Description

The woodland is noted by Natural Resources Wales as a Plantation on Ancient Woodland. It comprises a planted beech wood with occasional scattered vestiges of past conifer crops comprising western red cedar and western hemlock. It has small amounts of young sycamore and silver birch, although these are not dominant in the canopy.

There is a small area of Corsican pine (c.0.61 hectares, c.1.5 acres) to the north of the Pen y Gelli Nature Reserve, and c.0.89 hectares (2.2 acres) of Norway spruce to the north of the nearby cricket ground. The spruce has a small area of windblow. A small area (c.1 hectare, c.2.4 acres) of mixed broadleaves comprising ash and sycamore, projects outwards in a northeast direction from the main body of the wood adjacent to the cricket ground. This part of the wood sits on a low mound. Elsewhere, the wood is generally flat, sloping northwest on a gentle incline.

A section of the historic Offa’s Dyke can be seen on the western edge, and selective tree felling has opened up the canopy in this area, allowing more light to the forest floor and increasing the richness of the ground flora.

The woodland was last systematically thinned in 1994, prior to ownership by the current owner. At this time the intermixed crop of larch was selectively felled. This has resulted in the remaining beech trees growing in both height and girth and they dominate the woodland, at c.85% of crown cover. The original planting rows within the beech trees can clearly be seen, and they give an excellent guide for the direction of future timber harvesting. The beech trees would benefit from a thin and the remaining conifers could be clear felled, thus providing substantial volumes of timber and immediate income opportunities. The woodland is currently informally and minimally managed.

Access to the woodland comprises a wide entrance way on the southeast corner of the property on to the A5026 (the current owner notes was used for harvesting timber in the past) and a similar access on the north-west. These are shown as “red circles” on the map. Both entrances have metal gates.

There are several internal tracks. The wood is adjacent to the A55 and c.1 mile from an access junction – hence onward transport connections are excellent.