Another year has passed for us to enjoy the beautiful climbing and coastal trails that Pembrokeshire has to offer. This year has been the first since 2019 with no restrictions on movement due to Covid -19 and this article is a quick review of the year and what to expect in 2023.
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Mae blwyddyn arall wedi mynd heibio wrth i ni fwynhau’r dringo bendigedig a’r llwybrau arfordirol sydd gan Sir Benfro i’w cynnig. Eleni yw’r gyntaf ers 2019 heb unrhyw gyfyngiadau ar symud oherwydd Covid-19 ac mae’r erthygl hon yn adolygiad cyflym o’r flwyddyn a’r hyn i’w ddisgwyl yn 2023.
This year has seen vistor numbers return to around pre-pandemic levels for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and with the first year where there has been no large restrictions on movement we saw steadier visitor numbers rather than the peaks and troughs of 2020-2021.
2021 saw quite a few issues, leading to a much bigger review this time last year, with access to the Range, parking, and bird numbers all causing concern. There were multiple occations where climbers had accessed the military ranges without fully understanding the briefings that had been set up online during the pandemic years. This included people camping on the ranges, climbers not having the correct passes and in some cases some hadn’t even attended a briefing. Following this, the decision had been made to bring the briefings back in-person, and 2022 has bought up no serious issues in terms of briefing instructions not being adhered to, but has also seen a quite a big drop in the number of climbers undertaking the briefing.
Sea bird populations had a good year in 2022, with eleven chough pairs nesting but two failed, and twenty-four chicks fledged.
The current in-person briefing system will continue for the foreseeable future, unfortunately the drop in trust over 2021 stained the relationship, and will take a few years to build back again. The BMC has been informed that more checks will be made over 2023 to ensure that climbers hold the correct passes to climb at Range West.
The briefing dates for 2023 are as follows:
Thursday 19th January 2023 at 18.00
Saturday 25th February 2023 at 09.00
Thursday 23rd March 2023 at 18.00
Friday 7th April 2023 at 09.00
Saturday 27th May 2023 at 09.00
Thursday 15th June 2023 at 18.00
Saturday 29th July 2023 at 09.00
Briefings will be held at Merrion Camp, Castlemartin Firing Range, Pembroke. Park in the layby the large Chieftain tanks by the front gate and aim to arrive about 5 minutes early to allow time to get through security gates.
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Eleni gwelwyd niferoedd ymwelwyr yn dychwelyd i tua lefelau cyn-bandemig ar gyfer Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro, a gyda’r flwyddyn gyntaf lle na fu unrhyw gyfyngiadau mawr ar drafnidiaeth, fe welsom niferoedd ymwelwyr cysonach yn hytrach na’r adegau prysur iawn, neu dawel iawn iawn yn 2020-2021.
Cafwyd cryn dipyn o broblemau yn 2021, gan arwain at adolygiad llawer mwy yr adeg hon y llynedd, gyda mynediad i’r Range, parcio, a niferoedd adar i gyd yn peri pryder. Roedd yna sawl achlysur lle roedd dringwyr wedi cyrchu'r meysydd milwrol heb ddeall yn llawn y sesiynau briffio a sefydlwyd ar-lein yn ystod y blynyddoedd pandemig. Fe fu pobl yn gwersylla ar y meysydd tanio, dringwyr heb y pasys cywir ac mewn rhai achosion nid oedd rhai hyd yn oed wedi mynychu sesiwn friffio o gwbl. Yn dilyn hyn, gwnaed y penderfyniad i ddod â’r sesiynau briffio yn ôl fel digwyddiad wyneb-i-wyneb, ac nid yw 2022 wedi codi unrhyw faterion difrifol o ran peidio â chadw at gyfarwyddiadau briffio, ond mae hi hefyd wedi gweld gostyngiad eithaf mawr yn nifer y dringwyr sy’n ymgymryd â’r sesiynau briffio.
Cafodd poblogaethau adar y môr flwyddyn dda yn 2022, gydag unarddeg pâr o frain coesgoch yn nythu, ond methodd dau, ac fe wnaeth dau ddeg pedwar o gywion fagu plu.
Bydd y system friffio wyneb yn wyneb bresennol yn parhau hyd y gellir ei ragweld, yn anffodus mae'r gostyngiad mewn ymddiriedaeth dros 2021 wedi staenio'r berthynas, a bydd rhai blynyddoedd cyn i ni allu ei adeiladu'n ôl eto. Mae'r BMC wedi cael gwybod y bydd mwy o wiriadau yn cael eu cynnal dros 2023 i sicrhau bod dringwyr yn dal y trwyddedau cywir i ddringo yn Range y Gorllewin eleni.
Mae dyddiadau’r briffiau yn 2023 fel a ganlyn:
Dydd Iau 19fed
Dydd Sadwrn 25fed
Dydd Iau 23ydd
Dydd Gwener 7fed
Dydd Sadwrn 27fed Mai 2023 at 09.00
Dydd Iau 15fed
Dydd Sadwrn 29fed
Cynhelir cyfarfodydd briffio yng Ngwersyll Merrion, Maes Tanio Castellmartin, Penfro. Parciwch yn y gilfan y tanciau Chieftain mawr ger y giât flaen ac anelwch at gyrraedd tua 5 munud yn gynnar i ganiatáu amser i fynd drwy giatiau diogelwch.
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DOWNLOAD: the BMC RAD app
Get all the info on crags with the RAD (Regional Access Database) app from the BMC! Available now for Android and iOS, it's free and comes with a host of new features like navigation and parking, weather and tidal updates, and of course information on restrictions or notes on access advice. Get it here now!
RAD is community led and your comments help keep it up to date so don’t be afraid to add any relevant information after a crag visit which might be useful for other visitors – anything from conditions on the crag, favourite routes or reports of rockfall/other recent changes to the crag are all useful for other climbers visiting.
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