Our new site in Llangollen - Wenffrwd Nature Reserve

A former landfill site at Wenffrwd 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 - or pocket park - 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 waste 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. Since then, nature has done an excellent job at reclaiming the site, with lush wildflower meadows providing food for pollinators, and thick bramble offering safe areas for birds to nest and forage. Visitors can now enjoy views over the Dee Valley from the sunny meadow, as well as the cool shade of the woodland on a hot day.

Further work is planned this year, as we continue to work on creating links from this site to the canal and back to the Health Centre in Llangollen along the old railway line.