RWT
Emma Morgan
Location
OS Map Reference
SO 073 650
Know before you go
Parking information
Extremely limited - please don't block highway.Grazing animals
NoWalking trails
This is a boggy nature reserve so expect it to be wet underfoot all year round. There's a way-marked trail taking you around the reserve from the entrance.
Access
From Crossgates roundabout, head for Rhayader on A44 and after half a mile, turn left signposted Llanyre. The reserve is less than a quarter of a mile on the left hand side, through a kissing gate next to the road.
Dogs
When to visit
Opening times
All year roundBest time to visit
June to AugustAbout the reserve
The special interest of this reserve lies in the basin mires, which contain several species of sphagnum moss, as well as round-leaved sundew, cranberry, bogbean and marsh cinquefoil. There has been much debate over how and when the basin mires were formed. They could have been carved by ice at the end of the last ice age or they could be the remnants of river meanders. These intriguing geological features are preserved by regularly pulling and cutting willow and birch saplings, because if these were allowed to develop the mires would gradually dry out and the associated flora and fauna lost.
The dry heathy pastures contain a mixture of plants including common valerian, petty whin, dyer's greenweed, devil's-bit scabious, heather, cross-leaved heath and marsh pennywort. Scrub is an important wildlife habitat providing nectar, seeds, fruit, shelter and nest sites for insects, mammals and birds. The long-tailed tit, blackcap and garden warbler birds depend on this habitat to survive.
Enjoy a lovely display of butterflies when the sun is shining. These include small-pearl bordered fritillary, common blue, orange-tip and meadow brown.