RIDE THE BIG DIPPER

You don’t need a stomach for roller-coasters to take on Merthyr Mawr’s ‘big dipper’ – the second highest sand dune in Europe. A Carboniferous limestone ridge covered with sand, this huge dune’s steep sides tower over Merthyr Mawr Warren National Nature Reserve’s unique wildlife-rich landscape, where rich, soft colours of moss and marram grass blend into sultry butterscotch sands.

This 339-hectare sand dune system is a wonderful example of the successional