Introduction

Yep that’s me taking pictures!

I'm Moyrah Gall and recently started an digital media internship with the National Trust on the Welsh coastal project. I also work with the Rangers at http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stackpole/ in Pembrokeshire.

Until now Richard has regularly been updating things happening around the Welsh Coast, a rather daunting challenge for one, and my internship role will be to learn from and help Richard with this task and as the journey unfolds, share the experience.

But let me introduce myself properly, I have a number of career skills but mainly my background is documentary photography with an interest in the environment. I have a passion for the sea both on and under, and as a child sat glued to The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau at.http://www.biography.com/people/jacques-cousteau-9259496

Oh yes to be an underwater photographer was my dream, alas it took a little longer but last year I achieved my diving ticket and took my first underwater images. 

At Stackpole it has been hands on in clearing the evasive plant Leycesteria Formosa, also known as Himalayan Nutmeg, Flowering Nutmeg, Pheasant Berry and Chocolate Berry. 

Rangers Alex and Jim at Stackpole explain it was first introduced as camouflage for Pheasant farms and although the flowers are attractive, in some environments the ease in which it grows overtakes and other plants suffer. However it seems it has got edible aspects see Himalayan Honeysuckle Berry Fig-style Rolls (vegan and gluten free) at http://www.wildmanwildfood.co.uk/pages/himalay.html

 South Broad Haven Beach

On the edge of Stackpole is South Broad Haven Beach. This magnificent stretch of sandy beach is ideal for the family, surfing or simply chilling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Haven_South 

Park up at one of the National Trust car park (members park for free), either above the beach or at +Stackpole Estate from where its a pleasant walk through the 100 acres of lakes. Known as the lily ponds these lakes are plentiful of bird-life and present the opportunity to enjoy or photograph the resident otters.

Robin at Stackpole Estate: checking it out

Fishing is also available by licence: enquire at the centre for cost and seasonal availability. 

As the sun goes down enjoy sighting of the bat activity, both the lesser and greater horseshoe bats are breeding in the area. Stackpole bat walks are a must and come personally recommended.

Lily Ponds @Stackpole Estate

Not sure what an internship is, no problem; the National Trust website not only explains what an internship is but advertises other internship opportunities available @ http://www.nationaltrustjobs.org.uk/our_people/people_in_our_internships2

 

 

Welsh Coastal Invaders

The coastline of Wales is under attack.  

But before you grab your loved-ones and head for the hills, I should tell you that this is an ecological invasion, not a military one.

I've been reading about the alarming army of exotic animals, plants and pathogens that are getting a foothold on our coasts and countryside, and how many of them are threatening to destroy the precious balance of nature.

Hidden under the surface of our coastal waters, it seems, are alien invaders including killer shrimps, wakame kelp, and rapa whelks, poised to elbow our native wildlife into oblivion.  

The situation on land, I read, is not much better.  As well as the bully-boy weeds that countryside folk like me are already familiar with, such as Rhododendron and Japanese knotweed, there are more insidious agents at large such as sudden oak disease and – much in the news recently – ash die-back.

Killer Shrimp,  Dikerogammarus villosus has been discovered in Cardiff Bay

This reminded me of the early years of my career when I had the sad task of cutting up dozens of once-stately elms on the Plas yn Rhiw estate.  I witnessed the loss through Dutch elm disease of a whole generation of venerable trees, which formed the backbone of an entire landscape.

Will these more recent arrivals do the same?  I decided it was time to find out more.

I called my colleague Steve Whitehead, Head Gardener at the delightfully secluded Colby Woodland Garden on the western edge of Carmarthen Bay, near Tenby.  

I almost wished I hadn't.

“Two of the most beautiful components of the garden landscape have been severely hit. I've had to destroy 60 yr old Magnolias and fell two groves of sweet chestnuts which were all over 100 yrs old”

Steve went on to explain that this had to be done following the discovery of sudden oak disease, Phytopthera ramorum.  This malevolent uninvited guest had probably arrived in a plant pot, as a sort of botanical Trojan horse, and was spreading through the garden’s famous Rhododendrons with its sights set on the sweet chestnuts and many other long established native trees.

Trouble in paradise. Colby Woodland Garden is one of south Pembrokeshire's hidden gems
(c) National Trust Images / Andrew Butler

To my relief, Steve went on to explain that having completed this cruel-to-be-kind treatment, the garden was already recovering and he was optimistic about the future.  The experience has earned him a place as the Trust’s lead officer on ash dieback in Wales, advising his colleagues on the current status of this disease and the precautionary measures needed to try to stop it in its tracks. 

But it seems that no sooner you've tackled one problem, another is on its way.

“There are 14 pests and diseases that are a major threat to trees already at large in the UK, and another 4 waiting in the wings.” Steve added. 

It seems that the boom in inter-continental container shipping is playing havoc with our ecology.  Marine plants, animals and diseases are being spread in ship ballast water to cause untold damage to marine ecosystems world wide and – like a larger version of the plant pot that bought Phytopthera to Colby – terrestrial invasive species lurk in the containers themselves ready to be let loose in environments where there are no predators to control them.

Today's container ships carry loads equal to seventeen pre-WWII freighter ships.

But there’s a silver lining to this dark cloud.  Both the World Trade Organisation, that upholder of global free trade, and the European Union, are waking up to the real need for stricter controls to protect the environment; and UK governments are responding to widespread alarm about the ease that ash dieback has entered the country on imported nursery trees. 

A big lesson is in the process of being learnt.  The benefits of our plentiful lifestyles come at a cost.  Without more effective controls on the ways we move stuff around the world, it’s a cost that will be paid by the priceless wildlife and woodlands of the Welsh coast.

Thanks to Welsh Coast Magazine for this article.  Subscribe to read my monthly column.

Time & Tide

Readers of this blog will remember that I enjoyed a wonderful guided walk to Worm's Head on  Gower last summer.  I recall how pleasant it was to amble with my fellow-walkers through the rocks that connect the tidal island with the mainland.  I took this photo as we approached the traverse.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself at exactly the same spot, but in altogether different circumstances.  Where the inviting causeway had been was a tempestuous mass of surging waves and an icy gale chilled me to the bone.  The contrast between my memories of summer and the scene in front of me was profoundly disturbing, and acted as a reminder of how insignificant we are when faced by the power of nature.

To read the original blog post about my walk 'to the Worm' click here

Memories of a Blizzard on the Welsh Coast

We don’t often get arctic weather on the Welsh Coast.  But the recent cold snap has brought back a flurry of memories of the great blizzard of January 1982.

I was working on the Llŷn peninsula supervising a group of youngsters doing conservation work on a youth training scheme.  That morning we were working near my home, Tan yr Ardd, about half a mile from our work base at Plas yn Rhiw.  

Not long after we’d started work, we noticed fine snowflakes drifting on the stiffening easterly breeze.  By lunchtime, the snow started to get heavier and we retreated to the cottage.

As we ate our sandwiches and chatted, I turned the radio on and was surprised to hear that roads were being closed.  It didn't seem that bad at the cottage, but even so, I decided to call it a day and take my three trainees home. 

As soon as we reached the road where my van was parked, the full force of the blizzard hit us.  The air was full of thick spindrift, driven by gale force winds which made it impossible to breathe or even open your eyes.  We staggered into the van and drove off down the snow-covered road.  Within a hundred yards we ploughed into drift as high as the bonnet and came to an abrupt halt.

We had no choice but to fight our way back on foot through the snowstorm to the cottage – one of the most exhausting experiences I've ever endured.  I remember thinking how easy it would be to get lost and die in such conditions.

I lit a fire and then headed off alone to my neighbour’s house to find to my relief that the phones were still working.  I got messages to my trainees’ families that they were safe and staying at Tan yr Ardd.

The storm raged all night.  Fine snow blew in through tiny gaps in the door and windows, creating small drifts inside the house.  At about 10 o’clock, the flimsy ceiling collapsed under the weight of snow, which had blown into the attic from under the slates.  This covered the floor and furniture with yet more cold damp snow, making it one of the most miserable nights I've ever known.

The next morning, we emerged to a changed world of monstrous drifts.  Most of the lanes had been completely filled with snow from hedge-top to hedge-top.  We found the van buried in snow, with only its roof showing, then walked in a four mile circuit through the fields around the trainees’ houses. 

The Rectory at Rhiw, near where the van was buried in a drift

I’ll never forget approaching one house at Pencaerau which was completely hidden by a huge drift.  Alan, the trainee that lived there, had to climb up it until he was almost level with the roof and then slide down the other side to get to the front door.

It stayed cold for the next fortnight, which I spent walking around Llŷn, fetching food for my elderly neighbours.   It was a very strange time.  The whole of Llŷn was cut off and people walked everywhere.  The fields became pedestrian highways and, here and there, people could be seen chatting in groups comparing stories of the storm.  Dozens of people such as postmen and travelling salesmen had to be put up by locals and there was no such thing as ‘last orders’ at the pubs.

It took five days for the diggers to reach Aberdaron and my van was eventually extracted from its icy temporary grave ten days after the storm. 

I doubt I’ll ever see conditions like it again on the Welsh coast.  But every time we get a bit of snow, my mind goes back to those unforgettable two weeks in Llŷn in 1982.

To take a look at what conditions were like, click here.

Down Llyn's Memory Lane

Tan yr Ardd, Rhiw.  As it looked when it was my home in the early 1980s.

Heaven lies tucked down a grassy lane on the eastern slopes Mynydd Rhiw on the Llŷn peninsula.

Well, that's what I think anyway.  But then I'm biased. 

This was my home in the early 1980s, when I was in the brave summer of my youth.  Then, the rising moon’s silvery path led over the bay to my doorstep and at other times, the roar of the surf on Hell’s Mouth beach after a storm would keep me awake at night. 

I’ll recount the tale of my arrival here some other time, but suffice to say that I was offered the tiny cottage of Tan yr Ardd as my first independent home, and that the four formative years I lived here – and the fond memories of my farming neighbours – have become a big part of what I now am.

So it was an absolute delight to have the honour the other day – as the last long-standing occupant of the cottage – to rekindle a fire in the grate to celebrate the completion of its restoration, and that of its nearby twin, Fron Deg.

This pair of crog-loft cottages – or tydynnod in the parlance of the Llŷn folk – has stood empty and apparently unloved for over a quarter of a century; their chimneys missing the “hances o fwg” (handkerchief of smoke) that used to indicate the presence of a community. 

Well, all that’s about to change as the Trust and its partners get to grips with one of the most exciting parts of the HLF-funded Llŷn Landscape Partnership project.  

The ‘Mab y Bwthyn’ (Son of the Cottage) plan will see Fron Deg being developed as a destination for guided educational walks that will provide an insight into the crucial part the tyddynnwyr played in the making of Llŷn’s landscape.  My former home Tan yr Ardd will be reunited with its land – a dozen acres of heathy pasture – and let as a modern smallholding, giving a lucky new tenant an opportunity to combine working the land with caring for the neighbouring cottage.

“Would you be interested in coming back?”  More than one person asked me.

“No, never go back” came the melancholic answer.

I hope you enjoy some photos of the occasion....

Tan yr Ardd - newly restored, thanks to the Llyn Landscape Partnership

Fron Deg - the best-preserved tyddyn in Llyn?

NT General Manager, Trystan Edwards, invites the project partners to take a preview of Tan yr Ardd
(a public open day is being organised for the spring).

 

Trystan and Operations Manager Andy Godber are interviewed for a film about the project - soon to be available online.

Colleagues and partners come to admire the builders' handiwork at Fron Deg

Surfs up at Stackpole

The beach clean team.
Photo: Mike May

The Surf Ambassador Scheme launches at Stackpole in Pembrokeshire.

The National Trust at Stackpole is one of the partners that look after one of the most stunning parts of the Pembrokeshire coastline; Freshwater West. This beautiful wind swept beach attracts a huge number of visitors all year round, but it is also known as one of the most consistent surf destinations in Wales, providing ideal conditions for the sport. The Welsh Surfing Championships have been held here, the latest in 2012, and the Pembrokeshire Surf Ryders held their recent Surf Ryder cup at the beach earlier this month.

So, Freshwater West was the natural focus for the Stackpole team and National Trust Surf Ambassador, Raife Gaskell a local to the area, to launch their first event working together.

A pre-release screening of the British surf movie 'The Endless Winter' was shown at the Stackpole Centre followed by a beach clean at Freshwater West the following day.

Tickets to watch the film were sold out whilst over 80 people turned up the following day to help collect as much litter as possible off the beach totalling a fantastic 117 bags.

The Surf Ambassador scheme was originally formed to support and promote the conservation work carried out in the surfers' playgrounds along the Devon and Cornwall coast and now the scheme will be involved in the Trust's work along the Pembrokeshire coast.

Rebecca Stock, operations manager at Stackpole said "the Surf Ambassador Scheme will help us at Stackpole to build relations both locally and regionally and give us the opportunity to engage with a much wider audience. We were absolutely delighted with the turn out to both events this weekend which was purely down to Raife and his influence within the surfing community. I'm really looking forward to working with Raife, who is passionate about the work we do, to organise more events and further raise the profile of the work we do in preserving the beautiful coastline here in Pembrokeshire"

Following our Founders' Footsteps in Barmouth

On Saturday, I came across one of the strangest sights I've seen on my travels around the Welsh Coast.  

On a rugged and gorse-covered hillside hundreds of feet above the roofs and chimneys of Barmouth were a group of Victorian ladies and gentlemen enjoying an afternoon tea.

L-R: Fanny Talbot, Robert Hunter, Octavia Hill and Hardwicke Rawnsley

In an imaginative play on the concept of 'open-air sitting rooms', my colleagues in Snowdonia had staged the event at Dinas Oleu as part of this month's celebrations of the life of a remarkable woman who was a driving force behind the founding of the National Trust. 

Octavia Hill, social reformer and champion of open spaces for the benefit of the public, had visited Barmouth on at least one occasion.  She had travelled there to meet her friend and fellow-philanthropist, Fanny Talbot, who had kick-started the fledgling National Trust by donating the hillside above the town as its first acquisition.

In a letter that was written in 1911, only a year before she died, Octavia Hill wrote:

 I visited in the spring the cliff at Barmouth, which was the first possession of the National Trust.  It was given by Mrs Talbot, a great friend of Mr Ruskin’s.  It is steep and wild, the path along its face is cut in the rock high above town and sea; at one place the path is widened, a semi-circular seat is hewn in the face of the cliff, and above the seat is an inscription telling of its dedication to the people for ever.  As we stood there the rain clouds suddenly parted and cleared off; the sun broke out and lighted up the whole magnificent view of sea, and bay, and headland; and one felt what an abiding possession such a view was for the townspeople, and the many visitors from all parts of England.

This Saturday turned out to be a similar day.  It had rained in the morning, but after enjoying some of the celebrations in the town - including a re-enactment of a meeting between Mrs Talbot and the Trust's three founders and talks about Octavia Hill and the town's history - a group of us walked up in sunshine to admire the 'magnificent view of sea, and bay and headland'.  

L to R: Rhodri Wigley (Area Ranger), Dame Fiona Reynolds (Director General) Vanessa Griffiths (Wales Countryside Assistant Director of Operations) with her children Quinn & Róisín, Jane Richardson (Wales Head of Membership & Supporter Services) and Trystan Edwards (General Manager, Snowdonia & Llyn). At the cairn built in 1995 to commemorate the centenary of the Trust's founding. 

I was reminded of the day we unveiled the centenary viewpoint cairn 17 years ago when I took a photo of Fiona's predecessor, Martin Drury, together with the Trust's Chairman, Wales Chairman and Wales Director, sheltering from the wind on the same spot.

Perhaps it should be made obligatory for every Director General to pay a pilgrimage to Dinas Oleu.  I'll suggest that our new Director General, Dame Helen Ghosh visits in her familiarisation tour.  

But I can't guarantee that there will be a sofa and tea to greet her when she arrives.