(Above) the colours of Ynys hir this week
To many the squat little peninsular of Wales has two distinct identities. North and yes you’ve guessed it South! Both these parts of Wales conjure up images of landscape in our heads when they are mentioned. The North is towering craggy peaks, with Anglesey the head of the body hugging Gwynedd, with the arm of Pen llyn pointing accusatory out in to the Irish Sea towards Ireland. South meanwhile evokes an image of an industrial landscape. Narrow valleys arteries stretch down to the sea to the cities of Cardiff and Swansea. The lid of the south Wales melting pot is the Brecon Beacons, lying languidly over the top of the industrial heartland to the south. It is of course a lot more complicated than this!
But there is a region that doesn’t shout so loud. Its the place above the plateaud old red sandstone peaks of the Brecon beacons, and below the north that perhaps begins once you reach Dolgellau on the A470! I think that’s the start of the north you may beg to differ! This land is called Mid Wales! And it’s magnificent!
This week I got the opportunity to visit the most magnificent of the magnificent. The two stunning RSPB Reserves at Ynys Hir and Lake Vyrnwy. I’m ashamed to say it’s the first time I’ve been there. But Ynys hir and Vyrnwy, where have you been all my life?!
I’ve driven along the road form Aberystwyth to Machynlleth, along the southern flank of the Dyfi estuary- where the RSPB Ynys Hir Reserve is- a thousand times. I’ve always thought there was something special about this beautiful estuary but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But when I took a walk around the reserve last week, it struck me. The colours! Nowhere in Wales, for me do you get such contrasting colours and textures in the landscape.
Small clouds had been thrown across a bright blue sky like pebbles, casting shadows on the deep emerald moorland below it. Below these humped hills, is the tree line. At this time of year, those ancient forests have long turned turn golden. If you walk through the woodland at Ynys Hir, the place feels at work and alive. As the trees are brushed by a gentle breeze you can see and hear a falling army of leaves floating to the ground like ghosts. Below the trees is the salt marsh with multitudes of ducks and Geese feasting on its bounty. The layered landscape is reflected on the waters of the estuary and the various ponds that pepper the reserve. Words cannot do it justice, you have to go there!
Now Vyrnwy has a different atmosphere. It’s hard to get to but that’s part of its charm. Its buried deep in the folds of mid Wales so much so the reserve feels like it lies in some kind of gouged trench scooped out by the hand of an angry giant millennia ago. It’s the dark green heart of Wales. A mysterious retreat for man and nature. Out on the tops there seems to be endless ripples of Heather moorland. As well as the hardy ponies that Graze here there are red and black grouse. I wish there was a lot more. The views are predictably magnificent. The first snow flurries of winter had covered the uplands with a layer of snow making it all the more spectacular. On this pristine clear day, the peaks of Aran fawddwy and Arenig to the north could be seen dissecting the clear sky.
So the next time your imagining the south or the north or maybe driving on the A470 to reach one of the ends of Wales spare a thought for mid. Its wild, magnificent mysterious and the these RSPB reserves that lie within in are its undisputed jewels.
Vyrnwy moorland. Aran Fawddwy in the distance