep]

Tremella mesenterica - yellow brain fungus - adding some brightness to a dull day. :-)

[travelella]

Portmeirion, Gwynedd, UK

Aneta Pawlik

[emilytakesphoto]

grazing

[sowhatifiliveinfukuoka]

My former life...

Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales (flickr)

Harlech Castle

[mothmiso]

Wales 2018 (2) (3) by GRAHAM DICKINSON

Via Flickr:

(1) River Glaslyn. (2) A view from Caernarfon Castle. (3) Snowdonia National Park.