Wardens Blog

Spent all day today and yesterday bagging gorse on Mynydd Illtyd. The gorse is going to be flown by helicopter up to Waun Figen Felen bog in the next few weeks where it will be used to help stabilize the bog.

Today Rex and I went down to the waterfalls area to assess the condition of the red and green routes and to decide on any changes that needed to be made. The condition of the paths is quite bad in places and some area of the waterfalls have suffered severe erosion due to visitor pressures.

Footpath erosion down at Clun Gwyn waterfall

More erosion

Worryingly a management plan was written in 1995 outlining all the problems in the area yet those problems still exist today.

Spent this afternoon carrying out a visitor survey at Gwaun Hepste car park. The aim of the survey is to gather feedback from visitors on their experience in the waterfalls area. In the future this information will be compared to surveys carried out after the waterfalls area project has been completed to ensure that the project has been successful.

This morning I had an induction with Chris Gledhill along with four other newcomers. He talked about the aims of the park, how it’s run - the staff structure, and about the parks future direction. In the afternoon I did a pilot test of the visitor survey for the waterfalls area and realized that a lot needed to be altered so I went back to the office to make the corrections and print off copies - lucky for me Ann (commonly know as god) offered to print and distribute the questionnaires for me which saved me a lot of time - thanks Ann your the greatest!

Met Rex at the mountain centre in Libanus this morning and assisted him with running a geologically themed walk around the area. The walk was ten miles long and we had three people on the walk with us.

The walk took us first to Twyn y Gaer - a hillfort to the North east of the mountain centre. Here is some information from the National Park website on the hillfort:

This hillfort lies about 5km west of Brecon at the northern end of a strip of common land owned by Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.  There is open access to the site. A public right of way(Heol Cefn-y-gaer) runs north-south past the site.  The hill which rises to a height of 367m is composed of mudstones and siltstones of the St Maughan’s Formation which include two or three bands of sandstone.  Ripple marks can be seen in the quarried slabs of the uppermost band near the trig point which crowns the hill. Of rather later origin are a series of ‘pillow mounds’ on the southern and eastern flanks of the hill.  These low mounds were provided in connection with the breeding of rabbits in recent centuries. 

From here we went on to a disused quarry near Allt Lom where there is evidence in the rock of a fossilised riverbed. 

We then walked a short section of Sarn Helen - the roman road - before heading for Cefn Llechid (400m) where we had lunch and took in the stunning panoramic views. We then followed the bridleway south down from Cefn Llechid and onto the road for a short period. On the way back we passed the fens and raised bogs of Traeth Mawr - which is designated as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). For more information follow this link: http://www.breconbeacons.org/content/environment/bd-in-the-bbnp/wetlands-and-open-water/raised-bog 

Spent most of today creating a visitor survey for the waterfalls area. The aim is to find out what visitors think of the area (the conditions of the footpaths etc) before we carry out the work and then we will carry out the same survey again after the work has been completed - the results should be interesting!

Another great day up the mountains. I seconded a walk with Su for the Milton Mountaineers - a visually impaired group. We had three helpers and one visually impaired person - Chris - in our group. They where all such inspiring people - amazing how well they coped and how determined they where - fantastic day even with the poor weather!

Had a great day today in the hills. Went walking with Sunita, Agelike, Gareth and Eleri on the Black Mountain in order to gain some more loogbook days for my ML training. Finally learnt how to use a compass properly and did some pacing practice as well.

Me and Rex where going to go down to the waterfalls area today to look at the paths and put a plan together but Rex’s landrover broke down - it turned out to be a problem with the fuel pump - so we had to cancel the visit. In the afternoon I went down to Aberaman to have my van stickered up - turned out that the sticker shop was just down the road from where I used to live!

This morning I went to a meeting in Brecon heaquarters about the waterfalls area. There are major concerns about the erosion taking place in the area - particularly the section of river regularly used by gorge walking groups that is designated as a SAC (Special Area of Conservation). It was reiterated that me and Rex would go down to the area and put together a plan in terms of footpath and sign work and then on the staff day out in October the signs could be tested and the staff would help us repair the paths.