William Condry Memorial Lecture 2011

7 p.m. Thursday 6th October at Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth. The title of the lecture is 'A naturalist and his own square mile' and will be given by Paul Evans. 

Paul is a Guardian Country Diarist, presenter of BBC Radio Four wildlife programmes, and as well as being a writer and broadcaster he runs the travel and nature writing course at Bath Spa University. He writes with intimate knowledge, exact observation and an extraordinary lyrical grace about his home environment of Wenlock Edge in Shropshire and is widely acknowledged as one of the best nature-writers in Britain.

The lecture will be preceded by a showing of Liz Fleming-Williams’ and Simon Frazer’s still-film ‘Gwesyn’, about Drygarn Fawr and the Afon Gwesyn.

TICKETS: £5.00 ON THE DOOR

Natur Cymru will have a stall at the event.

Anglesey Grazing Animals Partnership

Slow maturing, organic, conservation grazing, traditional breeds, fresh air from the Atlantic - it all builds up into a recipe of clear conscience, tasty meat. This is what you get when you buy meat with the AGAP logo. Hilary Kehoe explains the work of the Anglesey Grazing Animals Partnership.

Harlech Beach Clean 2011

Hurricane Katia was on its way as Jenny briefed us volunteers for the annual clean-up of Harlech beach. The Snowdonia Society does this every year after the tourists have gone. Volunteers came from as far away as Chester and Rhos-on-Sea but the rubbish from much further – milk cartons from Wexford.

All sorts of garbage but mainly lots of plastics which end up in oceanic gyres; massive, slow rotating whirlpools. The North Pacific Gyre, the most heavily researched for plastic pollution, spans an area roughly twice the size of the United States!

The 38 bin liners full of the rubbish we collected will go a very small way to tackling the problem. We need to rethink the way we live. Here’s a film of the windswept volunteers busy on the beach.

Next litter pick is Snowdon on 7^th October 2011. Meet at the Snowdon Mountain Railway at 07:40 for an early morning ride up on the service train and walk back down the Llanberis path. Alternatively meet at Pen y Pass at 09:45 to join the guided litter collecting walk on the Pyg and Miners tracks. This is what it was like on last year's Snowdon litter pick:

Contact Jenny at the Snowdonia Society if you would like to join in.

Jenny Whitmore

jenny@snowdonia-society.org.uk

Ffôn - Tel: 01286 685498
www.cymdeithas-eryri.org.uk - www.snowdonia-society.org.uk

Nature Writing Course October 10-15, 2011

Nature writing is an attempt to draw together in one literary form the realms of science, art and personal memoir. What better place to reflect upon all these themes than in wild Wales and the glorious coastal landscapes of the Llŷn Peninsula. We will examine the natural forces that create this beautiful environment but we will also consider how you find a language to express encounters with living places and wild things. Outdoors and indoors, this is a course where your walking boots are as essential as your laptop.

The tutors are Nigel Brown and Mark Cocker.

Nigel is a Lecturer in Biological Sciences at Bangor University and curator of the University’s botanic garden. Nigel has both a professional and lifelong interest in natural history. He has lived in northwest Wales for four decades and cherishes the region’s rich variety of landscape and wildlife.

Mark is one of Britain’s foremost writers on nature and contributes regularly to The Guardian. His seven books include Birds Britannica and Crow Country, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2008 and won the New Angle Prize for Literature 2009. 

Residential: £525 (single); £300 (shared); Non-residential £275. 10% off for members of Naturalist Trusts or other nature and conservation groups. For further details contact Tŷ Newydd Writers’ Centre, Llanystumdwy, Cricieth, Gwynedd LL52 0LW 01766 522811 tynewydd@literaturewales.org

One of the students is the runner up in Natur Cymru’s Inspired by Nature writing competition. 

Victoria Plum Fox

Young bracken can be slashed or strimmed but the trunks of mature plants are too tough. By mid August they’re falling over and lying at odd angles. This is when an alpine scythe comes into good effect. Swinging from right to left in a slow hoola hoop motion, slicing through a dozen plants at a time and pulling them to the side.  It takes about 10 minutes to work up a sweat and within an hour I’ve not got a care in the world.

My target this year is the acre or so of open ground at the edge of the Maentwrog Nature Reserve that backs onto our vegetable garden. It has an expansive but short lived spell of bluebell brilliance until it gets swamped by lime green bracken. Last year’s experiment to clear a small patch proved worthwhile, this year I’m going for the lot (with the blessing of the warden).

Surveying my work in progress from the bedroom window I spotted a fox as it came out of the trees and started to cross the mown patch to the garden. A quick call from my mobile to the landline downstairs to alert the rest of my family.  We all watched as it climbed onto and walked along the stone wall then disappeared into the clump of damson trees.  That explained the purple scat at the corner of the garden.

After a few minutes of damsons it picked up a windfall Victoria plum before exiting stage right. Upside down livestock fencing is no barrier at all, not even a wriggle as it nimbly passed through. 

The following night I put up a trail camera next to the damsons. Sure enough the fox was back. If you look carefully enough you can see the fox being startled by an owl flying off a post.

Butterflies in our Llanfairfechan garden

Rather poor this year. The buddleias are fully out but today all we've got is 2 Large Whites, 2 Commas, a Red Admiral and a Peacock. One Painted Lady has put in an appearance and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was a regular visitor in July but has now departed.

We have had one new species for the garden - a Grayling on July 24th. We see these on the rocky heathland on the edge of the Penmaenmawr quarry, not far as the crow (or chough) flies but 200m higher up than our garden at 100m.

Last year we had a few more exciting species in the garden, including a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and a White-letter Hairstreak (see photo). The former is a fast flier which could have come some distance from the nearest colony (wherever that is), while the Hairstreak is unlikely to have flown further than the elm trees across the road - elm is the food plant for this species. The white-letter is the W on the closed wings (hairstreaks at rest always have their wings closed).

We also record butterflies up the road, through Nant y Coed (our local Nature Reserve) and out onto rough grazing above. We do these weekly transects from April to September for Butterfly Conservation. The most exciting sighting this year has been a Dark Green Fritillary, a larger and even faster flier than the Small P-b species. On the debit side, I have failed to spot another species of hairstreak - the Purple, which lays eggs on oak leaves and also visits ash trees to feed on aphid honeydew. In previous years we've always seen these in July and August, but so far in 2011 not even a flash of purple.

Boris Bikes, Spencer Ivy & Electric Wales

Returning from a rare excursion to the south of London I left the train at Vauxhall. Instead of catching the tube to Euston I walked past MI6 headquarters to the cycle rank beside the river- a line of about 30 identical bikes with a vending machine at the end.

In went my Visa card and, after pressing buttons to select options, out came a ticket with a 5 digit code. I typed the code into the docking bay for one of the bikes and, after a strong yank on the handlebars, it was time to tuck my trouser leg into my sock and start pedalling.

Along the wide terrace of the south side of the river, beneath Lambeth Bridge, past signs which said ‘considerate cyclists welcome’, then across Westminster Bridge onto The Embankment. Left up Northumberland Avenue, through Admiralty Arch into The Mall. What joy!

I stopped at a stand where a firm called Spencer Ivy were offering test rides of their electric bicycles. Lightweight and with a range of 50 miles between charges they were impressive but at £1,800 I had to say ‘I’ll think about it’. They’d certainly make Snowdonia an easier touring option.

The company has a partnership with a cycle tour operator in the Brecon Beacons called Drover Holidays promoting ‘Electric Wales – cycling holidays with added power’.

Onwards into Green Park until I noticed the no cycling signs and pushed my way out to Hyde Park and resumed pedal power to Speakers Corner. Through the West End, left at Centrepoint and northwards to Euston.

What a brilliant way to travel especially on the dry and sunny Sunday that it was. My 2 hour adventure had cost £7. The bikes are emblazoned with ‘Barclays’ but everyone calls them Boris’s Bikes (as in Johnson the mayor) which is a bit unfair as it was in fact Ken Livingstone’s idea.