Ynyslas Sand Dunes (Welsh : Twyni Tywod Ynyslas) are sand dunes located in Ceredigion, Wales. They border Cardigan Bay and the Dyfi Estuary between Ynyslas, Ceredigion and Aberdyfi, Gwynedd. The sand dunes are part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. [1]
Viviparous lizards, stoats, polecats, rabbits and voles can be found in the dunes. Skylarks, meadow pipits and ringed plovers can be seen and heard over the dunes. Butterflies and moths which can be found here include the dark green fritillary and gatekeeper butterflies and the scarlet tiger and Portland moths. [2]
The sand lizard was introduced to Ynyslas NNR as part of a nationwide programme to boost population numbers, which started in 1995. [3]
There are waymarked boardwalk trails through the dunes where marsh and bee orchids flower during the early summer.
The visitor centre (open Easter to September) contains further information about the plants and wildlife of the area.
Around a quarter of a million people visit Ynyslas Sand Dunes each year. Kitesurfing is popular on the adjacent beaches, [4] and the BBC Kite-flying ident was filmed on the beach in 2006. [5]
Ceredigion is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Ceredigion is considered a centre of Welsh culture and just under half of the population can speak Welsh according to the 2011 Census. The county is mainly rural, with over 50 miles (80 km) of coastline and a mountainous hinterland. The numerous sandy beaches and the long-distance Ceredigion Coast Path provide views of Cardigan Bay.
Borth is a village and seaside resort in Ceredigion, Mid Wales, 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberystwyth on the Ceredigion Coast Path. The community includes the settlement of Ynyslas. The population was 1,399 in 2011. From being largely Welsh-speaking, the village has become anglicised: over 54 per cent of its residents were born in England. According to both the 1991 and 2001 censuses, 43 per cent of the residents of Borth were primarily Welsh-speakers.
Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community, and electoral ward between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, in Ceredigion, Wales. Ceredigion County Council offices are in Aberaeron. The name of the town is Welsh for mouth of the Aeron, derived from the Middle Welsh aer, "slaughter", which gave its name to Aeron, who is believed to have been a Welsh god of war.
Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.
Dovey Junction railway stationDUH-vee- is a railway station on the Cambrian Line in Wales. It is the junction where the line splits into the line to Aberystwyth and the Cambrian Coast Line to Pwllheli. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. There is a single island platform.
Penparcau is a village and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, situated to the south of Aberystwyth. The village has the largest number of Welsh language speakers (1095) in the Aberystwyth town area, covering an area from the sea to the Rheidol.
The River Dyfi, also known as the River Dovey, is an approximately 30-mile (48-kilometre) long river in Wales.
Ynyslas is a small Welsh village about 1.5 miles north of Borth and 8 miles north of Aberystwyth, within the county of Ceredigion. It is sandwiched between a long sandy beach in Cardigan Bay and the beach in the Dyfi Estuary. The area between the sea and the estuary beach is made up of the Ynyslas Sand Dunes which are part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve and home to many rare plants and animals. The sands of the estuary beach can be driven onto and parked upon. The nature reserve has a visitor centre with toilets and a small shop. At the start of some BBC 1 programmes, the idents show people flying kites on sand dunes, and this was filmed at Ynyslas.
Ynys-hir RSPB reserve is a nature reserve of the RSPB situated beside the Dyfi estuary in Ceredigion, mid Wales between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth. The reserve covers 550 hectares and includes a variety of habitats extending inland from mudflats and salt marsh through farmland and pools to oak woodland and hillside scrub. Facilities include a small visitor centre and seven hides.
Tan-y-Bwlch beach near Aberystwyth, Wales, forms part of the Pen Dinas and Tan-y-Bwlch Local Nature Reserve (LNR). The majority of which is located in the village of Penparcau. The area was designated in 1999 following a public meeting which attracted more than 100 local people. The 100-acre (0.40 km2) site contains the Bronze Age burial mound and Iron Age Hillfort named Pen Dinas. The site is managed by Ceredigion County Council and is publicly owned, it is the largest Local nature reserve in the Dyfi Biosphere. The Wales Coastal Path runs along the top of the shingle beach. The beach is sometimes referred to as Penparcau Beach by locals in the area, the name is used on some mapping services.
Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig is a Welsh-language, community comprehensive school situated in Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, Wales. The school was established in 1973. The school was the first Welsh language secondary school in Ceredigion and is named after the cantref of Penweddig, the northern part of the Kingdom of Ceredigion, between the rivers Dyfi and Ystwyth.
The Ceredigion Coast Path is a waymarked long distance footpath in the United Kingdom, on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales. It is 65 miles (105 km) in length, running along the coast of Cardigan Bay from Cardigan (52.0810°N 4.6608°W) to Ynyslas (52.5271°N 4.0495°W).
The Dyfi National Nature Reserve, managed by Natural Resources Wales, the successor body to the Countryside Council for Wales, is located 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberystwyth in the county of Ceredigion, Wales on the Dyfi estuary.
Dyfi Estuary Mudflats are mudflats on the estuary of the River Dyfi in Ceredigion, Wales, and are part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve.
Cors Fochno is a raised peat bog near the village of Borth, in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Lying on the south side of the Dyfi estuary, it forms a component part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. It was designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1976, and is the only such reserve in Wales.
Dyfi Furnace is a restored mid 18th century charcoal fired blast furnace used for smelting iron ore. It has given its name to the adjoining hamlet of Furnace.
The Afon Leri is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. It rises at Llyn Craig-y-Pistyll and is joined at Talybont by Afon Ceulan before passing behind Borth to its mouth in the Dyfi estuary at Ynyslas.
Animals of Wales includes marine and land animals, birds and reptiles that are resident, visitors or have been introduced to Wales.
The Dyfi Biosphere is situated at the coast of south-central Wales in the estuary of the River Dyfi, and is a biosphere reserve representative of salt marshes and estuarine systems in the west of the United Kingdom. The estuary forms one of the most important wildfowl and shorebird centres in Wales and also comprises a Ramsar site.
The bedrock geology of Ceredigion in west Wales consists wholly of a considerable thickness of Ordovician and Silurian age sedimentary rocks of marine origin. Unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age include a widespread cover of glacial till, valley floor alluvium and scattered peat deposits in both upland and lowland settings.