New Llangollen nature reserve opens to visitors

A former landfill site on the outskirts of Llangollen has taken on a new lease of life.

The Council and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) team have worked together with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and European Rural Development Fund, to create a new nature reserve on the former landfill site at Wenffrwd – just outside Llangollen.

Visitors are now able to use a small car park at the nature reserve and explore the new site by following the 0.5 miles of new surfaced path which winds through a variety of habitats and offers views of the River Dee and across the valley.

Huw Rees, Countryside and Heritage Services Manager said: “It’s hard to imagine now that this whole mound of land is the result of several decades of tipping household from the Llangollen area. Up to 75,000 tonnes were dumped each year until it stopped receiving rubbish in the 1980s, although the transfer station was available for the local population until 2008.

“Nature has done an excellent job at reclaiming the site. The wildflower meadows provide food for pollinators and yellow meadow ants which make the anthills that you will see. The thick bramble offers safe areas for birds and mammals.

“This is still a work in progress and in the coming year we will continue to work on creating links from this site to Canal and back to the Health Centre in Llangollen along the old railway line. We will also be adding diversity to the site through tree planting and the creation of new wildflower areas.”