‘WHO WOULD WANT SIGNAL IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?’
BEING in a mobile phone dead spot might be relief for some and irritating for others. On the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), it can be a matter of life and death.
On a sheep field near Nant Gwynant hamlet, in the shadow of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), there’s a knowing nod to the problems facing the modern traveller. Somebody has helpfully created a signal booster station for desperate mobile phone users that’s funny for being utterly pointless.
Thoughtfully, they have provided two foot-high logs on which weary walkers can perch in order to wave their mobile phones pointlessly in the air. As Nant Gwynant lies in a signal desert, it’s an exercise in futility.
Tony Harnett, 40, visiting from Warrington, Cheshire, stumbled across the low-tech signal booster when walking from Beddgelert to Nant Gwynant. “It was clearly a bit of a joke,” he said. “It certainly made me chuckle.
“It was quite funny watching other walkers wander off the path to see what it was all about. Hopefully the National Park will get the joke and not take it down.”
When he shared a photo of the signal booster on social media, he posed the question, “who wants phone signal in a place like this?” Nant Gwynant is often regarded as the most beautiful valley in Wales, with scenery that demands attention and solitude that commands respect.
Unexpectedly, he was met by a chorus of tongue-in-cheek dissent. Few people, it seems, can survive for long without a mobile phone.
One person wanted constant airways access to check on their pet sitter or to dial into their home security system. Another said a mobile was a first-world essential, even in Eryri. “It comes in handy to phone home, put my blanket on, run the bath, need food ready or need help,” she quipped with a tears-of-laughter emoji.
Eryri National Park was reluctant to take a stance on the DIY phone signal booster. “We have no comment to make on this matter,” said a spokesperson.
Sadly, the prank’s days may be numbered. The Home Office is expanding the Emergency Services Network (ESN) and wants to upgrade radio sites in remote areas like Nant Gwynant.
An application has been submitted to extend an existing 20-metre mobile mast near Llyn Gwynant Campsite by five metres, and to relocate and install antennas and dishes. All mobile phone users could benefit under plans to share the mast with private providers under the Shared Rural Network scheme.
This would see the Llyn Gwynant mast being used by EE, O2, Three and Vodafone networks. The idea is to remove the UK’s last remaining dead zones for mobile signals.
If approved, the extended mast will remove the need to stand on two logs on rough pasture land, arms aloft. It may also save a few lives in the long run. In the meantime, in case you need to know, the nearest public phone box open all hours is in Nant Gwynant village.