Brecknock Wildlife Trust

Last updated

Brecknock Wildlife Trust (Welsh : Ymddiriedolaeth Natur Sir Frycheiniog) is a former wildlife trust covering the vice county of Brecknockshire in Wales. The Trust was founded in 1964, with a network of volunteers carrying out most of its work. No full-time conservation officers were in post until 1987. Heritage Lottery funding helped the Trust to expand and a bequest of £1,000,000 in 2003 resulted in the appointment of a Reserves Officer. [1] In April 2018 it merged with The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. [2]

The offices of the Trust are located in Lion House, Brecon. The Trust has 22 reserves, the majority of which are in the Brecon Beacons National Park. All are open to the public free of charge. [3]

The most visited of the reserves is at Pwll-y-Wrach ("Witches' Pool", near Talgarth; the site is 17.5 hectares in area, most of which is woodland. [4] At the eastern end of the reserve is a waterfall flowing from the River Enig into the so-called Witches' Pool. [5] The wildlife in this area includes bluebells, woodruff, orchids, herb paris, toothwort, dormice and dippers (which frequent the waterfall). [6]

Another reserve run by the Trust, Glasbury Cutting, is located at Glasbury-on-Wye, in the far east of the Trust's administrative area. Formerly part of the railway line between Brecon and Hereford, which closed in 1962, it is composed partly of woodland and partly of a meadow created to encourage wild plants. Dormice, a protected species, were discovered within the reserve in 2000. [7] In the far south-west, Cae Lynden Nature Reserve is one of three reserves close together near Ystradgynlais. The grasslands of this former sports field encourage marsh fritillary, meadow brown and gatekeeper butterflies. [8]

Vicarage Meadows, a grassland reserve near Abergwesyn in the Irfon Valley, is managed by the Trust and the species growing there include bog asphodel, wood bitter vetch, greater butterfly orchids and small white orchids. [9]

In March 2016, the Brecknock Wildlife Trust announced a new initiative in the Ystradgynlais area, called the Wild Communities Project. This is intended to capitalise on the results of an earlier project, the “Upper Tawe Valley Living Landscape Project". Lottery funding of £313,757 has been allocated to this project, which will take place over a three-year period. [10]

Related Research Articles

Knettishall Heath

Knettishall Heath is a 91.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Knettishall in Suffolk. A larger area of 176 hectares is the Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Talgarth Human settlement in Wales

Talgarth is a market town, community and electoral ward in southern Powys, Mid Wales, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Crickhowell, 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Brecon and 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Builth Wells. Notable buildings in the town include the 14th-century parish church and a defensive tower house. According to traditional accounts, Talgarth was the capital of the early medieval Welsh Kingdom of Brycheiniog. It is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. In 2011, it had a population of 1,724.

The Avon Wildlife Trust aims to protect and promote wildlife in the area of the former county of Avon — now Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, in England. It has its headquarters in Bristol and runs wildlife centres at Folly Farm, Somerset and Feed Bristol, Frenchay, North Bristol.

Brynamman is a village on the south side of the Black Mountain, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The village is split into Upper Brynamman and Lower Brynamman by the River Amman, which is also the boundary between the counties of Carmarthenshire and Neath Port Talbot. Ruins of stone dwellings, an early type of lime kiln and rectangular medieval buildings found on the mountain show that people have lived in this area for a long time. The population of Brynamman was 2,608 as of 2011; the urban area including Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen was 5,692.

Lower Woods

Lower Woods is a 280.1-hectare (692-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1985. The site area has increased at last revision in 1974 to a 284.1-hectare (702-acre) site. The site is a nature reserve managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

Midger

Midger is a 65.7-hectare (162-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest straddling the border of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966 and renotified in 1984. Since the last revision in 1974, the size has been reduced to a 56-hectare (140-acre) site. It lies east of Hillesley, Gloucestershire and north of Hawkesbury Upton, South Gloucestershire. It is at the head of the Kilcott Valley.

Pwll y wrach

Pwll y wrach or Pwll-y-wrach is a feature on the River Ennig near Talgarth in south Powys, Wales. The river plunges in two separate streams over a lip of hard rock into a pool scoured in the softer mudstones of the underlying Raglan Mudstone formation.

Burham Down

Burham Down is a 110-hectare (270-acre) nature reserve between Maidstone and Chatham in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation.

Glasbury, also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village and community in Powys, Wales. The village lies at an important crossing point on the River Wye, connecting the historic counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, and is located just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park, north of the Black Mountains. The village is split between the communities of Glasbury and Gwernyfed. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some 4 miles (6 km) to the north east. The nearest city is Hereford in England, some 25 miles (40 km) to the east. Glasbury is a popular location for river fishing, canoeing and kayaking. The population of Glasbury community in Radnorshire was 994, in 1841 it was 838.

Gwent Wildlife Trust (GWT) is a wildlife trust covering the area between the lower Wye and Rhymney rivers which forms the vice county of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is a registered charity and a member of the Wildlife Trusts Partnership.

There are several nature reserves in the surroundings of Nailsea, North Somerset, England, which is located at 51°25′55″N2°45′49″W.

Coed Nant Menascin is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), around the Nant Menasgin, near Llanfrynach in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Powys, Wales.

Vicarage Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Abergwesyn, Powys, Wales.

Ddol Uchaf Nature Reserve in Wales

Ddol Uchaf is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located near Ysceifiog, Flintshire, Wales. It has been selected as an SSSI due to the unique wildlife and organisms around the area.

Arger Fen

Arger Fen is a 49.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south-east of Sudbury in Suffolk, England. The site occupies two separate areas. The 17.6-hectare (43-acre) Arger Fen Local Nature Reserve is part of the larger eastern block, and contains part of the 21-hectare (52-acre) Tiger Hill Local Nature Reserve, along with part of the 110-hectare (270-acre) Arger Fen and Spouse's Vale, a nature reserve managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The site lies in the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,

Pentwyn Farm Grasslands

Pentwyn Farm Grasslands is a nature reserve, and a series of agricultural fields, in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1993, noted for its biological characteristics.

Yoesden Nature reserve in Buckinghamshire, England

Yoesden, often known as Yoesden Bank, is a 13-hectare (32-acre) nature reserve in Bledlow Ridge in Buckinghamshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Ulverscroft Valley

Ulverscroft Valley is a 110.8 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Markfield in Leicestershire. The site is in five separate blocks, and two areas are nature reserves managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT). Lea Meadows is owned by the LRWT and it is also a scheduled monument. Part of Ulverscroft Nature Reserve is owned by the LRWT and part is owned by the National Trust and leased to the LRWT.

References

  1. ↑ "Brecknock Wildlife Trust celebrates its golden anniversary". Wildlife Trusts Wales. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Brecknock Nature Reserves". The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "Our Nature Reserves". Brecknock Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Pwll-y-Wrach Nature Reserve". Brecknock Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Forests and woodland in the Brecon Beacons National Park". Brecon Beacons. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Pwll y Wrach Nature Reserve". Visit Mid Wales. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Glasbury Cutting Nature Reserve". Brecknock Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Cae Lynden Nature Reserve". Brecknock Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  9. ↑ James Lowen (5 March 2016). A Summer of British Wildlife. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 100. ISBN   978-1-78477-009-9.
  10. ↑ "Cae Lynden Nature Reserve". Joyce Watson, AM. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.