Llyn Llech Owain is a shallow lake with an area of 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) which gives its name to the country park in which it sits, it is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest which was designated in 1993. [1] The country park is managed by Carmarthenshire County Council and has an area of 73 hectares (180 acres). The park is near the village of Gorslas with its entrance on Church Road. [2]
The name of the lake Llyn Llech Owain translates into English as "the lake of Owain's slab". The identity of the Owain referred to is not certain but local legend has it to be a Welsh mercenary, called Owain Lawgoch or "Owain of the Red hand", who commanded a company of French troops against the English during the Hundred Years War. According to this tale Owain was tasked with looking after a well, called Mynydd Mawr. on the nearby mountain. Each day he extracted enough water for himself and his horse, carefully replacing the slab over the well but one day he forgot to replace the slab and a torrent poured down the slope, creating the lake. [3] [2]
Llyn Llech Owain is the centrepiece of the country park which surrounds it. Other habitats within the park include peat bog, coniferous woodland, broad-leaved woodland and heathland. [4] The lake and its associated acidic meadows are relatively rare habitats within Carmarthenshire and were the main reasons for its designation as an SSSI in 1993. There is extensive peat underlying the lake's catchment area and the water in the lake has a very brown colour and this means the lake could be classified as dystrophic. [1]
There is a network of footpaths throughout the Country Park and many of these are well surfaced and accessible to wheelchair users. [2] There are also boardwalks which allow safe access over the peat bog and around the lake. [4] The visitor centre which sits beside the lake has exhibits providing information about the park. [2]
The woodlands provide habitat for a typical range of woodland birds such as tits, goldcrest, Common treecreeper, Eurasian jay and green woodpecker, [4] this includes a good population of willow tit. [5] The heathland is home to common kestrel, common buzzard, common lizard and grass snake. [4] There is an abundance of insects and these include dragonflies and damselflies which provide prey for migrating hobbies. [5] the woodlands are also home to a population hazel dormouse and nest boxes are being provided for this species within the park. [6]
Chobham Common is a 655.7-hectare (1,620-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Chobham in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and a national nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation. It contains three scheduled monuments. Most of the site is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust as the Chobham Common nature reserve, but the SSSI also includes a small private reserve managed by the Trust, Gracious Pond.
Waldridge is a village in County Durham, in England. The population at the 2001 Census was 215. Prior to the 2011 Census the parish boundaries changed and the population shown at this census was 4,215. It is situated to the south west of Chester-le-Street. It is known as either Waldridge Fell or Waldridge Village, the 'Fell' referring to the surrounding area of moorland. The village used to be known as Waldridge Colliery. The current village dates back to the 1890s, the original village having been located on the fell which overlooks the present location. Rainwater runs into the Cong Burn to the north and the South Burn to the south, both of which flow into the River Wear which is a few miles to the east.
Fan Brycheiniog is the highest peak at a height of 802.5 metres (2,633 ft) in the Black Mountain region of the Brecon Beacons National Park in southern Wales. There is a trig point at the peak and on the edge of the escarpment, and nearby, a stone shelter with an inner seat. It lies just inside the historic county of Brecknockshire which gives the mountain its Welsh name. A subsidiary top, less than a kilometre from the summit along the ridge to the northwest, is the highest point of the neighboring county of Carmarthenshire. Fan Brycheiniog is also within the Fforest Fawr Geopark designated in 2005 in recognition of the area's geological heritage. The views of the moorland and open country to the north are spectacular when the weather is clear, and reveals the isolation of the range, especially when compared with the more popular Pen y Fan range to the east.
Lindow Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located on the western edge of the town of Wilmslow, Cheshire, in the northwest of England. It is also designated a Local Nature Reserve.
The River Gwendraeth is a river in Carmarthenshire in West Wales.
The Black Mountain is a mountain range in South, Mid and West Wales, straddling the county boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys and forming the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its highest point is Fan Brycheiniog at 802 metres or 2,631 ft. The Black Mountain also forms a part of the Fforest Fawr Geopark.
Llyn Fanod is an upland lake situated between Penuwch and Bontnewydd in Ceredigion, Wales. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest partly owned by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Public access is via a bridlepath from the road. It is a mesotrophic lake located in the headwaters of the River Aeron, whose low nutrient waters are home to a number of locally rare water plants. Waterfowl and passing sea birds can be seen on the lake as can dragonflies, damselflies, and caddis flies in the summer.
The River Cleddau consists of the Eastern and Western Cleddau rivers in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. They unite to form the Daugleddau estuary and the important harbour of Milford Haven.
Cefneithin is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the Carmarthenshire coalfield area. It lies just off the A48 road, 7 miles north west of Ammanford and 9 miles north of Llanelli. Its nearby community villages include Cross Hands, Drefach, Cwmmawr, Foelgastell and Gorslas. The Gwendraeth Fawr river flows nearby and its source is at Llyn Llech Owain, just north of the village. Cefneithin has a chapel (Tabernacl), a village hall, a primary school, and a secondary school. The latter, Ysgol Maes y Gwendraeth, was re-opened in 2016 after an extensive renovation and an £18.4m investment; it has 1,000 pupils, of which 157 in sixth form, and resources for children with additional learning needs. Prior to 2016 when the school was called Ysgol Gyfun Maes Yr Yrfa, some of its famous pupils include Nigel Owens, Jonathan Edwards, TV presenter Alex Jones and British and Irish Lion rugby player, Dwayne Peel.
Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths is a 1,696.3-hectare (4,192-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Berkshire and Surrey that extend from a minority of the parish of Crowthorne including around Broadmoor Hospital in the west to Bagshot south-east, Bracknell north-east, and Sandhurst, south. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. Two nature reserves which are managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust are in the SSSI, Barossa nature reserve and Poors Allotment. Broadmoor Bottom, which is part of Wildmoor Heath, also falls within the SSSI; this reserve is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Esher Commons is a 360.1-hectare (890-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Esher in Surrey. It includes Esher Common, Fairmile Common, West End Common and Oxshott Heath. Esher Common and West End Common are Local Nature Reserves.
Thursley Common is a national nature reserve in Surrey, England, and has also been designated as a Ramsar wetland. It is also part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons.
Woolmer Forest is a 1,298.5-hectare (3,209-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Bordon in Hampshire and West Sussex. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and part of the Wealden Heaths Phase II Special Protection Area. Two areas are Nature Conservation Review sites, Grade I.
Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes heathland, grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats. The majority of the area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve.
Waldridge Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located immediately south-west of Chester-le-Street in the northern part of County Durham, England. It is one of the largest areas of lowland heath in County Durham and contains the only lowland valley-mire in the county. The fell is home to a number of plants and insects that are scarce to rare elsewhere in the county.
Llyn Bedydd is a small lake in Wrexham County Borough, in northeastern Wales, near the border with England. It is 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south west of Whitchurch. The lake and the surrounding woodland are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Brown Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Local Nature Reserve and important wetland area rich in wildlife close to Whitchurch, Shropshire. It is open to visitors and contains a number of self-guided walking trails. The name 'moss' derives from the local word for a peat bog.
Danbury Ridge Nature Reserves are a group of nature reserves totalling 101 hectares near Danbury in Essex, England. They are managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, and most of them are in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Two areas, the Backwarden and Hitchcock's Meadow, are part of Danbury Common SSSI, and Woodham Walter Common, Birch Wood, Pheasanthouse Wood, Poors Piece, Scrubs Wood, and a small area in Pheasanthouse Farm, are part of Woodham Walter Common SSSI.