Cannabis factory

Forgeside above Blaenavon doesn't get much attention from naturalists, not sure why because it has some great ffridd habitat. Pushing my way through a willow thicket I stumbled across the remnants of a cannabis factory. I know this because of all those Police copumentaries that litter the TV channels these days. Stacks of compost with cut stems protruding from within.

The small disused private mine remains disused apart from a couple of wheatear. Leaving the mine to explore the wider Forgeside environs a meadow pipit appeared suddenly and feigning injury but a search for a nest produced nothing but some fresh hedgehog droppings. I made my way across the hillside to a single mature tree that I'd often caught sight of from the other side of the valley, thinking  I should one day make the effort to take a closer look. It turned out to be a sycamore that was growing from within the curtilage of a number of drystone walls of a lost farmstead. On the way back a pair of stonechat moved from perch to perch.