Halkyn Mountain: debris and dahlias

Volunteers from the villages on Halkyn Mountain combine to clear rubbish and spoil from a landscape scarred by lead mining, quarrying and littering. Undergrowth is full of rusting metal and numbers of old cars have been abandoned at random. Bonfires are set to get rid of whatever can be burned and a rubbish collection aims to cut down on fly-tipping. In contrast, a best-kept garden competition affords views of well-tended, floral abundance.

Halkyn Mountain, a common grazed, mined and quarried for centuries, is protected because of its varied habitats and was the focus of community environmental restoration projects, as seen here, during the 1970s, following European Conservation Year in 1970. The Welsh Countryside Committee, established to foster such conservation activity, was chaired by the Prince of Wales and developed into the Prince of Wales Committee, which awarded Halkyn several plaques for successful projects. See the film ‘Encil yr Haul/The Sun’s Retreat: an example of art in the environment’, a record of a project supported by the committee. Shot by historian Bryn Ellis, first headteacher of Argoed High School, Mold.