Ael y Bryn
Set in beautiful countryside between Cardigan and Fishguard, a mere four miles from the coastal…
Our View
The Ty Canol NNR, near Fishguard, forms part of the largest block of ancient woodland in West Wales, in an area famous for its achaeological sites. Adjacent to Ty Canol is the famous Pentre Ifan cromlech, a Neolithic chambered dolmen thought to date from 3,500 BC. In wildlife terms, Ty Canol is most prized for its lichens, with more than 400 species having been recorded, many of them rare. The wet woodland on this site consists mainly of oak, ash and downy birch, with an understorey of hazel, holly, honeysuckle and bilberry. Wildflowers include golden saxifrage, primrose, dog violet and wood anemones. The woodlands are good places to see birds such as chiffchaff, redstart and wood warblers. Sparrowhawks hunt there and buzzards can be heard crying overhead. Mammals include badgers, foxes, polecats and dormice, and amphibians such as frogs and newts inhabit the wetter areas.
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Discover Pembrokeshire
Wales meets the Atlantic Ocean in spectacular fashion at Pembrokeshire. Unlike the West Country, Pembrokeshire can offer the coast without the crowds, and quaint fishing villages without those huge coach parks. Volcanic eruptions and earth movements have left a tortured rocky coastline of some 160 miles, whose beauty and drama have been recognised by National Park status.
Sometimes known as ‘Little England Beyond Wales’, the county has held a fascination for English visitors ever since the first Norman warlords forced their way in 800 years ago, leaving a string of 50 fine castles in their wake. The anonymous author of The Mabinogion, an 11th-century collection of Welsh folk legends, started it all. His description of the old Celtic kingdom of Dyfed (which encompasses Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire) as ‘the land of magic and enchantment’ was perhaps the earliest written attempt to sum up the outstanding natural beauty of this wonderful westernmost outpost of Wales. This is a county where you can take it easy on the sandy beaches, make sport out of those Atlantic waves, or discover the mysteries of St David’s or the ancient Preseli Hills.
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