It’s difficult to do justice to the place where I’ve been working today. Dinefwr Park in West Wales is a beautiful, historic designed landscape, laid out by the people who lived here in the 17th century.
A mixture of parkland and farmland, with hundreds of oak trees that are over 500 years old. Today we were working out how to maintain these ancient trees for another two hundred years, and how to create the right conditions for their successors. So we’ve been thinking very long range thoughts today indeed.
And if that wasn’t enough Dinefwr is home to a very rare breed of the White Park Cattle. This beautiful breed can be traced back in history over a thousand years.
And if the trees and cattle are not ancient enough, then just under the soil here there are rocks containing thousands of trilobite fossils, aged a mere 400 million years.
It was a wonderful day immersed in such ancient beauty.
Mike Howe 
Hope you and your glorious trees are not being too badly battered by the storm.
Thanks, to be honest out here on the wild west coast weather like that is the norm at this time of year. It’s more unusual for those inhabiting southern England however, and of course that is where the media centres are, so it all gets a bit over played. Basically its stormy every week here in the winter, so no drama 🙂
Hooray! Sort of 🙂 The media would have us believe that half of the UK is being blown away.
That’s because the media are all London and Southern England centric, so if it’s happening to them it makes the headlines. If it happens out here, or up in Scotland (which it does on a regular basis) nobody mentions it 🙂
And, we have had severe gales here in recent weeks; enormous numbers of trees lost and storm damage to irrigation equipment; insurance claims in the millions….bet no one in London heard about them 😀 via the media. They may have heard about the terrible bush fires in the Blue Mountains of Australia,though, because Australia is always a bit more important than us in the world news stakes.
Yes you’re absolutely right, we’ve heard all about the bush fires in Oz but nothing about your troubles! Hope you are ok and relatively unaffected. I prefer NZ anytime, in fact I’ve always longed to visit what I believe is a stunningly beautiful country….one day 🙂
My little corner is okay, but some trees came down not too far from me during the wild weather this weekend. We are all a little tired of the wind; the farmers, especially, who have lost shelter belts that are decades old. Don’t know if you saw this post but it combines something Australian and NZ in our lovely Botanic Gardens. Apologies if you have already seen this. http://silkannthreades.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/2995/
So beautiful, Mike(s)! I sometimes find trilobite fossils here, too. I love those ancient connections to the earth.
Thank you Karen, you have got that right, ancient connections to the earth, I like that. Thank you 🙂
History, landscape, nature, AND fossils – I’m on my way down to West Wales! 🙂 What a beautiful place. Even the cattle look as if they have found paradise!
Thanks Jo, it is a real pleasure to be able to work there!
Haven’t you promised to publish photos of rain and grim weather – not to make us office-workers so jealous ;-)?
I know I know, I was thinking that, the trouble is rain and wind don’t come out very well in photos, and we have plenty of that now. It’s just that yesterday happened to be lovely and I couldn’t help sharing 🙂 I’ll do my best to post about grim and miserable for you soon 🙂
Most ancient and glorious of days……and my mind is boggled, wondering how one does conserve these ancient trees for another 200 years or more.
I learned all about it by a man who is incredibly knowledgeable about these big old trees. You basically have to nurse them through old age to prevent disease and from falling over in storms.
Like people! Would you be interested in this http://www.43trees.com/index.html This is the work of the sister of blogger/artist vsperry. I think it is a lovely way to honour our trees. It’s good to know the gracious old trees are in your good care.
Wow! What a place in which to work!
It is indeed very special and I’m very lucky, thanks!
What a beauiful landscape! Your descriptions accompanied by the images taken by Corrinne and Mike give a wonderful glimpse to the feel of that area. The White Park Cattle is really special, too! Somehow if gives me a home-ish feeling when I look at them.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend and sending much love!
Thanks Steffi, it was a fabulous day and I can’t believe my luck to be involved in conserving this rare and beautiful landscape. Tomorrow it’s the turn of the only Roman Gold Mine in the UK, but that’s another story for another day! Wishing you happiness, Mike x
It is great when your work is an expression of what you love doing, isn’t it?! 🙂
I am looking forward to read and see more about both Dinefwr Park and UK’s Roman Gold Mine at the given time.
(Wikipedia says something about Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Carmarthenshire?)
Happiness received and shared right “back” at you!
You are clever. Yes Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Carmarthenshire tomorrow, I’m writing the management plan, no pressure 🙂 The Romans came two thousand years ago and found gold in those welsh hills, and dug the most extraordinary mine shafts which are home today to half of the British bat species. What can I say, it’s good work if you’re into that kind of thing:)
I know you will do that job wonderfully. 😀
It sounds like a very interesting place. So much history and home to such amazing animals.
Enjoy the work, there and say “Hello” to the bats from me. Who knows, maybe you will find some gold, there… 😉
Did you know that bats are a symbol of good luck in some places? (like, China, I believe?)
(Not clever… quite unexperienced actually, yet interested in that kind of stuff 😉 )
🙂
Wow. The stuff of fairy tales. Glorious.
Thanks Mike