Snowdonia
From Conway in the north down to Aberdovey in mid Wales, the
Snowdonia National Park covers 823 miles of the most beautiful and
unspoilt countryside in North Wales.
75% of the Park is farmland, 19% is woodland and the remainder
made up of open water & other land. The majority of the Park,
71%, is privately owned and farmed, while the balance is owned by
The Forestry Commission, The National Trust, Welsh Water and The
Snowdonia National Park Authority. Over half the land in Snowdonia
is over 300m and the highest point in the Park is Snowdon Mountain
at 1085m. There is over 800km of rivers & coastline as well as
over 100 lakes bigger than an acre. Llyn Tegid at Bala is the
largest freshwater lake in Wales.
The natural history of the Snowdonia National Park is
highlighted through the landscape with Stone Age burial chambers,
castles, keeps, forts & pallisades, ancient churches, slate
quarries & industrial works. The geology of the Park is
internationally renowned with investigations into some of the
world's oldest rocks taking place in Snowdonia.
The population of Snowdonia is just under 25,500 and the largest
towns are Dolgellau, Bala, Harlech, Aberdovey & Betws y Coed.
Welsh is the mother tongue in Snowdonia and is used daily by the
majority of its population. Children, including incomers, are
taught Welsh as a first language from their early days at
school.
Snowdonia National Park has about 8 million visitors every year.
Most visitors come to walk & enjoy the countryside and others
come to travel around the area taking in the sights of the Welsh
countryside. Tourism is nothing new for Snowdonia. Since the 17th
Century visitors have been coming to Snowdonia to paint &
write. As the visitors came so various centres of tourism grew
around them. Guides were hired to escort them up into the
mountains, new roads were built to accommodate the traffic &
railways were built to take people further into the countryside.
And so, in order to protect & preserve the area, the Snowdonia
National Park was formed.
Snowdonia was designated a National Park in 1951; the third in
Britain and a first for Wales. Today Snowdonia National Park is one
of 14 parks in Britain. A team of people that included Clough
Williams Ellis, of Portmeirion fame, recommended the boundary we
have today. The criterion for inclusion into the Snowdonia National
Park were outstanding scenic beauty which led to certain
slate production areas & urban developments being excluded.
Goals of the Park are:
-
Conserve & enhance the natural beauty, wildlife &
cultural heritage of the area.
-
Promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the
special qualities of the Park by the public.
-
To seek to foster the economic and social well-being of local
communities within the Park