This week I attended the DDNPA Agricultural Stakeholders Meeting held at the National Park Visitor Centre , Libanus. If I was not already aware that all issues connected with this particular landscape where nothing but complex, this meeting re-enforced the point most succinctly. The farmers attending the meeting were treated to a power point presentation of the new land management scheme. Glastir replaces the existing agri-environment scheme, and will try to encourage more bio diversity on farms , whilst at the same time make farms seem more viable and attractive as a career (life style) choice of occupation.
It was obvious from the many farmers who contributed to the discussion, that they had serious concerns about their ability to fulfil these tasks, working with an ageing and diminishing population(within the farming community).

On Friday I spent time with groups of young people who live , work or study in the area around Brecon. These young people were learning useful trades such as building and carpentry. I also spoke to young car mechanics and hair and beauty therapists ,all from Coleg Powys. Australia was a frequently mentioned destination to emigrate to once they had qualified. Many of these young people had never walked on the hills, for many the natural landscape that surrounds them is irrelevant.

Large areas of bracken push grazing animals into smaller more concentrated areas to feed , this can lead to land poaching. Nardus and Molinea grass also have the same effect on grazing stock, these grasses are also very flamable. Common fires cause soil erosion allowing heavy rain fall to wash unprotected top soil away. Bracken, molinea and Nardus grass establish themselves in these burnt areas, thus reducing the biodiversity of the area.

On Thursday I met someone from the Welsh Water Drinking Water Safety Plan. We talked about particular difficulties that have been highlighted over the past 2 to 3 years, concerning the area of land around the Cantref Reservoir and its feeder rivers. An increase in the occurrence of very high rain fall over comparative short periods of time  since 2008, have resulted in the filtration systems at Cantref shutting down as they struggle to cope with the increased sedimentation in the water arriving at the plant. The Nant Crew and the Afon Taff Fawr are significant contributors to the high colour and sediment content of the reservoir. Land slippage has also occurred resulting in the loss of farmland. Farming practice and land management will play an important role if these problems are to be at least limited if not completely eradicated.


A Catchment Management Strategy is being put forward to try and build a unified approach to tackling the problem. I would like to hear from anyone who has anecdotal evidence of land loss due to slippage. Or have you been caught up on the hills walking or working, during one of these heavy rainfall events? Maybe you lost your water supply or received discoloured water over several days? Simply click the comments button to add you contribution to this blog.

Today, Sunday I went out with the Honddu Dippers, a group of people who give freely their own time to clear up the litter and rubbish of others. This group focuses on the canal and the Rivers Usk and Honddu that run through the town of Brecon. In two hours the group collected 6 bags of rubbish, consisting mostly of drinks containers and take away food packaging. They also collected a skate board, a bike, a 5 litre plastic container full of paint and a range of metal objects. Asked if they felt the community at large were either shamed by their activities, of at least showed some level of gratitude, the group consensus was no. The general public where more likely to see them as people carrying out some sort of community service, or simply council workers who were, after all, paid to clear up after them.




Last Friday I met Susan, a farmer living and working a small farm just outside of Brecon. Susan is at the beginning of her 8th  decade and now only runs a small flock of sheep, each of whom has a name and a character known and understood by Susan. Her oldest ewe Daisy May is still enjoying life at 17 years of age. Alongside this small flock of sheep are ducks, geese, dogs, cats and horses. In addition there is a garden area containing a very wide variety of trees and shrubs including two red woods and Panda quality Bamboo . At the top of her farm land is a mixed wood containing some very fine Oaks, Water Alder, and Silver Birch. Susan has rights to run her sheep on the hills but says lack of grass means that the sheep ware down their teeth and this shortens there life expectancy to around 7 years of age.

Susan has applied for a preservation order to be placed on her barns and oak trees but this request has been declined because amongst other things, she is there to look after them. Susan is 80 and wants to know that after she has gone the trees won’t be grubbed up and the barns turned into a holiday home complex. She wants some form of assurance that the fine oaks will be allowed to stay and the, barns will be allowed to stay keeping their welsh barn -ness, something that is rapidly disappearing from the countryside.

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Scientific look at the landscape:

Waun Figen Felen (SN823178) contains a large expanse of exposed peat. There are different theories to explain how the erosion started. However none of these account for the way in which almost all the vegetation has been stripped or fatally damaged in a single event, such as fire, and then subsequently exacerbated by causes such as grazing, wind and rain erosion. A peat bog operates like a living organism. A healthy blanket bog has a symbiotic relationship with the rich and diverse flora and fauna that inhabit it and help to keep it operating efficiently. A healthy peat bog stores carbon.

In contrast a weak and sickly peat bog is not in balance and invasive species take up the space once occupied by the sphagnum moss, cotton grass and other rich and diverse species. Molinia is a golden grass that in some areas is so dominant; it now seems to give large areas of the hills their colour and texture. This grass is also a highly inflammable material. A peat bog on fire releases masses of carbon back into the atmosphere and so the damage is doubled.

Elan Valley

Elan Village


The sun was shining as I left Worcester, but by the time I arrived at Llanwrthwl Church the cloud was down and there was a steady light drizzle. I had arranged to meet a National Park Warden in order to find out a little about the job of a warden and what the work entailed.

As we started to climb up along the side of the Elan valley and out onto the top, the cloud rolled in and out and on and off the tops of the hills until gradually lifting to reveal patches of blue sky and warm sun.

We visited a blanket bog where work was underway to try to slow down the deterioration of the site. This was on a much smaller scale to the work being undertaken at Craig-y-nos. Whilst the bog was still holding water, and contained large patches of healthy bright green sphagnum moss, there was also evidence of dry peat and deeper gullies. The peat bog on top of the hill has always moved, but sometime during the last hundred years the sides have blown out causing the subsidence and exposure of bare peat. This problem has been worsened by fires at different times and the combined effect has been to allow more invasive species to take hold and therefore unsettle the fine balance of life within the bog.



Walking through this landscape even to my untrained eye it was apparent that there was a richer diversity of insect life, lichens mosses and grasses on this great expanse of protected land. Protected by people but not inhabited by them, one or two ancient cairns still survive to mark the way for the occasional walker, but mostly this is a landscape without people.



I had met my guide in the morning for the first time, a young woman half my age. As we walked, we talked, looked and learnt about each other and our understanding of the world we are living in. This for me is the essence of what a good walk does.



Quote from the walk



“Things that evolve over a short period of time tend to die out very quickly, but things that last, evolve over millions of years. In 10 thousand years of civilisation I can’t believe our brains have changed that much, we are not that different from those people 6 thousand years ago, it is just that we have advanced the technology……..”

1st Entry

The health of the grassess is a very imortant issue.

This is the first blog of the Change, Climate Landscape, Me, project and I do hope that lots of people feel interested enough to add comments to the site. I want to hear from those who have an interest in the area of Brecon, not just those connected to the landscape; or those who have specialist interests in the natural environment, climate change or even art, but obviously their contributions are also most welcome.


I am interested to hear from as many people as possible including members of the Armed Forces who only stay in the area for brief period’s of time before moving on to meet new tasks and challenges. I would also like to hear from those who, from one generation to the next, have never lived anywhere else.


I would like to hear from those people who would like to change things, who feel that life in the Brecon area could be improved. What do young people do? Do they feel involved in the community across all ages or do they feel a little disenfranchised?


Since the project got underway at the beginning of May I have spoken to individuals from the National Trust; volunteer groups; graziers; and people from the National Parks I have found all these meetings very interesting. I have learnt something about the complexities associated with the business of looking after the natural landscape. There are obviously very different and sometimes quite conflicting concerns connected to general issues as well as specific geographic areas.


I look forward to talking to and sharing information with anyone who is interested in getting involved, whoever you are and wherever you are from.