Hedgerow Surveying
29th October 2015
Environmental Volunteering
We always need volunteers at Llys Nini, so if you want to get involved with our work, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Below is a sample of what we did in 2015-16 as we worked on the project!
Part of our aim is to educate the community in environmental matters, and to that end we held a Tree ID and Hedgerow Survey day in October for Environmental Conservation students from University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. The day began with a quick ID guide for the species at Llys Nini, and then moved into full hedgerow surveys on site. This allowed us to obtain up-to-date hedgerow data, while also giving the students the chance to learn and practise new skills.
Scrub Clearance in Waun Ffinoni
16th December 2015
After a quick ID lesson in the lecture room, Conservation Manager Elanor took the volunteers on site for practical experience.
Identifying the trees in the hedge,and estimating how abundant they are.
This little guy happily followed us all day. We called him Einon.
After a quick ID lesson in the lecture room, Conservation Manager Elanor took the volunteers on site for practical experience.
In order to restore the ecologically important molinia grasslands at Llys Nini - that is, grasslands filled with purple moor-grass, to you and me - we set about clearing the willow and alder scrub threatening to swallow the whole area. Eventually, we are aiming to get ponies in to graze the area as a natural biological control, but as even quite a lot of ponies can't fell a tree, we're preparing the way.
The 'clearing' at the start of the day. Not so clear!
Conservation Manager Elanor is extremely professional.
The 'clearing' at the start of the day. Not so clear!
Orchard Planting
24th February 2016
As part of their Spark Something Good campaign - a campaign in which they plan to engage staff and customers to volunteer on 24 projects in 24 cities over 24 months - Marks & Spencer chose Llys Nini's heritage orchard as one of their worthy causes to enable! Armed with 12 keen volunteers, a mighty picnic, and enough boundless enthusiasm to see us through the day, they came, they saw, and they conquered.
The orchard is now 40 trees strong (hopefully soon to be 50), and is formed of heritage cider apple trees native to Wales. The long-term goal is to harvest the apples and have them blended with a local brewer to create Llys Nini cider, which will raise money for the centre.
Surveying
Ongoing, 2016
From March to October, the incredibly varied biodiversity on site at Llys Nini needs to be surveyed and logged, in the grasslands, woodlands, wetlands and hedgerows. This includes plants but also the various wild animal life found on site, and some fungi too. So far, it seems we have an astonishing variety of dragonflies and damselflies...
Building the Holton Hotel
9th August, 2016
If we want otters, they need somewhere to live! On the 9th of August, a team of volunteers from HSBC came to help us build the Holton Hotel, a shiny new 5* holt with multiple bedrooms, an al fresco lakeside dining area, an outdoor pool, and discrete rear access to the Gwonoc.
Wood for the holt was harvested partly on site, and partly from nearby Kilvey Hill Community Woodlands in central Swansea, as part of its own woodland management. Apart from the entrance lounge/veranda, which will go up at a later date, the holt was finished so quickly that we also had time to install some kingfisher diving perches.
At the start of the day, the holt was roughly marked out with wood.
At the start of the day, the holt was roughly marked out with wood.
Boardwalking the Ancient Woodland
Ongoing, 2016
As a major part of the Lottery Grant, Llys Nini is building an accessible boardwalk through the Hengoe - our ancient woodland. Led by a contractor, the work is being carried out by volunteers, and needs to be done to both a high standard of craftmanship, but also a high standard of ecological sensitivity.
Trail Blazers
19th October, 2016
Ready for our upcoming Hallowe'en events, a keen team of volunteers came from HSBC to lend a hand in putting up the free community trail for Hallowe'en half term. They did a fabulous job, the trail ultimately proving a huge success. Thanks guys!
Bless This Mouse
10th November, 2016
Ahead of hibernation season, a team from Virgin lent us their labour for a day to make dormouse boxes, to replace the old ones we have on site. They also very kindly donated large quantities of clothing and bric-a-brac for us to sell in our shops.
Path Clearance
14th November, 2016
As Autumn fell in earnest, so did the leaves! To the extent that we quickly lost sight of the paths. Fortunately, a lovely team from Nationwide came with rakes in hand to help us shovel the leaves away so we could actually see our paths again - with some help from Huck the poodle cross.
