Idiot alert

In the midst of a global pandemic there's another epidemic that's taking hold in uplands and upland fringe. Its that of off-road biking. Over the last year I've walked my beloved local landscape and witnessed the damage these idiots are inflicting on the natural and cultural environment. The impact on the landscape is the worst I've known it in my lifetime. From the World Heritage Site at Blaenavon, to the ancient woodlands of Blaenserchan and Graig Ddu and onto the common land of Mynydd Garn -wen these simpletons ride without fear of the law. Some arrive via Transit vans other simply use the highway network despite having no insurance or licence plate. I've seen groups of bikers drinking pints in a local pub before leaving to race up the main road to Brynmawr and Sunday's in Abersychan is a spectacle of speeding, over taking and wheelie pulling. And as for adhering to Covid restrictions, you can forget it. No one that routinely breaks common land and highways law is going to worry about a little thing like Covid.

Yesterday's walk up the Blaenserchan Valley was dogged by the constant background noise of bikers. In convoy, eight bikers raced up banks, rode through ponds and streams and joyfully scrambled through ancient woodland. With the Llanerch Memorial now attracting visitors including young families to enjoy the post industrial landscape the disrespectful actions of these numbskulls is an embarrassment and a stain on the legacy of our forefathers.

With that off my chest there was not much nature on show. An overhead calling raven and a distant green woodpecker accompanied a single coal tit and meadow pipit. On the plant front common whitlow grass and parsley piert were pleasing albeit common early Spring flowering plants.

Parsley Piert

Rosettes of Common Whitlow Grass