Valley Wetlands

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Address
RSPB Valley Wetlands, Holyhead LL65 3NA
Grid ref
SH313765

The Valley Wetlands, formerly known as Valley Lakes, is a wonderful nature reserve in Anglesey which gives you the opportunity to see wildfowl all year round. Look out for tufted ducks, pochards, shovelers, gadwalls and grebes around its reed-fringed lakes when you visit.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Open at all times.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but donations are very welcome.
Children
Free, but donations are very welcome.
Car park cost

Free

Facilities

  • No visitor centre
  • Car park
  • Toilets off-site
  • Accessible toilets off-site
  • No Refreshments
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Shop off-site

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Valley train station is 3 miles from the reserve. From here connecting bus services 4 and X4 pass the reserve entrance. 

By bus

Bus services 4 and X4 pass the reserve entrance. 

By road

Follow directions for RAF Valley. Continue through a small village; the road will drop down a small hill and you will see a lake on the right-hand side. Carry on alongside the lake and reedbeds; the road will kink to the right and just as you are past the lake the entrance to the reserve car park is on the right-hand side.

 

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

The reserve is also served by Anglesey Airport, 0.25 miles from the entrance.

Get directions from Google Maps
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

What will the weather be like?

10 degrees, Partly cloudy (day)

Contact Valley Wetlands

What will you see?

Our star species

Seasonal highlights

The reedbeds come alive with reed and sedge warblers and you may be lucky to hear a booming bittern. Keep an eye out on the lake for the spectacular courtship display of the great-crested grebes which breed here.

The wealth of wetland plants are at their height, dragonflies and damselflies are busy, and you may spot young grebes, ducks and coots being fed.

The bird numbers are swollen by migrants and the lakes can sometimes host hundreds of wildfowl including shoveler, tufted duck, goldeneye and wigeon.

About Valley Wetlands

Habitat

Valley Wetlands includes two SSSIs, designated for the important open water and aquatic plant communities. With more than 20ha of reed, it holds one of the most important reedbeds in Wales, which with the surrounding marshes are home to a rich variety of wetland birds, plants and invertebrates. The wetlands are interspersed with grasslands and rocky knolls so there can be tremendous variety of habitats even within a few metres.

Conservation

The reserve is primarily managed for breeding bittern and other reedbed wildlife. Over the years a programme of ditch & pool creation, reed planting and management, scrub clearance and water level control has helped to enhance the wetland ecosystem. This work has also benefitted the breeding and wintering wildfowl which enjoy the wetlands.

The lakes hold nationally important communities of aquatic plants, but which have been threatened by poor water quality, especially in Llyn Penrhyn. Joint work by RSPB, the MoD. Natural Resources Wales is investigating, monitoring and tackling the issue and in the past few years plants not seen in the lake since the 1960s have been re-found.

Site information

The reserve is adjacent to RAF Valley and can be very noisy when the aircraft are active.

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