The following article appeared in the Great Outdoors magazine last year. With the official opening of Hafod Eryri it is reproduced below.

"Let’s be clear from the start; the Snowdonia Society does not advocate building cafes on mountain summits. Since we were formed in 1967 we have opposed many developments that have not fitted in with the special qualities of the Snowdonia National Park.

The Society goes back forty years. The Snowdon railway has an even longer pedigree dating back to Victorian times. The first sod of the mountain railway was cut in 1894. For even longer there has been a collection of buildings on the roof of Wales. The building that has now been replaced by Hafod Eryri (which roughly translates as a residence high up in Snowdonia) had few friends. It was a botched 1960’s update on a building designed by Clough Williams Ellis on an off day in the 1930’s. Prince Charles called it “The highest slum in Wales”. I think he was being kind. Half a million people visit the summit each year, eighty per cent on foot and the squalid conditions of the old building that greeted them were a disgrace.

So when the slum came to the end of its working life, there was a debate about the best course of action. There were many, including sizeable numbers of our members, who felt that the railway should be dismantled and the summit area changed to a less artificial appearance. The presence of so many walkers’ boots - and more than a few pairs of trainers, flip flops and high heels meant any restoration of a natural state wasn’t really an option. The reality is that for over a century, Snowdon has been a tourist mountain. Wandering up the Pyg track on a bank holiday is never going to be a wilderness experience. Those in search of a real mountain experience on Wales’ highest peak know that it is very possible to escape the crowds but that route selection and timing is everything.

The Society took the pragmatic view that the possibility of EU grant aid provided a window of opportunity to replace the wretched conditions of the old building with something less unacceptable. There cannot be any doubt that Hafod Eryri is an unnatural intrusion into the natural splendour of Yr Wyddfa, but neither can there be any doubt that it is a significant and much needed improvement on the previous state of affairs."