The Real Wales

Beachcombing – Guest Blog by Kerry Hughes of Beachcomber Jewellery

I’ve always had a bit of a thing for beachcombing – when I was little and living in the Midlands I would live for those 2 weeks on a Welsh beach and go home with buckets full of shells and sea glass and bits of driftwood that to me seemed magical – and  I have to say still do. We were lucky enough to move to West Wales 10 years ago and I’m now able to indulge my beachcombing passion on a daily basis.

I started Beachcomber Jewellery so that I had something to do with all my finds (and to justify coming home every day with pockets full of treasures). The jewellery I make is totally inspired by the amazing beaches in this area; I use locally found sea glass and sea pottery, and also textures and shapes from the beach.

Red sea glass is rare

Sea glass for those who don’t know, is old bottles and jars that have been discarded into the sea over the centuries, worn down to smooth organic forms by the constant ebb and flow of the tide, eventually washing up on the shoreline, resting in the sand awaiting discovery – recycling at its best.

These beautiful translucent pieces can be found in many colours, the most unusual being reds and oranges, some can date back as far as the 17th century. The glass can be found in many shapes depending on the original shape of the shard and the length of time that it has been tumbled in the ocean.

Sea pottery and pearl necklace

The sea pottery is pieces of broken plates and cups etc. that have had a similar journey. It always intrigues me to know the history of these pieces; I particularly like to find pottery with text.

The beaches in Ceredigion are an absolute inspiration. Each of the beaches that I beachcomb on a regular basis has its own magic. The stretch of beach between Aberarth and Aberaeron always has ‘treasure’ to be found, in particular some lovely pieces of driftwood. Tresaith has an array of beautiful shells including the unusual pelican’s foot and my favourite the queenie scallop, I’ve even been lucky enough to find cowries there.

Rolling waves at Penbryn Beach

Penbryn never fails to inspire with its spectacular waves.  The rock pools at Aberporth at low tide are always fascinating, it’s always worth taking the time to sit and gaze into the pools to watch the amazing creatures going about their business. Into Pembrokeshire there is Poppit Sands with its incredible dunes and there are always interesting finds on the strandline such as masked crabs.  There is always so much to see and find on all the beaches here, as for the best beaches for finding sea glass and sea pottery – well that would be telling wouldn’t it…

A days collection of sea glass and sea pottery

More information on the Beachcomber Jewellery Facebook Page

Stay in a cottage to explore the West Wales beaches.

Silver service! West Wales Holiday Cottages team collects their Pembrokeshire Tourism Award from category sponsors, Red Kite Solicitors, at the Beggars Reach Hotel at Burton.

From left: Dawn Falconer, Sarah Smith, Jo Locke, David Witt, Matthew Witt and Linda Plowman.

We’re delighted to announce that we have won another award! West Wales Holiday Cottages was awarded silver in the Best Supplier category of the Pembrokeshire Tourism 2013 Awards.

We would like to thank everyone who kindly sent feedback about our service and who nominated us on the Pembrokeshire Tourism Awards website.

We’re proud to win this award for outstanding customer service and for delivering beyond expectations.

Photo credit: Pembrokeshire Photography

Haf is a beautiful female bottlenose dolphin who has had at least four calves, but she has a secret – nobody knows for sure why she vanished from Cardigan Bay for three whole years and then reappeared!

Haf the bottlenose dolphin swimming with her calf in Cardigan Bay

From 2001, Haf (which means “summer” in Welsh) was seen and recorded regularly in Cardigan Bay, West Wales, by researchers at Sea Watch Foundation – a national marine research and conservation charity carrying out regular Photo-ID surveys of the population with the support of the Countryside Council for Wales (as from 1^st April, called Natural Resources Wales)

Haf became so well known to researchers that she was one of the first Cardigan Bay dolphins to be offered up for adoption through the Sea Watch Foundation’s Adopt-A-Dolphin scheme www.adoptadolphin.org.uk. This scheme helps to raise money to support Sea Watch’s research and conservation of these dolphins, and it is that research which is helping to unravel what might have happened to Haf during her  three ‘missing’ years.

Sea Watch scientists recorded Haf with a juvenile calf in 2003, and in August of 2004 she was seen with a little new-born. These two were seen swimming closely together for a few years, and in 2007 Haf gave birth to another new-born named Bubbles.

Haf the bottlenose dolphin with her calf Bubbles in Cardigan Bay

Later in 2007, sightings of her stopped. Sea Watch researchers are informed of any bottlenose dolphins which wash up dead, or are stranded, so they held their breath for three years, but there were no reports of her dead or alive.

In July 2011, she reappeared just as suddenly as she had vanished, swimming happily alongside ‘Whisper’ – a dolphin who had also ‘disappeared’ at much the same time. During 2011, Haf was seen several times in Cardigan Bay but when she did not show up in the Cardigan Bay surveys in spring and early summer of 2012, it began to look as though Haf might have done another vanishing act.

In August 2012, there was joy amongst Sea Watch researchers onboard the research vessel Dunbar Castle 11 when they spotted Haf with a tiny new-born calf which, because of its ‘stripes’ and tiny size, may have been only a few days old. Since then, Haf and her latest calf have been seen  several more times, and researchers hope to see them again during spring and summer surveys in 2013.

Sea Watch Monitoring Officer, Daphna Feingold, explains: “We used to think the bottlenose dolphin population was resident to Cardigan Bay.  Photo ID however revealed a clear pattern of migration. We now know some stay in the bay year round, but from around October/November most of the Cardigan Bay dolphin population (including calves) move north out of the two SACs (Special Areas of Conservation) joining up with others to range around Anglesey and beyond, at least to the Isle of Man although their overall range is not yet known and may extend as far as Scotland. They return to Cardigan Bay in the spring.

” Most young are born during the summer months, and it seems that some mothers at least are using the shallow waters of Cardigan Bay as a safe calving and nursery area, where they can reliably find food and not leave their young for long unattended.”

It seems that Haf, then, may be amongst the dolphins that range far…. but how far, nobody yet knows!

Haf was one of the original dolphins on the Sea Watch award winning www.adoptadolphin.org.uk scheme. There are currently six dolphins available to adopt – Chris, Smoothy, Bond, Flint, Top Notch, and Nic Nic. By adopting one of these dolphins, you will be helping to fund the continuing research by Sea Watch to help develop effective conservation programmes.