Discover Elan

Discover Elan Welcome to Discover Elan (formerly Elan Links: People, Nature, Water), a page managed by the Elan Valley Trust.

This page will celebrate how special the Elan Valley Estate is for its wonderful nature, heritage and stunning dark skies. Sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://shorturl.at/X9Bce

Elan lies at the heart of the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales. Its unique landscape combines remote hill land, isolated farmsteads, steep-sided wooded valleys and an extraordinary feat of Victorian engineering that

brought clean water to the then rapidly expanding industrial city of Birmingham. Today, Elan’s 20,000 hectares - 1% of Wales - is a haven for wildlife and people. It has a host of nature and landscape designations; and the 154,000 visitors a year enjoy the breath-taking scenery, nature, recreational facilities and extensive free educational and heritage-based resources for schools, families and communities. Our vision is ambitious - to generate a step-change increase in beneficial outcomes from this special place – for people, for communities and for heritage. To achieve this we have developed a strategic programme of investment to safeguard our heritage and to increase enjoyment, education, training, and recreation for the
benefit of all.

“Ar gof a chadw” - “remembered and preserved.” Conserving traditional hay meadows also means conserving the traditional ...
03/09/2026

“Ar gof a chadw” - “remembered and preserved.”
Conserving traditional hay meadows also means conserving the traditional ecological knowledge needed to manage them.

When to graze, when to shut a meadow up for hay, when to cut, and how to maintain the conditions that allow its distinctive plant communities to persist.

With new farming tenants arriving on the Elan Estate this autumn, our Head Shepherd, Glyndwr, is thinking about the future of that knowledge.

"I want to pass it on to the next generation that's going to come and farm in these remote places. I feel it's my duty."

Glyndwr describes it as "ar gof a chadw".

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“Ar gof a chadw” - “remembered and preserved”
Mae gwarchod dolydd gwair traddodiadol yn golygu hefyd gwarchod yr arbenigedd ecolegol traddodiadol sydd ei angen i'w rheoli.

Pryd i bori, pryd i gau dôl i gael gwair, pryd i dorri, a sut i gynnal yr amodau sy'n caniatáu i'w cymunedau nodedig o blanhigion barhau.

Bydd tenantiaid newydd yn dod i ffermio ar Ystad Cwm Elan yn yr hydref, ac mae ein Prif Fugail, Glyndwr, yn ystyried sut caiff yr arbenigedd hwn ei ddefnyddio yn y dyfodol.

“Dwi’n awyddus i’w rannu â’r genhedlaeth nesaf fydd yn dod i ffermio yn y mannau anghysbell hyn. Dwi’n teimlo ei bod yn ddyletswydd arna i.”

Mae Glyndwr yn ei ddisgrifio fel "ar gof a chadw".

Tudor's Farewell from Tynllidiart Farm When the Elan Valley Trust's new farming tenants take over the responsibility for...
03/09/2026

Tudor's Farewell from Tynllidiart Farm
When the Elan Valley Trust's new farming tenants take over the responsibility for Tynllidiart Farm in September it will end an association that my family and I have had with the farm that has endured for nearly 100 years.
👉 Read more: https://elanvalley.org.uk/farming/tudors-farewell-from-tynllidiart-farm/

Ffárwel i Tudor o Fferm Tynllidiart
Pan fydd tenantiaid ffermio newydd Ymddiriedolaeth Cwm Elan yn cymryd drosodd Fferm
Tynllidiart ym mis Medi, bydd yn ddiwedd ar gysylltiad fy nheulu a minnau â’r fferm,
cysylltiad sydd wedi para bron i ganrif ...
👉 Darganfyddwch fwy: https://elanvalley.org.uk/cy/uncategorized-cy/tudor-yn-ffarwelio-a-fferm-tynllidiart/

01/09/2026

Cynaeafu gwair yn Nyffryn Elan

Mae'r dolydd cynyddol brin hyn yn llawn bywyd gwyllt. Maen nhw’n gartref i flodau gwyllt gan gynnwys y llysyrlys, fioled y mynydd, pysen y coed a thegeirian llydanwyrdd.

“Mae arogl a phersawr dôl flodau go iawn yn well nag unrhyw Gucci,” meddai’r Prif Fugail, Glyndwr.

Rydym wedi gweld tywydd eithriadol o sych yr haf hwn. Cafwyd y mis Gorffennaf sychaf erioed yng Nghymru ers dechrau cadw cofnodion 190 o flynyddoedd, ac roedd twf glaswellt ledled Prydain 46% yn is na’r cyfartaledd ar gyfer mis Gorffennaf.

Torrwyd y dolydd yn hwyrach nag arfer eleni, gan gadw gorchudd glaswellt ar y pridd i geisio cynnal y lleithder yn ystod y tywydd sych.

“Mae rhai o'r planhigion hyn yn tyfu, yn wahanol i amrywiaethau modern, gan fod gwreiddiau dyfnach gan rai ohonyn nhw ac maen nhw’n gallu mynd i lawr drwy’r pridd i gael dŵr.

Nawr bod y gwair wedi'i dorri, caiff ei droi wrth iddo sychu, gan helpu'r hadau i ddisgyn yn ôl ar y ddaear cyn i'r gwair gael ei fwndelu i roi porthiant i'r gwartheg dros y gaeaf.

Darllenwch y stori lawn yma: https://elanvalley.org.uk/farming/haymaking-in-the-elan-valleys-upland-fringe-meadows/

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtn-Rx9bfA

01/09/2026

Haymaking in the Elan Valley
These increasingly rare meadows are rich in wildlife, with wildflowers including great burnet, mountain pansy, wood bitter-vetch and greater butterfly-orchid.

“The smell, the aroma of a real flower meadow is better than any Gucci,” says Head Shepherd Glyndwr.

This summer has brought exceptionally dry conditions. Wales experienced its driest July since records began 190 years ago, while grass growth across Britain was 46% below the July average.

This year, the meadow was left later than usual before cutting, keeping grass cover on the soil in an effort to retain moisture through the dry weather.

“Some of these plants do grow, where modern varieties wouldn’t, because some of them are quite deep-rooting, and they go down through the soil to get the water.”

Now the hay has been cut, it is turned as it dries, helping seed fall back onto the ground before the hay is baled for winter feed for the cattle.

Read the full story here: https://elanvalley.org.uk/farming/haymaking-in-the-elan-valleys-upland-fringe-meadows/

And our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtn-Rx9bfA

29/08/2026

Looking forward to visiting ’ beautiful coast and countryside this weekend? Enjoy the outdoors respectfully and protect nature by following the

🚯 Take your litter home
🔥 Don’t light fires
🥪 Pack a picnic, not a BBQ, to reduce wildfire risk
🐑 Leave gates as you find them
🦮 Keep dogs on leads around livestock and wildlife
🚗 Don’t block gateways or access when parking
🌜 Camp only where you have permission

Read the full code 👉 https://orlo.uk/POpgE

✉️ Have you signed up to our Elan Valley Newsletter? We will keep you up-to-date with what’s happening in the Elan Valle...
26/08/2026

✉️ Have you signed up to our Elan Valley Newsletter?
We will keep you up-to-date with what’s happening in the Elan Valley during the day and night, whether it’s news, events or what to look out for in the night sky during the month.
👉Sign up here: https://elanvalley.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe...

📷This stunning photograph of a rainbow over Caban Coch dam was sent to us by Steve Ashley

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✉️ Ydych chi wedi cofrestru ar gyfer Cylchlythyr Cwm Elan?
Byddwn yn rhoi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf i chi am yr hyn sy'n digwydd yn ystod y dydd a'r nos, boed yn ddigwyddiadau, newyddion, cynigion arbennig neu beth i gadw llygad amdano yn awyr y nos yn ystod y mis.
👉 Cofrestrwch yma: https://elanvalley.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe...

🐑 Sheep's Wool: The Superhero of Peatlands! ❔Did you know that sheep's wool is a valuable resource for peatland restorat...
23/08/2026

🐑 Sheep's Wool: The Superhero of Peatlands!
❔Did you know that sheep's wool is a valuable resource for peatland restoration? Compacted into textile logs, they are placed along gullies or ditches on peatland to raise the water table, bring back the bogs and increase sphagnum moss growth.

🌏 This reduces the risk of wildfires and encourages plants and wildlife to thrive. 💚 And you can help us!

👉 There are spaces available next Wednesday, 26th August, where you can make these ‘wool bunds’, and the following week, Wednesday 2nd September, where we will be installing these bunds high up in the peatlands.
Want to join in? Email us now: [email protected]

🐑 Gwlân Dafad: Arwr y Mawndiroedd!

❔Oeddech chi’n gwybod bod gwlân dafad yn adnodd gwerthfawr ar gyfer adfer y mawndir? Wedi’u gwasgu i foncyff tecstil, a’u gosod ar hyd gylïau neu ffosydd ar y mawndir er mwyn codi lefel trwythiad y dŵr i ddod â’r corsydd yn ôl a chynyddu tyfiant y migwyn.

🌏 Mae hyn yn lleihau’r perygl o danau gwyllt ac yn annog planhigion a bywyd gwyllt i ffynnu.
💚 Ac fe allwch chi ein helpu!
👉 Mae lleoedd ar gael dydd Mercher nesaf, 26ain o Awst, lle allwch gwneud y ‘bwndiau gwlân’, ac wedyn yr wythnos canlynol dydd Mercher 2il o Fedi, lle byddwn yn gosod y bwndiau hyn ar ucheldiroedd y mawndiroedd.
Eisiau ymuno? E-bostiwch ni nawr:
[email protected]

The Women's Tour of Britain Stage Four takes place today! Riders start in Llanidloes, loop through the beautiful Elan Va...
22/08/2026

The Women's Tour of Britain Stage Four takes place today! Riders start in Llanidloes, loop through the beautiful Elan Valley, and head to Rhayader before finishing in Hay-on-Wye Good luck to everyone! 🍀



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Mae Pedwar Cam o Daith Prydain i Ferched yn digwydd heddiw! Mae'r seicwyr yn cychwyn yn Llanidloes, yn lŵpio trwy Gwm Elan hardd, ac yn anelu am Raeadr Gwy cyn gorffen yn y Gelli Gandryll. Pob lwc! 🍀

Set your alarm clocks for this celestial event!On 28th August, in the early hours, there will be a deep partial Lunar Ec...
20/08/2026

Set your alarm clocks for this celestial event!
On 28th August, in the early hours, there will be a deep partial Lunar Eclipse. This will be an opportunity to see an almost blood red Moon. Early risers will see the penumbra (Where the Earth’s shadow begins to touch the Moon) at 2.23am, with the partial eclipse starting at 3.33 and peaking at 5.12am, where 93% of the Earth’s shadow covers the Moon. As the day dawns, it will be too light to see the rest of the eclipse.

📷 Yu Kato Unsplash

Yn ystod oriau mân yr 28ain o Awst bydd yna ddiffyg rhannol dwfn ar y Lleuad. Bydd yn gyfle i weld Lleuad lliw gwaed. Bydd boregodwyr yn gallu gweld y gogysgod (lle mae cysgod y Ddaear yn dechrau cyffwrdd â’r Lleuad) am 2:23yb, gyda diffyg rhannol yn dechrau am 3:33yb ac yn cyrraedd uchafbwynt am 5:12yb, gyda 93% o gysgod y Ddaear yn gorchuddio’r Lleuad. Wrth iddi wawrio, fe fydd yn rhy olau i weld gweddill y diffyg.

📷 Yu Kato Unsplash

🚀🌏 🪐 We had a great day exploring the Solar System with our mobile planetarium at the Elan Valley  Visitor Centre! We ar...
19/08/2026

🚀🌏 🪐 We had a great day exploring the Solar System with our mobile planetarium at the Elan Valley Visitor Centre!

We are here for two more days (Thursday and Friday). Book your spot now before they fill up!👉👉👉👉 https://elan-valley.co.uk/events/pop-up-planetarium/

Address

Rhayader
LD65HP

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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