News 2023
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We also made a contribution to the village Festival of Light - a miners lamp commemorated the importance of mining in the local community, and specifically the 266 men killed in the 1934 disaster. It was created by our Chair, Ian Happs, and added to the hundreds of lamps displayed in All Saints Church. We plan to donate it to the Wrexham Miners Project. 
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Storm Debi
December Storm Debi caused some damage in the woodland, though we were lucky in comparison to many other places. The most noticeable problem was the demolition of our wooden noticeboard by the gate, which ended up flat on its back. This is mainly because the posts had rotted after 10 years in the ground. We have plans for a new one, but in the meantime it was a job for the volunteers to set up new posts so that it can go back up.
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Volunteers and Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day happened to fall on a Saturday this year and coincide with our regular volunteer session, so it seemed right to start with a minute’s silence. Although it was coincidence, it was appropriate that one of the activities for the volunteers was planting two memorial oaks, celebrating the lives and the involvement in Maes y Pant of two Trustees who are sadly no longer with us. We were delighted that some of John Troth’s family were able to come, (John was our first Chair) and that we were also joined by representatives of the governors from The Rofft, acknowledging that John Leece Jones was their Chair of Governors as well as Company Secretary of MyPAG.
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Scarecrow Trail
We were delighted to take part in the annual Gresford and Marford Scarecrow trail in August, and though our entry Mr Tod the Badger didn’t win any prizes we had lots of
compliments about him!
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Friends Meeting & New Clothing
We were able to hold our first Friends meeting for several years and it was lovely to be able to meet friends old and new. As well as talking about our plans for the future, we were able to use the occasion to launch our new range of polo shirts and fleeces with the ‘Supporting Maes y Pant’ logo. We are delighted with them and hope they will prove to be another way that people can contribute to our running costs.
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Felling
Our third woodland management plan included another phase of felling and between February and March, we went back to Miller Land Management to do this for us as they’d been so good with the previous phases. Our licence from Natural Woodland Wales was for felling of up to 4000 trees, with a total weight between 600 and 1000 tonnes, and we were almost exactly in the middle of that at just over 840 tonnes. It was a lot of logs! We were interested to know that the better quality wood was going to make children’s playgrounds, some was going to make fencing and the remainder was going to be used for chipboard.
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Forestry Work
Please be aware that work started on 1st February for approx 3 weeks.
Contractors will be on site felling trees as part of improvement works to thin out the Corsican pine trees and to create clearings.
Contractors will be on site felling trees as part of improvement works to thin out the Corsican pine trees and to create clearings.
One of MyPAG’s main objectives, stated in the ‘Charity’s Objects’ is ‘…to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity…’ Since MyPAG took ownership of the site in 2011, the group has worked with the Woodland Trust, North Wales Wildlife Trust, and specialists Miller Land Management to develop detailed plans to gradually return the site to a more natural woodland habitat. Those woodland management plans have involved periodic felling and thinning of areas of the dense Corsican Pine plantation and a combination of replanting and natural regeneration to restore native broad-leafed woodland to the site. Two phases have been completed, most recently in 2017. This month we are expecting to start the third and possibly final phase, with 2 small areas for clear felling and a general thinning of the conifers across the site.
We have arranged for specialist contractors to carry out the work, which has been approved and licensed by Natural Resources Wales. The site will remain open, although we ask that visitors stay well away from the contractors and their machinery. For their own safety, dogs should be kept on leads in all areas of the site and children should always be supervised by an adult.
The thinning will involve removal of at most 1 in 4 of the conifers, particularly those which show signs of damage or disease. The contractors will also look for trees which are overshadowed by others and so are unlikely to grow normally and to remain healthy. The work is being done during the winter months to reduce the impact on wildlife, especially the bird life.
As well as the benefits to the woodland and its biodiversity, the felled trees are likely to bring some income, which will help with the management of the site. As most of you will be aware, MyPAG is a not-for-profit company and a registered charity run by volunteers, and all income will be reinvested in the site.
