'Eyesore weeds' on Gwynedd beach are actually wildflowers that stop it washing away
Ecologists have hit back at critics of a Gwynedd beach that’s covered in places with vegetation. Dismayed residents have complained the shoreline is carpeted with weeds but plant experts say they are native wildflowers that offer myriad benefits.
Dinas Dinlle has a west-facing beach a short drive from Caernarfon that’s renowned for its glorious sunsets. Local campaigners claim vegetation has spread across its shingle in recent years and, worried about the impact on tourism, have labelled it a “complete and utter eyesore”.
But two environmental groups contacted North Wales Live to point out that plants have long been a feature on the beach. Plantlife Cymru and North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT) said that, as the weather becomes more extreme, their role is becoming increasingly important as they help stabilise shingle shorelines.
READ MORE: 'Humpback whale' spotted from A55 close to Welsh seaside resorts
READ MORE: Major Barmouth beach event cancelled as course left underwater
Contrary to local claims that plants like oil seed rape had taken root on the beach, the two groups said most of the vegetation is typical of a "more natural" coastal shingle shoreline. In a letter, they said: “Such habitats are of conservation importance. Indeed, the vegetation at Dinas Dinlle was surveyed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee back in 1993, when it was already noted that vegetation at this site had 'suffered widespread and moderate recreational pressure in the form of trampling'.
“We are aware of coastal shingle in other areas of Wales where species have disappeared (indeed at one site in Pembrokeshire, become extinct) because of recreational pressure on the beach shingle. In addition, we would note that vegetation also improves stabilisation of shingle of this kind, which can be vulnerable to the more extreme weather events we now face.”
At few places in Wales are the impacts of coast pressures so obvious as at Dinas Dinlle. An ancient hillfort, perched above the village and containing one of Wales’ largest roundhouses, once looked out on woodland where the beach now is. Behind it was a tidal inlet and harbour later reclaimed as farmland. .
Since 1990, more than a third of the hillfort has been lost to sea erosion. With its cliffs crumbling at 40cm per year, it’s predicted the entire hill will become an island before disappearing within 500 years. Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
Coastlines are constantly evolving and Dinas Dinlle has seen significant change since new sea defences were built in 1994. Following devastating storm damage four years earlier, a longer fishtail groyne was constructed by the village to slow a northerly drift of sediment. Its aim was to ease seafront erosion.
By 2013, it has become clear the work was having unintended consequences. While Natural Resources Wales (NRW) reported a “build-up of shingle, some vegetated” in front of the village, the opposite was happening north of the groyne, towards Caernarfon Airport. Here, sea defences were being starved of shingle, leading to occasional over-washing.
According to local resident Martin Evans, diggers are periodically brought in to shore up shingle sea defences by the airport. No such work is carried out by the village, enabling vegetation to thrive.
NWWT and Plantlife Cymru said this was indicative of a healthy beach system that offered benefits beyond stabilisating the shoreline. "We are living in a nature crisis,” they wrote. “People visit the Welsh coast for its relatively unspoiled beauty, and this includes our native flora and fauna.”
Higher up single beaches, plants like Sea Beet, Sea Holly, and Sea Thrift are often found. In some places Yellow-horned Poppy can get a foothold on shingle ridges, along with a range of grasses and shrubs.
A 1993 Nature Conservancy Council review identified 13 shingle sites in Wales considered important for their vegetation communities. These included Pensarn and Cemlyn Bay along with shoreline stretches from Penychain to Pwllheli, and Tywyn to Aber Dysynni.
Also on the list was Morfa Dinlle, a spit of land which has a large sand dune complex and the biggest active gravel beach ridge system in Britain. Together, these features form an important and fragile coastal ecosystem supporting many rare plants and animals.
A more recent study, commissioned by NRW in 2018, found that, despite development, 49 of Wales’s 403 shingle sites were still of “geomorphological significance”, either for their size or features such as dunes, saltmarshes and lagoons. On the list was Dinas Dinlle.
Many other sites have been diminished by coastal development and sea defences. The NRW report observed: “Significant areas have been lost or degraded during the past 150 years.
“For example, as long ago as the mid-1940s, Steers noted that “the whole length of coast between Llandudno to Point of Air is unfortunately spoiled in various ways”. Many of the original shingle (and also sand dune) features along the North Wales coast between Bangor and Prestatyn have indeed been lost or heavily modified."
The same applied to west coast sites like Fairbourne and Barmouth, the report added. These days, the biggest threats comes from trampling by tourists, off-road vehicles and from beach management that involves heavy plant.
Not all beach vegetation is tolerated. After years of campaigning, diggers recently moved in to reclaim a small beach in Beaumaris, Anglesey, that was being threatened by plant growth. In this case, the guilty party was an invasive species, not a native one. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
See what's on in your area