New Holiday Initiative on the Llyn

We have been heartened at the news coming out of Felin Uchaf that they have now launched a new form of holiday experience, the Tir y Mor (Land and Sea).

Felin Uchaf described itself as "a Visionary, Land-Based Social Enterprise pioneering a holistic approach to Education & the Environment, to Culture & Community and committed to Inspiring, Enabling and Empowering young people and their local communities." And now holidays are part of that vision. Visitors can stay in luxury self catering accommodation, very close to the Felin Uchaf complex, enjoy food cooked by their own chef and then receive instruction from highly qualified teachers in rural crafts, and the Welsh language.

Visitors will be joining a larger group, and will have every opportunity to join in volunteer activities as well as doing some more general sightseeing. This holiday breaks new ground, and we look forward to seeing how it develops.

Risso's Dolphins off Bardsey

To be quite frank I didn't know very much about Risso's Dolphins, until I hear that some have been spotted off Bardsey Island.

Thanks to the BBC's website, I now know the following:

Risso's dolphin facts

• Their bodies are generally a grey colour, which is almost hidden by a pattern of white scars
• Numerous scars are caused by their prey - squid - and also by other Risso's dolphins
• They prefer deeper offshore waters and have been seen forming lines when hunting 
• Risso's dolphins can dive to depths of around 1,000ft(300m) and remain submerged for up to half an hour
• They can be found in temperate and tropical zones of all oceans
• Male and female can grow to just under four metres long
• They have blunt noses, rather than the pointed "beaks" that many other dolphins have
• They tend to avoid boats, and are hard to spot
• Source: Whale and Dolphin Conservation 

Dee Dolphin not as happy as we thought

Having hailed the health of the Dee ecosystem in a post yesterday, we now hear from the RNLI that they have had to rescue the Dee Dolphin because it became stranded on a sandbank. Apparently the Dolphin had become disoriented and confused, and really shouldn't have been so far inland after all.

The Dolphin was taken three miles off the coast of Rhyl to be released.

Alan Forrester, lifeboat operations manager with Flint RNLI, told Radio Wales the rescue boat was launched at Connah's Quay after the dolphin was seen "floundering" on a sandbank.

It was hoisted onto the lifeboat and carried down the river towards open water.

An animal welfare officer was also onboard.

"We've got what we call an ambulance pouch, which is a rolled up stretcher," Mr Forrester added.

"They laid that on the sandbank and rolled the dolphin into the stretcher and lifted it into the lifeboat.

"It's rather a large dolphin. It's lying there nicely, they've got buckets of water to keep it cool - everything seems to be ok at the moment."

The mammal was originally spotted by the public on Monday in Connah's Quay docks and became stranded briefly on Tuesday after turning to make its way to Flint and towards the sea.

Liverpool coastguard wanted to hold off a rescue attempt for as long as possible to avoid coming into physical contact with the mammal in case it is rejected back at sea.

A coastguard team was earlier deployed to the area to try to ensure the safety of spectators trying to catch a glimpse of the dolphin.

It is thought the dolphin swam up the river during the high spring tide.

It is rare for dolphins to be seen in the River Dee but a pair of porpoises were reported near Queensferry Bridge eight years ago.

Dolphins back on the Dee

It was something of a landmark in the restoration of the old industrial landscape surrounding the Dee (Shotton et al) that a Dolphin has been spotted swimming up and down the Dee in search of fish. This is a route of 30 miles up the Welsh river. Cyclists on the river bank saw the dolphin flip in the air as it swam up the Dee as far as Chester racecourse. There was speculation that the Dolphin had been thrown off course by the full moon, but as the mammal swam back up the Dee and then returned to Connah's Quay and seemed to be fishing happily, the availability of food seemed to be the prime reason. It is always a good sign of a healthy ecosystem when the predator at the top of the food chain appears to be thriving.

Fall in for the Walk on Wales!

Dedicated teams of retired and serving servicemen and women from the Welsh Guards will be walking the entire Welsh Coast during the Autumn. Their first program in North Wales is as follows:

Date	Start - End	Distance	Ascent
29 Aug	Chester - Flint	12.74 miles 1	178 ft 1
30 Aug	Flint - Prestatyn	18.00 miles 3	111 ft 1
31 Aug	Prestatyn - Rhos-on-Sea	15.89 miles 2	248 ft 1
1 Sep	Rhos-on-Sea - Penmaenmawr	17.75 miles 2	1452 ft 2
2 Sep	Penmaenmawr - Bangor	15.94 miles 2	943 ft 1
3 Sep	Bangor - This is a rest day	0.00 miles 1	0 ft 1

You can see full details at http://www.walkonwales.org/. They are raising money for the Welsh Guards Afganistan Appeal and Combat Stress, so do please support them and join the walk if you can.

We could be in good company!

Storytelling at Felin Uchaf

The brave attempt to promote sustainable development, enterprise and traditional crafts continues at the Felin Uchaf centre, Rhoshirwaun, see www.felinuchaf.org. Peter visited them on Wednesday the 14th of August in the Roundhouse for storytelling. The tales were titled "The Fairy Ointment" and describe the "Tylwyth Teg", or fairies of Welsh mythology. There were about 60 people there and for once the word spellbinding was appropriate.

The lighting of the fairy candles.

The opening of the fairy gate.

This is just one of the replica Iron Age huts being built by volunteers from all over the world. Although we call these Iron Age, in fact they represent the tradition buildings of Llyn over a much longer period - until the invention of gelignite created an abundance of stone, cob, wood and willow represented the main building materials and were used in different combinations.

The plans for Felin Uchaf are very ambitious and cover 28 acres. This is a scale model which can be seen in the roundhouse.

Good Weather on its way back!

We have had a number of low pressure fronts come over North Wales in the last week, the last of which comes through tomorrow, Saturday the 17th. Afterwards we are promised a spell of good weather and it is an ideal time to come over and enjoy our beautiful landscape. The Hedgerows are coming alive again with interesting flowers and the views during the changeable weather have been superb. One piece of advice, book in advance as it is a very busy season. Give us a call on 01758 760 532 if you need any help.

View of Yr Eifl and the Snowdonia range from Dinas in central Llyn.

The Yr Eifl range with Tre'r Ceiri to the right seen from Pentre in central Llyn.

Loostrife appearing in the hedgerows.