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There are over 30 country parks in Wales. | 0:00:03 | 0:00:05 | |
Thousands of people visit them every year. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
Some are old estates of wealthy landlords. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
Some are old industrial sites. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:18 | |
The parks are usually close to towns | 0:00:18 | 0:00:20 | |
and that's because they've been set aside | 0:00:20 | 0:00:23 | |
for us to enjoy on our doorstep. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:25 | |
But what I like about them most is that they're great places for wildlife. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:29 | |
If you keep your eyes open, you'll see some great sights. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
Behind me is Margam Castle and it's a stunning building. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:52 | |
It's the centrepoint of a fantastic estate right on the outskirts of | 0:00:52 | 0:00:57 | |
Port Talbot in South Wales. | 0:00:57 | 0:00:58 | |
Margam Country Park is set in an estate once owned by the Talbot family, | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
who were, during the 19th century, | 0:01:09 | 0:01:12 | |
one of the richest families in South Wales. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:14 | |
It was this wealth that enabled the family to develop the ironworks in | 0:01:16 | 0:01:19 | |
Margam and create a new harbour | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
in nearby Aberavon and name it Port Talbot. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
At one time, the estate was huge - | 0:01:26 | 0:01:29 | |
nearly 19,000 acres. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:31 | |
Today, the country park is owned by Neath Port Talbot Council and is a | 0:01:34 | 0:01:37 | |
fraction of the size. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:39 | |
But it's still large enough for some stunning parkland, lakes and woodland. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:44 | |
It's a beautiful place to visit with magnificent old buildings and great walks. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:50 | |
And, of course, the park has some good wildlife and I like looking for | 0:01:52 | 0:01:56 | |
it early in the morning when there are fewer people around. | 0:01:56 | 0:01:59 | |
I've been taken to the hills above the castle by one of the park's wardens. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:07 | |
Margam is very well-known for its deer, | 0:02:12 | 0:02:14 | |
probably more than anything else, really. | 0:02:14 | 0:02:16 | |
And there's three different types here, | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
you've got red deer and you've got fallow deer and you've also got a | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
rare and very exotic deer called the Pere David's deer. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
And I've come up with Jonathan this morning, upon the high ground, here, | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
where you've got all of this bracken to look for the deer with their fawns. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:33 | |
There's quite a few around, too. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
Fallow deer are variable in colour and not always easy to identify. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:43 | |
Most are a pale gingery brown colour with white spots on the back. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:49 | |
They also have a characteristic black and white tail and a white | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
rump with a black outline. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:55 | |
It's the first day of July and the fallow does have given birth in the | 0:03:00 | 0:03:04 | |
bracken during the past month. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:06 | |
We've come down into one of the valleys now and come across a herd of red deer. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:23 | |
Whereas the fallow tend to be right up on top in all that bracken, | 0:03:23 | 0:03:28 | |
the red deer are bigger and are more confident as well. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
And you can see that these have got fawns, I think I counted nine, | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
there's another one come across now, that's ten fawns now. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
They're still giving birth too. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:39 | |
What's interesting is you look at the adults, | 0:03:39 | 0:03:41 | |
they're that lovely rusty red colour, but the fawns are mottled. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:45 | |
They look like a large fallow deer, | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
sort of brownish with cream spots on them. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
That's all part of their camouflage really, so when they're lying up, | 0:03:51 | 0:03:56 | |
they blend in a lot better with the background, | 0:03:56 | 0:03:58 | |
whether it's the bracken or whether it's some bushes, wherever it is. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:01 | |
While the red and fallow deer have just given birth, | 0:04:05 | 0:04:08 | |
the park's other deer species, the Pere David, | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
are well into their rutting season. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
Pere David deer originally come from China | 0:04:16 | 0:04:18 | |
and they nearly became extinct during the 19th century. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:22 | |
Their perilous state was noticed by a Father David, | 0:04:22 | 0:04:25 | |
a French missionary working in China at the time and the deer are named after him. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:31 | |
During Midsummer, the stags compete for females. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:37 | |
STAG BELLOWS | 0:04:43 | 0:04:47 | |
A young stag has just come down from the distance over there and he's got | 0:05:09 | 0:05:14 | |
perilously close to all the hinds, so the alpha male, | 0:05:14 | 0:05:18 | |
the big alpha stag has come down, he's going to see him off, I think. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:22 | |
He's been thrashing through the bracken, making a lot of noise. | 0:05:22 | 0:05:25 | |
And, of course, they don't really want to fight. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:27 | |
They want to scare the opposition away without fighting, | 0:05:27 | 0:05:29 | |
if at all possible. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:30 | |
You see the resident stag is not happy at all, | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
he really isn't happy at all. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:43 | |
Look at him. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:45 | |
Hello... | 0:05:56 | 0:05:57 | |
STAG GRUNTS | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
That's interesting. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
No fighting at all. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
Threats, bellowing... | 0:06:07 | 0:06:09 | |
This one's probably quick because there is another stag just up there | 0:06:10 | 0:06:14 | |
around the corner. He's just seen him off and he's seen this one down | 0:06:14 | 0:06:17 | |
here, so he's come after this one and he's probably quite concerned | 0:06:17 | 0:06:21 | |
that he's left all of his hinds up there. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:23 | |
And the young male has actually gone now. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
He obviously got a little bit too close to the hind. | 0:06:27 | 0:06:30 | |
He's turned and he's gone after him and chased off over there. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
But it is never-ending. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:34 | |
It's absolutely never-ending for them, for a period of weeks. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
Can you imagine how tired you'd be at the end of all that? | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
Not only do you have to see to all the females, | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
but you've got to fight off allcomers as well. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:44 | |
And by the end, they just lie down, just shattered, I think. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:48 | |
Yeah, back he comes. He's coming back now. | 0:06:50 | 0:06:52 | |
There we are. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:53 | |
Well, he's won the day today, anyway. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
The most outstanding feature in Margam Country Park is the castle, | 0:07:04 | 0:07:08 | |
which was built during the early 19th century and is the last of a | 0:07:08 | 0:07:12 | |
succession of houses built on the site. | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
700 years before the castle was built, the estate was run by | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
Cistercian monks and parts of the monastery still remain. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:25 | |
Margam Abbey monastery was built by skilled stonemasons and they left | 0:07:28 | 0:07:33 | |
their signatures on their work. | 0:07:33 | 0:07:35 | |
Here's one. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:38 | |
There's another one. And see, they were covered in lime wash. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
Another one here. Here. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
Local historian, John Adams, is helping me find them. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
And here as well. And there. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
And on that one on that one. This looks like a bed, almost. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:56 | |
So what are these then, John? | 0:07:56 | 0:07:58 | |
Well, they're basically the mark of individual masons. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
When they started building an abbey like this, they appointed a master | 0:08:01 | 0:08:05 | |
mason and then he appointed masons and when they | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
finished training, they were given a mark. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:10 | |
So this is the mark of one individual mason. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:13 | |
What's interesting about this building is this occurs almost anywhere. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:19 | |
So it's more or less, there's a lot of work from one man. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:22 | |
So, why would he have put them marks? | 0:08:22 | 0:08:25 | |
I'd have thought, you know, the monks coming in, | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
wouldn't have wanted to see these marks everywhere. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
Well, one, they were covered over, but of course the other thing was | 0:08:29 | 0:08:33 | |
you could use them for quality control. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:35 | |
There would've been a roof on this, would there? | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
-A stone roof. -There was marvellous rib vaulting coming across but the | 0:08:38 | 0:08:42 | |
sad thing was when the monastery was closed, | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
a man called Sir Rice Mansel bought it. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
Now, they needed a coal house, so at some point in time, | 0:08:48 | 0:08:53 | |
they basically used this for storing coal. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
-You're joking. -No, I'm not joking. | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
And then in the vestibule, they used that for brewing beer and | 0:08:58 | 0:09:01 | |
basically they took the lead off the roof, lined it with oil cask paper | 0:09:01 | 0:09:06 | |
and eventually what happened was the water seeped through. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:11 | |
The pillar went out of vertical and it collapsed. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
I'm pleased to say that the Abbey | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
is treated with a little more respect these days. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
During early spring, any masonry or stone wall in | 0:09:21 | 0:09:25 | |
Margam Park is a potential nesting site for birds. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
Walking across through the gardens from the Abbey now and there's a | 0:09:31 | 0:09:35 | |
pine tree, I think it's Scots pine over there, | 0:09:35 | 0:09:38 | |
and there was a coal tit digging away at the moss. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
A beak full of moss, obviously building a nest, | 0:09:41 | 0:09:45 | |
and then he came over here and what it's doing, | 0:09:45 | 0:09:47 | |
there's a slit low down in the wall over there and it's diving in there | 0:09:47 | 0:09:51 | |
and taking moss, both birds, and every now and again, | 0:09:51 | 0:09:53 | |
they'll perch up on this branch over here with a beak full of moss. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:58 | |
And dashing in... It's the perfect place. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
They're funny birds, coal tits, whereas you find blue tits, | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
great tits will use nest boxes, holes in trees, holes in walls, | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
quite high up, these will nest low down, often in old mouse holes. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:13 | |
And this is perfect because it's dry in there, it's out of the way, | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
it's safe, no cats, no dog, anything can get in anywhere near that nest. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
And they're cracking little birds. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:21 | |
They dive in like little mice diving out of the way. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:24 | |
Of course, at the moment, because they're getting moss, | 0:10:24 | 0:10:27 | |
they're just building the base of that nest. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
Once they've finished that base, they then go off looking for wool | 0:10:29 | 0:10:33 | |
or maybe deer hair and they'll do the fine lining and that's when | 0:10:33 | 0:10:37 | |
she'll eventually lay the eggs. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:38 | |
Oh, here we are, look. | 0:10:38 | 0:10:40 | |
Here we are. One's just landed on a branch here and in he goes. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:45 | |
Like a mouse, into the wall. Cracking little birds. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
Most of the visitors that come to the park live locally and sunny days | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
draw literally thousands. | 0:10:57 | 0:10:59 | |
Margam has a group of friends of the park. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
These are volunteers who help to look after the park and keep it tidy. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
I'm meeting Doreen Nash at another great ancient building on a hill | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
above the castle. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
-Hello there. -Hello. | 0:11:16 | 0:11:18 | |
-How are you? All right? -Fine, pleased to meet you. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:20 | |
-Nice to see you. -Thank you, thank you. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
-Thank you. -Litter picking. -Yes, I'm afraid so. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
We usually get quite a bit around here because they come of a night | 0:11:25 | 0:11:29 | |
and they have barbecues and they have drinks and you know... | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
-So it'll be kids mainly, is it? -I would say teenagers. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
So, there's a gang of you. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:36 | |
There's you... I saw a couple of people... I can see them all now. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:39 | |
There's a gang of you, come out... | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
Yes, there's between four and five come up. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:43 | |
-Shall we go in and have a look? -Yes. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:45 | |
It looks like there have been barbecues lit here fairly recently. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
-Yes, there have, yes. -Something is over here, look. -Of course they have. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
-And this building now, is it a chapel? -Old Chapel, built in 1470. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:56 | |
It was built for the farmers and the peasants to come up to worship | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
because they weren't allowed in the Abbey Church | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
because they were only for the rich and for the monks. | 0:12:02 | 0:12:04 | |
So it was for the peasants, not the bigwigs, sort of thing. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:07 | |
Definitely not the bigwigs. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:08 | |
Definitely not them. And we do have a mass here once a year. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
-Do you? -In July. Yes, yes, yes. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
I bet you're all praying it doesn't rain for that? | 0:12:14 | 0:12:16 | |
It has been raining, but it still goes on. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:18 | |
-Does it? -Still goes on, yes. -That's fabulous. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:20 | |
-That's brilliant. -I can see what you mean now. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:22 | |
There a barbecue here and behind me over there. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
Yes, it's a shame. And what's happening is, doing the barbecues | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
-against the stone, you know... -It ruins it, doesn't it? -It's going to ruin it. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:33 | |
-And this has all just been done... -This is a shame. -..this part. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
And the same as the litter in the park. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
We pick up plastic bags, or numerous things, but what people don't | 0:12:38 | 0:12:42 | |
realise that the animals are in danger through the | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
litter in the park. I mean, it's a fact that five deer die in every | 0:12:45 | 0:12:49 | |
-park every year. -Honestly? -Yes, through litter. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:52 | |
-So, what is that, from plastic...? -Yes, plastic bags from dog bags. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:58 | |
They think it's food. | 0:12:58 | 0:12:59 | |
-Well, well. -You know, visitors come in, they throw litter everywhere, | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
they don't realise that they are killing our wild animals. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
The park is now closed and the people have gone home. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:38 | |
And one thing I really wasn't expecting to see right in front of | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
the big house is a hare. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:44 | |
But a hare has come from the top fields down here... | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
..and it's feeding, I think, on the young grass and of course, | 0:13:49 | 0:13:52 | |
this is mown, so you get young, fresh, succulent growth and that's | 0:13:52 | 0:13:57 | |
why the hare has been attracted down here. | 0:13:57 | 0:13:59 | |
She's happy enough. There she is, just going right across in front of the big house. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
Wow! | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
Well, that was unexpected. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
That really was unexpected. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:16 | |
It just goes to show what's around once everybody's gone home. | 0:14:16 | 0:14:19 | |
In addition to parkland and gardens, Margam Country Park also has | 0:14:26 | 0:14:30 | |
woodlands and they are particularly stunning | 0:14:30 | 0:14:32 | |
and busy with birdlife at dawn during spring. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:35 | |
This is my favourite part of Margam Park. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
It's an old woodland, ancient woodland and it's pretty unique, | 0:14:46 | 0:14:50 | |
I think. I don't know of another woodland like this anywhere in | 0:14:50 | 0:14:53 | |
Wales, at least. These are old sweet chestnuts, | 0:14:53 | 0:14:57 | |
hundreds of years old and they're all twisted and gnarled, | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
they're full of holes and because of that, they're fantastic for all | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
nesting birds, of course, and I bet there are all | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
kinds of invertebrates, bats in there as well. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
And of course, the backdrop of Margam Castle, here, | 0:15:10 | 0:15:13 | |
it's just a stunning place and I know that there's no-one else here, just me. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:18 | |
I've come round now to the other end of this | 0:15:34 | 0:15:38 | |
sweet chestnut woodland here. | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
I've heard a woodpecker. There's been a great spotted woodpecker been calling | 0:15:41 | 0:15:44 | |
and drumming as well and it's all come from this area here, | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
so I reckon there's got to be a nest here somewhere. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:50 | |
I've found the nest. This is the tree, here. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:07 | |
It's a dead sweet chestnut and the nest is maybe what, five, | 0:16:07 | 0:16:11 | |
six metres up? Around the other side, facing down that way. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:15 | |
And what's odd is that it's the male who's in there. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:17 | |
He's gone in. I saw him go in. I suspect what he's doing, | 0:16:17 | 0:16:20 | |
because it's early May now and they don't usually lay their eggs | 0:16:20 | 0:16:23 | |
until middle of May, maybe even towards the end of May. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
I suspect what he's doing is he's finishing off the nest chamber. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:30 | |
What you've got, you've got hardwood on the outside, | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
it'll be soft on the inside. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:33 | |
So they'll dig through the hardwood and then they'll go down about a | 0:16:33 | 0:16:37 | |
foot and that'll be the nest chamber. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:39 | |
They won't take grass or anything like that. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:41 | |
You've got bits of wood in there. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:43 | |
So she's gone off to feed and she'll fatten up | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
in order to make some eggs. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:47 | |
Look at this lovely building, this is the Orangery. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
It's one of the oldest buildings here. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:01 | |
This dates back to the late 18th-century and just look at the | 0:17:01 | 0:17:05 | |
intricate carvings on the wall there. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
Amazing place. And this was so that they could have their own citrus trees. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:12 | |
Isn't that amazing? | 0:17:12 | 0:17:13 | |
They could have their own citrus trees over 200 years ago and they | 0:17:13 | 0:17:17 | |
were kept in here, in the winter, and there was a coal fire right at | 0:17:17 | 0:17:22 | |
the back just to keep it warm and then what they would do, | 0:17:22 | 0:17:25 | |
is they would bring them outside between about May and October, | 0:17:25 | 0:17:30 | |
just to make the best of the sunshine. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:32 | |
Isn't that amazing? They'd cart them out, leave them here, | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
then come October when it got cold again, take them back in, | 0:17:35 | 0:17:38 | |
light up the coal fire, | 0:17:38 | 0:17:40 | |
so that it was warm enough to keep these trees alive. | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
And now, it's hugely popular. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:45 | |
You can have weddings here, you can have functions here, | 0:17:45 | 0:17:49 | |
so it's still used, not for the same thing, but it's still used and still | 0:17:49 | 0:17:52 | |
very busy. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:53 | |
Many of the old buildings in the country park are used for functions | 0:17:57 | 0:18:01 | |
and one of the original buildings is even let for holiday accommodation. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
This odd-looking cottage was built because the Talbot family wanted to | 0:18:06 | 0:18:10 | |
retain this beautiful facade designed by the famous 17th-century | 0:18:10 | 0:18:15 | |
architect, Inigo Jones. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:16 | |
The facade was relocated here in 1837 from an old banqueting hall | 0:18:18 | 0:18:22 | |
that used to be close to the castle. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:24 | |
A lean-to was built against the facade | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
to form a cottage for workers. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
Peter Nash used to live in the cottage as a child and belonged to | 0:18:31 | 0:18:35 | |
the last family to live in the house as estate workers. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
Did your family work for the big house, then? | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
Yes, my mother was a maid for four years. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
My father worked in the sawmills on the estate. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
My grandfather and great-grandfather | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
worked on the estate, on maintenance, | 0:18:50 | 0:18:52 | |
repairing fences you know, various jobs, like, you know. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
It would've been a busy place, I would imagine. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
-Dozens of people working for them. -There were dozens. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:01 | |
You had valets, you had grooms with the horses, you had stable lads, | 0:19:01 | 0:19:06 | |
dozens of maids. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
-I think they had 41 bedrooms. -41 bedrooms? | 0:19:09 | 0:19:13 | |
It was quite a big place. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:14 | |
And what's it like for you now? | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
Because I know you lead walks around here. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
Is it nice to be able to share all these memories and stories with | 0:19:19 | 0:19:23 | |
-people in the park? -Absolute... | 0:19:23 | 0:19:24 | |
Some people can't believe you actually live there. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
There's certain things you do remember, like on a hot evening, | 0:19:27 | 0:19:31 | |
my bedroom window would be this one on the left and you'd have the sash | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
down and you go to bed with a candle. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
And you'd have a little orange lamp, didn't give much light, | 0:19:38 | 0:19:42 | |
but it would attract bats. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:44 | |
And the bats then... | 0:19:44 | 0:19:45 | |
..they'd come around and my mother'd be terrified. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:50 | |
But we never thought anything of it, like, you know. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
They'd just come around, go back out. Come around, go back out. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:56 | |
The bats are still around. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:01 | |
And on a summer's night, hundreds come out to feed. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
It's about 10.30 now, finally getting dark, | 0:20:08 | 0:20:11 | |
and all the bats have suddenly come out. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:13 | |
There are lots of different species around the trees, but the ones I'm | 0:20:13 | 0:20:16 | |
really interested in are these, down by the water here, | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
they are Daubenton's bats, real water specialists. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
They'll skim over the surface, back and forth, feeding on midges, | 0:20:22 | 0:20:27 | |
on caddisflys, on any water insects. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:30 | |
And really, they'll not just eat them with their mouths, | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
but they'll take them out to the water sometimes, as well, | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
with their feet or even with their tail, they can scoop them out with their tail. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:39 | |
They're fantastic bats. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:41 | |
And there are lots of them, so many of them, all gathered around here. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:44 | |
Margam Country Park is one of the best bat sites in Wales. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:54 | |
11 of the 18 species of bat living in the UK can be found here. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
Without a bat detector, it's difficult to identify the different species. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:06 | |
The best time to view them is on a clear, still, dry night. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:11 | |
Sensibly, they tend not to come out when it's wet and if you see big | 0:21:13 | 0:21:17 | |
bats behaving like this above water, they're pretty certain to be | 0:21:17 | 0:21:21 | |
Daubenton's bats. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:23 | |
Margam Country Park has a number of man-made ponds and this one in front | 0:21:32 | 0:21:37 | |
of the castle is the biggest. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:39 | |
It was created by the family during the 1920s to help relieve | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
unemployment in the area at the time. | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
I've no doubt that the project also improved the view from the mansion. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
The pond has matured into an excellent wildlife habitat, | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
but most of its wealth is hidden in the water. | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
Hannah Shaw works for the Freshwater Habitats Trust on a | 0:22:03 | 0:22:08 | |
national project that helps to protect freshwater wildlife. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:11 | |
She's creating a database of pond species throughout Wales. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
Hello, Hannah. Have you got much? | 0:22:17 | 0:22:19 | |
Hi, Iolo. Yes, I've got a few things, I think. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
Oh, I love pond dipping. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:24 | |
Just have to have a look through. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
It's a bit like Christmas, you never know what you're going to get. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
Look at that, look at that. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
That's a water scorpion. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
Wow! Aren't they cool things? | 0:22:34 | 0:22:36 | |
With that siphon on its tail. | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
Does it breathe through that? | 0:22:38 | 0:22:39 | |
-Yes. -So it sticks that up above the water and then goes down and hunts | 0:22:39 | 0:22:44 | |
-under water. -Yeah. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
They're cool things, aren't they? | 0:22:46 | 0:22:47 | |
And a snail. Look at the size of that snail. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:49 | |
-That's a ram's horn snail. -A ram's horn. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:51 | |
I can see why it gets that name, yeah. That is nice. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
That is nice, OK. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:55 | |
And this has all just come out of the edge of this pond here, has it? | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
Yes, just through the reeds, yes. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
In a pond, most of the wildlife is in that first metre of the | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
vegetation around the edge of the pond. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:07 | |
Wow! Is that a leech? | 0:23:07 | 0:23:09 | |
Is it a leech on there on the side? | 0:23:09 | 0:23:11 | |
Yes, that's a duck leech. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:12 | |
A duck leech. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:14 | |
-Mm. -As opposed to what? | 0:23:14 | 0:23:15 | |
Well, you can get fish leeches and there's other types of leeches that | 0:23:15 | 0:23:20 | |
eat small invertebrates, but these actually parasitise ducks. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
Do they? As in, hang on the feet of ducks or what? | 0:23:24 | 0:23:27 | |
No, they go in their nasal cavity, in their beak. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:32 | |
Oh, do they? Wow! | 0:23:32 | 0:23:33 | |
-I've never heard of a duck leech. -But they are really good parents. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
I'm sure they are(!) | 0:23:38 | 0:23:40 | |
There's a stickleback as well, look, a little stickleback. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
Probably three-spine stickleback, is it? | 0:23:43 | 0:23:45 | |
-Is it that one probably? -Yes, it is. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
Do you know, the amazing thing is, you walk past here, | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
you wouldn't think that you'd find any of this in there. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:54 | |
And if it wasn't for the fact that you were going in with a net and | 0:23:54 | 0:23:57 | |
bringing them out, I'd have no idea. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
Wow! Look, we've got a water stick insect here as well. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:02 | |
Look at that. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:03 | |
Wow! That's a water stick insect. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:07 | |
Yes, it's a bug, the same as the water scorpion is a bug. | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
-He's gone back in. -And a back swimmer. So it's one of the bugs. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
That is very, very odd. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:17 | |
And is this common in our pools? | 0:24:17 | 0:24:21 | |
They're quite widespread, but not common. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
Do you know what? I think that's only the second one I've ever seen. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:28 | |
That is amazing. I would have missed that, see? | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
I really would have missed that. What a weird looking thing. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
I think they're really under recorded in Wales. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
I'm not surprised. You can't find them. Look at that. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
Wow! And this one again uses that siphon on the tail, | 0:24:39 | 0:24:43 | |
it sticks out above the water to breathe. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
-Mm-hm. -I find it really weird that they breathe through their bums, | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
basically, don't they? | 0:24:48 | 0:24:50 | |
-They do. -Isn't that odd? | 0:24:50 | 0:24:52 | |
Wow! So, how does this pond then rate? | 0:24:52 | 0:24:55 | |
-Is it a good pond? -It's a pretty good pond, yes. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
And that again is because of the variety of wildlife in it. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:01 | |
Yes, yeah. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:02 | |
One of many lovely landscapes in the park is Cwm Phillip, a quiet, | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
sheltered valley, situated behind the castle. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
It's particularly beautiful during early autumn | 0:25:20 | 0:25:24 | |
and it's perfect territory for adders. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:26 | |
Almost every encounter I've ever had with an adder has involved one or | 0:25:38 | 0:25:44 | |
the other of us being startled and often the adder just making their | 0:25:44 | 0:25:49 | |
way off, which is a shame. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
But there's one on the edge of this old path here, | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
it's overgrown, she's right in the vegetation. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:58 | |
She's curled up and the head is just lying there, | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
looking straight out at us. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:03 | |
It's a perfect spot for adders. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
We've got the bracken here, you've got some gorse, | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
you've got some vegetation, and open areas where they can sunbathe, | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
plenty of mice and voles and lizards for them to eat. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:14 | |
September is a real critical time for adders because it's when they | 0:26:15 | 0:26:19 | |
give birth, they give birth to live young, of course. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
And, of course, they're going to be thinking about what they call brumation. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:26 | |
They don't hibernate, they go underground and they do move | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
and they will come out as well on a warm winter's day, | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
but they brumate, which means that they slow down. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
And what they will do, they'll feed now but before going into brumation, | 0:26:34 | 0:26:37 | |
they'll empty their stomach out because what they don't want, of course, | 0:26:37 | 0:26:42 | |
if there's a mouse or a vole in there, | 0:26:42 | 0:26:44 | |
they don't want that to rot away | 0:26:44 | 0:26:45 | |
inside and it's not the best view I've ever had of an adder. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
But I always think an encounter with an adder is a good one. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:52 | |
If I can find the animal, I can watch the animal, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:55 | |
I can film the animal if I want to, and when I leave, | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
the animal is still there. It's not been disturbed. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
And that's exactly what I'm going to do now. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:04 | |
I'll let it be, I think. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:06 | |
Margam Country Park is mostly known for its beautiful buildings and its deer. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:24 | |
There are not many parks in Wales where you'll see three species of | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
deer and so easily. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:29 | |
Like many other country parks, there's also plenty of other less | 0:27:31 | 0:27:35 | |
obvious wildlife which takes a bit more effort to find. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
And that's the real fun of wildlife watching. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:42 | |
The deer have all come together up on the hill now, the red and the fallow. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:47 | |
And then you come down to Cwm Phillip, | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
now in its autumn colours, absolutely stunning. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:55 | |
Of course, that's where we saw the adder and it gives you some idea of | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
the size of the park. | 0:27:58 | 0:28:00 | |
It is huge and of course, this is only the back bit. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:02 | |
You've also got the front bit over there, as well. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
And this is nothing compared to the size of it 150 years ago. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:10 | |
It was huge. | 0:28:10 | 0:28:11 | |
That gives you some indication of the wealth of the people involved. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:15 | |
A fantastic place. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:20 |