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Return To The Brecon Beacons 2008


Return to Weasel Summer 2008

A residential with OCV is always a good chance to meet new people, have fun and do something useful for the community and the environment. This spring OCV went for the second time to the Brecon Beacons with a group of 12 volunteers all from different horizons (some new volunteers, some old ones), but all up for making the weekend as enjoyable as ever. We were staying at a National Trust cottage in the middle of the Brecon Beacons National Park, with two main dorm rooms, a couple of bathrooms and lavatories (a treat compared to some other accommodation we’ve had in the past).


Stunning view on a task: Glacial lake

Culvert of the year award


As Rob and Mel our very nice wardens told us, the Brecon Beacons are made of Old Red Sandstones that were deposited during the Devonian period (416Ma-359Ma) from the erosion of the newly formed Caledonian mountains of the north (the ones in Snowdonia’s national park). The sandstones were uplifted again by the Variscan orogeny starting ~280Ma that gave Brecon its East-West direction. Also originally the Beacons were mainly covered by woods; they have been intensively used to graze sheep and have become the present moor-land we know. They are a very popular destination for walkers from all over the UK and their close proximity to the big Welsh cities means that they receive millions of visitors every year. Sheep, walkers and important rainfalls cause the thin peat soil to get eroded very quickly.


Tim taking a well deserved rest!

That is where us, brave OCV volunteers, come in to help Rob and Mel maintain the footpaths and control the erosion by paving footpaths, creating revetment walls, making ditches, building culverts, grass re-seeding and landscaping. This year due to bad weather the previous week the stones couldn’t be airlifted, so we couldn’t undertake our construction work. However, we did other valuable maintenance tasks; we spent the first day digging ditches and re-seeding the edges of the footpaths, and the second day clearing the culverts all through the track (Corn Du & Pen y Fan’s track – leading to the highest Brecon Beacons summit at 2,907ft). Although it was hard work, we were rewarded by the scenery (fantastic outcrops, glacial lakes, skylarks, wild ponies…) and the good time we had in our cheerful cottage, holding a BBQ in the garden with plenty of burgers, sausages, beers, wines, crisps and of course … fun.


Renaud Meunier (Special correspondent from le Monde)

Return to Weasel Summer 2008