英語趣味課堂：威爾士的海岸線-The Welsh Coastline

Dai: OK so, Sharron, you’re from Wales.

Sharron: That’s right.

Dai: In a place called Pembrokeshire?

Sharron: Yes.

Dai: Tell me about what you do there.

Sharron: I work for Pembrokeshire Coast National Authority which is an organization that helps landowners maintain the coastal areas mainly. We do have some land in the Preseli Mountains and the Gwynne Valley which is a beautiful wooded area, but mainly it’s the coastal area and the coastal path is one of the big things we push with the tourists. ‘

Dai: So is it a protected area or...?

Sharron: Yeah, it’s protected and we help maintain it by cutting back the paths and maintaining the right of way for people so that they can walk the whole of the coastal path which is from St. Dogmaels in the north right around the coast, 186 miles ‘round to Amroth in the south.

Dai: So you get a lot of visitors who want to do that kind of outdoor activity?

Sharron: Yeah, we get lots of inquiries in my job from people who ask about how they go about planning a trip. Mainly, people will take, say, two weeks off work to come and walk, say, ten miles or so everyday, staying in youth hostels, bed and breakfast places, hotels, or camping every night and then carry on walking the next day.

Dai: So I guess there is a lot of activities and things for them to do in that area?

Sharron: Yeah, there is some lovely things to do and some great things to see. I mean, you can do all sorts of water sports in the area.

Dai: Oh really? What kind of water sports?

Sharron: Surfing, sailing, there’s lots of places 'cause it’s all mainly on the coast that most visitors come to see. Places like St. David’s, Tembe, most of those areas will have great outlets for, and organizations that will run courses for things like coasteering which is a great activity to do.

Dai: So if it’s a, I guess, if it’s a protected area, is there a lot of wildlife and...?

Sharron: Yeah, there’s a huge amount of wildlife and one of the main activities that a lot of people like to do is to come and go on the boat trips to some of the islands such as Ramsey, Skockholm, Skomer. You can take boat trips especially to somewhere like Skomer and between the end of May to about the middle of July, you can go over to Skomer for the day and watch the Puffins landing with beaks full of fish and running into their little burrows underground to feed their chicks.

Dai: Oh wow.

Sharron: But they're only there for sort of a couple of months, but there’s plenty of other wildlife to see. There’s rabbits, owls, all sorts of voles and unusual animals you can see on the island as well. It’s a really good day out.

Dai: Yeah, sounds like an interesting place.

Sharron: Yeah, excellent.

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

protected area

The park is a protected area.

We protect an area to keep its natural environment safe. Notice the following:

The forest is now a protected area. You cannot cut trees there.

That land is now a protected area so you cannot build houses.

the right of way

We help maintain the right of way so people can walk the whole of the coastal path.

Here, 'right of way' means a place where it's OK for people to walk or travel. Notice the following:

Cyclists do not have the right of way on the road. Cars do.

You cannot sell food along the right of way.

inquiry

We get lots of inquiries about the local area.

In a sentence, the word 'inquiry' can almost always be replaced by the word 'question'. Notice the following:

The restaurant gets a lot of inquiries from people wanting jobs.

Mary handles all inquiries at the front desk.

how to go about doing something

People ask how they go about planning a trip.

'How to go about' something is similar in meaning to 'how to do' something. Notice the following:

I am not sure how to go about asking her on a date.

How do I go about reserving a room?

or so

You walk ten miles or so everyday.

We use the phrase 'or so' when the number we are talking about is not exact. Notice the following:

It should take you twenty minutes or so to drive there.

The beach is about six miles or so from the hotel.