Desert of Wales

The area has high rainfall and much of it is covered by peat overlain with purple moor grass and heather moorland, or by plantations of non-native conifers.

The northern boundary is generally taken to be the A44 between Ponterwyd and Llangurig, although the substantial area of moorland to the north of this road, including the reservoirs of Nant y Moch and Llyn Clywedog, has similar topography.

The term was first recorded in 1836 when the following was written by Joseph Downes: Affording us water and trees, and yielding a dim and remote picture, wrapped in purple sunset haze, of some fine country far far down, where a chasm of hills gave egress to the water, it appeared quite an oasis to us travellers of this Desert of Wales.

It is a sparsely populated area, consisting largely of rolling hills, gorges and steep valleys with ancient native Welsh oak forest.

[2] The area has many lakes and reservoirs, some of which supply drinking water to north Ceredigion from Teifi Pools, to the English West Midlands from Elan Valley group of reservoirs, and to populations along the River Severn valley with water stored in Llyn Clywedog and released into the river for later abstraction.