Goginan is situated in the beautiful Melindwr valley and has a long history
of settlement.
The most obvious site in the valley is the old lead mines next
to our farm. These mines have been worked since the 1600's but there is suggestion that they were in fact worked
as far back as Roman times. The heyday for the Goginan mines was in the mid 1800's when hundreds of men worked
underground. Many of the houses in the valley were built for the workers and managers of these mines.
The history of the Melindwr stretches back even further
with the remains of an Iron Age settlement on top of the hill behind the farm.
An
exciting find was made in the very dry summer of 2007. A fly-over by the Commission for Ancient Monuments discovered
what is believed to be a 4500 year old ceremonial circle in local fields together with two associated burial barrows that can
only be seen in drought conditions.
The beauty and serenity of the Melindwr
valley has obviously been appreciated for many centuries!!
WILDLIFE
The Melindwr Valley
is a haven for wildlife, in particular there is a wide variety of birds to be seen.
RED KITE
One of the most famous birds of this area is the Red Kite.
At one time there were only around 50 breeding pairs in the whole of the UK, with many of them breeding here in Ceredigion.
Today thanks to the nests being protected and succesful breeding programs the Kite is common in this area and has been succesfully
introduced to many other parts of the UK.
If you happen to be staying at the
bungalow during silage time (late June/early July) you will see the Red Kites swooping down into the fields as they follow
the tractors looking for "road-kill"!
At other times of the year the
kites are fed everyday of the year (3pm during the summer, 2pm in the winter) up at Nant-yr-Arian forestry centre a couple
of miles up the road (it can be seen from the front room window).
BUZZARD.
Buzzards are common here as well, and
can be told apart from the Kite as they are a variety of brown colours ranging from dark to very light and have a fan-shaped
tail unlike the forked tail of the Red Kite.
GOSHAWK
Often referred to as "the exocet of the woods"
this large bird of prey is an extremely fast flyer taking birds on the wing in and out of the woodland. Darker in appearance
than the Buzzard and much faster in flight, if you are lucky you'll catch a glimpse of this wonderful hunting machine!
Other species of bird that are
commonly seen are herons, woodpeckers - both common (green) and pied (black and white), merlins, sparrowhawks and finches
of all kinds
