Yr Wyddfa mountain cafe to reopen for first time since 2019

The cafe at the summit of Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, will reopen in the spring for the first time in more than three years.

Since the cafe closed in October 2019, there have been reports of problems with people leaving waste on the mountain.

The reopening follows an announcement that Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR) will resume trains to the summit.

These trains need to run each day to carry staff and supplies to the cafe.

Since the Covid pandemic struck, trains have only been running to the Clogwyn stop on the mountain.

But SMR is now preparing to have the line to the summit ready for the beginning of May so supplies can be sent up to get the cafe ready in time for its reopening halfway through the month.

The plan is for the railway's diesel trains to start the full service up to the top of the mountain on 13 May with the first steam-powered engines going back to the top two days later. Trains to Clogwyn will begin at the start of April.

The SMR said it trains carry up to 144,000 passengers to the top of Yr Wyddfa each year. It is estimated that more than 600,000 people walk to the summit as well.

Over the past three years, the cafe and railway's closure, initially enforced by the pandemic, has meant that there have been issues with unprepared walkers and visitors leaving rubbish and human faeces on the mountain.

One mountain guide reported a path "covered in human stools" last Easter and 200 bags of litter were collected by volunteers in the summer of 2020.

It is hoped that the cafe, which has toilets, will help combat some of these problems.