Dyfnant Forest
Encyclopedia
Dyfnant Forest is a remote forest between the valleys of the Afon Twrch
to the west and the Afon Efyrnwy to the east, north of the village of Llangadfan
in northeastern-central Powys
, Wales
. It lies to the west of the B4395 road, a road which stems north from the A458 road
. It is described by Lonely Planet
as being "where a well-signposted maze of forestry tracks culminates in one enormous hill before descending rather spectacularly toward Lake Vyrnwy
" (five miles away)
, just south of Lake Vyrnwy
. The original forest was planted by the Forestry Commission. The Forest is approached from a country road from Llangadfan, which branches into a 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) foot track. It is well served by 64 kilometres (39.8 mi) of forest tracks. The forest tracks include the Rainbow Trails, which were established by a partnership between Forestry Commission Wales and the Dyfnant and Fyrnwy Horse Riders' & Carriage Drivers' Association; set in peaceful forest environment the trails consist of five horse-riding trails.
, Western red cedar, lodgepole Pine
, Douglas fir, Norway spruce
and grand fir, as well as from deciduous trees
.
Within Dyfnant Forest, the Dyfnant Meadows spread over a small area of 9.5 hectares (23.5 acre), which is mainly an open land. This grassland continues to be used as a hill pasture for sheep and cattle. Apart from the grassland, the flora includes Oxeye daisy
and eye-bright, and in bog areas lady's smock, lousewort
, rush
and meadowsweet
; wet areas have sedge
and rush
; wooded areas comprise sessile oak
, moss
, lichen
and fern
.
Notable bird species in the forest include goshawk, crossbill
s and black grouse
in particular. The goshawk has appeared increasingly since the 1980s.
to produce 80–120 megawatts of power has been proposed in the Dyfnant Forest.
The Seven Trent Water Company, which has the responsibility to manage the forest, interacting with the Countryside Council for Wales
and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
, have the onerous task of preserving these forests along with the Vyrnwy estate, as a national nature reserve.
A particular 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) stretch of the trail in the forest is identified (by the Forestry Commission for Welsh Assembly Government) as an encouraging place (for children visiting the area to identify 10 species) to look for wildlife species such as squirrel
, frog
, stoat
and owl
amidst rich foliage of several tree species.
Afon Twrch
The Afon Twrch is a river which rises in the Black Mountain in south Wales. It forms the boundary between the counties of Powys and Carmarthenshire and, downstream of Ystradowen, between Powys and Neath Port Talbot county borough.The headwaters arise on the southern slopes of Bannau Sir Gaer and...
to the west and the Afon Efyrnwy to the east, north of the village of Llangadfan
Llangadfan
Llangadfan is a small village in Powys, east central Wales, based in the community of Banwy. The village lies on the A458 between Foel and Llanerfyl, from Llanwddyn. Dyfnant Forest is located nearby...
in northeastern-central Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It lies to the west of the B4395 road, a road which stems north from the A458 road
A458 road
The A458 is a route on the UK highway network that runs from Mallwyd, near Machynlleth, in Wales, to Halesowen, near Stourbridge, in England. On the way it passes through Welshpool, Shrewsbury, Much Wenlock, Bridgnorth and Stourbridge.-Welshpool to Shrewsbury:...
. It is described by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. The company is owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75% share from the founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler in 2007 and the final 25% in February 2011...
as being "where a well-signposted maze of forestry tracks culminates in one enormous hill before descending rather spectacularly toward Lake Vyrnwy
Lake Vyrnwy
Lake Vyrnwy Nature Reserve and Estate is an area of land in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, surrounding the Victorian reservoir of Lake Vyrnwy. Its stone-built dam, built in the 1880s, was the first of its kind in the world. The Nature Reserve and the area around it are jointly managed by the Royal...
" (five miles away)
Geography
Dyfnant Forest has an area of 2430 hectares (6,004.7 acre) located at the periphery of the Cambrian MountainsCambrian Mountains
The Cambrian Mountains are a series of mountain ranges in Wales, reaching from, and including, the South Wales mountains of the Brecon Beacons, north Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, the Black Mountains of eastern Wales, to Snowdonia in North Wales...
, just south of Lake Vyrnwy
Lake Vyrnwy
Lake Vyrnwy Nature Reserve and Estate is an area of land in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, surrounding the Victorian reservoir of Lake Vyrnwy. Its stone-built dam, built in the 1880s, was the first of its kind in the world. The Nature Reserve and the area around it are jointly managed by the Royal...
. The original forest was planted by the Forestry Commission. The Forest is approached from a country road from Llangadfan, which branches into a 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) foot track. It is well served by 64 kilometres (39.8 mi) of forest tracks. The forest tracks include the Rainbow Trails, which were established by a partnership between Forestry Commission Wales and the Dyfnant and Fyrnwy Horse Riders' & Carriage Drivers' Association; set in peaceful forest environment the trails consist of five horse-riding trails.
Wildlife
The forest is a large predominately coniferous working forest with pockets of native deciduous trees. The forest has rich growth of mixed plantation comprising conifer trees such as cypressCypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
, Western red cedar, lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
, Douglas fir, Norway spruce
Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is also commonly referred to as the European Spruce.- Description :...
and grand fir, as well as from deciduous trees
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
.
Within Dyfnant Forest, the Dyfnant Meadows spread over a small area of 9.5 hectares (23.5 acre), which is mainly an open land. This grassland continues to be used as a hill pasture for sheep and cattle. Apart from the grassland, the flora includes Oxeye daisy
Oxeye daisy
Leucanthemum vulgare, the oxeye daisy, , is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia...
and eye-bright, and in bog areas lady's smock, lousewort
Lousewort
Pedicularis is a genus of perennial green root parasite plants belonging to the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. Between 350 and 600 species are accepted by different authorities, mostly from the wetter northern temperate zones, as well as from South America...
, rush
Juncaceae
Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants. There are eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range...
and meadowsweet
Meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia...
; wet areas have sedge
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
and rush
Juncaceae
Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants. There are eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range...
; wooded areas comprise sessile oak
Sessile Oak
Quercus petraea , the Sessile Oak, also known as the Durmast Oak, is a species of oak native to most of Europe, and into Anatolia.-Description:...
, moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
, lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
and fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
.
Notable bird species in the forest include goshawk, crossbill
Crossbill
The crossbill is a bird in the finch family . The three to five species are all classified in the genus Loxia. These birds are characterised by the mandibles crossing at their tips, which gives the group its English name...
s and black grouse
Black Grouse
The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal...
in particular. The goshawk has appeared increasingly since the 1980s.
Other developments
A wind farmWind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
to produce 80–120 megawatts of power has been proposed in the Dyfnant Forest.
The Seven Trent Water Company, which has the responsibility to manage the forest, interacting with the Countryside Council for Wales
Countryside Council for Wales
The Countryside Council for Wales is an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. It is the Welsh Assembly Government's wildlife conservation authority for Wales...
and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...
, have the onerous task of preserving these forests along with the Vyrnwy estate, as a national nature reserve.
A particular 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) stretch of the trail in the forest is identified (by the Forestry Commission for Welsh Assembly Government) as an encouraging place (for children visiting the area to identify 10 species) to look for wildlife species such as squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
, frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
, stoat
Stoat
The stoat , also known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip...
and owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
amidst rich foliage of several tree species.