Penrhiwceiber

The nutrient-poor coal spoil soils allow wildflowers to thrive. Look for meadow buttercup, red clover, black knapweed, oxeye daisy, ragged robin and southern marsh orchid. In the early spring, willow bushes are covered in furry pussy willow catkins, which are an important early source of pollen for bumblebees andmining bees.

The muddy pools may seem unsightly, but to a house martin the mud provides a vital material for nestbuilding. Dingy skipper butterflies and six-belted clearwing moths lay their eggs on bird’s-foot trefoil, a plant that thrives on colliery spoil. Voles scurry through the tall grass, hiding from hungry buzzards during the day and tawny owls at night. Take some time to listen to the springtime dawn and dusk chorus of blackbird, wren, robin, blackcap, blue tit, great tit and song thrush.