History
It developed in ancient times in the estuary of the River Clydach and River Neath, which once flowed through the present day site of the bog. The Crymlyn Bog is an historic boundary between 'South' and 'West Wales', between the lordships of Morgannwg and Gwy^r, and between the medieval and modern (i.e. until 1923) dioceses of St. David's and Llandâf.
Part of the land was previously occupied by a BP oil refinery. Pany-y-Sais fen was largely owned by the CEGB who used the fen to dump PFA and by Swansea City Council who used it for landfill. Small parts were owned by the Neath and Tennant Canal Company and small parts of the canal still exist at the site.
With the surrounding industrialisation, encroaching residential districts and a polluting waste dump beside it, it was uncertain that the bog would survive. Andrew Lees, who later became Campaigns Director of Friends of the Earth started a campaign with the Swansea branch of FoE to protect the bog. At the northern limb of the bog at Pant-y-Sais fen, there is a memorial to Mr Lees, which carries a quotation from him: "At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the butterflies?"
Read more about this topic: Crymlyn Bog
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