Warden s Report Southern Snowdonia Simon Roberts

Transcription

1 Warden s Report Southern Snowdonia Simon Roberts Last August I had the privilege of being appointed Senior Warden for Southern Snowdonia, after having worked for Snowdonia National Park s Access Section for 7 years. Being a resident of Southern Snowdonia, brought up in the village of Llanuwchllyn, it is a true honour to have been appointed Senior Warden for such a remarkable area and to be in charge of a great team of hard working area wardens. Working alongside myself and Meirion Edwards (our estate worker) are the area wardens Arwel Morris and Billy Taylor (who cover the Llyn Tegid and Penllyn area), Rhys Gwynn and Myfyr Tomos (who look after Bro Idris) whilst area warden Gethin Corps looks after the Mawddach Estuary and the coast. A warden s duties are exceptionally varied (one of the perks of the job some might say!), we have to work hard to survey and carry out maintenance works on the Rights of Way, whilst looking into possibilities of creating and promoting new access routes. We work to conserve the unique flora and fauna of southern Snowdonia, whilst working in partnership to eradicate invasive species such as the Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam. We work alongside local schools and community groups to broaden the public s understanding of a warden s duties, the importance of nature and conservation, and explain what the national park is all about. And perhaps most important of all, we act as the face of the national park, outdoors with the people, providing information and guidance to its users, while mediating the delicate balance between the area s increasingly popular tourism and traditional land values. There is a lot to do and not many of us to do it, and with additional budget cuts but the same demand for high performance the pressure is truly on! Here is a taste of some of the work I ve been up to over the past few months GPS Surveys of Public Rights of Way In order to achieve a better understanding of the condition of the footpath network in Snowdonia, we have been out surveying the paths, which gives us the opportunity to plan maintenance works dependent on the issues which are raised during the surveys. I myself am the area warden for the communities of Trawsfynydd and Ganllwyd (the Coed y Brenin and Eden Area), and therefore have been surveying paths in this area. Surveys are carried out with the assistance of our Juno GPS device. These devices provide us with a map of the area and follow our progress along the paths, pinpointing our exact location We can then record furniture and issues we may find during our surveys

2 Once a path has been surveyed, we can upload the data to our new Rights of Way Management Database We can then use this database to organise and prioritize access work, dependent on any issues we may find during our surveys. The database can also be used by the public to log any issues they find on Rights of Way click on the following link for more information - npa.gov.uk/visiting/walking/access- Problem But we can t complain...footpath surveys do get us out of the office and into the beautiful surroundings of the National Park! Cwm Prysor s disused railway line Coed y Brenin Rights of Way Access Work Following footpath surveys, certain issues might flag up which need our attention, such as broken or unsafe furniture. Using the database we can prioritize work (dependent on the severity of the issue and popularity of the paths) and when time allows sort out the issue

3 Broken Ladder Stile and Gate on a popular Bridleway Working alongside Estate Worker Meirion Edwards to remove the unnecessary broken ladder stile and install a brand new gate In addition to small scale maintenance works, we have also been involved in larger scale access projects in the Trawsfynydd area Working with Meirion Edwards and Gerwyn Jarrett to install new waymarkers along the Trawsfynydd Lake Cycle Route

4 ...but it s not only SNPA staff that have been doing footpath maintenance work in the Coed y Brenin & Eden area. We have also started using local contractors to carry out some work when times are busy. Another way the National Park contributes not only towards the local community, but towards the local economy as well. Local contractor Gerallt Rowlands standing proudly alongside his work Bwlch Drws Ardudwy Another important access project which has recently been completed in the Trawsfynydd area is the improvement of the Bwlch Drws Ardudwy footpath in the Crawcwellt Forest Before photographs showing that the paths were quite impassable due to mud

5 Out in all weather preparing the project with Hywel Jones, SNPA s Access Project Officer, and Paul Williams, Natural Resources Wales s reserve manager / warden The Access Projects team have done a tremendous job of creating a suitable and usable path, which blends in with the landscape The finished product The path already receiving a lot of use proof of the necessity of the work Llyn Tegid Work

6 Llyn Tegid Work Like Northern Snowdonia has Pen y Pass, Southern Snowdonia has its own little honeypot site - Llyn Tegid; an area which gets exceptionally busy towards the summer months. A honeypot site...wales s largest natural lake, a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) & RAMSAR Site, hugely popular with windsurfers and sail boats, and the famous home of Tegi (not to be confused with warden Bill Taylor!) A busy weekday at the Llyn Tegid Foreshore A herd of Subaru Impreza s stopping for a photo opportunity on a road trip! I am partly based in the Llyn Tegid warden s office, and try and help out when I can with necessary duties. I also work various weekends at Llyn Tegid, patrolling the lake, selling permits to fishermen and water sports enthusiast, and dealing with members of the public, which includes responding to enquiries and giving advice when needed.

7 Here is an example of some of the work I have been assisting with at Llyn Tegid over the winter months Foreshore clearance assisting in the clearance of the mess caused by the annual winter floods a necessity before the busy summer months Assisting Lakeland Instrumentations in replacing the old weather station with a newer version. Whilst I was playing Captain Pugwash, Arwel Morris was busy trying to lazoo the old weather station in order to bring it ashore. In addition to the physical work required at Llyn Tegid, we have been working hard on updating the old Llyn Tegid Emergency Plan. Having received feedback from various stakeholders, we are now working with the Emergency Services to update the old plan, permit slips and lakeside signage, whilst creating new access terms and conditions for the lake With the implementation of a new emergency plan, and updated guidelines which will be available to all, we hope to improve the already stringent safety measures at Llyn Tegid, making safety our number one priority.

8 Education It is also of vast importance to work alongside local schools, in order to improve children s knowledge and understanding of environmental issues, conservation and even to explain the purpose of the national park and its wardening service Working alongside Natural Resources Wales Pearls in Peril project officer Elain Gwilym to teach pupils of Ysgol Manod primary school about the various invertebrates that can be found in the Afon Eden River hoping to improve their understanding of the importance of good water quality in rivers. In order to celebrate SNPA s 64 th birthday, and to celebrate the international year of soil, on the 11 th of March, some of SNPA s staff went out and planted 64 trees in 64 schools across Snowdonia Here we are planting Mountain Ash and Bird Cherry trees with pupils from Friog, Craig y Deryn and Penybryn primary schools in Southern Snowdonia The day was a great success, and hopefully increased the children s knowledge of the importance of soil and the part it plays in everyday life.

9 Future Works in Southern Snowdonia As always, there is a lot going on in the South of the Park, and a lot of planning for various access projects. One of the biggest projects on the horizon is Cadair Idris path improvement works, where we hope to maintain and improve certain sections of all the main paths up Cadair Idris. Although it will potentially take up to three years to complete the work, we are now in the process of gathering pitching stones in order to fly them up to the drop off sites...but I m sure the area wardens will keep you updated on this, and other projects in the south of the park over the following months. If you require any further information on south snowdonia s wardening service, or if you wish to talk to me in regards to any access issues within the south of the park, then feel free to contact me at simon.roberts@eryri- npa.gov.uk, or by calling Alternatively, why not visit the warden service section of our website at npa.gov.uk/visiting/warden- service, in order to learn more about the wardens and what we do.