What's happening?

Welcome to our updates page, letting everyone know what is happening in Troserch Woods as the months and seasons roll by.

We hope it will be a monthly update so please let me know of any interesting sights or encounters you experience whilst in the woods, or photos you have taken, so that I can add it to our account. Thanks!

Jan Glover (Secretary)

June 2011

Dear Members
As I sit writing this email, the light evening is shrouded in mist, the rain persists and the wind whips the young, bright green leaves almost off their branches. Yes, it's June and I've just lit a fire.
However, it's an ill wind as they say, and the rain is making everything grow in the garden especially the weeds.
In Troserch Woods the undergrowth is thriving with plenty of Bramble, Bracken and Rose Bay Willow Herb on the edges of the trees and fox gloves in the open areas. Molinia grass is shading out  the young trees on the East side of Afon Morlais and so recent working parties have been weeding, triming and clipping to give the young trees that were planted in 2009 a chance to develop. Many of them are looking really good and the East side makes for a very pleasent circular walk with wonderful, open views
Last month Troserch Woodland Society hosted a visit from the Royal Forestry Society. there was a guided tour of the woods in the morning followed by a tour of Pontrillas Packaging in the afternoon. A chance to see timber growing and then what it can be used for. I'm told all who took part enjoyed themselves.
Finally, as you may be aware, we are holding our Annual General Meeting on 6th July and are required to notify all members by post in advance. Having posted out the notifications using recycled envelopes donated by a work colleague, I subsequently became aware that some envelopes exceeded the maximum size for a 2nd class stamp. Unfortunately, some members received a note from their postman requesting them to collect their renewal in person from the sorting office for an extra charge. As soon as the problem came to light we did all we could to notify everyone and then resend the forms as quickly as possible. It may be that you received a duplicate form as a result.
Anyway, apologies all round and I hope you will continue to support TWS and join us for our AGM on Wednesday 6th July, 7pm Llangennech Community Hall
Best Wishes
Jan Glover Secretary

May 2011

Dear Members,
The weather has turned "summery" finally with the usual wind and drizzle but what fantastic Easter holiday weather!
The strong westerly winds have brought down further large trees, at least one old beech right across the river and the increased humidity has truely woken all those small buzzing insects who enjoy chasing humans on still, cloudy evenings. The trick is to keep moving! Talking of moving, the swallows are doing their best to keep the small buzzing insects in check and I think we have more swallows up at the top end of the woods this year than last; the aeriel displays appear synchronised and are wonderful to watch. Kingfishers, woodwarblers, woodpeckers and dippers have all been spotted in the woods this month.
The Roundhouse looks great with it's grassy hat on and it seems the grass and sedums up there are doing well even with there having been a camp fire underneath! Very gratifying after all the building work over the last year and a half. A big thank-you to all who helped and also to those who came to the last working party in April to weed the Christmas trees. They're happier trees now they can see the sky!

This month I'd like to invite you all to a very easy working party.All we need is your feet to walk on the new East side paths to keep them open and viable. The walk is suitable for children and is approx 1.5 miles from and back to the carpark. 2 hours or thereabouts. The pace will be slow with lots of stops. Long trousers, drinks, snacks and sun/rain gear recommended.
Meet at the main car park, 9.30 Saturday 4th June

This is also the time of year for the AGM and to renew memberships. The work TWS does is entirely dependent on volunteers and the Society depends on it's membership for financial support.
You will recieve a reminder through the post and you may wish to consider setting up a direct debit to avoid the need to remember to renew every year. The details are on the forms.
It is also possible to renew your membership via the webpage www.troserchwoodlands.co.uk, or come along to the AGM on Wednesday, 6th July, 7pm, Llangennech Community Centre.

Thanks for your continued support and I sincerely hope you will continue to support us in the coming year.
Best wishes,
Jan Glover
Secretary

April 2011

Dear Members
I can't quite believe a month has passed since my last update! Time definately moves faster at this time of year.
April is a really busy month for gardeners and also for wildlife in Troserch Woods. The woods are carpeted  with Wood Anemonies and Lesser Celandine and the bluebells are turning the woodland floor that special shade of blue. There is a sense of everything coming to life, and scrambling as fast as possible to grow and flower and reach up to the sun.
We have received a request from Carmarthenshire Biodiversity Partnership to help them carry out a survey of Barn Owls. There has been a 70% decline in numbers. It's thought there may well be Barn Owls in or near the woods so keep your eyes peeled. More in formation can be found on their site.
Hope to see you at the working party at the weekend
Happy Easter - fingers and toes crossed for the weather for the holidays........
Cheers Jan
Secretary

March 2011

Dear members, this month has seen clear signs of spring. Lesser Celandine is about to burst out in flower everywhere. There are lambs in the fields surrounding the Woods and the birdsong is deafening at times.
The Roundhouse looks amazing with it's new turf roof and the bend where it stands has been scraped to improve the path.

Two committee members are now fully qualified chainsaw operators - well done Lincoln and Andrew! And a big thank you to Tidy Towns Wales for their financial support for this training. The birds will have their work cut out to compete with the sound of the saws!

The TWS committee have updated our long medium and short term plans this month. Once finalised you can look them up on the website. That's all this month. As usual the next meeting is Weds 6th April, 7pm Llangennech Community Hall
Cheers Jan Glover
Secretary

February 2011

Dear members

Our February meeting last week was unusual in that it was dominated by politics. The committee felt strongly that we must register our concerns about the proposed government changes to the ownership of the UK's woodlands.
It was decided to write to our AM to voice our concerns and I have attached the letter here.
You might decide to send a copy of this letter to the AM yourself or send your own letter. As a society devoted to preserving our own local woods for the enjoyment of local residents and visitors to the area we felt this issue to be too important to ignore.

On a lighter note, TWS was nominated for an award from Keep Wales Tidy for our work to remove burned out vehicles and fly-tipped tyres. Marian and myself traveled to Cardiff for the ceremony. We were runners up in the end but still received £50 and a plaque which is to be put up in the community center.
The photo is of us receiving the plaque from Jane Davidson, the AM for the Environment

Meanwhile in the woods themselves there is an air of something about to happen. The woodland birds are finding their voices and the floor of the woodland is beginning to show signs of life. Keep your eyes peeled for the first spring flowers in the woods.

Warm Regards, Jan
Secretary

January 2011

Dear Members,

January has brought a New Year, a thaw and rain so Afon Morlais has been putting on quite a show. The level of our woodland river rises and falls very rapidly resulting in flooding along the banks in places but if you leave it a day, by the time you get there it's gone. In flood the river is impressive in it's raw energy but is not to be messed with. It's very easy to see how dangerous it is to get too close, particularly with the water volumes generated when a thaw and rain come together. Trees are being washed from the banks, roots and all, and stacked together into dams.

Another awesome natural spectacle on show in the last few weeks are the Starling flocks flying over the woods at dawn and dusk. They appear to be roosting in the reed beds just upstream from Llangennech on the Loughor Estuary and take a route over the woods to and from their day time feeding sites. The aerial acrobatics are accompanied by a whirring of wings if you are lucky and they fly low enough for you
to hear it.

Even though it's still only January I can't help looking for the first signs of spring - the beautiful woodland floor flowers. I'll let you know the moment I spot the first one!
As always, all members are welcome to come along to our monthly meeting at Llangennech village hall, 7pm, first Wednesday in the month

Cheers

Jan (Secretary)

Just to prove the Morlais did freeze over in December

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October 2010

Dear Members,

Autumn is truly here and Halloween and Bonfire Night are just around the corner. The woods are beginning to quieten down for winter. Not so much birdsong and the deciduous trees are beginning to look bare. It makes a big change to the woods when this happens, views through the trees open up and sounds travel better. This year has been great for hazelnuts and chestnuts. Fewer squirrels after the cold winter last year mean more left for other wildlife (and me!). Keep you eyes open for signs of dormice - nibbled hazelnuts. Kingfishers have also been seen. Troserch Woodland Society have been busy in the woods working on the roof of the Roundhouse. Thanks to all for their assistance.

The path on the East side of the river Morlais has been brush raked and is now much more obvious and is a lovely walk. To find it go to the North car park
adjacent to Graig Fach. Follow the main path to the Roundhouse. Turn left downhill to the river. Cross over and walk steeply uphill for 50m. The walk starts here on the left and follows a roughly circular course passing the old Goitre Wen Colliery and ends up back at the beginning. It needs feet or hooves to keep it walkable now it's been cleared, and if you stick to the path, no danger of trampling the newly planted saplings.

We were at the Llangennech village hall for the September table top sale to let people know what and where we are. There was a call for better information, a leaflet perhaps, and so we plan to apply for a grant to put towards the cost and hope to have something for the spring. There is to be some chainsaw work in the Woods in November, so if you here the sound of chainsaws this is why. Down to Earth, a local community group are using the woods as a training venue. That's all for now. As always the next meeting is Weds 3rd November 7pm, Llangennech village hall. All welcome.

Here's hoping the weather stays dry for half term and fingers crossed for a lovely show of Autumn colours this year.
Cheers for now.
Jan Glover
Secretary

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August 2010

Dear Members, with the summer now almost entirely behind us it's time for more autumnal thoughts. Troserch Woodland Society committee have met again after the summer break to make our plans for the new season
- possibly the last meeting in daylight til next spring. Here is an update of what's happened since July and our plans for the coming months.
In July TWS played host to a Woodland Management Roadshow day put on by Llys Y Goedwig, an organisation that supports all small community woodlands in Wales. The event was made up of a series of workshops
(talkshops) in the morning at the Llangennech community hall about various topics concerning woodland management. In the afternoon the delegates were treated to guided tours of our woodland. The event was
very successful, great ideas were exchanged and it was a wonderful chance to talk to others face to face who have the same sorts of things to cope with as we do.

Work has been taking place through the summer to complete the roofing of the Roundhouse - the new timber frame structure set at the junction of two of the main tracks. It's about 1/4 mile south of the main carpark at "Boulder bend" and is an imposing site as it comes into view. The roof still needs it's "living thatch" to be complete but even as it is now it provides shelter from the not-infrequent-hereabouts showers. The regeneration of the East side across the river continues. Most of the tiny saplings have got off to a good start, though the weeds have also taken off risking the saplings getting smothered. There is a path on the East side which has recently been re-cleared. It could do with being walked to keep it clear . If you happen to be in the area the views are amazing and there is the old mine to see (what's left of it). There are also lots of small frogs in the woods at the moment, particularly noticable in the part of the woods.

This is a great time of year for fungi, look out for the puffballs on the right of the main track just below the carpark. Of course it's never safe to eat wild fungi unless you're expert at identification. Now is also the time for the leaves to begin to change colour, the horse chestnuts have already started. This year is a great year for brambles, the woods are also full of cobnuts - seems our small gray furry friends are a little less common this year. Well that's all for this month. As usual the committee meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month, 7pm, Llangennech Community Hall and are open to all. Also this month we've got a table at the table top sale at the hall on 25th Sept if you'd like to have a less formal chat about the woods or know someone who'd like to join.

Here's hoping for an "Indian summer" so we can catch a last few warm rays before we dig out the woolley jumpers,
Best Wishes,
Jan

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