ABERAERON

South of Aberystwyth, the great shallow curve of Cardigan Bay is edged by steep cliffs and low banks of rounded pebble. Before the coming of the railways, there was a strong maritime trade along this coast.

In 1807, Reverend Alban Thomas Jones Gwynne built a harbour at Aberaeron, and the old core of the settlement was expanded, with elegant Georgian buildings.

Across the harbour, a low rock outcrop rises from the water – marked by a warning post. Storms have built a bank of pebble and shingle abutting the harbour wall, colonised now with salt-tolerant plants. While the managed turf of the harbourside is limited to clumps of buttercup and the odd violet, this patch of random wilderness sports a wider range of species, including sea beet and red campion.

On the landward side, shrubs and small trees have emerged. Stands of gorse, attracting pollinating insects with their year-round show of flowers, are increasingly entangled with the ubiquitous bramble stems. Left undisturbed, this dynamic habitat should form a natural barrier to help soften the impact of the winter storms.