Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIG
165.
Thurba Head, the first land acquired by the National Trust in Gower, in 1933. (Jonathan Mullard)
When the Nature Conservancy was set up it already had some extremely valuable reports upon which
to base its policy. One of these was the Nature Reserves Investigation Committee's report. The Commit-
tee, which had been set up in 1942 as a result of the optimistically titled 'Conference on Nature Preserva-
tion in Post-war Reconstruction', organised by the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves the pre-
vious year, had the task of identifying places suitable for 'preservation' and collating information about
them. The Society itself was the forerunner of the Wildlife Trust movement. The Committee's report lis-
ted nearly all the important areas for wildlife in Britain, some being termed 'Proposed National Nature
Reserves' and some larger sites called 'Conservation Areas'. Most ofGower was listed as a Conservation
Area and the committee regarded the peninsula as 'of such importance as to require safeguarding as a na-
tional possession'. The report went on to say that:
The Gower peninsula contains a remarkable variety of types of vegetation all in a relatively un-
spoilt condition. It is also noteworthy for the wealth of its bird life. In general the area seems
unlikely to suffer except from an extensive industrial or residential development or injudicious af-
forestation. It is therefore recommended (a) that the entire Peninsula west of a line - Llanmor-
lais-Brandy Cove - should be declared a Scheduled Area and (b) that within this area the existing
legal prohibitions against trapping and egg-taking should be strictly enforced. Within the sched-
uled area four areas should be preserved as Habitat Reserves: Burry Holm, Worms Head, Mead
Moor and Oxwich Marsh.
Worms Head and Oxwich, as described previously, are now part of National Nature Reserves, but
Burry Holms, as related in Chapter 8, is one of the few areas of Gower that has no specific designation.
Mead Moor, once common land enclosed in the late seventeenth century, had over some 260 years de-
veloped into a rich mixed deciduous woodland and ranked, with the adjoining Millwood to the east, as
secondonlytoNicholastonWoodinitsimportanceandlandscapevalue.PreviouslyownedbythePenrice
