The Story So Far...
In September 2015, the City and County of Swansea - or CCS - won the tender to help renovate the site at Llys Nini, carrying out the works involved from the Lottery Grant. In addition to the environmental work, they have also helped us to come up with a plan for the site as a whole, to improve access, educational opportunities, and develop links with the community.
On this page is the timeline of what we achieved in 2015-2016 to make this happen.
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October, 2015
Elanor Alun joined as Conservation Manager in October, tasked with both improving the site for biodiversity and with encouraging local engagement with the site. This includes both volunteer work and the creation of regular free trails.
Her first event was a hedgerow survey, in which she taught Environmental Conservation students from the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David how to identify common trees before taking them out on site to survey some of Llys Nini's hedgerows. The day was a great success, with the students finding it both enjoyable and useful.
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) came onsite to examine Llys Nini's habitats and their suitability for supporting reptile and amphibian species. Their advice has been encorporated into the site plans.
Hallowe'en saw a week-long trail inviting the public to find the Llys Nini witch in the woods, culminating in a funday including facepainting, cake sales, and pumpkin carving, using pumpkins grown on site by PJM Consultants. Overall, 500 people visited across the week.
Work began on the new adventure playground.
This map shows the locations of the boardwalk, the various proposed maze sites, the lakes in Waun Adurwen, the patches of marshy grassland to be maintained in Waun Ffinoni, the boundary areas to graze with ponies, and the outdoor classroom/Forest Schools areas. Click to view at full size.
A closer look at the wetland renovation. Public access will be only as far as the hide, to allow the bottom end of the field to be undisturbed. The hide will also be screened behind an increasingly large bank as people approach it, so that by the time they reach the hide, no otters will have been disturbed. Click to view at full size.
This map shows the locations of the boardwalk, the various proposed maze sites, the lakes in Waun Adurwen, the patches of marshy grassland to be maintained in Waun Ffinoni, the boundary areas to graze with ponies, and the outdoor classroom/Forest Schools areas. Click to view at full size.
November, 2015
November saw the first draft plans for the site from CCS, including the renovations to the wetland to encourage otters, the new accessible boardwalk, placements for a living willow maze and a heritage cider apple orchard, outdoor education points, and a proposal for a grazing regime.
The grazing will use either Shetlands or Welsh Mountain Ponies, both being hardy breeds, and will be subject to RSPCA standards and approval.
Expert Geoff Lyle came onsite to survey for otters. He found that while there are no otters breeding at present, there is evidence of them using the River Gwonoc that flows past the end of the site. The wetland renovation will therefore include an artificial otter holt to encourage breeding, a hide to view it from, and a series of increasingly large water bodies from scrapes to a lake. The lake will be stocked with coarse fish, and this will hopefully allow amphibians in the smaller ponds and scrapes to live a peaceful, otter-free life! The first exploratory bore holes found that the substrate has more than enough clay to create water bodies, and the water table is high enough to maintain the water level all year round.
Meanwhile, the boardwalk route has been selected. It will now loop partly through the top of the Ancient Woodland, and then circle round through one of our rough meadows, thus allowing for a full circuit through a variety of habitats. We intend to convert the boardwalk to a sensory trail, so that visitors with sensory impairments can enjoy the site.
Currently, Maze 2 on the map is the preferred maze location. The orchard will be sited beside the grass run for the dogs.
November also saw pupils from Bryncoch Church in Wales School visiting the site, and among other activities, they helped Elanor create an Andy Goldsworthy-inspired piece for an Art in Nature Trail.
December, 2015
January, 2016
In December, Elanor created a map of field names for Llys Nini, based on both currently-used names and on the traditional names on the 1881 tithe map.
Meanwhile, Christmas is coming! The Christmas Fayre was a huge success, and although the Reindeer Hunt trail had to be moved from the woods to the compound on the day owing to the high winds created by Storm Desmond, it was still enthusiastically followed by visitors. And, all nine reindeer were found and returned to Santa. Christmas is saved!
On the 16th, work began clearing the scrub out of Waun Ffinoni, so that the patches of ecologically important marshy grassland can be maintained alongside the wet woodland. It was extremely muddy, but after tempting the volunteers to help by offering them a free limerick each, one volunteer gave this feedback:
"Elanor's limerick made my soul glow a little brighter - so bright it shone even through the mud that coated my weary body after slaving in her secret otter-mines until I escaped with the aid of sympathetic council workers with chainsaws. 13/10, would become mud-beast for otters again."
That's a success, then!
The final trail explored some of Wales' quirkier Christmas/New Year traditions, and ran from 27th - 31st December.
While some areas had names used by the staff, most didn't, and it was becoming an issue for everyone that no one could indicate exactly where they meant. Any existing, in-use names were therefore kept, and the rest extrapolated where possible from the 1881 tithe map. Click to view full size.
While some areas had names used by the staff, most didn't, and it was becoming an issue for everyone that no one could indicate exactly where they meant. Any existing, in-use names were therefore kept, and the rest extrapolated where possible from the 1881 tithe map. Click to view full size.
January saw the start of a new collaboration at Llys Nini, when ASDES (Autistic Spectrum Disorder Employment Support) brought a group of bright young people armed with cameras to the site. Conservation Manager Elanor and Safeguarding Officer Judith led the group around the site for a day's workshop, giving them six themes to photograph. The prompts were:
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Something smooth
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Something rough
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Something tiny
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Something new
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Something colourful
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Something that reminds you of January
The group will return each month in 2016, to create a photodiary of Llys Nini.
Elsewhere, the boardwalk in the ancient woodland was carefully marked out with sticks and tape, planning permission was applied for, and the playground was completed.
February, 2016
February held the first half term of 2016, and therefore the grand opening of the playground! Pupils from Penllergaer and Pontlliw Primary Schools came to play test Castell Einon, just to be sure everything was working as it should be...
To coincide with it, the Interactive Story Trail launched, telling the tale of Cedwyn the Giant who curses the castle gate, preventing anyone from getting in. The children had to follow the trail through the woods, finding the letters of the password at each stop.
On the 24th, Marks & Spencer selected us as part of their Spark Something Good Campaign, which aims to get staff and customers to help with 24 charity projects in each of 24 cities in 24 months. They kindly donated up to £1000 to us, a keen team of 12 people, and a rather nice M&S picnic on a day that saw us plant in 40 orchard trees and a gate. Thanks, M&S!
February rounded off with the second installment of our Photodiary Project with ASDES.
April, 2016
It's April, and it's bluebell season! Well. It's slightly early for bluebell season, but the bluebells came anyway, giving Coed Gwaelod a fetching blue carpet. This also heralded our newest regular volunteering group - the Llys Nini Surveying Group, who between now and October will aim to meet once a week to survey the flora, fauna and fungi of Llys Nini to update the species lists.
The Reptile Boardwalk route was mapped out and submitted to planning, and a set of 22 fixed photography points have been installed, allowing us to precisely document the changes in the site. And an old badger sett has been discovered! Is it occupied? Watch this space...
ASDES returned once again for their monthly photography workshop, and with the aid of some telescopic lenses and a lot of patience, we are now in possession of some truly beautiful shots of a pair of blue tits who have taken up residence in an old dormouse box.
And at the end of April, we had a visit from Ysgol y Wern, Ystylafera, who brought along pupils from Blwyddyn 1. The children learned about animal care, visited the animals, and went down into the woods to be rangers for the day.
March, 2016
St David's Day was celebrated in style with the inaugural Llys Nini Dragon Hunt! Visitors were provided with a guide book to spotting dragons, including the tell-tale signs of their footprints, burnt sticks from where they've been feeding, and nesting materials for basking. The trail taught children how to track animals in real life; and at the end, there was even a camoflaged dragon...
The ASDES Photographers returned for the third of their twelve planned workshops, with a new set of prompts and a few new members. The pictures were, as ever, exceptional!
Easter rolled around early this year, and in addition to the annual Easter Egg Hunt there was a trail for children to enjoy, asking them to locate five of the Easter Bunny's lost helpers. Correct answers won participants a chocolate egg each!
And, in Project news, the planning applications officially went in...
May, 2016
May began strangely cold, which provided us with the last opportunity of the Spring to plant in a new hedgerow using a free tree pack that was kindly donated to us by Roseheyworth Millennium Primary School in Blaenau Gwent. Saplings of hornbeam, rowan, alder, crab apple, field maple, hawthorn and oak were installed between Cae Erw and Coed Gwaelod. When they are old enough, the trees will be laid properly into a hedge, allowing light to reach the pond just into the wood; though currently, even while permanently shaded, the pond itself is nonetheless doing its bit for local biodiversity (see gallery, right.)
The Magnificent May Trail was an I-Spy challenge, to teach children the signs of Spring. Over in Waun Adurwen, the two main ponds were marked out ready for the diggers, which will commence in June. There will be two otter holts installed, once of which will be permanently sunk and made of recycled plastic, and one which will be created from wood in the middle of the lake. The plastic holt has arrived ready, and will be called the Holton Hotel/Gwesty Gwâldorf Astoria.
The surveys of the site continued with two surveys of the grasslands, covering the Show Field, Waun Fach, Cae Erw (including the wet scrub), the Far Field and Dan y Coed. There was also a newt survey, which revealed palmate newts in the newly-cleared pond in the Tranch! Plus greater diving beetles, and dragonfly larvae...
And, as usual, the month rounded off with a very productive photodiary group with ASDES.
The Building of Ottopia
The view from beside the smaller pond, looking down the site.
This will be the smaller pond! Hopefully, amphibians and reptiles will favour this one, while fish will colonise the lake. That way, we hope the otters won't want to snack on our frogs!
The view from beside the smaller pond, looking down the site.
July, 2016
July! We began with a survey on the 5th, and then cracked on with more filming by Tinopolis - including a segment on the under-construction otter ponds. The ponds themselves had an exciting few days in which they went from being holes in the ground to actual ponds, thanks to a few days of heavy rain! See below for the transformation.
Meanwhile, the first of the two holts - the recycled plastic one, dubbed the Gwâldorf Astoria - was dug into the bank between the lake and the river in Waun Adurwen and buried. This will be the first structure the otters find when they come to investigate the pipe from the river, with a subsequent pipe leading to the Holton.
The fields were given their first cut, an action that was only slightly interrupted by an exciting new development - on four separate occasions, a herd of cows broke through into Llys Nini from the neighbouring farm! The cows evidently had a lovely time, giving us an excellent example of the sort of results we can expect from our own grazing regime once it's implemented. Unfortunately, these cows were a little more numerous than our plan, so we have sent them home and shored up the fences.
Finally, we had not one, but two Photodiary sessions with ASDES this month - a special event one that was filmed by Tinopolis, and our usual monthly event.
Before the digging began, just the top soil off.
- and four days later.
Before the digging began, just the top soil off.
The Rise of Ottopia
September, 2016
September kicked off with the construction of the Holton's new porch and lakeside al fresco dining area, all the refinement a young otter-about-town could want. This makes the double-holt system now ready for habitation! Watch this space to see if any otters take us up on the offer. Next stop: building the hide.
Meanwhile, the wonderful Rhiannon Bevan came on the 13th, armed with her many bat detectors and a torch, and led members of the public on an evening Bat Walk to try to find some of Llys Nini's more elusive residents. Species spotted included pipistrelles, brown bats and Daubentons.
After that, contractor Andy came and led groups of volunteers in constructing the boardwalk into the ancient wood beside the Roman Road. The boardwalk is made of recycled plastic to resist rotting in the wood's incredibly wet habitat, and is built to allow wheelchair-users to access a wet woodland - a habitat normally off-limits. Once the handrail is built the boardwalk will also be able to accommodate people with visual impairments. We hope to use it as an educational resource, as well as for leisure.
Visits to the site included a geocaching trip from the local Penllergaer Scout Group, and of course, our monthly Photodiary visit from ASDES. Assorted other events included more surveys of the otter ponds, more photographs taken from the fixed points, and the protection of the orchards from having their apples stolen by putting up "Spider Conservation Area" signs. Strangely enough, these have proved remarkably successful.
The Curious Incident of the Frogs in the Night Time
January. The frogspawn appears in the ponds, in multiple clumps around the margins.
By February, the tadpoles had started hatching.
An adult common frog, found in the woods nearby. Eventually, many of our tadpoles will reach this stage!
January. The frogspawn appears in the ponds, in multiple clumps around the margins.
June, 2016
June started with the Enchanted Woodland Trail, a trail that aimed to be educational (teaching children to look for small, hidden signs of wildlife) while also being fun (featuring fairy doors and such). That ran for most of the month.
June also saw the start of many projects, most notably the start of the works in Waun Adurwen! Unfortunately we did run into a slight hitch; the weather decided to instigate a Biblical Deluge, and so after scraping away the topsoil and marking out the ponds, the workers had to down tools and wait for some sun (it is, after all, a bit difficult to dig a pond when you're basically digging water.) Still, this bodes well for us getting the lake to fill up once we're done! Check out the progress photos to the left.
We also began an exciting project with Tinopolis, however; a Welsh-language documentary about Llys Nini began filming, due to be screened in early 2017. As well as our animal work, the documentary is covering many elements of our environmental project, in the hopes that other land owners and managers will see our work and be inspired to follow suit.
Surveying the site continued with two more surveys, this time covering the far end of Coed Gwaelod and the soon-to-be disturbed Waun Adurwen, to give us an idea of what to look for as the field recovers post-lakes. Excitingly, the survey has uncovered a multitude of orchids throughout the site, especially at the lower northern end; mostly we've found southern marsh orchids, but also the odd common spotted orchid.
The end of the month saw another excellent visit from ASDES to continue our work on the Photodiary, with some of the images being strong contenders for the strongest we've had yet.
And finally, Elanor's monitoring of the mouse nest boxes has yielded a photodiary of both blue tits and great tits on site to rival the album of the frogs above! Look below to see the birds.
Don't they look like mini-eggs? This was the first sign that the mice were sub-letting their boxes, back in April. Elanor identified the eggs as belonging to a tit species, but we didn't know which until later.
Maybe a few days old. The chicks had yet to grow feathers at this stage - or, indeed, moveable eyelids.
But one nest didn't contain blue tits. On closer examination, these were great tits! Two different tit species were ultimately found to have used the boxes.
Don't they look like mini-eggs? This was the first sign that the mice were sub-letting their boxes, back in April. Elanor identified the eggs as belonging to a tit species, but we didn't know which until later.
A Bird in the Box
August, 2016
August saw the launch of our popular Teddy Bears' Picnic Trail. Unfortunately, it also saw a downpour of rain that nearly reached Biblical proportions, so the trail was extended for an extra week. Although the weather meant that we were lower in numbers than normal, those who did come reported good things back to us, so we'll try again next year. Here's hoping for considerably better luck when we do!
In Ottopia news, an enthusiastic team of volunteers came from both HSBC and the local community to help to build the first stage of the Holton Hotel! The sun came out for us, against all odds, and there was even time left over to build some dragonfly perches for the legion of dragonflies that arrived to investigate the new lake. Since filling up one month before, already a new species has been attracted to Llys Nini by the lake - the broad-bodied chaser. We even saw a female laying her eggs at the edges!
Mel from Out to Learn Willow came by to discuss where best to place the willow maze and assess our willow stocks. The verdict was that the maze will be located at the top of the Horse Field, near the Eco Hub, and our willow stocks are perfect. In the near future, we will run volunteer days to plant the maze.
Then came some wonderful news - thanks to the hard work and dedication of all concerned, Llys Nini has won a Community Green Flag Award! We were invited to a lovely award ceremony, and are now choosing where best to hang our nice new pennant.
August rounded off with two events - our Detective Trail for the kids ("Can you solve the Case of the Stolen Specs?"), and as ever, an excellent Photodiary session with ASDES.
I Believe it is called Al Fresco
October, 2016
October, of course, is the month of all things spooky! Half term fell neatly onto Hallowe'en this year, meaning an opportunity for a good week's worth of community engagement; especially since our new boardwalk was up and running! After a generous visit from HSBC that saw volunteers help out with the decorating, we set up a free woodland trail that invited visitors to hunt for the Ghost Queen - a silent ghost that grants good luck to any child brave enough to find her. The trail ran for the whole week.
Then in addition, the Wednesday night held a fun Nighttime Ghost Walk, a walk through the dark, spooky woods armed with torches and glow sticks to find the glow-in-the-dark ghosts. Friday then saw our Hallowe'en Fun Day, a full-day event of pumpkin carving, face painting, spooky food and, of course, the woodland trail. The whole week was an enormous success, with many already asking about Christmas...
But it wasn't just Hallowe'en! ASDES came back for their monthly photodiary session, and on the conservation side of things, we began our initial attack on the scattered pockets of Japanese knotweed about the site thanks to our contractor.
December, 2016
December! The end of the year, and the season of goodwill. To see in Christmas we held not one, not two, but three events: at the start of the month we held the Christmas Fayre and its accompanying Grinch Trail, and then at the end of the month - to fill in that awkward time between Christmas and New Year, when you don't know what to do with the kids - we held our Twisted Traditions Christmas Trail. A good time was had by all, and Christmas was saved for another year.
In site activity news, we pressed on with our overall project - one of the ponds in the Hengoed was partially cleared ready for spring (the rest to follow by volunteers in January), while the new bridge and ramp to increase accessibility at the end of the Tranch were completed. We also flattened the area in the horse field that is soon to become our swanky new willow maze, ready for planting...
And finally, we concluded the year with our last ever ASDES Photodiary instalment, an institution that we will all miss.
November, 2016
November kicked off with the Grand Formal Opening of our snazzy new accessible boardwalk into the ancient woods! Children from Penllergaer Primary School, staff from Tesco's and even an Evening Post photographer all attended to try it out, with fabulous results. Then we held not one, but two, volunteer days! Virgin staff members came to help us build dormouse boxes, and Nationwide lent us some willing victims to help with a spot of path clearance. Our thanks to both.
Halfway through the month we held our annual Art in Nature Trail, and not long afterwards we got to go to the Senedd in Cardiff - we were finalists for Keep Wales Tidy's Biodiversity Award! Although we didn't scoop the top prize, we did earn a nice runners-up certificate and prize (see below), and it was lovely to have our hard work recognised.
Finally, ASDES returned for the penultimate instalment in our year-long photodiary, and produced a beautiful body of work as always.
