Gwydir Forest

Today the forest is dotted with the remains of former metal mines: old engine houses, waste tips, reservoirs, and the surface remains of the pits themselves. This, however, is nothing compared to the labyrinth of tunnels below the surface, which run to many miles in length. Predominantly lead and zinc were mined, and the heyday of metal mining in the forest was between 1850 and 1919, although mining on a small scale began in the early 17th century. Indeed, whilst evidence is difficult to find following centuries of subsequent mining work, it is more than likely that a certain amount of shallow mining was undertaken by the Romans—the Roman road of Sarn Helen passed through the forest. The…

The land owned by Natural Resources Wales in Snowdonia National Park amounts to just over 12%, and of the four forest areas, the Gwydir Forest is probably the most popular based on visitor numbers. In 1937, Gwydir was designated a National Forest Park, and since 1993 the heartland of the forest has been accorded the special status of Forest Park. Promotion as an attraction has been an integral part of this designation. The forest is very accessible by wide tracks, old miners' paths, and long-established forest walks, a number of which follow waymarked routes. This popularity has further increased in recent years after the construction of the Marin Trail (named after the mountain bike…