Forgotten Landscapes helping to fight illegal off-road biking

PC Rob Maddocks, the Landscape Crime Officer with the Forgotten Landscapes Project, has started a combined effort with a police officer in Twmbarlwm to fight illegal off-road biking.

The Twmbarlwm mountain, and the remains of its Iron Age hill fort, is a well-visited tourist destination and is widely known throughout the region. Over recent decades this historically important site has suffered extensive damage from illegal off-road biking, which has scarred the area by ploughing up the ground.

Through his work with the Forgotten Landscapes Project at the Blaenavon World Heritage Site, Rob Maddocks has developed new techniques for dealing with off-roading, fly tipping and other landscape crime issues. He is now passing on his knowledge to the local police officer Simon James who has been placed in the Twmbarlwm area specifically to fight the persisting problem.

This is a great example of how knowledge gained through the Forgotten Landscapes Project is being spread to other areas within South East Wales.

Firing up the heather moorland

Volunteers for the Forgotten Landscapes Partnership (FLP) have just finished learning how to manage the heather moorland which is so vitally important to the area’s red grouse population - the southernmost in the UK. The population has been decreasing dramatically over the past 100 years: The most recent survey found that only 67 still inhabit the area.
Over the past decades the area surrounding the Blorenge Mountain, The Blorenge Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), has been subject to far-reaching fires causing great damage to the area’s heather moorland, the most important vegetation for the red grouse population: they nest in the old heather and feed on the new. A healthy composition of the heather is therefore crucial for their survival.
The previous fires have created a heather vegetation that is even-aged in most places and    as a result does not meet the needs of the red grouse. The volunteers are helping to solve this problem: By burning areas of heather under controlled circumstances, they make sure that new heather will grow, creating a mosaic composition of heather in all ages.
A part of the volunteer effort has included work by young air cadets. Before a patch of heather is burnt, a circle - or “fire brake” - is cut around it to make sure the fire does not get out of control. The cut down heather then has to be removed to ensure that the fire brakes keep the flames in check. The cadets have helped with this preliminary process as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
The hope of this heather conservation project is to double the red grouse population and make sure that they will have a nice home for many years to come.

Canal Festival Launch



The Canal's 200th Anniversary had its official start on Friday with the 'Ringing of the Bells' at Pontymoile Basin near Pontypool. Hard-core cyclists from Abergavenny Cycle Group and Forgotten Landscapes at Blaenavon pedaled down to the event from Llanfoist, over frozen mud and narrowly avoiding sliding into the icy waters at times! They made it in the nick of time to hear the Bell being struck! Abergavenny Cycle Group will be running some Family Rides and 'Cycling for Softies' events later in the year - watch this space - come and join them when the weather is better!

Read the BBC Wales report on the event

Volunteer Ranger in successful bid for Cadw post

Andrew Brown, 52, a Volunteer Ranger for the Blaenavon World Heritage Site and Forgotten Landscapes Partnership (FLP) has been offered a year-long contract with Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government.

A retired police officer of Gwent, he has been doing a history course at the University of Wales, Newport, where he is currently in his second year. Alongside his studies he has been an eager participant in the volunteer programmes of the Forgotten Landscapes Project being involved in a variety of projects from a pond survey and moorland management activities to carrying out historical research.

He took the opportunity to get involved in an archaeology project - one of the Community Lifelong Learning courses available through FLP - which he heard about whilst volunteering. Through the project he picked up useful knowledge and demonstrated his interest in Welsh history – experience that impressed Cadw and helped him earn the job.

Once he finishes the second year of his studies later this year, he will take up the post in Cadw before coming back and finishing his third and final year. The valuable work experience is likely to leave him in a good position for getting a job once he graduates.

The best of luck from the Forgotten Landscapes Partnership, Andrew!