Ancient forest on Welsh coast exposed by storm.

A forest of petrified trees on the coast of Ceredigion County, Wales, has been exposed by a storm this week. The forest, which comprises the stumps of hundreds of Pine, Pinus, Alder, Alnus, Oak, Quercus, and Birch, Betula, stumps stretches from Ynyslas to Borth, and is thought to be between 4500 and 6000 years old. While the forest is usually covered by sediment, it is periodically exposed following storms, having last been seen in 2014, and is even found in local folklore, as Cantre'r Gwaelod, a mythical kingdom on the west coast of Wales that sunk into the sea, sometimes known as the 'Welsh Atlantis'.

Exposed tree stumps on the Ceredigion Coast in May 2019. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images.

Most of the trees show a distinctive growth pattern of growth, with most of the roots spreading along the surface, with only a few roots extending downwards as anchors. The exception to this rule is the Alder stumps, which have consistently deeper root systems. This style of growth is typical of trees growing in wetland environments with a high water table, where most trees struggle to get oxygen to deep roots submerged in water, something which Alder trees are adapted for such environments. Alder trees typically lower the water table where they live, and often form the first stage of the colonisation of wetland environments by terrestrial woodlands, but in this case the reverse seems to have happened, with the waters rising and eventually drowning the trees.

 Exposed tree stumps on the Ceredigion Coast in May 2019. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images.

A study of the Ceredigion Submerged Forest published in the journal New Phytologist in 1938 by Harry Godwin and Lily Newton, based largely on pollen and Foraminifera extracted from boreholes by Florence Campbell James, suggested that an ancient Reed-bed trapped a raised bogland behind it, which was then colonised by first the peat-forming Moss Sphagnum sp., then an Alder woodland, which was in turn overwhelmed by marine waters.

The Ceredigion Submerged Forest exposed in May 1923. Challinor in Godwin & Newton (1938).

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Dozens of Octopus crawl up Welsh beach.

Dozens of Octopus have been sighted crawling up a beach near New Quay in Ceredigion, Mid Wales, over the weekend Friday 27-Sunday 29 October 2017.  Up to 25 Curled Octopus, Eledone cirrhosa, were seen each night on Harbour Beach. Some local residents have attempting to help the animals back into the sea, despite which several dead Octopus have been found on the beach in the mornings. The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth has also received reports of Octopus strandings on other beaches in Wales as well as the north coast of Devon this week.

A Curled Octopus on Harbour Beach, Ceredigion, on 27 October 2017. SeaMôr Dolphin Watching Boat Trips.

The cause of this behaviour is not clear, as it is not something that Octopus usually do. Mass strandings of Fish are more common, as Fish will sometimes attempt to escape a deteriorating environment by crossing land, a good way of getting out of shrinking ponds or tidal pools. Octopus, at first sight, are less suited to such activity, as they lack the rigid skeletons and water-tight skin of Bony Fish. However, as many Fishermen have discovered, an Octopus left in a bucket on land or a boat is likely to escape very quickly. Exactly what the Octopus might be  trying to escape from is also uncertain. Marine organisms leaving the water usually do it because they have become trapped in a smaller body of water, such as a tidal pool, where the water chemistry can change quickly, for example by the oxygen becoming depleted, or evaporation raising the salinity level, but this unlikely to be the case in the open ocean. Brett Stones of SeaMôr Dolphin Watching Boat Trips has suggested that the Octopus may have been attempting to escape from Dolphins, which have been seen in Cardigan Bay this week and which are significant predators of Octopus.

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Two rescued from disused mine in Ceredigion, Wales.

Two men described as being in their seventies were rescued from the disused Bwlch Glas Mine near Talybont in Ceredigion, Mid Wales, at about 5.45 pm GMT on Saturday 6 December 2014. The two men were apparently exploring the mine when they got into trouble and called for assistance. Rescuers from the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service from Aberystwyth and Machynlleth took part in the rescue, allong with members of the Mines Rescue Service and the Brecon Mountian Rescue Team. The men were checked over at the surface by paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service; neither is thought to have sustained serious injuries.

 Rescue workers at the Bwlch Glas Mine on Saturday 6 December. Mid Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

The Bwlch Glas Mine was worked between 1882 and 1923, producing pyromorphite, a form of lead ore. The mine was initially excavated allong a vein that outcropped at the surface, but was was aquired by the Scottish Cardigan Lead Mining Company in 1909, who constructed a processing plant, and opened up several different levels of excavation. It is a popular location with mine explorers.

A mine explorer in the Bwlch Glas Mine in June 2013. The Kwan.

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 River Neath turned orange by mining run-off.
On Friday 24 September 2011 anglers on the River Neath in South Wales reported that a stretch of the river between Abergarwed and Neath Town had turned a muddy orange colour, and that a number of fish could be seen to be visibly in distress.


Disaster at Gleision Colliery, Godre'r Graig, West Glamorgan.
The Gleision Colliery is roughly 18 km to the northeast of Swansea. It is Wales's smallest coal-mine, with less than 20 employees. Gleision is a drift mine, a mine that is cut in from the side of a hill, so that it is possible to...


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