Local protests, rare amphibians and a royal visit
Read
As Tony Mercer recalls, the 1950s and ’60s were a time of protest in Newborough, as new forest developments led to the gated closure of the access road through the forest. The villagers felt their long-held local rights to roam the land were violated, and strong words were thrown about. Ultimately, to avoid further tension, it was agreed that a gate key – for locals only – would solve the problem, at a cost of 20p a year. Of course, as Tony says: “Those keys did find their way into other than local pockets.”
Back then, six cars down at the beach car park in the middle of summer was a ‘crisis’ situation for the locals, sparking fears of environmental damage, with a detrimental effect on the animals and birds that populated the forest, along with an increased fire risk. And there were many creatures that could be affected by careless wanderers, from the rabbits, mice, rats (and the fleas), and shrews to the amphibians and birds.
Tony remembers how walks near Pandy (the old mill) were accompanied by the “almost jungle sounds” of so many mating frogs. And the dunes were home to ‘llyffant melyn’, the natterjack toad, with its distinguishing thin yellow stripe down its back. This rare toad is smaller than the common toad, has shorter legs and a loud rasping male call. And, on Llanddwyn, Tony recalls how a ‘cold room’ was used for the storage of rabbits – caught by men employed to keep down the numbers, as there were so many of them. However, the outbreak of myxomatosis (a viral disease) killed so many rabbits that it changed the nature of the dunes and forest, with a subsequent lack of cheap food (for humans) and prey (for birds and animals).
Yet, visitors continued to come to Newborough and Llanddwyn – many to study the diverse rock structures (from pillow basalt and pink jasper to chert and limestone) on the island, part of the Mona Complex. Tony recalls how the islanders who lived on Llanddwyn drew their water for a natural spring arising in the rocks near the beach, and how a hut was built over it for protection. (The story was that the water came all the way from Caernarfon, as it tasted so different from the harder Anglesey water.) Of all the visitors, perhaps two of the most notable were Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones, who were flown to Llanddwyn by helicopter, for a private picnic.