Margam Country Park Iolo's Great Welsh Parks


Margam Country Park

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There are over 30 country parks in Wales.

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Thousands of people visit them every year.

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Some are old estates of wealthy landlords.

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Some are old industrial sites.

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The parks are usually close to towns

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and that's because they've been set aside

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for us to enjoy on our doorstep.

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But what I like about them most is that they're great places for wildlife.

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If you keep your eyes open, you'll see some great sights.

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Behind me is Margam Castle and it's a stunning building.

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It's the centrepoint of a fantastic estate right on the outskirts of

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Port Talbot in South Wales.

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Margam Country Park is set in an estate once owned by the Talbot family,

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who were, during the 19th century,

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one of the richest families in South Wales.

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It was this wealth that enabled the family to develop the ironworks in

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Margam and create a new harbour

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in nearby Aberavon and name it Port Talbot.

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At one time, the estate was huge -

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nearly 19,000 acres.

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Today, the country park is owned by Neath Port Talbot Council and is a

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fraction of the size.

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But it's still large enough for some stunning parkland, lakes and woodland.

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It's a beautiful place to visit with magnificent old buildings and great walks.

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And, of course, the park has some good wildlife and I like looking for

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it early in the morning when there are fewer people around.

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I've been taken to the hills above the castle by one of the park's wardens.

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Margam is very well-known for its deer,

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probably more than anything else, really.

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And there's three different types here,

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you've got red deer and you've got fallow deer and you've also got a

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rare and very exotic deer called the Pere David's deer.

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And I've come up with Jonathan this morning, upon the high ground, here,

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where you've got all of this bracken to look for the deer with their fawns.

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There's quite a few around, too.

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Fallow deer are variable in colour and not always easy to identify.

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Most are a pale gingery brown colour with white spots on the back.

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They also have a characteristic black and white tail and a white

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rump with a black outline.

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It's the first day of July and the fallow does have given birth in the

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bracken during the past month.

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We've come down into one of the valleys now and come across a herd of red deer.

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Whereas the fallow tend to be right up on top in all that bracken,

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the red deer are bigger and are more confident as well.

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And you can see that these have got fawns, I think I counted nine,

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there's another one come across now, that's ten fawns now.

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They're still giving birth too.

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What's interesting is you look at the adults,

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they're that lovely rusty red colour, but the fawns are mottled.

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They look like a large fallow deer,

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sort of brownish with cream spots on them.

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That's all part of their camouflage really, so when they're lying up,

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they blend in a lot better with the background,

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whether it's the bracken or whether it's some bushes, wherever it is.

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While the red and fallow deer have just given birth,

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the park's other deer species, the Pere David,

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are well into their rutting season.

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Pere David deer originally come from China

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and they nearly became extinct during the 19th century.

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Their perilous state was noticed by a Father David,

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a French missionary working in China at the time and the deer are named after him.

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During Midsummer, the stags compete for females.

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STAG BELLOWS

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A young stag has just come down from the distance over there and he's got

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perilously close to all the hinds, so the alpha male,

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the big alpha stag has come down, he's going to see him off, I think.

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He's been thrashing through the bracken, making a lot of noise.

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And, of course, they don't really want to fight.

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They want to scare the opposition away without fighting,

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if at all possible.

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You see the resident stag is not happy at all,

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he really isn't happy at all.

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Look at him.

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Hello...

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STAG GRUNTS

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That's interesting.

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No fighting at all.

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Threats, bellowing...

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This one's probably quick because there is another stag just up there

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around the corner. He's just seen him off and he's seen this one down

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here, so he's come after this one and he's probably quite concerned

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that he's left all of his hinds up there.

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And the young male has actually gone now.

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He obviously got a little bit too close to the hind.

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He's turned and he's gone after him and chased off over there.

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But it is never-ending.

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It's absolutely never-ending for them, for a period of weeks.

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Can you imagine how tired you'd be at the end of all that?

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Not only do you have to see to all the females,

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but you've got to fight off allcomers as well.

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And by the end, they just lie down, just shattered, I think.

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Yeah, back he comes. He's coming back now.

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There we are.

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Well, he's won the day today, anyway.

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The most outstanding feature in Margam Country Park is the castle,

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which was built during the early 19th century and is the last of a

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succession of houses built on the site.

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700 years before the castle was built, the estate was run by

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Cistercian monks and parts of the monastery still remain.

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Margam Abbey monastery was built by skilled stonemasons and they left

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their signatures on their work.

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Here's one.

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There's another one. And see, they were covered in lime wash.

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Another one here. Here.

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Local historian, John Adams, is helping me find them.

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And here as well. And there.

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And on that one on that one. This looks like a bed, almost.

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So what are these then, John?

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Well, they're basically the mark of individual masons.

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When they started building an abbey like this, they appointed a master

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mason and then he appointed masons and when they

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finished training, they were given a mark.

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So this is the mark of one individual mason.

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What's interesting about this building is this occurs almost anywhere.

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So it's more or less, there's a lot of work from one man.

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So, why would he have put them marks?

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I'd have thought, you know, the monks coming in,

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wouldn't have wanted to see these marks everywhere.

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Well, one, they were covered over, but of course the other thing was

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you could use them for quality control.

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There would've been a roof on this, would there?

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-A stone roof.

-There was marvellous rib vaulting coming across but the

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sad thing was when the monastery was closed,

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a man called Sir Rice Mansel bought it.

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Now, they needed a coal house, so at some point in time,

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they basically used this for storing coal.

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-You're joking.

-No, I'm not joking.

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And then in the vestibule, they used that for brewing beer and

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basically they took the lead off the roof, lined it with oil cask paper

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and eventually what happened was the water seeped through.

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The pillar went out of vertical and it collapsed.

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I'm pleased to say that the Abbey

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is treated with a little more respect these days.

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During early spring, any masonry or stone wall in

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Margam Park is a potential nesting site for birds.

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Walking across through the gardens from the Abbey now and there's a

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pine tree, I think it's Scots pine over there,

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and there was a coal tit digging away at the moss.

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A beak full of moss, obviously building a nest,

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and then he came over here and what it's doing,

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there's a slit low down in the wall over there and it's diving in there

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and taking moss, both birds, and every now and again,

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they'll perch up on this branch over here with a beak full of moss.

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And dashing in... It's the perfect place.

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They're funny birds, coal tits, whereas you find blue tits,

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great tits will use nest boxes, holes in trees, holes in walls,

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quite high up, these will nest low down, often in old mouse holes.

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And this is perfect because it's dry in there, it's out of the way,

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it's safe, no cats, no dog, anything can get in anywhere near that nest.

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And they're cracking little birds.

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They dive in like little mice diving out of the way.

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Of course, at the moment, because they're getting moss,

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they're just building the base of that nest.

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Once they've finished that base, they then go off looking for wool

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or maybe deer hair and they'll do the fine lining and that's when

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she'll eventually lay the eggs.

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Oh, here we are, look.

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Here we are. One's just landed on a branch here and in he goes.

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Like a mouse, into the wall. Cracking little birds.

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Most of the visitors that come to the park live locally and sunny days

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draw literally thousands.

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Margam has a group of friends of the park.

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These are volunteers who help to look after the park and keep it tidy.

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I'm meeting Doreen Nash at another great ancient building on a hill

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above the castle.

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-Hello there.

-Hello.

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-How are you? All right?

-Fine, pleased to meet you.

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-Nice to see you.

-Thank you, thank you.

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-Thank you.

-Litter picking.

-Yes, I'm afraid so.

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We usually get quite a bit around here because they come of a night

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and they have barbecues and they have drinks and you know...

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-So it'll be kids mainly, is it?

-I would say teenagers.

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So, there's a gang of you.

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There's you... I saw a couple of people... I can see them all now.

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There's a gang of you, come out...

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Yes, there's between four and five come up.

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-Shall we go in and have a look?

-Yes.

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It looks like there have been barbecues lit here fairly recently.

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-Yes, there have, yes.

-Something is over here, look.

-Of course they have.

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-And this building now, is it a chapel?

-Old Chapel, built in 1470.

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It was built for the farmers and the peasants to come up to worship

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because they weren't allowed in the Abbey Church

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because they were only for the rich and for the monks.

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So it was for the peasants, not the bigwigs, sort of thing.

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Definitely not the bigwigs.

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Definitely not them. And we do have a mass here once a year.

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-Do you?

-In July. Yes, yes, yes.

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I bet you're all praying it doesn't rain for that?

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It has been raining, but it still goes on.

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-Does it?

-Still goes on, yes.

-That's fabulous.

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-That's brilliant.

-I can see what you mean now.

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There a barbecue here and behind me over there.

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Yes, it's a shame. And what's happening is, doing the barbecues

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-against the stone, you know...

-It ruins it, doesn't it?

-It's going to ruin it.

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-And this has all just been done...

-This is a shame.

-..this part.

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And the same as the litter in the park.

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We pick up plastic bags, or numerous things, but what people don't

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realise that the animals are in danger through the

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litter in the park. I mean, it's a fact that five deer die in every

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-park every year.

-Honestly?

-Yes, through litter.

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-So, what is that, from plastic...?

-Yes, plastic bags from dog bags.

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They think it's food.

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-Well, well.

-You know, visitors come in, they throw litter everywhere,

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they don't realise that they are killing our wild animals.

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The park is now closed and the people have gone home.

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And one thing I really wasn't expecting to see right in front of

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the big house is a hare.

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But a hare has come from the top fields down here...

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..and it's feeding, I think, on the young grass and of course,

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this is mown, so you get young, fresh, succulent growth and that's

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why the hare has been attracted down here.

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She's happy enough. There she is, just going right across in front of the big house.

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Wow!

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Well, that was unexpected.

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That really was unexpected.

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It just goes to show what's around once everybody's gone home.

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In addition to parkland and gardens, Margam Country Park also has

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woodlands and they are particularly stunning

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and busy with birdlife at dawn during spring.

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This is my favourite part of Margam Park.

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It's an old woodland, ancient woodland and it's pretty unique,

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I think. I don't know of another woodland like this anywhere in

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Wales, at least. These are old sweet chestnuts,

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hundreds of years old and they're all twisted and gnarled,

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they're full of holes and because of that, they're fantastic for all

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nesting birds, of course, and I bet there are all

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kinds of invertebrates, bats in there as well.

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And of course, the backdrop of Margam Castle, here,

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it's just a stunning place and I know that there's no-one else here, just me.

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I've come round now to the other end of this

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sweet chestnut woodland here.

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I've heard a woodpecker. There's been a great spotted woodpecker been calling

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and drumming as well and it's all come from this area here,

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so I reckon there's got to be a nest here somewhere.

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I've found the nest. This is the tree, here.

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It's a dead sweet chestnut and the nest is maybe what, five,

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six metres up? Around the other side, facing down that way.

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And what's odd is that it's the male who's in there.

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He's gone in. I saw him go in. I suspect what he's doing,

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because it's early May now and they don't usually lay their eggs

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until middle of May, maybe even towards the end of May.

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I suspect what he's doing is he's finishing off the nest chamber.

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What you've got, you've got hardwood on the outside,

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it'll be soft on the inside.

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So they'll dig through the hardwood and then they'll go down about a

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foot and that'll be the nest chamber.

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They won't take grass or anything like that.

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You've got bits of wood in there.

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So she's gone off to feed and she'll fatten up

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in order to make some eggs.

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Look at this lovely building, this is the Orangery.

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It's one of the oldest buildings here.

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This dates back to the late 18th-century and just look at the

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intricate carvings on the wall there.

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Amazing place. And this was so that they could have their own citrus trees.

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Isn't that amazing?

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They could have their own citrus trees over 200 years ago and they

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were kept in here, in the winter, and there was a coal fire right at

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the back just to keep it warm and then what they would do,

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is they would bring them outside between about May and October,

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just to make the best of the sunshine.

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Isn't that amazing? They'd cart them out, leave them here,

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then come October when it got cold again, take them back in,

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light up the coal fire,

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so that it was warm enough to keep these trees alive.

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And now, it's hugely popular.

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You can have weddings here, you can have functions here,

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so it's still used, not for the same thing, but it's still used and still

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very busy.

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Many of the old buildings in the country park are used for functions

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and one of the original buildings is even let for holiday accommodation.

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This odd-looking cottage was built because the Talbot family wanted to

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retain this beautiful facade designed by the famous 17th-century

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architect, Inigo Jones.

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The facade was relocated here in 1837 from an old banqueting hall

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that used to be close to the castle.

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A lean-to was built against the facade

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to form a cottage for workers.

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Peter Nash used to live in the cottage as a child and belonged to

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the last family to live in the house as estate workers.

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Did your family work for the big house, then?

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Yes, my mother was a maid for four years.

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My father worked in the sawmills on the estate.

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My grandfather and great-grandfather

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worked on the estate, on maintenance,

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repairing fences you know, various jobs, like, you know.

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It would've been a busy place, I would imagine.

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-Dozens of people working for them.

-There were dozens.

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You had valets, you had grooms with the horses, you had stable lads,

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dozens of maids.

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-I think they had 41 bedrooms.

-41 bedrooms?

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It was quite a big place.

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And what's it like for you now?

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Because I know you lead walks around here.

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Is it nice to be able to share all these memories and stories with

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-people in the park?

-Absolute...

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Some people can't believe you actually live there.

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There's certain things you do remember, like on a hot evening,

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my bedroom window would be this one on the left and you'd have the sash

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down and you go to bed with a candle.

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And you'd have a little orange lamp, didn't give much light,

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but it would attract bats.

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And the bats then...

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..they'd come around and my mother'd be terrified.

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But we never thought anything of it, like, you know.

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They'd just come around, go back out. Come around, go back out.

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The bats are still around.

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And on a summer's night, hundreds come out to feed.

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It's about 10.30 now, finally getting dark,

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and all the bats have suddenly come out.

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There are lots of different species around the trees, but the ones I'm

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really interested in are these, down by the water here,

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they are Daubenton's bats, real water specialists.

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They'll skim over the surface, back and forth, feeding on midges,

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on caddisflys, on any water insects.

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And really, they'll not just eat them with their mouths,

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but they'll take them out to the water sometimes, as well,

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with their feet or even with their tail, they can scoop them out with their tail.

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They're fantastic bats.

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And there are lots of them, so many of them, all gathered around here.

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Margam Country Park is one of the best bat sites in Wales.

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11 of the 18 species of bat living in the UK can be found here.

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Without a bat detector, it's difficult to identify the different species.

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The best time to view them is on a clear, still, dry night.

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Sensibly, they tend not to come out when it's wet and if you see big

0:21:130:21:17

bats behaving like this above water, they're pretty certain to be

0:21:170:21:21

Daubenton's bats.

0:21:210:21:23

Margam Country Park has a number of man-made ponds and this one in front

0:21:320:21:37

of the castle is the biggest.

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It was created by the family during the 1920s to help relieve

0:21:410:21:44

unemployment in the area at the time.

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I've no doubt that the project also improved the view from the mansion.

0:21:480:21:52

The pond has matured into an excellent wildlife habitat,

0:21:550:21:58

but most of its wealth is hidden in the water.

0:21:580:22:01

Hannah Shaw works for the Freshwater Habitats Trust on a

0:22:030:22:08

national project that helps to protect freshwater wildlife.

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She's creating a database of pond species throughout Wales.

0:22:120:22:15

Hello, Hannah. Have you got much?

0:22:170:22:19

Hi, Iolo. Yes, I've got a few things, I think.

0:22:190:22:23

Oh, I love pond dipping.

0:22:230:22:24

Just have to have a look through.

0:22:240:22:26

It's a bit like Christmas, you never know what you're going to get.

0:22:260:22:30

Look at that, look at that.

0:22:300:22:32

That's a water scorpion.

0:22:320:22:34

Wow! Aren't they cool things?

0:22:340:22:36

With that siphon on its tail.

0:22:360:22:38

Does it breathe through that?

0:22:380:22:39

-Yes.

-So it sticks that up above the water and then goes down and hunts

0:22:390:22:44

-under water.

-Yeah.

0:22:440:22:46

They're cool things, aren't they?

0:22:460:22:47

And a snail. Look at the size of that snail.

0:22:470:22:49

-That's a ram's horn snail.

-A ram's horn.

0:22:490:22:51

I can see why it gets that name, yeah. That is nice.

0:22:510:22:54

That is nice, OK.

0:22:540:22:55

And this has all just come out of the edge of this pond here, has it?

0:22:550:22:58

Yes, just through the reeds, yes.

0:22:580:23:01

In a pond, most of the wildlife is in that first metre of the

0:23:010:23:05

vegetation around the edge of the pond.

0:23:050:23:07

Wow! Is that a leech?

0:23:070:23:09

Is it a leech on there on the side?

0:23:090:23:11

Yes, that's a duck leech.

0:23:110:23:12

A duck leech.

0:23:120:23:14

-Mm.

-As opposed to what?

0:23:140:23:15

Well, you can get fish leeches and there's other types of leeches that

0:23:150:23:20

eat small invertebrates, but these actually parasitise ducks.

0:23:200:23:24

Do they? As in, hang on the feet of ducks or what?

0:23:240:23:27

No, they go in their nasal cavity, in their beak.

0:23:270:23:32

Oh, do they? Wow!

0:23:320:23:33

-I've never heard of a duck leech.

-But they are really good parents.

0:23:350:23:38

I'm sure they are(!)

0:23:380:23:40

There's a stickleback as well, look, a little stickleback.

0:23:400:23:43

Probably three-spine stickleback, is it?

0:23:430:23:45

-Is it that one probably?

-Yes, it is.

0:23:450:23:47

Do you know, the amazing thing is, you walk past here,

0:23:470:23:50

you wouldn't think that you'd find any of this in there.

0:23:500:23:54

And if it wasn't for the fact that you were going in with a net and

0:23:540:23:57

bringing them out, I'd have no idea.

0:23:570:23:59

Wow! Look, we've got a water stick insect here as well.

0:23:590:24:02

Look at that.

0:24:020:24:03

Wow! That's a water stick insect.

0:24:050:24:07

Yes, it's a bug, the same as the water scorpion is a bug.

0:24:070:24:11

-He's gone back in.

-And a back swimmer. So it's one of the bugs.

0:24:110:24:15

That is very, very odd.

0:24:150:24:17

And is this common in our pools?

0:24:170:24:21

They're quite widespread, but not common.

0:24:210:24:24

Do you know what? I think that's only the second one I've ever seen.

0:24:240:24:28

That is amazing. I would have missed that, see?

0:24:290:24:31

I really would have missed that. What a weird looking thing.

0:24:310:24:34

I think they're really under recorded in Wales.

0:24:340:24:36

I'm not surprised. You can't find them. Look at that.

0:24:360:24:39

Wow! And this one again uses that siphon on the tail,

0:24:390:24:43

it sticks out above the water to breathe.

0:24:430:24:45

-Mm-hm.

-I find it really weird that they breathe through their bums,

0:24:450:24:48

basically, don't they?

0:24:480:24:50

-They do.

-Isn't that odd?

0:24:500:24:52

Wow! So, how does this pond then rate?

0:24:520:24:55

-Is it a good pond?

-It's a pretty good pond, yes.

0:24:550:24:57

And that again is because of the variety of wildlife in it.

0:24:570:25:01

Yes, yeah.

0:25:010:25:02

One of many lovely landscapes in the park is Cwm Phillip, a quiet,

0:25:090:25:13

sheltered valley, situated behind the castle.

0:25:130:25:16

It's particularly beautiful during early autumn

0:25:200:25:24

and it's perfect territory for adders.

0:25:240:25:26

Almost every encounter I've ever had with an adder has involved one or

0:25:380:25:44

the other of us being startled and often the adder just making their

0:25:440:25:49

way off, which is a shame.

0:25:490:25:51

But there's one on the edge of this old path here,

0:25:510:25:54

it's overgrown, she's right in the vegetation.

0:25:540:25:58

She's curled up and the head is just lying there,

0:25:580:26:01

looking straight out at us.

0:26:010:26:03

It's a perfect spot for adders.

0:26:030:26:05

We've got the bracken here, you've got some gorse,

0:26:050:26:08

you've got some vegetation, and open areas where they can sunbathe,

0:26:080:26:11

plenty of mice and voles and lizards for them to eat.

0:26:110:26:14

September is a real critical time for adders because it's when they

0:26:150:26:19

give birth, they give birth to live young, of course.

0:26:190:26:22

And, of course, they're going to be thinking about what they call brumation.

0:26:220:26:26

They don't hibernate, they go underground and they do move

0:26:260:26:28

and they will come out as well on a warm winter's day,

0:26:280:26:31

but they brumate, which means that they slow down.

0:26:310:26:34

And what they will do, they'll feed now but before going into brumation,

0:26:340:26:37

they'll empty their stomach out because what they don't want, of course,

0:26:370:26:42

if there's a mouse or a vole in there,

0:26:420:26:44

they don't want that to rot away

0:26:440:26:45

inside and it's not the best view I've ever had of an adder.

0:26:450:26:48

But I always think an encounter with an adder is a good one.

0:26:480:26:52

If I can find the animal, I can watch the animal,

0:26:520:26:55

I can film the animal if I want to, and when I leave,

0:26:550:26:58

the animal is still there. It's not been disturbed.

0:26:580:27:01

And that's exactly what I'm going to do now.

0:27:020:27:04

I'll let it be, I think.

0:27:040:27:06

Margam Country Park is mostly known for its beautiful buildings and its deer.

0:27:180:27:24

There are not many parks in Wales where you'll see three species of

0:27:240:27:28

deer and so easily.

0:27:280:27:29

Like many other country parks, there's also plenty of other less

0:27:310:27:35

obvious wildlife which takes a bit more effort to find.

0:27:350:27:38

And that's the real fun of wildlife watching.

0:27:380:27:42

The deer have all come together up on the hill now, the red and the fallow.

0:27:430:27:47

And then you come down to Cwm Phillip,

0:27:490:27:51

now in its autumn colours, absolutely stunning.

0:27:510:27:55

Of course, that's where we saw the adder and it gives you some idea of

0:27:550:27:58

the size of the park.

0:27:580:28:00

It is huge and of course, this is only the back bit.

0:28:000:28:02

You've also got the front bit over there, as well.

0:28:020:28:05

And this is nothing compared to the size of it 150 years ago.

0:28:050:28:10

It was huge.

0:28:100:28:11

That gives you some indication of the wealth of the people involved.

0:28:110:28:15

A fantastic place.

0:28:190:28:20

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