Photos of Snowdon Cafe

Here are some of the 1st aerial photos of the new completed cafe at the summit of Snowdown/Yr Wyddfa GW/NW-001.

http://blog.snowdonia-active.com/

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:
Hi Andy,cheers for the link, I must say its amazing to see, and a fantastic feat of engineering, but still seems a “blot on the landscape” to me. Mixed feelings really from me.

Regards

Lee

In reply to M0LMP:

Hear, hear!!

I haven’t been up there for twenty years, but I don’t remember all those steps to the summit, either. Why don’t they go the whole hog and put in an escalator?

To be fair, the old “hotel” was hardly an achitectural gem, but at least it had weathered in and looked at home!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to ALL:

Mixed feelings here. OK it’s new and needs weathering but its design and materials is meant to be more inkeeping with its surroundings. It is very difficult to build anything in such a location that isn’t a blot on the landscape in some way. Some of the Alpine buildings look prettier. But traditional style wooden Alpine buildings would look out of place as wood anything really high-tech with lots of glass and steel.

But there was a building there and this one is better. Nobody was going to take it away and dig up the railway tracks and whilst the railway exists there’ll be loads of trippers never mind those who walk up. Yes the steps are horrible but the alternative is worse. Something has to attempt to stop the erosion that tens of thousands of boots will do. At least once you have the a hard path in place the erosion ceases.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

As an Architect, I feel that it is an opportunity lost - an opportunity to use local natural materials in a free form so that it blends in with its surroundings. The edges are too hard and precise, the individual elements that form the elevations are too large and slab-like and I feel the whole is alien to the environment. “The spaceship has landed”.

The only saving grace is that if my visits to Snowdon are anything to go by, then you won’t be able to see much of it in the poor visibility.

73, Gerald

(action: dismount soapbox)

In reply to G4OIG:

Loud applause!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:

ditto

In reply to MM0FMF: Cheers for the post I had no idea this work was being done. I will visit one day. Cheers again…

M3XLG N Yorkshire

Personally, I am looking forward to an opportunity to do Snowdon next year to visit the new building. I like a bit of variety/interest, and this will certainly provide it. Probably a family day-out, so Pyg Track up and down I expect. All four of us has had a single ride on the train at some point in the past, and has no appetite for paying those prices again. We’ll save our dosh for the price of a pint and a pie in the new cafe!

Maybe we’ll go in around the 3rd weekend in June again, to catch the Mike Peters summit gig! The photos on my website http://tomread.co.uk do concur with Gerald’s recent experience of visibility on Snowdon!

Tom M1EYP

In reply to M0LMP:

Well…it’s hardly like Snowdon is unspoilt otherwise. Glaslyn’s colour is I believe basically due to mining poisoning, and if you take the Watkin path up you’ll see loads of spoil heaps from slate quarrying - mostly grassed over now but their unnatural shapes are still very obvious. And then there’s the railway going up.

In reply to G4OIG:
Apparently, before work had commenced on the complex, the powers that be were going to import slate for the building from Spain because it was cheaper. No disrespect to the Spanish slate but…its not like we’re short of a slab or two of slate in Snowdonia!

Thankfully, after a lot of local protest they decided to use the local slate instead. Looks like they used blue Blaenau slate as opposed to the pink Penrhyn slate.

73
Roger MW0IDX

In reply to M0FFX:
There are several old copper mines around Snowdon, in fact at one time RTZ was thinking of having the whole lot out by opencast working - which caused a furore!
Fortunately we scared them off!

Thought for the day. The copper is still there, one day it will be needed…

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:
I think it would be wonderful if G6DDQ could sort another SOTA Cream’n’tea. Up on this mountain before the train starts running, I wonder how many would attend this big-hump in the sky with silly hats.
Steve m0sgb

In reply to M0SGB :

Good thought…me, for one!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:
Well G6DDQ do you think it could be done,

i’m up for it.

Steve m0sgb

In reply to M0SGB :

How about a “all the big ones” event Steve? Activators on Ben Nevis, Snowdon, Scafell Pike, Snaefell, Slieve Donard and Carrauntoohil at the same time. Might be getting a little late in the season to arrange this now though.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:
Plus all the other SOTA countries, of course, a good one to think about for next summer (if we have one!)

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to M0SGB :
It could be, however I feel it is time to stray away from the “easy” ones and concentrate on some more unusual summits. All the Cairngorm 3000’s spring to mind as does one of the WS summits. May have problems with the camel though, not too keen on heights.

Anyway once the cafe is open on Snowdon we can have cream tea in there as we can on Cairngorm

Cream Tea is on for Ord Ban at the end of this month. Anymore takers as well as Barry ???

In reply to G6DDQ:

Sorry Myke, think we might be busy attempting the 24 in 24 of the WB’s if you can offer any advice from your experience to help us achieve this it would be most welcome.

Regards

Lee

In reply to G6DDQ:

“All the Cairngorm 3000’s spring to mind as does one of the WS summits.”

Sorry to be pedantic Myke but should this not be all the 4000’s; we do not fish for tiddlers round here!!!

Just for the record there are 29 summits over 3000 feet (Marilyns not those from the other school) in the Cairngorms National Park - we would be hard pushed to find the activators.

73

Barry GM4TOE