Red Squirrels of the Dingle (Nant y Pandy), Anglesey

The Dingle, also known by the more fun-sounding Welsh name of Nant y Pandy, is a nature reserve near Llangefni on Anglesey and home to a population of wonderful red squirrels. We’d headed over to Trefollwyn Campsite (N53.272857, W4.322112), a farm site a couple of miles out of town, to run the Saturday morning Parkrun. We’d the five-unit field to ourselves for a couple of nights. The farming couple told us they’d had a busy season last year but have been quiet in 2023. We enjoyed a couple of short chats with them about fighter jets frightening heifers and the price of lamb.

The Nant y Pandy Parkrun is one of two which take place each Saturday morning on Anglesey (details here). About 100 people head to this one, most of whom were ‘tourists’ and hadn’t run this course before. The briefing was done in English but, like in the supermarket we visited on the way, we heard a fair bit of Welsh being spoken. Around 70% of locals can speak it in this area.

Once we’d recovered back at the van we headed back to the Dingle to see if we could spot any of the red squirrels in there. The reserve’s a lovely place to wander around on boardwalks through woodland. Our chances of spotting the little scamps would have been close to zero I suspect but for Will. A local chap who speaks English, Welsh and Squirrel (so he told the nippers) has a feeding station in the woods dubbed Will’s Cafe. He comes twice a day armed with nuts for the squirrels and live grubs for the birds, and puts on a free show tempting them down to eat.

If there’s anything to know about the squirrels, Will knows it. A small crowd gathered to watch, listen and ask questions. The reds do well here as, apart from being fed silly by Will, the island is a sanctuary from grey squirrels. The greys (brought here by humans from the America) are larger and carry a virus which is deadly to the reds. Will told us the greys try coming over the bridges and even swimming the Menai Straight, so have to be trapped before they take over. He told us the reds have managed to cross the other way though, and started repopulating the mainland.

As well as popping out nuts for the squirrels (not peanuts though, which deplete their calcium levels), Will popped some live grubs in the hands of willing nippers. A young robin with a club foot he named Tanglefoot arrived and ate the grubs, delighting the nippers. The robin’s parents dive-bombed the whole affair, presumably attempting to stop Tanglefoot becoming too tame.

A short drive from Llangefni brings you to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. You know the one, the longest single-name place name in Europe with that massive train station sign? Known as Llanfair PG to the locals, to distinguish it from the other places named Llanfair in Wales, the name was extended in the 19th century to attract tourists. It worked, we’ve been piling in ever since!

Yesterday when we visited the train station and town had a bit of faded air. But alongside the adjacent shopping center (plenty tourist paraphernalia to be enjoyed) several coaches sat waiting for punters to grab the mandatory photo and a red dragon keyring. There are plaques with the place name all over. The above one at the train station has a phonetic translation to enable you to try (and fail) to pronounce it in Welsh. Lots of fun!

We’re finding ourselves pinging around the island a bit, not following any particular direction, but using the A55 it’s only about 30 minutes from one end to the other. So it’s working out pretty well. The rain’s closed in today, a good opportunity to do some blogging, but the forecast is better for the coming days. Plenty more to see and do, and Anglesey really is a beautiful place to tour.

Cheers, Jay