The Natural History of Wales
This book is an attempt to survey the natural history of the whole of Wales. It therefore covers such areas as Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons as well as the spectacularly beautiful Pembrokeshire coast and the less well-known but no less interesting areas of mid-Wales.Wales is a country of great geographical and biological diversity, a largely mountainous land whose eastern scarps overlook the richer plains of Mercia. William Condry is an acute observer of the potentialities of terrain, and particularly in respect of wildlife habitats. The author of the distinguished volume on Snowdonia in the New Naturalist series, he is the ideal person to write about one of the best-known and best-loved parts of Great Britain.This book is an attempt to survey the natural history of the whole of Wales. It therefore covers such areas as Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons as well as the spectacularly beautiful Pembrokeshire coast and the less well-known but no less interesting areas of mid-Wales.Describing each kind of terrain in turn, William Condry has explored and surveyed the face of this unique land as few others have done. Beginning with corries, crags and summits, he goes on to consider moorlands, mires and conifers. There then follow rivers, lakes and marshes; the native woodlands; limestone flora; farmlands, villages and estates; the industrial scene; and finally perhaps the most striking terrain of all, the coast. This encompasses polders, peatlands, beaches, dunes and estuaries as well as cliffs, headlands and island.Within each of these areas William Condry brings a wealth of experience to bear on the more obvious aspects of wildlife - flowering plants and ferns, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Important rarities such as the Snowdon lily or the red kite are, of course, included, but always with the intention of establishing a proper respect for their conservation.Affectionate and thoroughly informative, full of insights into local history and always a delight to read, this is a magnificent introduction to Wales and its countryside.
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Collins New Naturalist Library66
The Natural History Of Wales
William Condry M.A., M.Sc.
Margaret Davies, C.B.E., M.A., Ph.D.
John Gilmour, M.A., V.M.H. Kenneth Mellanby, C.B.E., Sc.D.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EDITOR
Eric Hosking, F.R.P.S.
The aim of this series is to interest the general reader in the wild life of Britain by recapturing the inquiring spirit of the old naturalists. The Editors believe that the natural pride of the British public in the native fauna and flora, to which must be added concern for their conservation, is best fostered by maintaining a high standard of accuracy combined with clarity of exposition in presenting the results of modern scientific research.
To the memory of EDWARD LHUYD (c. 1660-1709) who, had he been spared a few more years, would have given the world a very fine Natural History of Wales
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 CORRIES, CRAGS AND SUMMITS
CHAPTER 2 MOORLANDS, MIRES AND CONIFERS.
CHAPTER 3 RIVERS, LAKES AND MARSHES
CHAPTER 4 THE NATIVE WOODLANDS
CHAPTER 5 THE FLORA OF THE LIMESTONE
CHAPTER 6 FARMLANDS, VILLAGES AND ESTATES
CHAPTER 7 THE INDUSTRIAL SCENE
CHAPTER 8 THE COAST â I PEAT LANDS, POLDERS, BEACHES, DUNES AND ESTUARIES
CHAPTER 9 THE COAST â II CLIFFS, HEADLANDS AND ISLANDS
APPENDIX I RESERVES AND PLACES OF INTEREST
APPENDIX II GLOSSARY
WALES is a country of great geographical and biological diversity, a largely mountainous land whose eastern scarps overlook the richer plains of Mercia. Twelve hundred years ago King Offa of Mercia demarcated Welsh territory by a dyke which topped the eastern scarps and which is partly followed by the modern boundary of Wales. Offaâs Dyke may have curtailed Welsh cattle raids in the eighth century but it has never prevented invasion from Mercia. From the Norman invaders to the modern tourist and settler, routes along the main rivers which flow eastwards from the slopes of Plynlimon have been used to penetrate the mountain heart of Wales and to find, beyond it, rewarding territory on its coastal fringes.
William Condry, a Mercian but no feudal baron, is an acute observer of the potentialities of terrain, though largely in respect of wildlife habitats. Far more sympathetic to native traditions than most of those who have settled in Wales over the centuries, he first came into Wales in the 1930s and walked over the Plynlimon moorlands observing their birds. In 1949 he became a teacher at Eglwysfach, a village on the south side of the delectable estuary of the Dyfi from which there are wide views into the craggy mountains of Merioneth. He still lives by the Dyfi estuary and though he has not taught in the local classroom for many years, he has passed on his knowledge of natural history through his very readable books, through his Country Diary paragraphs which have appeared in The Guardian newspaper since 1957 and through his broadcasts and lectures to a wide public.
Birds and conservation are among his main interests and he was soon convinced of the need to protect the estuarine birds of the lower Dyfi and to preserve their habitat. The establishment of the Ynys-hir reserve of the RSPB was largely his work and during his years as its warden he did great work on behalf of its wildlife. With others, he helped to set up the observatory on Bardsey and his detailed knowledge of the mainland and island birds of Wales, and their needs, made available to the Welsh Committee of the Nature Conservancy during 1952â58, persuaded that body to designate several of the nature reserves of Wales.
Readers of this volume will soon discern that Bill Condry has explored and surveyed the face of Wales as few others have done. His delightful evocations of habitats are obviously based on personal observation, often in difficult terrain. This biographer of Thoreau has sought and appreciated the solitudes, and they are many in Wales, and worth seeking. Familiarity with a host of earlier writings is evident in his work. In this volume the host is led by Giraldus Cambrensis whose itinerary through Wales, made in 1188, is as illuminating, but a good deal less modest, than the present work. Bill Condry, unlike Gerald the Welshman, has never aspired to be Bishop of St Davidâs, but like him is among the leading topographers who have described Wales. His chapters on her varied habitats are enhanced by first-hand accurate observations expressed in non-technical prose.
The New Naturalist series celebrated its coming of age with Condryâs The Snowdonia National Park. The present wider-ranging book is in the same tradition, provocative of thought on landscapes and their make-up, flora and fauna, including man and his activities, and, by the example of its author, encouraging others to observe, note and learn as they walk in Wales. We are fortunate in having another book in this series from an author so widely known and with so wide a knowledge of Wales and its natural history.
