Snowdon in ‘disgusting state’ thanks to litterers
IT’S not the kind of image you would associate with one of Wales’ most famous beauty spots, but this is the state of the cafe entrance on Snowdon, where wardens collected more than a dozen bags of rubbish.
Volunteer workers said they were disgusted by the mess left behind by visitors to the cafe at Hafod Eryri, the visitor centre on Snowdon’s summit.
The area was left strewn with glass beer bottles, concrete bricks and plastic water bottles.
Volunteer warden Tabitha AngleSmith, who described the site as a “disgusting mess”, said she and another volunteer filled 15 bags with rubbish.
Posting a picture on Facebook, Ms Angle-Smith said: “The disgusting state of the cafe entrance (cafe is currently closed) on Snowdon. Needless to say my fellow warden and I cleared it all up. 15 bags of rubbish collected from the mountain today.”
The centre first opened in June 2009 and on average receives half a million visitors a year.
Snowdonia National Park’s area warden Helen Pye said it was “sad that incidents like this continue” and urged visitors not to leave litter.
“Normally at this time of year, Hafod Eryri, the summit building, is open and the Snowdon Mountain Railway company also assist with clearing litter such as this left around the summit area. But due to poor weather conditions, they’ve been unable to open Hafod Eryri yet.”
Ms Pye added that a team of 20 volunteer wardens, as well as fulltime wardens, spend a lot of time keeping Snowdon clear of litter.
“We also work in partnership with other organisations such as Snowdonia Society and the Real Three Peaks Clean Up to carry out big litter-picks on the mountain and put out messages to encourage people to take their litter home. We also regularly see dedicated walkers and guides carrying other people’s litter off the mountain. All of this collaborative effort has meant that over the last few years we have seen a real improvement on Snowdon, with many seasoned walkers commenting on how much cleaner Snowdon is than other popular mountains such as Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis.”
Last year Snowdon Partnership, made up of public organisations and interest groups, held a consultation to hear concerns. Litter was one of the concerns raised.
“Sadly we still do see litter left and it’s very sad that incidents such as this one continue,” added Ms Pye. “We want everyone to come to Snowdon and respect its stunning beauty and keep it looking beautiful, which is why we encourage people to carry all of their own litter off the mountain. Please keep Snowdon beautiful.”