To the woods

A piece for the Llanelli Star to report on progress in our commonwood:

Welcome to Troserch Wood, but leave your motor at the gate! Troserch Wood is a strip of ancient woodland, along the Morlais river north of Llangennech. The 80-acres of former Forestry Commission plantation was acquired three years ago to secure it for public access and wildlife. The aim was to keep an unspoiled wooded valley in the public domain – a greenwood and a commonwood! - while gradually replacing conifers with native broadleaved trees
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The woods are managed by the Troserch Woodland Society (TWS), a voluntary association open to anyone with £5 to spare who shares these aims. An elected committee doubles as a not-for-profit limited company.

When we succeeded in getting the wood, with a grant from its former Forestry Commission owners (renamed Cyd Coed), we hadn’t really thought what to do with it. Luckily, the committee includes two foresters. With their advice and expertise, we organised the felling and replanting of about ten acres east of the river. Now, at last, the woods are free of heavy machines and the tracks more or less clear of mud. Gone are acres of dark pines. In their place, between lines of stumps and brush, several thousand newly planted ‘whips’ are sprouting leaves: oak and ash, rowan, elder and wild cherry.

With the felling and replanting, as with the original purchase of the woods, we’ve been very lucky with Cyd Coed and other grants. A new bridge and improved tracks serve to open up an area that had been effectively out of bounds for a generation, too steep, dark and dense for man or beast.

Now the landscape is revealed and sunlight flooding in. Dormant acorns, roots and bluebell bulbs have sprung to life, birds returned to nest in the brush left by the felling. Among the outcrops, springs and streams are manmade features, the outlines of old walls and tracks, spoiltips and ruins of old mineworkings…

Please heed the WARNING sign on the fences around old mine openings!
We hadn’t envisaged telling other people what to do or not to do. But with the property come responsabilities, and liabilities (and it will take some time before the Coal Authority makes good the caps on all the old drifts and shafts.)

We must also find our way through conflicts of interest. Forest tracks draw motorbikes and fourwheel drives, but we cant square that with wildlife commitments and the desire of most visitors for peace and quiet. In the event of a collision, who suffers, and who picks up the costs?

So the decision was taken to ban all motor traffic - motorbikes, quadbikes and fourwheel drives – from the forest paths (they’re already illegal on rights of way, though NOT on the ‘Roman Road’ that forms the western boundary). Mountain bikers and horseriders are welcome, on the understanding that wheels and hooves give way to traffic on two feet.

It’s hard to keep a proper balance between over-caution and irresponsibility. We don’t want to turn a wildish river valley into a bland pleasure park, or litter the place with warning signs and notices. The proceeds of timber sold may cover basic woodland management, but not the construction of immaculate footpaths or rangers to patrol or empty litter bins. Instead we rely on goodwill and common sense, we trust people to look after themselves and each other, respect the nature of the place and the feelings of other visitors.

So, come and have a look if you haven’t already. To get to the main carpark, at the north-west end of the wood, follow the Troserch Road north from Llangennech. Cross the A4138 roundabout and head up the hill. After a mile-and-a-half, where the road swings sharp left, turn right, heading north towards Llannon. After another half mile, and you’ll see a carpark on the right, with signboard and map of the woods and paths. There’s a picnic site nearby.

We also welcome proposals from groups and organisations for new activities – camping, orienteering, forest-school or woodcraft skills. School groups, scouts, you name it (whatever happened to the Woodcraft Folk?): get in touch.

For contacts and information on wildlife, history, see www.troserchwoods.co.uk . All TWS members are welcome to management meetings, first Wednesday every month, at 7 pm in Llangennech Community Hall.