The Real Coed Y Brenin
Introduction and Contents available on Substack so far.
Being the low down on one of Britain's earliest Forestry Commission plantations, trees now topping their first century. The Real Coed Y Brenin here on Substack strips away the rose tinted glasses and takes a hard look at the history, from its excellent, exploratory beginnings to its sorry current state as a largely unmanaged, over-crowded, over-mature plantation of exotic species, ripe for destruction by fire, wind throw or just plain plagues, there being more than one about.
Covering the origin of an intricately complex landscape and subsequent development from the earliest times to the present day, its existence on medieval rolls, listed as Penrhos Forest or Penrhos Wood, its illegal clear felling in the late 1500's, its gradual occupation by squatters, the tyddynwyr, (smallholders) prior to their evictions in the early to mid 1900’s, with especial emphasis on Mynydd Penrhos, where the first and most interesting plantings were undertaken, that came to be known as the Core Block.
I have had the great privilege to have lived and worked in Cymru (Wales) for going on for fifty years, managed a patch of land in Coed Y Brenin for thirty eight years and lived on it for over thirty years; having immersed myself in the local culture, folklore and history and having studied both British history and more specifically the history of Cymru; having studied, spoken, read and written Welsh, Cymraeg, during most of that time and occupying a strange place, an in-between space between y Cymreig and the English, aware that I do not entirely fit in either camp, I feel myself to be in a unique position from which to tell this remarkable tale.
This story is appearing over time in parts that are not regular in either their occurrence or order, yet hopefully will at some point become a more or less coherent whole. Until then, these are the links to what we have so far, here on Substack, together with inklings to some of the missing pieces, yet to be completed.
Many thanks for reading. Hwyl! Chris.
The Early Forestry Commission and the Erasure of Social History.
What future awaits Coed Y Brenin?
Plague. Phytophthora ramorum and pluvialis
How do we get out of this mess? The Great Escape
The Great escape: fuel, timber and fungi
The Great Escape: sawmills and the Tree Cycle
The Great Escape: phytophthora and accepting the inevitable
Forest Hydrology.
above: Morag, a Scottish pine marten, No. 13, reintroduced to Coed Y Brenin by the Vincent Wildlife Trust. The picture is taken from a VWT trap camera film.
The Many Species of Coed Y Brenin
Western Hemlock: Today, Coed Y Brenin, Tomorrow, the World!
Corsican Pine, pinus nigra or Black Pine
Douglas Fir: basically, just Good Wood
Bele'r Coed, the Pine Marten: A Tale of Poo...
Latest News Hot from the Forest
Various other aspects
Latest News Hot from the Forest
The Once (Very) Wetlands of Coed Y Brenin: Actions and Inactions in Bogland Restoration
The Coed Y Brenin Arboretum: Or is it a Forest Garden, or just a Picnic Site?
Joined Up Thinking: Would be a Good Idea...
Bryn Merllyn: Druids Sacred Pool Versus NRW Aggregate Quarry
Tree planting, carbon offsetting and commercial forestry: sapling versus seed.
Fire! Coming your way, soon...
above: looking west from Moel Dolfrwynog. Clear fell, conifers and a rampart of mountain, Dyffwys, the Rhinogydd and Eryri.
And still to come:
The Very Early years: the Great Volcano, Rhobell Fawr (Iawn, iawn) and complex geology
Industrial Archaeology: the Mines. Thar's Gold in them thar hills! Sadly not but plenty of worrying minerals- arsenic, lead, cadmium...featuring one of the most contaminated picnic sites in Britain, probably.
The Rise and Fall of the Modern Panners. Destruction of River Beds and Hefty Fines
The Glory Days of the Great Experiment that somehow got forgotten...
Signing it all. How good, wooden ideas became elaborately expensive, the reappearance of plastic and then the the money dried up.
The Many Miles of the Tracks of Coed Y Brenin and how the army used up surplus explosives.
And more.
Many thanks for reading. Comments always welcome, including requests for topics relating to Coed Y Brenin, forests and forestry.
A lot to digest here, but loved it. We are at best custodians as you so rightly point out Chris. And a great insight in to your part in it all, insofar as your being part of the different British/Welsh 'tribes' and your ability/ lack of ability to comment objectively.