WOODLAND MANAGEMENT PLAN
PEN Y PARC – GWYDYR FOREST
2014 - 2019
Site details
Name:
Location:
Grid reference:
Pen-y-Parc
Parc Uchaf Gwydyr, Gwydyr Forest
SH793 601
The management area consists of 9.5 hectares of woodland centred on Pen-y-Parc, a wooded hilltop on the western side of the Conwy valley 1km south
south-west of Llanrwst. It is situated within the Gwydyr Forest owned by Natural Resources Wales and located within Snowdonia National Park. Within the
site are the remains of Pen-y-Parc farm and its surrounding holding that has been developed as an outdoor theatre, the “Caerdroia”. There are minor water
courses on the site with a pond, the partially restored farm well, several small springs and a network of drainage ditches.
There is open access to the whole site under the Countryside Rights of Way Act, a public footpath that runs north to south through the site, the Marin Trail
(mountain bike trail) runs along the eastern boundary of the site and there are several marked and unmarked paths throughout the site.
The centre of the site is planted pasture that surrounded the old farm. Pen-y-Parc farm was purchased by the Forestry Commission and used as a Christmas
tree nursery until it was then planted with Douglas fir in 1997. Adjacent to the farm are the remains of an old plum orchard currently considered to be the
highest in North Wales. In 2005 a community management agreement (CMA) with Golygfa Gwydyr was made and has since been managed as an outdoor
theatre and community woodland.
The majority of the 9.5 ha woodland site is classed by Natural Resources Wales as a low impact sylviculture (LISS) system with no designated felling date.
The woodland outside of the old farm holding was planted with mostly coniferous species (some broadleaves) in 1962 and has subsequently been through
first and second thinning but due to its LISS designation has largely been left unmanaged.
Threats and Constraints
Invasive hemlock could become a greater threat as successive thinning opens the canopy and this will need to be controlled.
There are stands of Japanese larch that could become infected with Phytophthora ramorum that has infected trees 3km away. If it were allowed to become
established then it could pose a risk to other trees on the site. Ash trees are also found throughout the site and the continuing threat from Chalara fraxinea
could be a major threat in the future although there have been no confirmed cases in the area. Both species will be continuously monitored and NRW
informed immediately if an outbreak is suspected. If they were found Golygfa Gwydyr would work with them to control the infection.
The old farmhouse has asbestos material in it. This has now been fenced off to prevent the public from entering.
Increasing public access could pose a threat to attracting and retaining wildlife and improving the biodiversity of the site. Information boards and leaflets
highlighting the work being carried out will be placed at the main entrance to the site. Where appropriate it may be necessary to erect temporary fences
(dead wood hedges/hurdles) to redirect the public. The public footpath and main tracks will be maintained.
Long term vision
Golygfa Gwydyr plans to develop the site as an exemplar community managed woodland with open access to the public. It will be used for health and
wellbeing activities, community projects and learning and continue to function and be managed as an outdoor theatre with performances and other events
taking place.
Public access will be maintained by improving and connecting footpaths throughout the site and installing signage and way markers. Appropriate areas of
woodland will be made easily accessible off the path network for people to walk in.
The aim is to increase the biodiversity of fauna and flora within the site by managing the woodland with a greater focus on amenity and biodiversity as
opposed to timber production. The mainly conifer plantations will gradually be replaced with mixed broadleaved and conifer stands with a range of ages
within the stands. New glades and paths will be created to encourage flowering species and improve diversity.
The labyrinth will be maintained as an outdoor theatre space. The lines of trees between the paths will be gradually felled and replaced with species such as
hazel, hawthorn, and holly to improve the screening between paths. Some larger trees will be retained to maximize the diversity in this area.
Strategy
Continuous tree cover is to be maintained through the site with the exception of maintaining small clear recreation areas such as those within the theatre
site. Glades and paths will encourage a range of light loving species improving the prospects for insects and hence bird populations.
Restocking will be by natural regeneration although selective planting may be needed in areas to alter the species mix. Regeneration will be respaced as
needed to aid the growth of healthy trees and invasive regeneration cleared and controlled. Successive thinnings will be used to open the canopy, allow
regeneration and alter the age structure of the tree stock. Halo thinning around established but supressed veteran broadleaf trees will allow them to act as
a seed source and their seedlings to be used for restocking elsewhere on the site. Windblown trees will be cleared as necessary.
The decision to fell trees is not to be based on their timber value but on maintaining the health of the woodland in line with the management plan. Timber
that is felled and extracted may be used to develop the site’s amenity value (shoring up steps, making benches), on other projects elsewhere e.g.
roundhouse with Rhyd-y – Creuau or used as wood fuel.
Felling of trees is to be carried out by trained operators using chainsaws with arisings either extracted by tractor to an appropriate stacking area or left
onsite if extraction would cause environmental damage or be impractical. Arisings left on site will be left in a safe manner that allows for various woodland
activities such as recreation or access to be unaffected. Where appropriate standing dead wood may be left and some arisings of different sizes may be
used to create habitat piles to increase the amount of fallen dead wood.
Management of the site is to be reviewed with Natural Resources Wales every 6 months with the management plan being reassessed every year or sooner
if needed. Long term management by Golygfa Gwydyr will be reassessed every 10 years when the community management agreement is due for renewal.
Management Activities
Objective
Operation period
location
Operation details
Clear trees to establish
access
Remove wind damaged
trees
2014 -2015
Clear Sitka spruce and small broadleaf regeneration from stacking and entrance area.
2014 -2015
Stacking
area
1, 2a
Theatre
site
Thin Douglas fir
2014 -2015
1
Thin Douglas fir to favour healthy straight trees and broadleaves, open the canopy and encourage
natural regeneration. Halo thinning of broadleaves may be appropriate if it does not overly expose
them. Thinning percentage should take into account areas of wind blow.
Establish and clear rides
2014 -2015
Create track for vehicle access by removing trees, stumps, large rocks, clearing and creating
drainage channels and levelling surfaces. .
Boundary maintenance
2014 -2015
1, 2a,
stacking
area
1a, 1b,
theatre
site
Prepare entertainment
and recreation area.
2015 -2016
3a
Remove as few trees as possible that interfere with the installations needed in the area. Remove
stumps that present a hazard, create a path connecting site to the adjacent track and the path
system within the theatre.
Felling and replanting
2015-2016
Theatre
area
Remove section of screening trees from theatre site leaving max 20 mature trees to create uneven
age structure. Replant felled areas with a mixture of small broadleaved species. Species to consider;
willow, hazel, alder, hawthorn, holly, birch, rowan.
Remove windblown and damaged trees in co-ordination with thinning operations taking into
account paths and installations. Extraction may not be appropriate so if arising’s are left they must
be in a state that could not pose a risk to the public
Remove derelict fencing. Lay neglected hedges. Clear around dry stone walls and rebuild those that
provide useful or historic boundaries and amenity value.
Clear invasive
regeneration
2015 - 2016
2b, 3
Clear western hemlock regeneration.
Thin Western Hemlock
2015 -2016
3a, 3b
Restocking
2015 -2016
3
Theatre
site
Thin Western Hemlock (max 10%) to favour healthy straight trees and broadleaves, open the
canopy and encourage natural regeneration. Halo thinning of broadleaves may be appropriate if it
does not overly expose broadleaves them. Thinning percentage should take into account areas of
wind blow.
Assess the extent to which the removal of windblown trees has opened the canopy and understory
and restock where necessary.
Theatre area: Replant felled areas with a mixture of small broadleaved species. Retain mature trees,
conifer or broadleaves, to provide a diverse structure. Species to consider; willow, hazel, alder,
hawthorn, holly, birch, rowan.
Replant old boundary hedge.
Assess and make safe dead and windblown trees particularly with regard to adjacent vehicle tracks
and footpaths through the area.
1a, 1b
All areas
Make safe wind damaged
and dead trees
2015 - 2016
Path maintenance
2015 - 2016
2b, 3,
rec area
Strim paths and tracks. Repair surfaces as necessary.
Establish paths from the entertainment and recreation area to the adjacent track and paths in the
theatre.
Maintain and improve
drainage
2015 - 2016
2b, 3
Clear and repair existing drainage ditches and install new drainage systems where necessary taking
account of where new drainage will load or interfere with surrounding systems.
Make safe wind damaged
and dead trees
2016 - 2017
All site
Assess and make safe dead and windblown trees particularly with regard to adjacent vehicle tracks
and footpaths through the area.
Felling and replanting
2016-2017
Theatre
area
Remove section of screening trees from theatre site leaving max 20 trees to create uneven age
structure. Replant felled areas with a mixture of small broadleaved species. Species to consider;
willow, hazel, alder, hawthorn, holly, birch, rowan.
Respacing
2016 – 20017
2b, 3
Respace natural regeneration to favour a broad mix of species and age and encourage good growth
Halo thinning
2016 – 20017
2a, 2b, 3
Halo thin around established broadleaf regeneration and mature remnants.
Path maintenance
2016 - 2017
All site
Strim paths and tracks. Repair surfaces as necessary.
Thin Western Hemlock
2016 -2017
3e
Thin Western Hemlock (max 10%) to favour healthy straight trees and broadleaves, open the
canopy and encourage natural regeneration. Halo thinning of broadleaves may be appropriate if it
does not overly expose broadleaves them. Thinning percentage should take into account areas of
wind blow.
Make safe wind damaged
and dead trees
2017 - 2018
All site
Assess and make safe dead and windblown trees particularly with regard to adjacent vehicle tracks
and footpaths through the area.
Felling and replanting
2017-2018
Theatre
area
Remove section of screening trees from theatre site leaving max 20 trees to create uneven age
structure. Replant felled areas with a mixture of small broadleaved species. Species to consider;
willow, hazel, alder, hawthorn, holly, birch, rowan.
Create access point
2017 - 2018
3c
Create vehicle access point. Fell trees and level ground as necessary
Path maintenance
2017 - 2018
All site
Strim paths and tracks. Repair surfaces as necessary.
Thinning Sitka
2017 - 2018
2
Thin stand of Sitka spruce (max 10%)
Thin Western Hemlock
2017 -2018
3d
Thin Western Hemlock (max 10%) to favour healthy straight trees and broadleaves, open the
canopy and encourage natural regeneration. Halo thinning of broadleaves may be appropriate if it
does not overly expose broadleaves them. Thinning percentage should take into account areas of
wind blow.
Make safe wind damaged
and dead trees
2018 - 2019
All site
Assess and make safe dead and windblown trees particularly with regard to adjacent vehicle tracks
and footpaths through the area.
Felling and replanting
2018-2019
Theatre
area
Remove section of screening trees from theatre site leaving max 20 trees to create uneven age
structure. Replant felled areas with a mixture of small broadleaved species. Species to consider;
willow, hazel, alder, hawthorn, holly, birch, rowan.
Path maintenance
2018 - 2019
All site
Strim paths and tracks. Repair surfaces as necessary.
Create firebreak
2018 - 2019
2
Fell ride edge retaining broadleaves
Management review
2018 – 20019
Ensure that planned operations are still compatible with stakeholder’s needs and wishes, Golygfa
Gwydyr’s resources and the conditions present in the areas to be worked.
Finalise precise operations and dates
Compartments 1 and the theatre site are comprised of Douglas fir, planted in 1997, on the site of a former Christmas tree nursery that itself was formerly
upland pasture surrounding a farm (Pen-y-parc). Compartments 1a,1b and 1c have the designation of Ancient semi-natural woodland (Category 4). In
addition there is natural regeneration of ash, oak, rowan, crack willow, silver birch and an area of black thorn/plum from the remains of an orchard located
between compartments 1a and 1b. There are mature oak and hazel located along the traditional boundaries of the farm which are the remains of hedges
that have now been supplemented by birch, willow, ash and rowan. These compartments are part of a LIS area.
Compartments 2a and 2b contain mature Sitka spruce planted in 1962 with additional planting of Sitka spruce taking place in 1980. Bbased on tree size this
would appear to mostly have taken place in compartment 2b. 2a and 2b also contain sporadic regeneration of rowan and birch with several mature oak
and beech trees and self-seeded Japanese larch particularly along ride and track edges. These compartments are have an indeterminate felling date after
2037 and are part of the PAWS designated area.
Compartment 3a was planted with Sitka spruce and Japanese larch in 1962 most of which has grown well although there are areas of wind blow where
drainage is poor due to blocked ditches leading from the old farm. Where this has opened the canopy there are mature ash, beech, sycamore and rowan.
This mix can also be found sparsely throughout the area. There is also a stand of larch and western hemlock. It is unclear whether the hemlock is an
unrecorded planting or mature regeneration, and these have acted as a seed source for extensive young regeneration of hemlock throughout the
compartment.
Compartment 3b was planted with noble fir and western hemlock in 1962 with a larger proportion of noble fir planted than hemlock. The noble fir has
mostly grown well although a sizable minority has either died or blown and the smaller stand of hemlock has grown well. There is mixed regeneration of
beech, oak, noble fir, grand fir, birch and rowan of mixed ages but there is also extensive regeneration of western hemlock.
Compartments 3c and 3d are comprised of grand fir planted and beech in 1962 that has grown well. There are mixed age beech and oak that are
suppressed and beginning to suffer from competition from the grand firs. There is also sporadic regeneration of grand fir, noble fir, rowan, birch, oak and
beach where light allows and extensive hemlock regeneration throughout the area.
Compartment 3f was planted with western hemlock and Japanese larch in 1962. Tthe hemlock has flourished but there are limited numbers of larch
remaining, although those that do are healthy. There are also several mature grand and noble firs as well as stunted oak and beech with regeneration
under the thick cover of the hemlock.
Compartments 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and 3e are all within the PAWS and designated as a low impact sylviculture system.
References
Forestry Commission map view, www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-8A9FPS
Natural Resources Wales GIS system
Ordnance Survey map OL17