Ffrwd Farm Mire is a beautiful wetland nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) near Pembrey. The 19-ha site is part of the larger Gwernydd Penbre SSSI, and is mostly owned by the Wildlife Trust, but 1 ha belongs to the Llanelli Naturalists. Both areas are managed together by the Wildlife Trust as a single reserve, a small fragment remaining from what would once have been a large expanse of wetland stretching through the bottom of the Gwendraeth valley.

The reserve is made up of a mixture of habitats. Large areas of reedbed grade into species-rich fen and marshy grassland, partly overlying a relict sand dune. Round the edges of the reserve, wet willow carr (wet woodland dominated by willows) has developed and occasional scrub is scattered along the lengths of ditch that criss-cross the site. An old canal reaches up one boundary and an abandoned railway line another.

The reserve is noted for a number of unusual plants, including Tubular Water Dropwort (Oenanthe fistulosa), an important species in Wales, and Red Data Book species such as the Marsh Pea (Lathyrus palustris) (near threatened in the UK, vulnerable in Wales) and Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) (vulnerable in the UK, near threatened in Wales). It is also home to some unusual invertebrates, such as the Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense), and Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum). Cetti’s warbler (Cettia cetti) also occurs on the site and birds can be heard singing powerfully in the summer months. They are one of the notified features of the SSSI and make use of the whole site, using the scattered scrub and reedbed habitats.

CCW's Lowland Peatland Survey team visited Ffrwd in late June 2009 as part of a programme of mapping all of Wales' peatland SSSI as well as other significant non-statutory (unprotected) sites. The survey covered all of the WTSWW land and involved battling through tall, dense reedbeds to reach smaller patches of more diverse vegetation. Recent management has created a network of more open areas with Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre), Water Starworts (Callitriche spp.), Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) etc. within the more southerly reed-beds, and one of these held three plants of Fine-leaved Water Dropwort (Oenanthe aquatica). This species was noted at Ffrwd Farm Mire by the late David Stevens during a CCW survey in 1988 but was never relocated and was thought to be an error, so the 2009 record cements it on the Carmarthenshire list and confirms David's earlier record.

Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris) was noted in several places, usually alongside ditches, but without any of the associated species that mark south Wales' rare rich-fen community. The site's famous Marsh Pea (Lathyrus palustris) population was in full flower and looked spectacular. A peat core revealed about 40 cm of peat underlying the Marsh Pea vegetation, beneath which was layered with subfossil Giant Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia). This suggests that the fen has developed from dune slack (linear depressions close to sea level in coastal dune systems) vegetation. By going further into the site than most botanists do, 100 or so Marsh Pea plants were also located further north-east than the main colony.

Ffrwd Farm Mire is open to visitors at all time, and although there are no formal footpaths on the reserve itself, visitors are welcome to wander. More information is available at http://www.welshwildlife.org/attachments/Reserves/Handbooks/Carms/ffrwdfarmmire.pdf or a fuller reserve leaflet is available from reserve manager Lizzie Wilberforce ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) on request.