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A Fairway to Haven coming to Welshpool

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

Welshpool Golf Club are delighted to announce a tee-rific new project that is underway. Welshpool Fairway to Haven is an exciting new project which focuses on managing and enhancing the site for nature, whilst also improving access for local people. The golf club will be working with experts at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust throughout this project to work towards the best outcome for wildlife.

The project has been awarded £170,000 from Welsh Government’s Local Places for Nature Challenge Fund, administered by WCVA.

Welshpool Golf Club manages 91 hectares of land, 3 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.

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

To pass up the opportunity to partner and work with Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust (MWT) on this fantastic project was not to be missed. With the help of the Local Places for Nature fund, the Fairway to Haven project will not only create new habitats for PBFs, but also provide better environments for nature to thrive on the Golfa Hill once again. Engaging with local communities and the public has been a goal for Welshpool Golf Club for many a year, and what better way of doing it than through the Fairway to Haven project and MWT.
Jonathan Gamble, Course Manager
Welshpool Golf Club

The new project enables the golf club to work with Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust to set up a ‘Friends of PBFs’ volunteer group, to carry out habitat management and surveys, purchase specialist machinery necessary to work in bracken and scrub on steep slopes, run events, install new interpretation and improve access.

Welshpool Golf Club is a beautiful place to visit, with stunning views across North and Mid Wales on a clear day. The site is open access with several public footpaths, including the famous Glyndŵr’s Way. This project would help to maintain these footpaths, improving access and enabling people to use them all year round. This would allow people to get closer to nature on their doorstep.

A butterfly resting wings closed on top of a plant. The butterfly is patterned in different shades of orange, orange-red, orange-yellow and black.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly © Bob Eade

We are absolutely delighted to be working with Welshpool Golf Club on this exciting new project. The Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly needs all the help it can get! The golf course is already a fantastic area for wildlife, but this project will enable a lot more habitat to be managed, benefiting nature, people and the climate. We cannot wait for more people to discover this amazing place and enjoy all the special wildlife which call it home
Tammy Stretton, Conservation Officer
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust

The project will be looking for volunteers to join the ‘Friends of PBFs’ group to carry out habitat management, and survey butterflies and other wildlife. If you do not have any transport to access the golf club, there may be transport opportunities from Welshpool.

Date for the diary! Sunday 4th February 2024, 2-4pm, there will be a project launch event at Welshpool Golf Club. All welcome.

- To find out more about Welshpool Fairway to Haven, or to find out about volunteering opportunities, please email tammy@montwt.co.uk or visit: montwt.co.uk/fairway2haven

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