The official opening of Hafod Eryri is due to take place one week from tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the case, otherwise the commemorative engraving on a small boulder prepared in readiness at the rear of the building will need amending. Fingers crossed that the weather will be better than it was at the September 2006 'demolition ceremony', where at times you could barely discern the building through mist and drizzle.


Walkers approaching the summit as morning cloud clears from the valleys in a
photo actually taken a few days earlier than this posting.

The June 12th ceremony to be carried carried out by Wales' First Minister, The Rt. Hon. Rhodri Morgan AM, may coincide with the actual opening as the building hasn't yet welcomed visitors through its doors. But the tills are in place and the shop in the café area is now stocked so perhaps this coming week that may change. The opening ceremony will also most likely will be the subject of the final posting for this blog.


Summit train to collect workers at the end of the day.


Inside Hafod Eryri with the shop stocked.

Today's Independent newspaper carried a story on Snowdon's new summit building with the headline, Makeover for 'highest slum in Wales', referring to Prince Charles' comment on the previous structure. Jonathan Brown reported favourably on his sneak preview last week, describing Hafod Eryri as a "sensitive new destination" that "melts seamlessly into the wild landscape". However, writing "Portugese rather than local granite was used for the outer skin" wasn't totally correct, since the granite cladding used for the walls came from Cwt y Bugail quarry near Blaenau while the stone on the roof is from Portugal. Nit-picking you might say but decisions about the source of materials caused a good deal of controversy at the time. You can expect to see the building appear in the news quite a bit over the coming days.


Hafod Eryri nearly ready to throw its doors open.

When the workmen returned to the summit this morning following the sunny Bank Holiday break, it was typically hidden by cloud and surprisingly cold up there in the biting wind. With just a few 'teething issues' remaining the building will soon be handed over to Snowdon Mountain Railway who lease the building from the National Park Authority. Too late I'm afraid for today's walkers on the outside looking-in. They had to content themselves with the wind-break offered by the building instead of being able to buy a warming cup of tea in the café. For those at the top around mid-afternoon they were at least rewarded with clear views and a sun-dappled landscape below their feet.


Words by the former National Poet of Wales, Gwyn Thomas, on the wall of glass
dubbed 'window on the world'.

It's less than three weeks now to the official opening on June 12th, although it is still planned to have Hafod Eryri open to the public before then.


Interpretation on the floor.

It's been a long while since the last posting on the progress of Hafod Eryri. The highest building in Wales and England has been sitting out the wild winter weather with the doors firmly secured and the shutters down. But this coming week with the snow gone, the arrival of Spring and work on the rail-track completed, Carillion plan on returning to the summit to add the finishing touches. As part of the recommissioning process the generator fuel tanks will need filling with diesel and around 10,000 litres of water will have to be ferried up the mountain for the heating system and domestic water supply.


Hafod Eryri awaiting the contractors to apply the finishing touches.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway began running a passenger service to Clogwyn Station on the 21st March and are taking bookings for trips to the summit hoping to start from May 2nd. No guarantee comes with this date, since as ever, the weather has the final say on when the remaining work up there is completed and high winds on any day can mean cancelling the summit train.

June 12th is the date that has been set for the formal opening of the £8.35m rail terminus, cafe and visitor centre. In the run-up to both this and Hafod Eryri opening its doors to the public in May, there will no doubt there will be a lot of interest from the media (locally and nationwide). It is planned that the official opening will be carried out by the Rt. Hon. Rhodri Morgan A.M. who will unveil a special mountain stone set into the rear terrace of the new building.


Hafod Eryri back in February. Snowdon's summit has been covered in snow for
much of this winter.

As you can see from the photo above, the blog hasn't totally ignored the building over the winter months and a few more shots from this period will be added to the photo folders on the left.

Snowdon's new summit building is close to practical completion, aside from the snagging - the list of items still requiring attention or any work that didn't meet the specification at the end of a building process. The focus is now on landscaping the grounds around it and adding the final touches to the train platform. All the scaffolding has been taken down and the fencing around the site removed, allowing an unobscured view of Hafod Eryri.


The southern end of the building where train passengers will exit if they wish to
go up to the summit.

There has even been some respite from the weather with the belated arrival of summer conditions. At least, this should make the final tasks easier and the workmen will be able to take away fresh memories, unsullied by rain and gales, of the incredible setting of this once-in-a-lifetime construction project.


Hafod Eryri in early morning light from just below the summit.


Landscaping and tidying up are one of the remaining tasks.

During the morning a shepherd paused at the summit, on his traditional gather to bring the sheep down-off the mountain to sort out the lambs. Cwm Llan below the southern end of the building, was filled with the sound of shepherds whistle-calls and barking dogs. Not entirely the pastoral idyll it sounds, since at times the shepherds had to compete to be heard above the noise of a military training helicopter buzzing around the cwm.


Shepherd from Hafod y Llan Farm gathering sheep.

More photos can be found in the September '08 photos folder on the left.

Shortly after five in the afternoon the pyramidal peak of Yr Wyddfa cleared of cloud. Not something that has happened a great deal this August. The Airborne Solutions helicopter that had been ferrying stone up the mountain for footpath repair work, from just above Llanberis to Allt Moses below Clogwyn Station, kindly gave the blog a fly-by of the nearly completed summit building. Below are three shots giving a raven's eye view of Hafod Eryri.








 

Now the lattice-work of scaffolding covering the building is being taken down, it is much easier to get a clearer idea of how Hafod Eryri will look when it is totally finished. The aluminium panels that made up the walls are now totally covered by stone. The gable end wall at the entrance is particularly impressive.


Hafod Eryri's impressive stone frontage.

Despite the continuing summer wash-out since the last post, the granite walls have gone up quickly and are close to completion. With only three courses (out of 65) granite blocks left to be fixed on the roof, this is likely to be finished by the middle of next week. For Gary Fury, from the company Stone Central, who has spent months working on the roof fixing the blocks and attachment rails, his days of commuting to work up Snowdon are nearly over. He said: "This job has been a hell of an experience. The weather has thrown everything at us, even the sun is a bit too strong when it has appeared. Without a doubt the best thing has been the incredible views."


Gary Fury with not many blocks to go before the roof is finished.

Peter Trumper, Snowdonia National Park Head of Property, on a site visit believes: "Hafod Eryri is likely to be physically finished before the winter but will not open this year." The portacabins are being dismantled and inside the building there is only some snagging and cleaning left to do. A hand rail to safeguard the way around the east side of the site needs adding and the railway platforms and tracks require repairing.


The counter and kitchen in the cafe. The thin poles are temporary scaffolding.
Compare this with the shot below of the same area from June 6th.



The redevelopment of Snowdon's summit building has coincided with some of the worst summer weather Wales has experienced. According to the Met Office, the total mean rainfall for Wales during May-July 2007 of 502mm was twice the average and the highest since records began in 1914. And the figures for June/July this year are also well above normal with a rainfall figure of 141mm for Wales during July. Imagine what it's like working in twice the normal amount of rain at the top of Snowdon where the topography means you can expect around 4000mm a year anyway!


The parapet wall (right) above the service wing is nearly finished.

The national media experienced first-hand some of the foul weather that workers at the summit have endured since the redevelopment began in September 2006. At a rain sodden press gathering, the National Park issued a statement, saying: "At present it is impossible to confirm a completion date or to name a day when a formal opening can take place." The BBC News reported that it is unlikely the visitor centre will be open to the public this year. News of this set-back was broadcast on the national news and a BBC report 'Weather delays Snowdon cafe' can be seen here.


The media filming the media's arrival at Hafod Eryri.

When work commenced it was hoped Hafod Eryri would be open by May 10th. However, the weather has been a continual thorn in the side of the project with last summer's wash-out and the late snow at the end of March dramatically slowing down progress. The Park stated: "No one involved in the project to build Hafod Eryri ever thought it would be an easy job but Snowdon has continued to show why she must be respected by everyone who ventures onto her slopes."


BBC correspondent, Colette Hume, interviewing a worker at the site.

Carillion's Regional Director, Meirion Evans, described the problems and conditions the project has had to deal with "as unique as the location itself." He continued: "I am aware that people will be disappointed at the delays which mean that plans cannot be laid with certainty for opening Hafod Eryri to the public but we could never expect the mountain to give us free rein. We ask everyone to be patient while we work with the conditions and I know that we will deliver a building of which everyone can be proud."


Not many walkers were visiting the summit in the unpleasant weather.

At the summit, Snowdonia National Park Chief Executive, Aneurin Phillips, clearly appreciated the difficult conditions workers have been facing, saying: "I never cease to marvel at the efforts of the contractor's workforce whenever I see the conditions they are working in. The granite walls need to be completed, the building will need to be commissioned and crucially the railway track at the summit needs to be relaid, all of which will take time.


Colette Hume from the BBC asking workers about what's it like to work at
Snowdon's summit.

While the poor excuse for a summer over the last three weeks has hindered work on the outside of Hafod Eryri, the internal works are now close to completition. The floor tiling and toilet areas are finished while most of the oak slats on the interior walls have been fitted.


Most of the oak slats have now been fitted inside the cafe area.

On Tuesday it is planned to start adding the fabric drape ceiling. Around the same time the diesel generators should be commissioned so that the building will have power; with the warming benefit of underfloor heating for the workmen, as opposed to relying on a cramped portacabin to provide some relief from being exposed to the elements at the top of a 1085m mountain all day long.


Hafod Eryri with three-quarters of the roof now finished.

Edwyn Roberts, Assistant Site Manager, described the weather last week as particularly atrocious with a bitter biting wind and yesterday, even hail. Today was the first decent day in a long while. On the busiest day last week two trains took 82 workmen to the summit.


Edwyn Roberts with perhaps the most relevant 'interpretation' flooring tile for
the workmen on Snowdon's summit.

At the end of this week an official statement on the progress of Hafod Eryri's construction is expected. When Carillion last addressed the media, on April 21st, they said there was twelve weeks worth of work left to do.


Building up the exterior granite cladding with an improvised wind-break.

At 7a.m. just under eighty workmen boarded the train for Snowdon's summit, with a 12-hour day ahead of them. The kitchen area of the cafe has its units in place and the shopfitters, Arthur Hapgood Ltd from Kinmel Bay, have started fixing Welsh oak hand-machined slats to the birch plywood panels. The slats or strips are of various sizes to mirror the stone-work on the outside of Hafod Eryri and the differing depth is intended to create an interesting shadow effect.


Hafod Eryri from the new summit steps leading down to the rear of the building.


Oak slats are being fitted to the birch ply lining the cafe's interior walls.

Up on the roof, Stone Central, are managing to add around seventy-five granite blocks to it each day; weather allowing of course. When the roof is completed it will be made up of nearly 4000 pieces of stone. The official opening of Snowdon's new summit building will not be before September. And if the weather in July and August turns inclement then it will be pushed back further.


The roof is made up of nearly 4000 carefully fitted granite blocks.

This Saturday, on the longest day of the year, lead singer of The Alarm, Mike Peters, is planning to repeat his successful 2007 fund raising (Love Hope Strength Foundation UK) ascent of Snowdon (here) by leading a group of nurses, doctors, fans and supporters to the summit and performing an acoustic concert.


The southern end of Hafod Eryri.

Continuing good weather has enabled steady progress to be made at the Hafod Eryri construction site. Since work re-started on the granite roof just over two weeks ago, it is now two courses away from being half-finished, while within the month the interior is looking like being close to completion.


Stonemason, Robin Hughes, will be featuring in Sunday's S4C documentary
Yr Wyddfa...a'i Chriw (Snowdon and its Crew).

The inside of the cafe area is being fitted out with moisture and fire resistant birch ply panelling which will be overlaid with strips of Welsh oak. A lattice of scaffolding, erected by the contractors Netwell (Graham Maxwell), covers the whole exterior of the building and periodically the scaffold platforms will need to be raised to lift the stonemasons up, as the height of the blockwork increases. The train platform on the western side has been renovated with new slabs and once again now looks like a platform.


The cafe area of Hafod Eryri lined with birch panelling.

There has been surprisingly little coverage in the wider media of the construction of Snowdon's new summit building. But that seems likely to change as it approaches completion. This Sunday (8th June) a half-hour documentary following the construction of the new cafe and visitor information centre will be shown on S4C at 8.30pm: Yr Wyddfa...a'i Chriw (Snowdon and its Crew).


Granite blocks piled up on the roof waiting to be fixed into place.

The programme follows the challenge of building Hafod Eryri through the eyes of six people who have made an important contribution to its success. Made by Antenna for S4C, producer Iestyn Garlick, said: "We see the project from a personal point of view, and realise how important every individual's hard work is to the success of the project."


Hafod Eryri from the northern end with the renovated platform clearly visible.

The six people followed are - engineer Geraint Bowen with the international engineering and design consultancy ARUP at Wrexham; train driver Gwyrfai Williams from Llanberis; buildings manager with Snowdonia National Park Tecwyn Hughes; labourer Eifion Yates originally from the Bala area; stonemason Robin Hughes from Groeslon and the former National Poet of Wales, Professor Gwyn Thomas. Prof Thomas, originally from Blaenau Ffestiniog and now living in Bangor, retired last month from his post as the National Poet of Wales. He has been commissioned by Snowdonia National Park to compose several couplets of three or four lines long, in both Welsh and English, which will be inscribed onto the windows of the new building and in stone.

If you live outside Wales and have access to Sky, you can watch it on channel 134 (for English subtitles press 888). S4C digital can be viewed in Wales on Sky 104, Sky (without subscribing) 134, Virgin TV 194 and Freeview 4.


Workers gathering at the end of the day to catch the train back to Llanberis.