Minera Quarry NWWT Nature Reserve, near Wrexham, Denbighshire
Sat 2 - Sat 2 July 2022
10.30
Wednesday 8th June: Cors y Llyn NNR, Newbridge-on-Wye, Mid Wales
Leader: Ray Woods.
Meet 10:30 in the car park for Cors y Llyn Reserve. (Detailed directions will be sent on booking)
Cors y Llyn National Nature Reserve lies to the west of the A470 mid-way between Newbridge-on-Wye and Builth Road on OS sheet 200 at SO016556 to the south of a farm called Graig Goch.
Cors y Llyn is an internationally important peat bog known as a ‘schwingmoor’ since the surface vegetation floats over open water. Fortunately it is provided with a boardwalk to facilitate access. One of the best wildflower-rich meadows in mid-Wales is at the reserve entrance and some of the trees in the boggy section are over 100 years old even though they are only a few feet tall! It hosts a small population of Royal Fern Osmunda regalis and Narrow Buckler-fern Dryopteris carthusiana with a good range of other peatland species such as Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia and White-beak Sedge Rhynchospora alba in a community more reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands than Mid Wales. The bog is surrounded by agriculturally unimproved fields with several sedge species and now uncommon plants such as Petty Whin Genista anglica and Dyer’s Greenweed Genista tinctoria . Some of these fields have never been explored botanically, since their main purpose is to provide a buffer around the bog to reduce the risk of fertilizer runoff.
If time permits we may also visit another SSSI, a small common called ‘The Bog’ at SO015574. Aquatic plants such as Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata, Marsh Cinquefoil Comarum palustre, Lesser Bladderwort Utricularia minor and a recent and potentially undesirable arrivee Tufted Loosestrife Lysimachia thyrsiflora occur in abundance.
(NB Ray Woods is a botanist whose interest has taken him into the realms of lichens and fungi. On a recce for this meeting last year our first “spot” was Elm Tree Sap Weep lichen Bacidia incompta. We are guaranteed a fascinating day! JJ)
To book, contact Janet John wfs.meetings@gmail.com or phone 01753 884490
Thursday 9th June: Penrhiw Farm, Newbridge-on-Wye, Mid Wales
Leaders: Gwyndaf and Janet John
Meet at 10:30 at Penrhiw farm OS Explorer 200 grid ref SN995 582. (Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book)
Penrhiw farm is a small farm tucked away in Powys. Some of the fields have never been ploughed or fertilised. There is a wide range of habitats including woodland, an old quarry, marsh, rocky ridge, slopes and fields and meadows leading to an abundance of wild flowers including Whorled Caraway Trocdaris verticillata and Bird’s-foot Ornithopus perpusillus. The farmer, Gina Llewelyn, is intent on maintaining the diversity of flora and fauna as well as birds, bugs and butterflies. The farm has been used for a Biodiversity event and is used by a forest school. A recent bryological survey recorded over 80 species.
This is a wonderful opportunity to step back in time and enjoy the wealth of natural history. Over 150 species of flowers, sedges and grasses were spotted when we did the recce for this meeting last June. We also have a bryophyte list and a butterfly list for the site which you can request on booking.
To book, contact Janet John wfs.meetings@gmail.com or phone 01753 884490
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