Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIG
168.
Oxwich Nature Trail, as shown in the
South Wales Evening Post
in 1966: 'All eyes on Mr Hatton (Gower
Warden) as he explains the composition of sand.' (Countryside Council for Wales)
Following Pip Hatton's retirement in the late 1960s the Nature Conservancy located its Chief Warden
forSouthWales,InigoJones,inthepeninsulatolookafterthethreereserves.Thispresencewasverysoon
supplemented by the appointment of an estate worker to undertake estate maintenance and practical con-
servation works on the reserves, and a warden to increase the resources in the wake of rapidly increasing
public pressures and educational use. Increasing awareness of the importance of Gower's natural history
led in 1972 to the Conservancy also locating the first Assistant Regional Officer for West Glamorgan,
IorrieRees,inthepeninsula,basedfirstatPenmaenandthenattheOxwichReserveCentre.Theenlarged
teamwasabletodevelopenhancedlinkswithlocalnaturalists,SwanseaandCardiffuniversities,andfield
educational usersofthemyriadofsites andnatural historyinterests. In1973theNature Conservancy was
replaced by the Nature Conservancy Council, but this had little effect on activities.
During 1974 and 1975 the South Gower Coast Cooperative Management Group, involving the same
organisations as the Whiteford Burrows Advisory Committee, was set up to coordinate the conservation
and management of their respective properties along the coastline stretching from Worms Head to Port-
Eynon. A Strategic Management Plan was agreed and this was a major step forward in the management
of this significant section of coast. It was hoped to encourage the remaining private landowners to join in
this approach. As with the Whiteford Committee, this group still meets today.
OXWICH RESERVE CENTRE
Despite its exceptional importance for wildlife and the high number of visitors, Gower has only ever
had one purpose-designed interpretive centre, that at Oxwich, which was constructed by the Nature Con-
servancy during late 1972 and opened in the summer of 1973 (Fig. 169). There had been a Countryside
