Mid Wales musings....

[steveR]

I had a ride through mid-Wales yesterday, part of which was a ride around the Elan Dams, back across the Mountain Road to Hafod and then ontop Devils Bridge. Interested to note that some of the Hill boys are wanting to farm and keep land in good heart and condition, but there seems to be ever more reverting to unimproved hill, signs of teh times I guess.

I was a bit depressed when I went past Pwllpeiran, the old EHF facility I first knew back in the 70s. It looks so rundown and unloved, and all that excellent research work started in the 50s, seems have finished? The land around seems to have fallen away in management. Buildings looked tatty...

I did see a sign on a rather battered door outside describing the facility as an "upland research centre".... Please, please tell me it is not now devoted to the green agenda and rewilding??

 

[little_p]

I went for a ride around there yesterday as well. I think we nodded as we passed ;-)

I ride up their regularly so might not have spotted changes in the landscape. But it was definitely drive your shiny new equipment day up there. I suspect that it is not all bad in them there hills.

 

[Henery]

I ride that way as often as possible, there is some “ proper “ grazing management, particularly in Elan area, elsewhere I see dereliction, bracken and gorse, lack of stock … very sad to see when you consider the generations of hard graft that created those grazing areas. Someone is going to pay for this …. May take a while but the untapped potential is criminal.
mines an Africa Twin …. bTW

 

[steveR]

I went for a ride around there yesterday as well. I think we nodded as we passed ;-)

I ride up their regularly so might not have spotted changes in the landscape. But it was definitely drive your shiny new equipment day up there. I suspect that it is not all bad in them there hills.

Dunno, the kit looks a bit like some of mine, as in seen a year or two's work Not seeing new sheds going up now .

Nice part of the world, and I used to know it well, but not so much these days. I've ridden most of the trails in the past in the area. Too hard core though for me these days

 

[steveR]

I ride that way as often as possible, there is some “ proper “ grazing management, particularly in Elan area, elsewhere I see dereliction, bracken and gorse, lack of stock … very sad to see when you consider the generations of hard graft that created those grazing areas. Someone is going to pay for this …. May take a while but the untapped potential is criminal.
mines an Africa Twin …. bTW

Yep, really sad, and it really bugs me. One advantage of the land up there being owned as part of a water catchment, at least they will not grow bloody trees!

I did notice one farmer had a field rowed ready for baling just down from the top end of Craig Coch on the Mountain Road, decent crop and nice to see amongst the scrub and rushes. I can remember a lot more of that flatter, lower lying land being "farmed" in teh past.



Old or new AT? As a long time V twin man, these things are important

 

[steveR]

I went for a ride around there yesterday as well. I think we nodded as we passed ;-)

I ride up their regularly so might not have spotted changes in the landscape. But it was definitely drive your shiny new equipment day up there. I suspect that it is not all bad in them there hills.

Wasn't you at Crossgates, refuelling man and machine?

Hoping tomorrow is not too bad and will take the 400 for an airing into S Shropshire and tackle a gentle green lane or two. I am trying to get out as often as possible now, to try and get the body "bike fit" for a couple of bigger rides.

 

[Mickstup]

I had a ride through mid-Wales yesterday, part of which was a ride around the Elan Dams, back across the Mountain Road to Hafod and then ontop Devils Bridge. Interested to note that some of the Hill boys are wanting to farm and keep land in good heart and condition, but there seems to be ever more reverting to unimproved hill, signs of teh times I guess.

Our local Young Farmers Club (Knighton) walked some of that route whilst walking across Wales last weekend, link below if you would like to donate a bit towards the Air Ambulance and our local First Responders'

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[Henery]

Yep, really sad, and it really bugs me. One advantage of the land up there being owned as part of a water catchment, at least they will not grow bloody trees!

I did notice one farmer had a field rowed ready for baling just down from the top end of Craig Coch on the Mountain Road, decent crop and nice to see amongst the scrub and rushes. I can remember a lot more of that flatter, lower lying land being "farmed" in teh past.



Old or new AT? As a long time V twin man, these things are important

Sadly not the old V , it’s a crf1000 , have a DCT 1100 too, not one of my better decisions , it’s on the transfer list….

 

[Lili]

I had a ride through mid-Wales yesterday, part of which was a ride around the Elan Dams, back across the Mountain Road to Hafod and then ontop Devils Bridge. Interested to note that some of the Hill boys are wanting to farm and keep land in good heart and condition, but there seems to be ever more reverting to unimproved hill, signs of teh times I guess.

I was a bit depressed when I went past Pwllpeiran, the old EHF facility I first knew back in the 70s. It looks so rundown and unloved, and all that excellent research work started in the 50s, seems have finished? The land around seems to have fallen away in management. Buildings looked tatty...

I did see a sign on a rather battered door outside describing the facility as an "upland research centre".... Please, please tell me it is not now devoted to the green agenda and rewilding??

Now run by Aberystwyth University. They have primitive sheep and alpacas up there.

PROJECT INFORMATION SHEET
Pwllpeiran has a long and unrivalled record of involvement with change and development in the
uplands. In the eighteenth century it was host to the radical agricultural experiments undertaken by
Thomas Johnes of the Hafod estate, then in the 1930’s it became the centre of Sir George Stapledon’s
pioneering Cahn Hill Improvement Scheme
developing methods of establishing productive
hill pastures. Specialist machinery was used on
derelict moorland to kill the bracken, tear
through the matted turf and rushes, and carve
open drains. The land was slagged and limed,
sown with rape and ryegrass for speedy
grazing by sheep, before being harrowed and
resown with ryegrass, white clover and
timothy as the foundation of a new sward. This
was kept productive by regular fertilising and
controlled grazing.
The result was a striking increase in the productivity of the pasture, in the density of the stocking, and in
the quality of the lamb produced. Over the next 30 years Pwllpeiran increased its agricultural output
dramatically and its systems were widely taken up by farmers. From 1955, Pwllperian was officially
designated as an Experimental Husbandry Farm. During the following forty years, work at the farm
achieved substantial improvements in the quality and quantity of lamb and beef produced, but by the
turn of the millennium the emphasis of agricultural policy was turning away from increased livestock
production and towards the development of environmentally sensitive farming systems, and research
priorities changed. After decades of management by MAFF and then ADAS, Aberystwyth University
took over the lease for the site (which is owned by the Welsh Government) in 2012.
Pwllpeiran today remains a centre for the study of upland farmed ecosystems.
Just over 50% of utilised UK
agricultural land is classified
as less favoured area, and
within Wales this figure
rises to 80%. These
marginal areas will inevitably play an important
role in ensuring future food and energy security. Upland regions are also vital in delivering a wide range
of other ecosystem services; e.g. water management (including provision of drinking water and flood
mitigation), carbon management (including soil carbon conservation and sequestration), and landscape
and heritage management (including tourism, recreation and educational access).
Contact for more information:
Dr Mariecia Fraser
email - [email protected]
tel - 01970 823081
The history of Pwllpeiran

 

[steveR]

Our local Young Farmers Club (Knighton) walked some of that route whilst walking across Wales last weekend, link below if you would like to donate a bit towards the Air Ambulance and our local First Responders'

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I saw a lot of posters for "Save the Mid Wales Air Ambulance" all over the place. Popped a couple of bob in the box when having a brew.

 

[steveR]

Sadly not the old V , it’s a crf1000 , have a DCT 1100 too, not one of my better decisions , it’s on the transfer list….

We have all done this once or twice.... Is that the cruiser bike?

 

[steveR]

Now run by Aberystwyth University. They have primitive sheep and alpacas up there.

PROJECT INFORMATION SHEET
Pwllpeiran has a long and unrivalled record of involvement with change and development in the
uplands. In the eighteenth century it was host to the radical agricultural experiments undertaken by
Thomas Johnes of the Hafod estate, then in the 1930’s it became the centre of Sir George Stapledon’s
pioneering Cahn Hill Improvement Scheme
developing methods of establishing productive
hill pastures. Specialist machinery was used on
derelict moorland to kill the bracken, tear
through the matted turf and rushes, and carve
open drains. The land was slagged and limed,
sown with rape and ryegrass for speedy
grazing by sheep, before being harrowed and
resown with ryegrass, white clover and
timothy as the foundation of a new sward. This
was kept productive by regular fertilising and
controlled grazing.
The result was a striking increase in the productivity of the pasture, in the density of the stocking, and in
the quality of the lamb produced. Over the next 30 years Pwllpeiran increased its agricultural output
dramatically and its systems were widely taken up by farmers. From 1955, Pwllperian was officially
designated as an Experimental Husbandry Farm. During the following forty years, work at the farm
achieved substantial improvements in the quality and quantity of lamb and beef produced, but by the
turn of the millennium the emphasis of agricultural policy was turning away from increased livestock
production and towards the development of environmentally sensitive farming systems, and research
priorities changed. After decades of management by MAFF and then ADAS, Aberystwyth University
took over the lease for the site (which is owned by the Welsh Government) in 2012.
Pwllpeiran today remains a centre for the study of upland farmed ecosystems.
Just over 50% of utilised UK
agricultural land is classified
as less favoured area, and
within Wales this figure
rises to 80%. These
marginal areas will inevitably play an important
role in ensuring future food and energy security. Upland regions are also vital in delivering a wide range
of other ecosystem services; e.g. water management (including provision of drinking water and flood
mitigation), carbon management (including soil carbon conservation and sequestration), and landscape
and heritage management (including tourism, recreation and educational access).
Contact for more information:
Dr Mariecia Fraser
email - [email protected]
tel - 01970 823081
The history of Pwllpeiran

Looks like my hopes in the OP, "Please, please tell me it is not now devoted to the green agenda and rewilding??" have been dashed... Hey ho.

 

[Henery]

We have all done this once or twice.... Is that the cruiser bike?

No Africa Twin adventure sport. It’s a big unit and I’m a little short in the leg…. Moment of madness. DCT is a clever stuff and has its place, but in a confined space / loose surface it’s a bit of a nightmare . Honda claim more than 50% of AT sold with it .
Where you heading today? Kettle on in the Corvedale

 

[Lili]

Looks like my hopes in the OP, "Please, please tell me it is not now devoted to the green agenda and rewilding??" have been dashed... Hey ho.

"Run by Aberystwyth university" is all the information you need.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

All those EHFs were a Tragic loss to farming , the big one for me was Trawscoed just down the road. There was not enough noise made at the time of the importance of keeping them going
We have our little mini one here, the potatoe trails have been running for years by Adas , but sadly no longer independent
Time was when they did Phosphate trails on grass plots here and those were totally independent

 

[steveR]

No Africa Twin adventure sport. It’s a big unit and I’m a little short in the leg…. Moment of madness. DCT is a clever stuff and has its place, but in a confined space / loose surface it’s a bit of a nightmare . Honda claim more than 50% of AT sold with it .
Where you heading today? Kettle on in the Corvedale

Well, grand plan was to be away at 10.30..... but a sheep decided otherwise!! That's 2 hrs of our life we won't get back.

Will drop a PM later... be grand to meet up for a brew in passing...

 

[Henery]

Well, grand plan was to be away at 10.30..... but a sheep decided otherwise!! That's 2 hrs of our life we won't get back.

Will drop a PM later... be grand to meet up for a brew in passing...

 

[steveR]

All those EHFs were a Tragic loss to farming , the big one for me was Trawscoed just down the road. There was not enough noise made at the time of the importance of keeping them going
We have our little mini one here, the potatoe trails have been running for years by Adas , but sadly no longer independent
Time was when they did Phosphate trails on grass plots here and those were totally independent

Yep, quality research being done and just as important, they got the info back out into teh farming communities.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Adas Blight Spray Plots taken hear this morning showing clearly what can happen if you don't spray

 

[David.]

I had a ride through mid-Wales yesterday, part of which was a ride around the Elan Dams, back across the Mountain Road to Hafod and then ontop Devils Bridge. Interested to note that some of the Hill boys are wanting to farm and keep land in good heart and condition, but there seems to be ever more reverting to unimproved hill, signs of teh times I guess.

I was a bit depressed when I went past Pwllpeiran, the old EHF facility I first knew back in the 70s. It looks so rundown and unloved, and all that excellent research work started in the 50s, seems have finished? The land around seems to have fallen away in management. Buildings looked tatty...

I did see a sign on a rather battered door outside describing the facility as an "upland research centre".... Please, please tell me it is not now devoted to the green agenda and rewilding??

Went past the former Drayton EHF last week.
Just ffs, is all I can think to say.
An oasis of neglect.