Welshpool Fairway to Haven

A view of a landscape with grassland, bracken and scattered gorse bushes, stretching away to distant hills and mountains. There is a blue sky with a few white clouds.

A view of Welshpool Golf Club in February 2023 © MWT/Tamasine Stretton

Welshpool Golf Club manages 91 hectares of land three miles from the town of Welshpool. It already supports a good range of wild animals, plants and fungi, but as only one third of the land is currently actively managed for golf, there is huge potential for large areas of habitat to be managed for the benefit of nature. Immediately adjacent to the golf course is Y Golfa (an additional 25 hectares), an area of land managed by MWT for the benefit of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary (PBF) butterfly. This is one of only nine remaining sites in the whole of Wales for this rare and threatened species and is the most important population, with four other sites nearby. Other threatened species have been recorded on site too including Yellowhammer, Tree Pipit, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Brown Hare.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly in close up © MWT/Tammy Stretton

Yellowhammer on hedge copyright Chris Gomersall/2020VISION

Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) male in spring plumage in hawthorn hedgerow. Norfolk. April 2011. - Chris Gomersall/2020VISION

Donald Sutherland

Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly at rest on bracken

Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly © MWT/Tammy Stretton

A small orange and brown-green butterfly at rest on green vegetation

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly © Vaughn Matthews

Tree pipit © Derek Moore

The Welshpool Fairway to Haven project is an exciting new partnership, with the golf club leading on a project which focusses on managing and enhancing land for nature, whilst also improving access for local people. The project is funded by Welsh Government’s Local Places for Nature Challenge Fund, administered by WCVA.

Welshpool Golf Club is working with MWT to carry out habitat management and surveys, by setting up a ‘Friends of PBFs’ volunteer group and purchasing specialist machinery to work in bracken and scrub on steep slopes. The project team will also run events, install new interpretation and improve access.

This area of land is cross-crossed by several public rights of way, including Glyndŵr’s Way National Trail. However, these footpaths can easily get overgrown during the summer months. The project activity will help to maintain these footpaths, improving access and enabling more people to get closer to nature on their doorstep.

An open landscape view with a carpet of bluebells amongst dead bracken in the foreground, stretching away to scattered trees covered in white blossom, and then distant hills in the background

A spring view of Welshpool Golf Club © MWT/Tamasine Stretton

Montgomeryshire landscape in the spring, with Bluebells, fresh colour on the trees & farmland in the distance copyright Tamasine Stretton

Landscape near Welshpool in the Spring © Tamasine Stretton

A landscape view with rough grassland, scrub and bracken in the foreground (shades of brown and dark green) and hills in the background

Looking across Welshpool Golf Club towards the Breidden Hills © MWT/Tamasine Stretton

Blue sky with some white cloud over a distant winter landscape of green fields, hedgerows, hills and mountains in the distance. In the foreground there is bracken and scrub.

Looking northwest from Welshpool Golf Club © MWT/Lottie Glover

A view of Welshpool Golf Club in February 2023 © MWT/Tamasine Stretton

Are you interested in joining the ‘Friends of PBF’s’ volunteer group? This will involve carrying out habitat management and surveying butterflies, as well as other wildlife. If you do not have your own transport, we may be able to provide transport from Welshpool. Please email tammy@montwt.co.uk if you’d like to join or to find out more information.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming events throughout the year and follow #fairway2haven on social media to engage on social media.

Two people in winter clothes, standing with their backs to camera, stand looking over some bracken habitat. There is a tree covered hill in the background — Assessing habitat at Welshpool Golf Club and Y Golfa © MWT/Lottie Glover

Project update 24th April 2024

Since our official project launch event on February 4th, the team have been very busy! The staff at Welshpool Golf Club worked very hard during February to make good use of the new machinery, managing several different areas of habitat, before we hit the bird nesting season. The ‘Friends of PBFs’ volunteer group have also been out four times, first pruning and pollarding young trees, then raking some of the cut areas of bracken, then helping with the habitat survey at Y Golfa. Despite the late start, and all the challenges behind the scenes, the project has completed over 4 hectares of habitat management, which is a tremendous achievement.

Five people attended First Aid Training, and local drone contractor – Dragon UAV – have been out gathering baseline aerial imagery of the site. Behind the scenes, the team have been very busy purchasing all the equipment we need, and we are fortunate to have the support of Hannah Zervas, a local photographer and videographer, who has already captured some great imagery of the project delivery. There is now a wildlife sightings notebook in the clubhouse, and a range of wildlife field guides there too.

The busy survey season is now well underway, with the first Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterflies due to emerge any day now! We will be carrying out surveys for birds and plants too. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch.

A group of people watching a presentation inside a building copyright Hannah Zervas

Welshpool Fairway to Haven project launch event presentation © Hannah Zervas

A group of people walking in the countryside, beside a pond copyright Hannah Zervas

Participants enjoying a walk round Welshpool Golf Club at the Welshpool Fairway to Haven project launch event © Hannah Zervas

A group of people scattered amongst some recently pruned young Hawthorn trees

Friends of PBFs Volunteer Group undertaking pruning at Y Golfa in February 2024 © MWT/Tamasine Stretton

A group of people raking bracken copyright Hannah Zervas

Three people looking down at the bracken covered slope in front of them. In the background is a view of green fields, hedges and trees.

A photo showing an area of brown bracken litter with abundant Common Dog-violet and Ground Ivy, which have green leaves and purple flowers

A perfect square?! Abundant Common Dog-violet (Viola riviniana) and Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) amongst bracken litter © MWT/Tamasine Stretton