Iolo Williams explores the Vale of Clwyd, from coastal lizards and rare butterflies to a tame raven and elusive red squirrels, uncovering the valley's hidden wonders and wildlife.
Iolo Williams visits the Vale of Clwyd, one of north Wales’s most distinctive landscapes with its dramatic hills and wide valley floor.
His journey begins on the north Wales coast at a hidden nature reserve between Kinmel Bay and Rhyl. Here, he finds common lizards and wheatears, migratory birds en route from Africa. Inland at Rhuddlan, Iolo examines the straightened River Clwyd, modified in the 13th century to supply Rhuddlan Castle. During late spring, sea trout, or sewin, migrate upriver to spawn. Chatting with a local fisherman, Iolo highlights the uncertainty facing these fish due to rising water pollution.
Despite the valley’s farmland-dominated landscape, patches of rich wildlife habitat endure. Uncut thistles attract pollinators, while river banks shelter banded demoiselles, striking damselflies that flourish in slow-moving water. On the slopes below Moel Arthur, an Iron Age hillfort, Iolo hears the call of a cuckoo. Once common, these birds have sharply declined, making his encounter with a male calling especially poignant. The Clwydian Range, with its heather-covered tops, forms the valley’s eastern edge and s species such as red grouse and bees.
At Moel Famau, 'Mother Mountain', Iolo meets an unusually tame raven, a rare close encounter with this wild bird. Iolo also visits Coed Cilygroeslwyd, a rare yew woodland teeming with unique plants. At Eyarth Rocks nature reserve, a limestone hill famed for butterflies, he finds the pearl-bordered fritillary, one of Wales’s rarest species. A daylight sighting of a badger adds another surprise.
His journey concludes at Clocaenog Forest, where Iolo searches for one of the few remaining red squirrels in the area. Despite frequent visits, he has never seen one here before, making this a fitting and emotional end to his exploration of Wales’s river valleys.
