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Mount Snowdon Wales Interesting Information For Visitors
f you plan to visit tramways. Care should be taken
Snowdon in Wales this around these old buildings.
summer, here is some
interesting information about the Facts and Figures of Snowdon
mountain that you might like to
know. Snowdon stands 1,085 metres
(3,560 feet) high. Each year
Snowdon, in Welsh, is Yr Wyddfa, 350,000 people reach the summit,
which means tomb or monument. some on foot and some by train.
Legend has it that it is the tomb The summit has 200 inches(508 cm)
of Rhita Gawr, an ogre who would of rain per year, and can reach
kill kings and make cloaks out of temperatures of 30 centigrade in
their beards. He supposedly met high summer, and plummet to - 20
his end when King Arthur climbed centigrade in the winter. Add to
to the top of Mount Snowdon and this winds of up to 150 mph and
killed him. the temperature can feel more
like - 50. The summit buildings
No one knows who first conquered at the top can by covered by ice
Snowdon, but ascents of the and snow between November and
mountain became popular when April.
Thomas Pennant published 'Tours'
in 1781 and included his visit to Snowdon Mountain Railway
the summit.
Before the railway, ponies used
Snowdon, as indeed the to take tourists to the summit of
surrounding area, has been mined Snowdon. Sir Richard Moon and Mr
since the Bronze Age, and George Assheton Smith were
evidence of copper mining can be responsible for the idea of the
seen all over the mountain, from Snowdon Railway - Sir Moon as a
old mine buildings, to old way of boosting tourists using
his standard gauge lines, and Mr stopped, the engine following
Smith as he realised that tourist behind (Enid - still operating
cash may compensate him from the today) hit them from behind!
loss of income from his declining
mines. The railway was closed. Since it
reopened the following year there
They imported a fully working have been no further accidents!
800mm gauge mountain railway from And since that date there has
Switzerland. The railway remains never been another Engine #1 on
the only rack and pinion railway the Snowdon Railway!
in the UK. It has tooted racks in
the centre of the track that The cost of the train trip is not
engage with cogs under the cheap (apart from being a good
carriages. walk in itself, another reason
for trying to make the summit on
The only accident on the railway foot!), but is a great way for
occurred on the day it opened to those who cannot make the climb
the public in 1896. Engine #1, to travel to the top. However,
Ladas, derailed and plummeted good weather cannot be
down a slope. The crew jumped guaranteed, and you may start the
from the engine and survived, and trip on a clear day, only to find
the guard applied the hand brake yourself in cloud as you reach
to the carriages and brought them the top.
to a halt. Unfortunately, one of
the passengers panicked and If you choose to take the train
jumped from the carriage, falling up Mount Snowdon, you can walk
onto the tracks and under the back down via the Llanberis Path.
wheels. He later died from his You can get some wonderful views
injuries. The saga wasn't quite of the trains puffing their way
over, as just as the carriages up and down from the path. Not
all trains are steam - there are In 1820 the first stone shelter
also diesel engines. was built at the summit by a
guide named Lloyd. A copper
If you plan to take the train up miner, William Morris, had the
to the top of Snowdon beware that idea of selling refreshments from
the trains get very crowded in the shelter - an idea which
the summer, and it is best to continues to the present day.
arrive early or even more Having walked up the mountain it
advisable to book in advance by is probably as welcome today, as
ringing 0870 458 0033 at least it was to the earlier tourist, to
the day before. If you don't you be able to have something to eat
may have a long wait. A board by and drink before tackling the
the ticket office will tell you descent.
which is the next train with
available seats. You can buy a Two hotels were opened on the
return, or a single to the top. summit, one called Roberts Hotel,
Single tickets for the journey the other the Cold Club. Both
down are sold on standby basis were in fierce competition with
only. each other. There were often more
visitors then beds though, and
Weather permitting the trains run conditions were not the best. By
from mid May to the end of 1898 the Snowdon Mountain Railway
October right to the summit, but and Hotels Company had taken over
from mid March, and a little way the hotels, and started to
into November, stop at Clogwyn. rebuild them - the fierce
Trains start running at 9am and conditions on the top of Mount
continue until late afternoon. Snowdon means that any building
had a limited live. By the 1930s
Buildings on Snowdon Summit it was decided to replace the
summit buildings with a
multipurpose hotel, cafe and experimental radio work, and
station. With little regard to subsequently by Air Ministry,
conservation, the builders simply Admiralty and Armed forces, and
pushed the derelict old huts over the mountain top was closed to
the side of the mountain to make tourists. The hotel did not
way for the new build (imagine reopen to tourists after the war.
the uproar today!). Sir Clough
William-Ellis, the architect and
designer of nearby Portmerion, In 2004 it was agreed that the
designed the new building, summit buildings would undergo a
complete with huge picture total refurbishment. Demolition
windows so visitors could best is due to start in the autumn of
enjoy the panoramic views. 2006, with the new centre being
Unfortunately the windows lasted ready in 2007. There has been
only six months before they were much debate about the form of the
blown in and had to be replaced new buildings, but one thing is
with much smaller ones. certain - whatever the new
buildings look like, they will
During the war years the summit always be a welcome sight to
buildings were used by the walkers who have struggled their
Ministry of Supply for way to the top of the mountain!
About the Author:
Pat Ransom has walked both Snowden and Ben Nevis and encourages others to do the same on the website http://www.mountainwalk.co.uk. Being a keen photographer the site is full of photos of both mountains and the surrounding areas.
Read more articles by: Pat Ransom
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