On this page you will not find late-breaking news, for which there are plenty of other alternative sites. Instead, I have included updates on issues that have continued interest and relevance to anglers, walkers, conservationists and anyone who values the wildlife, environment and other attractions of Kite Country.

• Fish power may generate electricity in future
• Dates for your diary in 2009
• Sale of rod-caught salmon and sea trout outlawed
• The Angling Trust
• Red Kites on the rise
• Monmouth & Brecon Canal partly closed throughout 2008
• Blueprint for Water
• Call to ban fishing in Brecon Beacons National Park
• National Park becomes a Geopark
• New long-distance footpath across Brecon Beacons
• Habitat improvements to River Monnow
• Upper Wye Passport
• Has anybody seen any big cats recently?

Fish power may generate electricity in future

April 1st 2009: According to today's Daily Telegraph scientists have discovered that the swimming actions of different types of fish can be harnessed and converted into a useful, alternative source of electricity through a process known as finetics. It is a fascinating, but technically complex article and I would strongly urge you to read it in its entirety. Unsurprisingly, the salmon comes out on top when it comes to energy production.

Dates for your diary in 2009

January 2009: This year's Hay Festival of Literature will take place between the 21st and 31st May. This quite unique event set in the beautiful town of Hay-on-Wye, renowned for its many second-hand bookshops, always attracts a fascinating variety of speakers. Make sure you check the web site for details of this year's guests and book your accommodation for this as early as possible.

This year's Welsh Game Fair will again be held in Llandeilo, in the Towy valley, on the 20th and 21st June. This is always a good day out for anglers, hunters and lovers of other country pursuits, but there is something at the Fair to interest the whole family.

A new event for this year will be the international polo tournament to be held at Glanusk Park near Crickhowell on Saturday 18th July. This is a charity match between Wales and South America and proceeds will benefit the Prince's Trust. This promises to be a very glamorous affair attracting celebrities from far and wide and there is a whole page on the web site devoted to dress code, so be warned.

Between the 20th and 23rd July the Royal Welsh Show will attract many thousands of visitors from all over the United Kingdom to this very special and popular agricultural show in the beautifully situated town of Builth Wells.

STOP PRESS: The hugely popular and truly international Brecon Jazz Festival will now definitely take place again between 7th and 9th August this year under the organisation of Peter Florence from Hay Festival. Headline acts include Abdullah Ibrahim, Manu Dibango, Anouar Brahem and Courtney Pine, but there will be 25 concerts in all over the weekend. The full programme will be on the website from June.

Clearly illustrating the attraction of the Brecon Beacons for music lovers and closely following on the heels of Brecon's jazz fest is the Green Man Festival featuring a wide variety of indie, psych, dance and folk musicians. The festival will again be held between the 21st and 23rd August in the beautiful Glanusk Park on the banks of the River Usk near Crickhowell and you are well advised to book early to guarantee a space for your tent/caravan/bed roll.

The extraordinary and very popular Victorian Festival will once again take place in the pretty old spa town of Llandrindod Wells between the 22nd and 30th August. Boasting a variety of themed events, this is an excuse to find some old clothes in the attic and dress up in your best Victoriana.

Also very popular with summer visitors to Kite Country is the Talgarth Festival of the Black Mountains, which encompasses a variety of events throughout the small town of Talgarth on the 29th and 30th August. There is something here for everybody.

If you want to enjoy a truly memorable and unique experience, please make sure to visit the smallest town in Great Britain to soak up the atmosphere (and possibly something stronger) as well as to enjoy some truly unique events - their first beer festival is on the 10th January! Llanwrtyd Wells will again play host to the famous World Bog Snorkelling Championships on the 31st August as well as the Mid Wales Beer Festival in late November, plus many other zany and entertaining festivities throughout the year. For more information keep your eyes on the Green Events web site.

If you can't make it to Builth Wells for the Royal Welsh Show, please note your calendar for the Monmouth Show on Thursday 27th August. This is always an excellent one-day show and boasts a very large selection of exhibitors and trade stands as well as livestock competitions and displays.

The Abergavenny Food Festival will take place on the 19th and 20th September. The event routinely attracts leading figures from the food world plus TV chefs and media personalities. Visit the many talks, tastings, stalls and demonstrations.

Somewhat earlier than in previous years, die-hard rally fans will hopefully head for the forests of Mid Wales between the 22nd and 25th October to watch the action in the Wales Rally GB. This final round of the World Rally Championship always attracts the finest rally drivers, although following the recent withdrawal of the Subaru team from rally events because of the economic crisis, who knows what will happen later this year. The rally is also under threat following a recent decision by the Welsh Assembly Government to serve notice of termination of its agreement with International Motor Sports Limited. Keep checking the web site for details.

Sale of rod-caught salmon and sea trout outlawed

January 2009: Anglers in England and Wales will no longer be able to sell any salmon or sea trout caught on rod and line. In addition all commercially caught fish will have to be tagged by netsmen to make them legally saleable. The new Environment Agency byelaw becomes active on January 31st. This legislation brings England and Wales in line with Scottish law, which banned the sale of rod caught salmon and sea trout in 2007. However, the carcass tagging of commercially caught fish is a step further than Scotland and mirrors the successful initiative run for several years in Ireland.

The ban follows many years of persistent lobbying by the Salmon and Trout Association and other bodies and is very much welcomed by responsible anglers.

The Angling Trust

December 2008: On Monday 5th January 2009 a new representative body to be known as The Angling Trust will be formed by the merger of several organisations that, until now, represented different aspects of angling in the United Kingdom separately. These well-known groups are the Anglers Conservation Association (ACA), the National Federation of Anglers, the National Federation of Sea Anglers, the National Association of Fisheries and Angling Consultatives, the Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trust (FACT) and the Specialist Anglers Alliance. The new Trust will protect recreational angling as a legitimate pastime and promote its benefits for the environment, society and the economy. The successful legal actions undertaken by the ACA over many years will continue under the Trust. The Trust's new web site is still not up and running, but you can reach them for more details at their email address.

Red Kites on the rise

December 2008: According to recent reports this was another good year for the Red Kite, with the number of observed breeding pairs and chicks continuing to increase. The productivity of each pair would also seem to be improving and these magnificent birds are now much more widely dispersed throughout the Principality than ever before. It is estimated that there are now probably between 750 and 900 breeding pairs in Wales and that as many as 800 chicks may have been reared this year, compared with some 600-650 in 2007. However, whilst these increases are encouraging, both infant and adult mortality is still too high to let us drop our guard now. This good news is encouraging for the hard-working volunteers of the Welsh Kite Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and others who have provided financial support and other assistance. They deserve our thanks.

Monmouth & Brecon Canal partly closed throughout 2008

February 2008: Following a very serious breach in the canal embankment at Gilwern on the 16th October last year, survey work by British Waterways Wales & Border Counties has established that the necessary repair work is likely to keep the damaged stretch of this popular waterway and tourist attraction closed to Spring 2009. Some 16 miles of the canal have been drained and over 100000 fish removed. Local residents were extremely fortunate to escape serious injury when the canal flooded the hillside above Gilwern, although a number of homes were very badly damaged. You can find some initial reporting of the incident on the Heritage Now web site, which also has quite a few dramatic photographs illustrating the impact of the breach.

Blueprint for Water

January 2007: Although it might be raining outside whilst you read this, I hope you will accept that our most precious natural resource is currently in a state of unprecedented crisis. The Government has committed itself to meeting the objectives of the European Union Water Framework Directive, which states that we must restore the ecology of Europe's rivers, lakes and wetlands by 2015 and that every member state's plans must be in place by 2009. The Blueprint for Water is both a coalition of specialist organisations and an alternative set of proposals that the Government is being urged to adopt to meet its obligations under the Directive. Even if you are not an angler you will have plenty to say about water conservation and quality and therefore please take some time to have a look at the Blueprint and see what you think our leaders should be doing to protect our future. The coalition members include the Anglers' Conservation Association, the Association of Rivers Trusts, the Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trust, the National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Salmon and Trout Association, Waterwise, the Wildlife Trusts, the WWF and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Call to ban fishing in Brecon Beacons National Park

October 2005: Many thanks to Garth Roberts of the Carmarthenshire Rivers Trust for alerting me to a recent letter from the organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to the Chief Executive of the Brecon Beacons National Park . Apparently, the letter asks that fishing be banned within the Park because of overwheming evidence that fish are intelligent animals who experience stress and pain. According to PETA the hooking of fish through the lip offends against the national park mission that all wildlife should be protected. You can find out more about PETA's view from their Angling Hurts pages, where there are some hints on what to do to help fish or instead of actually fishing.

I think it would be a mistake to casually dismiss the PETA action, no matter how misguided you might think it is. The world is a different place from the one that existed when I first started writing this web site about 8 years ago and hunting foxes with dogs is now banned throughout the country. PETA and other organisations will not stop until they have seriously curtailed traditional activities that they regard as "bloodsports" and we need to challenge their ideas intellectually, not just emotionally.

New long-distance footpath across Brecon Beacons

May 2005: At long last the new long-distance footpath crossing the Brecon Beacons from East to West (and vice versa!) has finally been inaugurated after some 3 years of planning. Now officially known as the Beacons Way, the new 98 miles long path will be the first to start and finish in the National Park and will hopefully encourage even more visitors to the area.

There is a definite religious theme to the new trail, which joins the small hamlet of Bethlehem, to the West of the Park near the River Towy, with Holy Mountain (Skirrid Fawr) near Abergavenny in the East. Along the length of the path walkers will also see some of the most beautiful old chapels and churches to be found anywhere in Wales, such as the little gem in Partrishow, as well as some beautiful scenery, such as the view across to the Black Mountain shown on this page. Railway access will be possible via Llandovery in the West or via Abergavenny.

The opening of the path coincides with the arrival of Open Access in Wales on the 28th May. Experienced walkers should be able to complete the new trail in about eight consecutive days, although you may naturally decide to take a shorter stroll at almost any point. The excellent guide book to the new trail by John Sansom and Arwel Michael is essential reading and this is readily available from bookshops and tourist information centres throughout Kite Country (ISBN 1 902305 35 4).

Habitat Improvements to River Monnow

May 2004: Regular visitors to this site will know that I have featured developments in the ongoing project to improve the habitat of the little River Monnow since its inception in 1999. With the support of a number of concerned organisations, including the Usk and Monnow Valley branch of the Salmon and Trout Association, the Wild Trout Trust, the Game Conservancy Trust and the Grayling Research Trust, work to address this tributary of the River Wye was initially seriously set back by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001. The Monnow forms part of the border between England and Wales and was hailed as one of the finest trout streams in Southern Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century. Over the years it has suffered, like so many other rivers, through intensive cultivation of the surrounding farmland, bankside erosion through overgrazing, and excessive shade caused by trees that have not been cut or coppiced for decades.

However, work to put right many of these problems is now well under way and supporters of the project were able to see the real progress being made during an open day held on the 13th May. As well as listening to excellent speeches by the celebrated Wild Trout Trust Vice Presidents Brian Clarke and Gareth Edwards, the visitors were also shown the extent of fencing, coppicing and other bankside work already carried out on the river and were able to inspect the results of electrofishing on one short stretch. Full marks to the organisers, who made the day very interesting and enjoyable and also ensured that supporters did not leave without an excellent lunch!

For further information about the project please contact:

Gill Watkins
River Monnow Project Co-ordinator
Upper Cwm
Craswall
Herefordshire
HR2 0PH
telephone: 01981 510189
email: monnow@gct.org.uk

The work on the Monnow may already be having a positive impact on salmon stocks on the Wye, as catches in 2004 are said to be significantly higher than last year. Fish in excess of 30lbs have already been caught at Builth Wells and Monmouth and some beats are reporting catches up to 4 times higher than in previous years. Check out the Wye and Usk Foundation site for more details.

Upper Wye Passport

March 2004: For some years now I have featured the excellent conservation work being undertaken by the supporters of the Wye and Usk Foundation. Another innovation from this group is the recent publication of its very useful and informative booklet called the "Upper Wye Passport". This describes all the fishing beats that visitors can either reserve direct through the Foundation's own booking office in Builth Wells or on presentation of pre-paid vouchers that are also supplied by the Foundation. For more information see my page on the River Wye.

Has anybody seen any big cats recently?

January 2003: Police in West Wales are issuing warnings to farmers not go out alone at night after a dog was savaged by a "puma-like" animal near the village of Llangadog in the Towy Valley, in the West of Kite Country earlier in the month.

The attack is the latest in a number of sightings of mysterious large cats in remote areas of Wales and other parts of Britain. However, the elusive creatures have managed to avoid capture so far and it is not possible to say with any certainty what they might be. it has been suggested that black panthers, pumas or a lynx may be involved, although the debate continues.For more information check out the British Big Cat Society site. The Welsh sightings are also discussed more fully by BBC Wales, including some rather more important safety advice. Despite the warnings, please do not be put off visiting Kite Country this year.