Cwmtydu seal nursery

button_lang_welshbutton_lang_frenchCwmtydu seal nursery

cwmtydu_seal_pup_and_motherThis secluded bay is a perfect place for young seals to live, before they’re ready for prolonged immersion in the sea. If you visit in the late summer and autumn when there are seals on the beach, please enjoy watching the seals but keep your distance to avoid disturbing them. Dogs must be kept on leads.

Grey seals give birth in local caves but bring their pups to Cwmtydu beach to keep them safe from storm tides. After weaning, the pups stay on and near the beach until they’re ready to go out to sea.

Cwmtydu Bay Wildlife has monitored the seals since the group was formed in 2001, initially to keep watch over a pup which had been born on the beach. Since then, volunteers have witnessed the local bull seal helping to look after pups – highly unusual behaviour. The photos of seals on the beach are shown here by kind permission of Cwmtydu Bay Wildlife.

cwmtydu_beach_with_sealsThe round structure a short distance from the shore is a former limekiln. Local farmers needed lime to fertilise their fields but Ceredigion was the only county in Wales without limestone of its own. Limestone and coal were carried to Cwmtydu and other communities along the Ceredigion coast in small ships. The stone was loaded through the top of the kiln and burned. The finished lime was removed from the holes at the base.

About the place-name:

Cwmtydu – Cwm Tudu in Welsh – denotes the valley (“cwm”) of a person named Tudi. There are similar names in Cornwall and Brittany. It was written as Cwm tydy in 1595, a form which appears to disprove the local legend that the place-name relates to Henry Tudor (Harri Tudur).

With thanks to Pauline Bett, and to Prof Hywel Wyn Owen, of the Welsh Place-Name Society, for place-name information

Website of Cwmtydu Bay Wildlife

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