Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome once more to the Pont-Y-Pandy woodlands my familiar ground, and perhaps now, at long last, a shared ground for change. This blog marks a turning point. After almost four years without any direct physical action in the woodlands, and over seven years since I began my very first observations here, something shifted something hopeful. This entry is about that shift. About a moment where Linc Cymru, a housing association whose presence surrounds much of this landscape, came to the table. Or rather, to the trees.
A Meeting Among the Undergrowth
The visit took place inside the very heart of the woodlands. I had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with members of the Linc Cymru team, right where it all began within a landscape I’ve walked in solitude for years. We weren’t meeting in a boardroom. We were standing among branches, beside the water, in the thick of the land’s memory. They came out to see it themselves, to walk with me, to stand in the places I’ve stood where fish once thrived, where erosion has carved deep into the banks, where silence has been louder than support for too long. This wasn’t just another walk. This was the first real opportunity to introduce Linc Cymru to the true condition of the Pont-Y-Pandy woodlands, not through paperwork, but in person through the weight of what the landscape has endured and the beauty it still holds.
Hands in the Soil: A Land-Clearing Effort
What followed was a community moment I hadn’t seen here in years. Together, we took part in a local land clearing effort, removing litter and other domestic debris from the area something I’ve long done alone. This act, simple on the surface, carried meaning far beyond the plastic and waste we gathered. It was a sign a small but powerful gesture that showed Linc Cymru were not just present, but involved. Among the rubbish, I found familiar fragments: garden waste, domestic odds and ends, even children’s toys carried in from the surrounding housing areas. All of it tangled in the undergrowth and waterways clear signs of the slow neglect the woodlands have suffered for years. But for once, I wasn’t picking it up alone.
The Importance of This Landscape
I made it clear during our time together this little stretch of woodland is more than just unmanaged land behind an estate. It’s part of a living ecological system. A patch of green and flowing water that holds deep importance for wildlife, for community connection, and for the environmental legacy we leave behind. I expressed to Linc Cymru the vital need to protect this fragile space, to take seriously its ecological structure before it degrades beyond recognition. And they listened. Sincerely. They asked questions. They looked around. They understood, at least in part, what these years have been building toward. For too long, the Pont-Y-Pandy woodlands have lived in silence with little care, little formal recognition, and a slow, painful decline despite repeated documentation and field observations. But this day… this moment… felt like the first real bridge across that silence.
From Observation to Opportunity
It’s worth stating again: almost four years had passed since any physical action had been taken in the woodlands. Four years of erosion, pollution, and quiet decay. And now, in 2025, seven years since I began documenting this landscape, I finally witnessed the first signs of collaboration and mutual presence. This wasn’t a full restoration plan. It wasn’t a press event. It was something better it was a start. And in work like this, starts matter. They matter more than statements. More than policies. Because they begin with presence. And presence, in nature, is everything.
A Final Thought
I didn’t set out to build partnerships. I set out with a camera and a conviction that something was being lost here. I became an observer, an archivist, a walker of the same trails, over and over again. But now… now I see the beginnings of something different. To the team at Linc Cymru, I offer my thanks not just for showing up, but for choosing to walk into the woodlands with open minds and willing hands. There is still much to do. But today, for the first time in a long while, the weight of that work feels lighter because it is no longer mine alone to carry
Ladies and Gentlemen, until the next time... Take care.
Michael “Druid” Thomas
Lunacare Cymru | Media - Blog.
