Reclaimed land on Malltraeth Marsh now stands 4ft under water for a th

ON the afternoon of Wednesday, November 22, 2017, the weather forecast was looking ominous for Anglesey.

Heavy rain and strong gusts were promised which, combined with a high tide, could only mean one thing: sea water surging up the River Cefni to battle with floodwater flowing down Afon Ceint in the opposite direction.

Although the eventual outcome would spell disaster for Llangefni, at the time Gerallt Hughes was only moderately concerned.

After all, his farm lay within the embrace of an embankment which channels surplus water to the sea via the Cefni Cob.

Still, it had failed before and although the breach had been fixed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), it was something of a sticking plaster repair.

Collecting their waterproofs, Gerallt and dad Will set off in their Land Rover to check on 14 beef cows in the marshy fields bordered by the Ceint embankment.

By the time they reached them, the weather had turned and the cows were nowhere to be found.

“We couldn’t see them and they couldn’t hear us,” said Gerallt, 30.

Later, in the driving rain, they returned for another attempt, then a third time in the gathering gloom armed with bags of feed.

Still no cows.

As the treacherous marshes are no place for a Land Rover, they switched to a tractor and returned again at midnight.

This time the cows were waiting by the gate.

“I think they’d been sheltering underneath the railway bridge and they couldn’t hear us in the wind,” he said.

“But they’d suddenly realised it was time to get out of there.

“We looked around and could actually see water rising up out of the ditches and overflowing onto the land.

“We knew the embankment must have failed and we’d got there just in time.”

Next morning Gerallt called up a favour, borrowed a friend’s boat and rowed across his fields. He tried to measure the depth using his oars: they didn’t touch the bottom. “It must have been 8ft deep,” he mused.

More than three years later the boat is still moored on the marsh. In summer it remains tethered on dry land and in winter it rises up again, as does the anger Gerallt feels towards NRW.

Since then, five more breaches have opened up in the embankment bordering Ty Mawr Llan farm, leaving more than 20ha of land under 4ft of water at least four months a year.

The area now resembles a network of paddy fields, thanks in part to the 18th Century engineers who created a system of squared embankments, called parks, to drain the land.

“Perhaps we start growing quipped Gerallt.

In reality it is no laughing matter.

Farm management has been severely compromised, should rice,” as habitats.

“We understand that the land’s primary purpose is marsh but in the past it was improved enough to grow forage and rear livestock,” said Gerallt.

“Its annual flooding affects our entire farm management, depriving us of grazing pastures and forcing us to use up better quality fields.

“We pay our annual rates for the area’s drainage management, and we’re happy to do so, but we’re getting nothing in return.” have wildlife

Representations by the local Internal Drainage District (IDD) committee have so far drawn a blank. It comes down to money. NRW has quoted a figure of £750,000 for repairs, which the Welsh Government has refused to sanction.

Frustrated, Gerallt is prepared to do the work himself.

“That’s he said. owns the

I’ll need first.”

Ty Mawr Llan lies at the Llangefni end of Malltraeth Marsh on the eastern the next step,” “But as NRW embarkments, its permission side of the Afon Cefni valley.

In 1790, an act of parliament launched a period of land reclamation on the marsh.

Embankments were built, drainage ditches dug and, in 1824, the Afon Cefni was redirected and canalised.

It was a model of 19th century ingenuity, later renovated after World War 11 following a period of neglect.

Prior to the system’s restoration, Gerallt’s grandfather moved onto the marshes in 1928.

He acquired the farm adjacent to Ty Mawr Llan, which his son bought in 1983 before leasing extra land from Lord Anglesey.

They now run 950 draft Welsh and Texel ewes, and 180 Limousin and Simmental cross cattle, on 1,000 acres, which includes a separate holding near Brynteg.

“We have some of the best land on Anglesey,” said Gerallt. “And also some of the worst!”

Embankment breaches now allow water from Afon Ceint to spill onto the marshes rather than flowing into the Cefni. Among those affected is

RSPB Cymru, which operates the Cors Ddyga reserve, one of the largest lowland wetland sites in Wales.

Site manager Ian Hawkins shares Gerallt’s frustration. Although, on the face of it, a little extra water may not necessarily be a bad thing for a wetland bird reserve, it does bring problems: a tenant’s submerged big bales have become something of a local landmark for A55 motorists this winter.

“When the land is flooded we all enjoy the birds that it attracts,” said Mr Hawkins.