Birds and bikes herald new centre

European grants helped pay for Nant yr Arian

Thousands of cyclists and the resurgence of the red kite in mid Wales have paved the way for a new £750,000 state-of-the-art forest visitor centre.

A bird feeding station and mountain bike trails have helped Bwlch Nant yr Arian, near Aberystwyth, flourish.

In the mid-1990s the site was under threat when just 20,000 people visited, however last year it attracted 65,000.

It is hoped that the centre will help attract 120,000 visitors within the next five years.

The new centre has been designed with sustainability in mind, with a system for collecting rainwater which will be re-used to flush toilets and for a mountain bike cycle wash.

There has been a dramatic turn around in recent years Andrew Fryers

Recycled newspaper is being used as insulation and there is a wood fuel heating system.

Andrew Fryers, visitor centre services manager for Forestry Commission Wales said: "There has been a dramatic turn around in recent years. We actually closed one centre and used a smaller cabin for visitors in the mid-1990s.

"If the trend had continued then the site would have closed and been only open as a walking route."

"The new centre has 50 seats inside and 50 outside, internet access, a new adventure playground and toddlers' playground."

He said the centre's success was down to the popularity of the red kite feeding station, and had also become a mecca for mountain bikers and horse riders.

Last year, 12,000 mountain bikers used the three trails, Mr Fryers explained.

The centre is sustainable with collected rainwater used to flush the loos

As for the red kite, its population has increased ten-fold since 30 pairs were recorded more than 20 years ago.

The birds of prey were hunted to extinction in England and Scotland, but are now relatively common in Ceredigion, Powys and Pembrokeshire.

The £757,849 visitor centre project has received £334,000 in European grants with matched funding coming from other groups.

The new centre was opened by Wales' Economic Development Minister Andrew Davies.