Rubbish clean-up on mountain top

Clearing up Snowdon In pictures

Volunteers have spent a day clearing 30 tonnes of accumulated building materials from the top of Snowdon.

The group found mostly red bricks and concrete, but also a shoe and a sock.

Organiser Guto Roberts said materials dated back to buildings on the summit from even before the cafe building famously called the "highest slum" by Prince Charles, was knocked down.

Peter Trumper from the national park said the clear-up gave the mountain back her dignity.

The top of Snowdon has under gone a huge change over the past couple of years as the previous cafe building was knocked down to make way for the £8.35m Hafod Eryri centre.

It is still to be opened to the public after delays caused by the bad weather over the summer months.

Builders this time had to carefully remove debris as the old building was pulled down.

But this clean-up by volunteers on Wednesday related to old material and debris left in the past.

The group of 12 from volunteer group BTCV , the Snowdonia National Park and Countryside Council for Wales filled 39 bags of rubbish.

Early start

The bags will be collected by helicopter at a later date.

"We got to the top after catching an eight o'clock train from Llanberis," said Guto Roberts, BTCV's conservation officer.

"We then collected the stuff from the slopes surrounding the summit building.

"There was stuff there from even before the building which Prince Charles called the highest slum.

"In the past there were other buildings on the summit and when they were removed they were just smashed, and bits of rubble slid down the slope," he added.

The group removed mostly red bricks - and white concrete.

"We cleared a section of rubble, anything which looked out of place such as the red bricks, then climbed to the top to look down from the new building to see where to go next," said Mr Roberts.

Much more rubble than had been anticipated was collected, he added.

"It was fitting too that as we finished the work the sky cleared.

"We had been working in cloud all day, but all of a sudden we had the most amazing views," he added.

Pete Trumper, the property manager with the Snowdonia National Park authority said the day had been a success.

"BCTV's work in clearing up ancient debris has helped Snowdon regain some of her dignity.

"The volunteers worked with enthusiasm and diligence and, indeed, completed their task in half the time we had allowed," he said.

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