5 June 2006
Woodland volunteers celebrate successful woodland expansion at Green Castle Woods, Nr Carmarthen
Woodland Trust offers fresh strawberries and cream to those who lend a hand in removing tree tubes
Sunday 25 June 2pm - 6pm, meet at the Green Castle Woods car park (on the B3412 between Carmarthen and Llansteffan). Please share a car if you can as car parking spaces are limited.
Nearly ten years after it created 7.8 hectares (19 acres) of new broadleaved woodland at Green Castle Woods, near Carmarthen, the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity is calling on local people to help celebrate the successful creation of the new wood, by helping to remove the protective plastic tubes which the trees have now out-grown.
And, keen to encourage people to come and lend a hand, the Trust is offering all helpers a free tea of fresh strawberries and cream, plus a special guided walk to parts of Green Castle Woods that few visitors ever reach.
Hannah Scrase, who manages the site for the Trust, says: “I know that there was a lot of enthusiasm when we created this new area of woodland in the late 1990s and lots of local people helped plant the trees. I’m hoping that some of these people will be able to come to this event and see how the trees they planted are now beginning to look like a real wood. It would also be great if some of the many regular visitors to Green Castle Wood could come and join us too, to help them get more involved in the management of the site.”
“Bring your family and friends along and maybe a picnic”, she says, “Join us any time from 2pm - 6pm. It will be fun!”
Protective plastic tubes are often put around newly planted trees to protect them from sheep, deer or rabbits. But these trees have now outgrown them and they need the space to grow further. The Woodland Trust is inviting the original tree planters as well as visitors to the site to come back and celebrate their wood and help look after the site for one afternoon - or even one hour. The task is easy - no tools or skills needed but gardening gloves and long trousers may be useful.
Green Castle Woods are made up of three separate well established woods, on the western bank of the Tywi Estuary, separated by flower-rich meadows and the newly planted woodland. Together they form a varied patchwork of ancient hedgerows, dry areas, marshy areas, an old quarry, flat ground, gently and steeply sloping land. They are set in an undulating landscape, and enjoy stunning views of the countryside around. They were acquired by the Woodland Trust in 1993, because of their wildlife interest and their great potential for quiet outdoor recreation. They are one of very few areas of countryside with open public access with a few miles of Carmarthen, and are now well used. In 1998 the Carmarthen Long Distance Footpath was routed through the site.
Green Castle Woods are named after the 15th century mansion whose ruins can be seen near the nearby Greencastle Farm, overlooking the River Tywi. An enthusiastic group of volunteers, the Green Castle Woodlanders, have been doing sterling work assisting with the care of Green Castle woods since 1994 and they have done much of the path development work.
Green Castle woodland are open for anyone to visit at any time for free, and now have their own website, including all kinds of information and an interactive map, at: www.wt-woods.org.uk/greencastlewoods
(ends)
For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
Hannah Scrase on 01686 412534 or hannahscase@woodland-trust.org.uk
or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes to editors
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
