The Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) has marked National Tree Week¹ by kicking off an £35,000 investment in protecting and improving the popular Green Castle Woods, south of Carmarthen, making use of generous funding from CWM Environmental Ltd through its “CWM Community and Environmental Fund”. The work is aimed both at enhancing and protecting the wood, and at helping and encouraging visitors to make more and better use of it.

Green Castle Wood is a beautiful patchwork of ancient woodland, flower rich meadows, hedgerows and ponds near Llangain, about two miles south west of Carmarthen. The 50.61 ha (125.06 acre) site is one of the most popular Coed Cadw woods in Wales, attracting some 21,000 visits every year.

Over the coming year the charity will be improving the footpaths in the wood, providing themed way-marked routes, planting new field trees and hedgerows, and providing interpretation to help visitors better understand the wood and its place in the landscape. As part of the plans, some of the fields will continue to be grazed by cattle, demonstrating how well trees and grazing animals complement each other today as they did in the past. As well as providing a pleasing visitor experience, the aim is to demonstrate how wood pasture offers many of the benefits of woodland but with minimal loss of grazing area. There is more about the benefits of planting trees on farms at woodlandtrust.org.uk/wales

Attractive wooden gates will be put between the different meadows, which will be carved with old field names, as recorded in the tithe maps of some 200 years ago. These provide a intriguing clues as to how the land was used at the time and include Parc Cerrig Mawr (the big stoney field), Parc Sgubor (the barn field) and Parc y Berllan (the orchard field). Inspired by the last of these names, Coed Cadw will be planting a number of fruit trees in this particular field, a mixture of traditional Welsh and modern varieties, which in time will produce apples and pears that can be picked and enjoyed by visitors.

Chris Matts, Coed Cadw’s Site Manager for Green Castle Woods says: “Green Castle Woods is not just a beautiful place for local people to visit. It’s a piece of living history, reflecting how the land has been used in down the centuries for wood production, grazing and the cultivation of crops. I’m delighted that the funding from CWM Environmental Ltd has enabled us to invest in site, providing a more interesting experience for everyone who visits the wood, and encouraging more people to take healthy exercise in this beautiful natural environment.”

The CWM Community and Environmental Fund is contributing £25,000 towards the cost of improvements at Green Castle Wood. Like all Woodland Trust wood, Green Castle is open to the public for free. It has its own website, which will include details of forthcoming events and how to get involved at www.wt-woods.org.uk/greencastlewoods

Coed Cadw’n cael ysbrydoliaeth o'r gorffennol i wella Green Castle Wood ar gyfer ymwelwyr y dyfodol

Llwybrau troed gwell, defnyddiadu dehongli mwy diddorol a mwy o goed unigol

Mae Wythnos Genedlaethol y Coed yn rhedeg o 26 Tachwedd tan 4 Rhagfyr, a bydd Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust) yn nodi'r achlysur trwyn gyhoeddi buddsoddiad gwerth £35,000 i ddiogelu a gwella coedlan Castle Green Woods, ger Caerfyrddin, gan wneud defnydd o arian a roddwyd gan CWM Environmental Ltd trwy Gronfa Gymunedol ac Amgylchedd CWM. Nod y gwaith yw gwella a diogelu'r goedlan, a helpu ac annog mwy o ymwelwyr i ddefnyddio a mwynhau’r safle.

Clytwaith hardd o goetir hynafol yw Green Castle, gyda dolydd gyda blodau prin, perthi a phyllau dwr ger Llan-gain, tua dwy filltir i'r de-orllewin i Gaerfyrddin. Mae'r safle 50.61 ha (125.06 erw) yn un o'r coedwigoedd mwyaf poblogaidd Coed Cadw yng Nghymru, sy'n denu tua 21,000 yn ymweliadau bob blwyddyn.

Yn ystod y flwyddyn nesaf fe fydd yr elusen yn gwella'r llwybrau troed yn y goedwig, gan ddarparu llwybr troed newydd wedi’i farcio, plannu coed ynchwanegol yn y caeau, a darparu adnoddau dehongli i helpu ymwelwyr i ddeall yn goedlan yn well. Fel rhan o'r cynlluniau, bydd rhai o'r caeau yn dal i gael ei bori gan wartheg, gan ddangos sut mae coed ac anifeiliaid pori a choed yn gallu mynd law yn llaw heddiw fel yn y gorffennol. Yn ogystal â chynnig profiad pleserus i ymwelwyr, y nod yw dangos sut y gall porfa goediog gynnig llawer o fanteision coetir, ond heb golli ardal sylweddol o borfa. Ceir mwy am fanteision plannu coed ar ffermyndd ar wefan woodlandtrust.org.uk/cymru

Darperir gatiau pren deniadol rhwng y dolydd gwahanol, wedi’u cerfio gyda hen enwau’r caeau, fel y cofnodwyd yn y mapiau degwm o tua 200 mlynedd yn ôl. Mae'r rhain yn darparu cliwiau diddorol am sut y defnyddiwyd tir yn y gorffennol. Mae’r rhain yn cynnwys: Parc Cerrig Mawr, Parc Sgubor a Pharc y Berllan. Gan ddwyn ysbrydolaeth o’r hen enw, fe fydd Coed Cadw yn plannu nifer o goed ffrwythau yn y cae arbennig hwn, cymysgedd o fathau traddodiadol Cymreig a rhai modern, a fydd maes o law yn cynhyrchu afalau a gellyg i ymwelwyr eu mwynhau.

Dywed Chris Matts, sy’n rheoli’r safle ar gyfger Cadw Coed: "Mae Green Castle Woods nid yn unig yn lle hyfryd i bobl leol i ymweld â fe. Mae'n ddarn o hanes byw, sy’n adlewyrchu sut oedd y tir yn cael ei ddefnyddio dros y canrifoedd i gynhyrchu coed, i bori anifeiliaid, ac i dyfu cnydau. Dwi wrth fy modd fod arian CWM Environmental Ltd wedi'n galluogi ni i fuddsoddi yn y safle, gan gynnig profiad mwy diddorol i bawb sy'n ymweld â'r goedlan, ac i annog mwy o bobl i wneud ymarfer corff yn iach mewn amgylchedd naturiol hardd. "

Mae Gronfa Gymunedol ac Amgylchedd CWM yn cyfrannu £25,000 tuag at gost y gwelliannau yn Green Castle Wood. Fel pob coedlan sy’n eiddo i Goed Cadw, mae Green Castle Woods ar agor i'r cyhoedd am ddim. Mae ganddo ei gwefan ei hun, sy’n cynnwys manylion am ddigwyddiadau a sut i gymryd rhan wrth www.wt-woods.org.uk/greencastlewoods