Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

It was celebrity broadcaster Wynne Evans who posed the question on Radio Wales last week . . . “What’s the most unusual thing you’ve eaten?” Snails . . . oysters . . . frogs’ legs . . . there were quite a few of the expected ‘standards’ in the replies. But it got me thinking – what’s the most unusual thing I’ve eaten? The answer arrived quicker than a burp in the tasting and testing department of the pop factory. Rocky Mountain Oysters! Bit of a nuts answer, really. Rocky Mountain Oysters are definitely not the bivalves of the sea. In the version I sampled, they were bulls’ testicles. But there are variations on the theme – you can have bison, pigs and sheep testicles on the same menu card, if you so desire. The dining location was the world famous Coors Field baseball stadium in the Mile High city of Denver, Colorado. They were offered up as an alternative to foot-long hot dogs and cholesterol-packed killer cheeseburgers. The date was September 2001 and I was in the c...

An extremely cold and windy day did not put off Rachael Garside from the BBC Radio Wales Country Focus programme from joining members of the Carmarthenshire Bogs Project out in the field. Rachel and her producer Pauline Smith came to Pyllau Cochion common near Brechfa to look at the work that the project has been undertaking. They found out more about the importance of lowland bog habitats and the interesting discoveries the project has made over the last 18 months. A whole programme will be dedicated to the project on Sunday February 26 at 7am on BBC Radio Wales and it will then be available on the BBC radio i-Player for a month after. Formed over thousands of years, lowland bogs are increasingly rare examples of an important peatland habitat supporting specialised but threatened wildlife. Bogs lock-up carbon in the peat, and when in good condition capture more from the atmosphere, helping to address climate change. They filter water for slow release into streams and are valuab...

Anna Brown of Llanelly House was the featured chef on the Wynne Evans Grub Club on Radio Wales today. Catch it here -

Two Aberystwyth University academics will be appearing on this week’s edition of BBC Radio Wales programme Science Café which will be broadcast on Tuesday 7th October at 6.30pm and again on Sunday 12 October at 6.30pm. Dr Carina Fearnley and Professor John Grattan will be talking to presenter Adam Walton about volcanic activity following recent volcanic events. Dr Fearnley, who specialises in disaster risk reduction, will be talking about the deadly impact of non-explosive volcanoes that can put large quantities of gas into the atmosphere affecting climates, volcanism in Wales and the potential for large scale volcanism from super volcanoes as well as covering other areas of the subject. Professor Grattan will be speaking about risk and vulnerability in Britain and Europe to major volcanic eruptions and the resiliency of the human species to gigantic events. This links into his involvement with SAGES (Scientific Advice to Government in Emergencies) where he provides advice to the Cabin...