Aberdaron School Helps Get Porth y Swnt Ready for Opening

Children from Ysgol Crud y Werin in Aberdaron have helped to create an installation for Porth y Swnt our new Coastal Tourism Centre of Excellence which is due to open in Aberdaron at the end of the month.

 Pupils from Ysgol Crud y Werin  showing their work.

The youngsters were joined by Llŷn poet Christine Evans to paint pebbles which will take pride of place in the ‘Sea of Words’ installation at Porth y Swnt. During the visit Christine encouraged the pupils to use inspiration from the sea and surrounding landscape to paint their favourite word on to pebbles.

 Pupils eager to get involved!

Christines’ work is influenced by her time spent on Bardsey Island where her husband worked as a guardian for the lighthouse and as a fisherman. Her poetry draws on imagery of light and water and she still teaches writing courses on the Island. Some of the poet’s work will feature in the installations at Porth y Swnt.

 Some of the finished pebbles

The new centre will provide people with the chance to discover the history and culture of the Llŷn. It will have exhibitions and interactive displays following the theme of ‘Shining a Light on the Llŷn’ such as artwork, sounds, and poetry as well as stories from local people.

Visitors from outside the area will be encouraged to understand Aberdaron’s truly traditional Welsh way of life that is inextricably entwined with the sea and to spend more time exploring the wider Llŷn.  

We also hope that Porth y Swnt will soon become an important part of the local community in Aberdaron and the wider Llŷn. We’re keen to help younger generations understand the rich history and legends of their home and we plan to work closely with local schools, businesses and the community.

Porth y Swnt is supported by the Welsh Government, including the European Social Fund.

Porthdinllaen Seagrass Project

An intriguing project is underway on Llŷn looking at conserving seagrass meadows. The National Trust, represented by our coastal ranger Laura Hughes, has teamed up with several other organisations and the local community in order to tackle the issues which are having a negative effect on the seagrass bed at Porthdinllaen.  A marine flowering plant, the green leaves of seagrass form underwater meadows similar to those found on land, except that it has many unique benefits including…

• Seagrass provide an essential habitat for juvenile fish-including many commercially important species- before they mature and migrate out into deeper water.
• Seagrass absorbs large quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere whilst also producing oxygen- one square meter of seagrass can produce 10 litres of oxygen per day.
• Seagrass is an extremely effective regulator of the nutrient cycle, it can absorb nutrients and chemicals ensuring they don’t build up and endanger the marine environment.

….and the list goes on! The project website has much more information on the benefits of a healthy seagrass bed www.penllynarsarnau.co.uk/projects.aspx 

 Numerous anemonies in a seagrass bed © Paul Kay

Back to the matter at hand, Porthdinllaen. This idyllic little fishing village near Morfa Nefyn has a expanse of seagrass estimated to cover an area the size of 46 football pitches making it one of the largest in North Wales. The issue? The moorings and anchoring currently occurring in the bay. Why?  It’s predominantly due to the 6 metre tidal range in the bay, meaning that the chains that connect the buoys to the anchoring system are often allowed to drag around the seabed during low tides, creating bald patches within the seagrass, clearly seen in the picture below. 

Aerial photo of Porthdinllaen © This orthophotography has been produced by COWI A/S from digital photography captured by them in 2006. Licensed by the Welsh Assembly Government's Department for Environment.

 

So, what is the National Trust doing about the situation? Well the seagrass is an important component of the Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation and because of the effects mentioned above it’s currently in unfavourable condition.  The Trust has joined forces with the Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau SAC officer, Natural Resources Wales, SEACAMS, the Royal Yachting Association and local stakeholders such as the Llŷn Fishermans Association with the aim of developing management options that ensure the conservation of seagrass in the future without impacting on the current use of the bay. 

What’s happening now? The project is a long term project, we wants to gather as much evidence as possible to inform any management options considered. A big part of the project is engagement with the local community and people who use the area.  Much information has been gathered during surveys in 2013, the results of which will be made public on the website and through open days and drop in sessions planned for 2014. Also ongoing is work to try to identify adaptations which could be made to the Porthdinllaen moorings to lessen their impact on the seagrass. With any luck, we’ll find one that suits the large tidal range at Porthdinllaen and we can begin trialling it in the area.

A mooring 'scar' surrounded by healthy seagrass © Rohan Holt

The next opportunity to learn more about the project and discuss any of its elements will be at the project open day at Nefyn Golf Club on February 4^th 

3-5pm: Drop in session

5-6pm: Light refreshments

6pm: A presentation on the findings of the project so far and the next steps

7pm: Workshops on mooring adaptations and the creation of a snorkel trail

There is a warm welcome to all to any part of the day, for more information please contact Laura on 01758 760469. 

by Guy Metcalfe, National Trust Volunteer 

Hungry Birds

On Monday night we visited the Urdd group at Botwnnog to hold a number of activities based around birds. The group learnt which single factor defines birds from all other animals, found out about some of the birds that migrate thousands of miles to and from Llŷn and learnt about the rare choughs which reside here.

A chough- picture courtesy of the RSPB

To help some of the garden birds during the winter months the group created bird feeders out of re-cycled plastic bottles and wooden spoons. All these feeders should help provide the birds with food this winter which is a time when it can be scarce.

Getting stuck into the bird seeds! 

The children also created bird masks out of paper plates. A vast array of colourful masks were created, including woodpeckers, blue tits and seagulls!

 One of the brilliant masks created

A rough and foamy Porthor

A bright autumnal day on the beach at Porthor.

Adventures Ahead!

This summer was the warmest since 2006, and many of us made the most of the long, sunny days by visiting some of the beautiful beaches on Llyn Peninsula. For children visiting the beach at Porthor (Whistling Sands), our new “adventure packs” were standing by to make a good day out even better.

These backpacks contain everything that young adventurers need to enjoy a fun, action-filled filled day on the beach (and give the grown-ups a bit of peace and quiet, if they fancy), and are available to loan free of charge from the information cabin in the car park during the spring and summer months.

One of the adventure packs, filled with activities for your intrepid little adventurers.

As well as being full of fun stuff, the packs are also specially designed to help children learn about the plants, animals, and cultural history of our beautiful shoreline. Two top-rated activities are the ‘Rock Pool Ramble’ (searching for sea creatures in the teeming rock pools), and the ‘Lost Treasure’ treasure hunt, in which young pirates use their compass and treasure map to give Captain Morgan a hand with finding his missing treasure chest.

 Two adventurers who were successful in finding the hidden treasure at Porthor!

 Our adventure packs have proved really popular so far. Here are just a few of the things that people have said:

·         “Great mix of activities. Education pitched at just the right level”.

·         “Great idea to get people more engaged with the beach environment”.

·         “Fantastic pack, we will be back to do more of the activities”.

We’ve been delighted to see so many people having fun and getting involved with the natural environment (and filling the information cabin with their lovely drawings at the end of the day – grown-ups and children alike!).

This summer may have drawn to a close, but here at the National Trust we’re already planning for the next. Given the success of the adventure packs at Whistling Sands, we’re excited to announce that in spring 2014 we’ll have a brand new adventure pack ready and waiting at Llanbedrog Beach. We’re putting the final finishing touches on the pack as we speak, and like the pack available at Porthor, it contains all sorts of activities for young beach-goers – including the ‘Iron Man Challenge’, a navigational quest centered around the Iron Man statue on the headland above the beach.

We’re really pleased to have had so many adventurers visit us this summer, and we’re looking forward to double the fun next year!

Fun in the sun!

The last few months have been hectic here on the Llŷn. As well as the tried and tested old favourites we’ve successfully introduced some new events and activities this summer many of which have been held as part of the Llŷn Coastal Festival. Our beach fun days have been a big success with the kayaking and surfing sessions proving very popular. We had a very competitive and closely fought football tournament at Porthor, with the Welsh Dragons winning the title and trophy. Our new mascot Caleb the Crab is also becoming some what of a local celebrity helping to judge the sandcastle competitions and pose for photographs- with adults as well as the children!

The Welsh Dragons with their trophy

Blas y Môr (Tase of the Sea) was held at Porthdinllaen in June attracting a lot of interest from people looking for ideas on how to cook with local seafood and sample some of the tasters prepared by local chefs- the seared sea bass was a personal favourite!

Learning about rockpool creatures at Porthdinllaen 

The Picnic with a Chough guided walks took place at Mynydd Mawr on the tip of the peninsula with Rhys Jones from Gwynedd Council’s biodiversity team and Dave Lamacraft from Plantlife & RSPB lending their expertise. The chough didn’t disappoint and made spectacular appearances on both occasions.

The 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾ activities campaign has been a brilliant way to show children how much fun can be had outdoors with little or no equipment. The list of 50 things ranges from skimming stones or climbing trees, to catching a crab and making a grass trumpet. We were able to tick some of these activities off our list at Llanbedrog and Porthdinllaen where we led cooking on a campfire, den-building rock-pooling and creating wild art activities.

The marshmallows on the campfire went down a storm

So an activity packed few months are in full swing here- we love the summer!

Porth y Swnt, Aberdaron

Last Tuesday we had the exciting task of announcing the winner of the competition to name our new visitor centre at Aberdaron, due to open in the spring of 2014. The competition to find a special name for a special place was open to the pupils of Ysgol Crud y Werin the local primary school and we received loads of brilliant entries. After some deliberation Elliw Jones Evans, a year 6 pupil, was declared the winner with her name Porth y Swnt.

Elliw won a wildlife pack, family membership to the National Trust, the opportunity to leave her handprint in the new building and the all-important golden ticket that means that Elliw will be the first person to enter the completed centre when it opens in the spring of 2014.

 

Elliw receiving her prize from Elinor Gwynn a National Trust boad of trustees member, after coming up with Porth y Swnt as a name for the new centre at Aberdaron.

Porth y Swnt which translates as ‘Gateway to the sound’ perfectly describes the aim of the centre as a gateway to discovering and exploring the surrounding area, while the reference to the swnt or sound makes a strong connection to the local area and the infamous Bardsey Sound.

It has been great to be able to work so closely with the school on important aspects of the development of the centre and the relationship will be built on even further in the future. We’re already looking forward to welcoming Elliw back next year for her tour of Porth y Swnt and to hear her verdict on the new and exciting building at the heart of the village.

Porth y Swnt, Aberdaron which has been funded by Visit Wales and European Regional Development Fund. The steel frame is now in place and building work will be going full steam ahead over the next few months. Look out for some colourful art work on the hoardings over the summer.