Flowers of the Elan Meadows

This booklet has been produced to provide a concise guide to help farms
get to know the special flowers in their meadows. The meadows of the
Elan and Claerwen valleys are unique, given their location in the ‘uplandfringe’
and their protection over very many years due to both traditional
farming in the valley and the protected status of many of these grasslands.
It was not possible to include all species but you will find a good selection
of flowers in this guide. We’ve also limited the amount of text and provided
you with a good image of each different flower. We are sorry not to have
included any grasses, rushes or ferns! These will have to wait for the next
publication. We hope that you will enjoy exploring your meadows and
learning about both the rarities and common flowers on your farms.
The Elan Hay Meadows project under which the booklet was produced is
one of the 9 natural heritage projects run by the National Lottery Heritage
Fund Elan Links: People, Nature & Water landscape partnership. In total
there are 26 projects being delivered across four themes between 2018-
2023:
Celebrating heritage - Protecting and restoring historic sites and
archiving people’s histories and stories.
Enjoying Elan - Increasing access, recreation and learning
opportunities for visitors.
Experience and education - Providing opportunities to experience the
Elan Valley through volunteering, as well as education and training.
Enhancing nature and wildlife – Restoring and enhancing natural
environments.
If you would like more information on the scheme and its project please
go to www.elanvalley.org.uk/elanlinks
Fiona Gomersall, Elan Links Natural Heritage Officer