Tremains Wood Local Nature Reserve
Tremains Wood is a lowland mixed broadleaf woodland in the middle of Brackla.
An area of ancient, semi-natural woodland, Tremains Wood is listed in the provisional ‘Glamorgan Inventory of Ancient Woodland’ (Nature Conservancy Council, December 1986).
There are trails throughout the woodland which can be accessed all year round. The pathways are waymarked with ‘robin arrows’ and a series of interpretation panels will help you identify trees, flowers and wildlife species.
Plant and fungi species:
- Ash
- Blackthorn
- Bluebell
- Bramble
- Cuckoo pint
- Dog’s mercury
- Elm
- Enchanter’s nightshade
- Fern
- Field maple
- Hairy St John’s wort
- Hartstongue
- Hawthorn
- Hazel
- Ivy
- King Alfred’s cake
- Meadowsweet
- Opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage
- Primrose
- Remote sedge
- Sessile oak
- Sycamore
- Wood anemone
- Yellow archangel
Animal species:
- Blue tit
- Chiff chaff
- Common frog
- Common lizard
- Nuthatch
- Pipistrelle bat
- Robin
- Wood mouse
Old Ordnance Survey (OS) maps show that the current woodland has been at least partly wooded since 1799. By 1875, the woodland was being marked on OS maps as ‘Tre-Maen Wood’.
This map also shows a track through the southwest corner of the wood that links to another track on the far western edge of the existing woodland.
To the south, this track leads to an old quarry and limekiln at lower Tremains. It’s possible that the track was used to take timber from the wood to be used as fuel in the lime kiln.
Also in the southern part of Tremains Wood, adjacent to one of the bridges, you’ll find the remains of an old stone wall and what seems to be an old sluice gate.
It’s likely that at least some of the old boundary banks in the wood were once used to enclose grazing animals such pigs and goats. In fact, you may spot several old banks in the wood. These may have once formed part of an ancient woodland boundary.
Take the footpath on the right of Oak Tree Court as you approach Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School.
A public car park is available at the Brackla Triangle Shopping Centre.
Keeper of the Wood
The 'Keeper of the Wood' is one of our ‘Nature Keeper’ oak sculptures. They add interest to our beauty spots, and with the accompanying poetry, they capture the imagination of younger visitors by interweaving mythology into the sites.
Their aim is to spark an emotional connection to our green spaces, and so encourage people to visit as well as care more for them.