Snowdonia Society's 40th birthday

The society is now more pro-active with volunteers working on projects

A group set up to safeguard the beauty of Snowdonia is celebrating its 40th birthday.

The Snowdonia Society held its inaugural meeting on 9 June 1967 and was primarily a watchdog and campaign group within Snowdonia National Park.

Seven people work at its Betws-y-Coed headquarters now and the society says it is more "pro-active" with volunteers working to "enhance" the park.

The park, covering 826 square miles, (2,139 sq km) was created in 1951.

"We really have flourished and even though we have evolved our core aims are the same," said the society's operations director, Dan James.

Although there is a change in the style of how we do it, the core aims are the same: we are still passionate about the park Dan James, Snowdonia Society

"As the pressures on the park has changed we have become more pro-active and our work to enhance the park has grown, especially in the last 20 years."

Work by volunteers within the park includes removing eyesores - which range from redundant agricultural buildings to litter - and conservation work on footpaths.

There have also been larger projects such as the refurbishment of listed 17th Century Cymerau bridge near Blaenau Ffestiniog, where modern health and safety rules had meant "inappropriate" chain link fencing had been erected.

"We came up with our own design and secured a £20,000 grant to carry out the work," said Mr James.

Society members now number around 2,600, with roughly half "local to north Wales, but not necessarily within the park" and others coming from all over the UK and beyond.

Cymerau bridge before and after the society got involved

Mr James said increasing visitor numbers along with climate change would be the "challenges" the society faced.

"We have already launched a sustainable tourism initiative to encourage both visitors and providers to be sustainable in order to protect the very asset which attracts people here.

"What we do now would have been the dream of the founders.

"Although there is a change in the style of how we do it, the core aims are the same: we are still passionate about the park," he added.

The weekend celebrations are centred in and around the National Trust-owned property at Craflwyn in Beddgelert, with numerous talks and walks arranged, and a chance to view a film produced in 1938 calling for the creation of national parks.