Listen. That’s the sound of sighs of relief across Snowdonia.

On the day the Snowdonia New Visitor Centre opens, David Atkinson tells us about his sneak preview

Today, after a 12-month delay, a last-minute cash injection and some of the worst weather conditions for the construction team, Hafod Eryri, the new visitor centre and cafe atop Mount Snowdon, finally opens its doors.   “Psychologically the opening will provide a huge boost for Welsh business and culture,” says Alan Kendall, General Manager of the Snowdon Mountain Railway, the company leasing the building from the Snowdonia National Park Authority.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan will officially cut the ribbon on the £8.3m project, leading a conga of dignitaries up the highest mountain in England and Wales from Llanberis.   I beat him to it two weeks ago.

I had been following the Snowdonia Progress blog and caught the Snowdon Mountain Railway for a sneak preview.   The train takes me far as Clogwyn station, from where it’s a 45-minute uphill trek to the summit. From today they will be running services up to summit station.   Finally I crest a steep ridge and conquer the summit.

At the top

My reward? My first up-close view of Hafod Eryri and a hen party from Kent cracking open the bubbly.   A low, granite-built rectangle with two long walls of panoramic windows inspecting Ireland to the west and Anglesey to the north, Hafod Eryri comprises an open-plan cafe with interpretation material about the geology, environment and folklore of Snowdon around it.

Opinions

Back outside I find bride-to-be Ruth Bastable of Tunbridge Wells on her second glass of bubbly. “It blends in with the mountain landscape and I like the idea that people can learn about the geology of the region,” she says.

Less enthusiastic is hill walker Michael Sheen from the Wirral, who has climbed Snowdon 18 times. “As a mountain purist, I don’t think we actually need a structure at all. Personally,” he says, “I’d prefer to commune with nature.”

Architect Ray Hole designed the building to withstand the extreme weather conditions and the grey- granite facade bears an inscription from the former National Poet of Wales, Gwyn Thomas: ‘The summit of Snowdon Here you are nearer To heaven.’

David Atkinson is a travel writer specialising in Wales;

follow his blog at http://atkinsondavid.blogspot.com and read more his stories about Wales at www.atkinsondavid.co.uk.

What are your views on the visitor centre?

Useful Information

The Snowdon Mountain Railway has adult/child returns for £23/16.

Find a place to stay in snowdonia

A-Z Holiday Accommodation Listings for Gwynedd

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