The entrance to Ty Gwyn in 2006.
Timber extraction in 2009/2010
About half of the site was felled starting at the end of 2009. Because of poor weather condition, felling was not completed until 2010. That operation is described in the posts Harvesting at Ty Gwyn, Ty Gwyn ships out Timber and Progress on Harvesting at Ty Gwyn. The felled area was replanted with Sitka spruce and broadleaves to encourage bio-diversity. After a few months, the new planting was establishing well, as shown in the pictures here.
The entrance to Ty Gwyn in 2010, with the area on the left felled and re-planted.
Timber extraction in 2014
Following an inspection visit in February 2014, it was decided to seek a Felling License for a further 10 hectares of mature trees. That's described in the post Ty Gwyn Update (with some rather belated notes regarding the completion of the felling and replanting in 2010).
The felling operation started in July 2014 and is described in posts Timber Extraction at Ty Gwyn and Harvesting continues at Ty Gwyn.
The entrance to Ty Gwyn in 2014, with the area on the left growing well and the newly-felled area on the right.
Replanting and Site Maintenance in 2015
On completion of the felling, 'Ground Preparation' was carried out, ready for re-planting. Although Rob, the forester, had originally hoped to re-plant early in 2015, for various reasons this did not occur until mid-November when around 18,000 Sitka spruce cell-grown seedlings were planted.
I visited Ty Gwyn on 26th November 2015 and met Rob and Gareth on site. Gareth had arrived that morning with his Volvo EC140CL excavator on a low-loader and had already cleared one of the access roads within the plantation. You can view Volvo's specification for the EC140 range of crawler excavators here.
Maintenance being carried out by the excavator near the pool.
Although most of the re-planting had been carried out in very wet and windy conditions, I was lucky on my visit - rain earlier in the day had stopped, the wind had dropped and later in the day the sun came out.
One of the new Sitka seedlings, just a few days after planting.
Pictures of Ty Gwyn
You can find all my pictures of Ty Gwyn here.
