South Stack Blog: April 2012
For one reason or another I have not been able to keep my blog up to date. So now you are in for a long catchup.
I LEAD MY FIRST WALK
On the 31st March I was asked to lead a walk on the site. This would be the first time that I had led a walk. I have to say that I was a little nervous, especially when I found out that the group were an RSPB group from Brighton. As an ex professional planner I did what seemed to me the obvious thing to do, I made a plan!
My first step was going to be a walk down to Ellin's Tower. Once there I was going to show my visitors the Guilemott’s,Razorbills etc. From there we would enter the tower where I would tell them all about the tower and it's history.
The plan went wrong from the outset, once down at Ellin's tower there were no Guilemott’s or Razorbills, they were out at sea feeding! Next we did in fact enter Ellin's tower were I forgot to tell my guests the history. Fortunately I had no need to worry. It turns out that the more your group know about the birds the less that you need to tell them. The visitors were very gentle with me and very quickly put me at my ease. From here on the walk went very well, I eventually told my guests all about the tower and in addition quite a lot about the lighthouse as we had now arrived at the Hut Circles and I know a lot more about the lighthouse than the Hut Circles. Some of the group were very interested in the Hut Circles and spent an amount of time investigating.
I must admit that I enjoyed the walk very much,I learnt quite a lot,and had a good
rapport with my guests.
My visitors were pleased to try the stop and rest,
I also showed them what I always see as the back of Queen Victoria, she visited the lighthouse twice, each time when she was returning from Ireland.
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APRIL 6th
Whilst doing my meet and greet with the public I met a very interesting lady.
I got into conversation with her, (I can't remember how) . It turned out that she had lived for 45 years at the farmhouse across from the visitor centre. She told me that she had worked for a number of years at the cafe before it was owned by the RSPB.
She had a well on her property that originally supplied the cafe with water and also Plas Nico.
The conversation got around to Ellin's Tower,this is not surprising as when I am speaking to anyone local I usually turn the conversation around to Ellin's Tower. she had remembered it falling into disrepair and also the restoration. She also told me that she had some old plates that had originally came from what I understood to be the service used in Ellin's tower by the Stanley family at the time that they used it as a retreat. I asked her if I could photograph these plates. She did not seem to want to bring her plates in to be photographed but said that she had a picture of them.
I told her that I was at the visitor centre most Tuesdays and if she felt like bringing in the picture I would be delighted to photograph it. Wether that will happen I do not know? I hope very much that it does.
APRIL 10th
I spent most of the day in Ellin’s tower, unfortunately the Guilemotts were out at sea and therefore not much to show to our visitors. It is most inconsiderate of the sea birds I feel that they should give us prior notice before deserting us. Ken our local bird expert came into the tower and updated our sightings board, looking on were members of the public eager to see what ken had sighted.
Another lovely moment was when I spotted some children observing nature, they are the future for conservation.
Cais
When I turned up on Tuesday for my volunteering fix there were several young ladies from the North Wales Peer mentoring Scheme. Their aim was to show the public how easy it is to look after wildlife in your garden. They gave away home made bird feeders, and also had an area where children could make fat balls, all materials being provided free of charge. Below are some pictures which they have allowed me to incorporate into my blog. My thanks to Kimberly for the material.
Kimberley Ferguson
Peer Mentor Activity and Event Co-ordinator
CAIS Cyf / CAIS Ltd
12 Trinity Square
Llandudno
LL302RA
My next piece of news is that Kathy our assistant people engagement officer is sadly leaving us. She is to join the North Wales Wildlife Trust. She will be the warden at Cemlyn bay, this is among other things, the main place to observe ‘Terns’. The Terns nest and raise chicks each year at Cemlyn.
Kathy is saying her farewell to the Puffin and also to Hayley. We all wish Kathy all the very best in her new role and for the future. Our loss is their gain.
April 11th
Today before I started my duties for the day I went around the site in the vicinity of Ellin’s tower and along the coastal path and back up to the visitor centre. My aim is to capture pictures of the wild flowers that grow on the reserve through the seasons. Although it is early in the flower growing year I did manage to get some nice pictures. I am not very knowledgable on wild flowers and I am relying on you to give me help with identification. Below are my first flowers.
That is all for now folks, back soon. Mel.