We are a small and friendly organisation.  The group was formed in Spring 2003, following the example of our neighbouring conservation group across the Wye, the Parish Grasslands Project in Gloucestershire.  Within 18 months we had more than 60 members with a total of 300 acres of grassland sites ranging from small garden mini-meadows to sites well over 30 acres.

We gained Charitable Status and we now have more than 200 members with grassland scattered over Monmouthshire.

In 2020 we converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

Many members wish to restore flowering hay meadows, or create wild areas in their gardens.  We survey each member’s site and give individual botanical training and advice on how to manage their land.

We work closely with other conservation agencies such as Natural Resources Wales. the Wye Valley AONB, by whom we have been grant assisted, and Plantlife Cymru. We also liaise closely with Gwent Wildlife Trust who have a representative on our committee.

Since we were formed we have received funding and support from a variety of organisations, including Dwr Cymru Biodiversity Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Natural Resources Wales, the Welsh Grazing Project PONT, who helped us with management costs of our two Exmoor Ponies, Keep Wales Tidy and the Sustainable Development Fund, a Natural Resources Wales initiative in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

In 2016 we purchased our own meadows at Kingcoed near Raglan, thanks to generous grants from Biffa Award and other funders, as well as many donations from our members and supporters.  We now manage three grassland areas as reserves: Kingcoed meadows, Ida’s Meadow in Maryland (kindly donated to the group by the estate of Ida Dunn, a great meadows enthusiast and friend of our group), and Trellech Wet Meadow which we manage jointly with Gwent Wildlife Trust.

We have produced several advice leaflets and publications, of which the most recent is our book Grassland Fungi: A Field Guide

Our Committee

• Honorary President – Stephanie Tyler
• Chair – Rachel Morgan
• Treasurer – David Llewellyn
• Minutes Secretary/Press Officer – Pam Manfield
• Membership Secretary/Editor – Marilyn Dunkelman
• Clare Adamson
• Judith Carruthers
• Clare Catto
• Dick Coates
• Teona Dorrien-Smith
• Maggie Hamlen
• Stephanie Poulter
• Gwent Wildlife Trust representative – to be confirmed

Our Objects

Monmouthshire Meadows Group is a registered charity, number 1192542.  We are funded by grants, donations, membership fees and fund raising activities organised by our members.

Our charitable objects are:

To promote the conservation, protection and improvement of hay meadows, grasslands and unimproved pastures in the Wye Valley and elsewhere in Monmouthshire so as to conserve and restore the diversity of plant and animal species native to that environment, in particular but not exclusively, by facilitating and promoting the management of those lands consistent with that purpose.

Download a full copy of our constitution (pdf)

For more information contact our committee online or one of these officers:

Chair

Rachel Morgan, Ash House, 7 Upper House Farm, Crickhowell NP8 1BZ

Telephone 07896 218558  Email rachelduncanmorgan@gmail.com

Membership Secretary

Marilyn Dunkelman, The Beeches, The Narth, Monmouth NP25 4QL

Telephone 01600 860031  Email marilyn@monmouthshiremeadows.org.uk