BMC volunteers repair Eryri (Snowdonia) 200m footpath this spring

News
20 Apr
4 min read

The Watkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the peat hags on neighbouring mountain Glyder Fach have benefitted from BMC volunteer improvement work on the latest Get Stuck In event, 15-16 April 2024. This was organised by Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick as part of the Mend Our Mountains project, funded by the BMC Access & Conservation Trust.

The Watkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the peat hags on neighbouring mountain Glyder Fach have benefitted from BMC volunteer improvement work on the latest Get Stuck In event, 15-16 April 2024. This was organised by Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick as part of the Mend Our Mountains project, funded by the BMC Access & Conservation Trust. 

Tom says, “On day one we saw a real mix of weather - sleet, hail, snow, rain and sun! A path has formed shortcutting across to the Watkin pools so rather than fight it, the National Trust has decided to go with it and put a proper path in place.

“So our job for most of the morning was to move aggregate from big piles across in wheelbarrows and load it on top of roughly 200m of path. The base layer of the path is locally-sourced sheep’s wool from the National Trust farm so that water can move freely and the aggregate above doesn’t sink into the mud. With the wool submerged in water it doesn’t degrade. Then there are small, flat stones, then the smaller gravel. The aggregate is locally sourced to match colour of landscape unobtrusively.

Volunteers wheel the aggregate along the new path

“On day two we went up the western side of Glyder Fach, up the Miners’ Path from the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel (below, due south) to stabilise the peat hags in a process known as re-profiling.”

Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles explains, “Peat hags are a form of erosion in peatland that usually occur at the sides of stream beds that cut into the peat or when fire or overgrazing exposes the peat surface. Once the peat is exposed in these ways, it is prone to further erosion by wind, water, and livestock. The result is overhanging vegetation and peat. Hags are too steep and unstable for vegetation to establish itself, so they continue to erode quickly unless restorative action is taken. The exposed peat releases carbon, and reduces water quality downstream.

“Re-profiling the peat takes away the vertical face of the hag, reducing the angle of slope to be stable (ie 30 degrees), and the peat is covered by redistributing the vegetation. In large peat hags this might have to be done by a mechanical digger (if you can get one up there), but smaller hags can be restored by hand. It is tough work, but a large group can achieve a lot. That's where BMC volunteers come in!”

Tom says, “Both days were really well organised and it’s really good to have such good and increasing collaboration with the National Trust in the Mend Our Mountains projects. We’d like to thank all the BMC volunteers for their hard work in Snowdonia this April.”

Fancy a crack at path repair and peat hag re-profiling? Check out all the volunteer opportunities from the BMC here.

Volunteers cut the overhanging peat off before re-profiling the slope

Gwirfoddolwyr BMC yn trwsio 200m o lwybrau troed Eryri (Eryri) ym mis Ebrill 2024

Mae Llwybr Watkin i fyny’r Wyddfa (Yr Wyddfa) a’r glesyn mawn ar fynydd cyfagos y Glyder Fach wedi elwa o waith gwella gwirfoddolwyr BMC yn nigwyddiad diweddaraf Get Stuck In, 15-16 Ebrill 2024. Trefnwyd hyn gan Gynrychiolydd Cerdded Bryniau, Steve Charles fel rhan o'r prosiect Mend Our Mountains, a ariannwyd gan Ymddiriedolaeth Mynediad a Chadwraeth Y BMC.

Medd Tom Carrick (Swyddog Mynediad a Chadwraeth y BMC (Cymru): “Ar y diwrnod cyntaf fe welsom ni gymysgedd go iawn o dywydd - eirlaw, cenllysg, eira, glaw a haul! Mae llwybr wedi ffurfio llwybr-byr ar draws tuag at byllau Watkin felly yn hytrach na brwydro yn ei erbyn, mae’r Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol wedi penderfynu mynd gyda’r lli a rhoi llwybr swyddogol yn ei le.

“Felly ein gwaith ni am y rhan fwyaf o’r bore oedd symud agregau o bentyrrau mawr ar draws mewn berfâu a’u llwytho ar ben y llwybr. Gwlân defaid lleol o fferm yr Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol yw haen waelod y llwybr fel bod dŵr yn gallu symud yn rhwydd ac nad yw’r agreg uwchben yn suddo i’r mwd. Gyda’r gwlân wedi’i foddi mewn dŵr nid yw’n diraddio. Yna mae cerrig bychain, gwastad, yna'r graean llai. Daw'r agreg o ffynonellau lleol i gyd-fynd â lliw'r dirwedd yn anymwthiol.

“Ar yr ail ddiwrnod fe aethon ni i fyny ochr orllewinol y Glyder Fach, i fyny Llwybr y Mwynwyr o Westy Pen-y-Gwryd (isod, i’r de) i sefydlogi’r hagiau mawn mewn proses a elwir yn ail-broffilio.”

Eglura’r Cynrychiolydd Cerdded Bryniau, Steve Charles, “Mae hagriaid mawn yn fath o erydiad mewn mawndir sydd fel arfer yn digwydd ar ochrau gwelyau nentydd sy’n torri i mewn i’r mawn neu pan fydd tân neu orbori yn dirywio wyneb y mawn. Unwaith y daw'r mawn i'r golwg yn y ffyrdd hyn, mae'n dueddol o gael ei erydu ymhellach gan wynt, dŵr a da byw. Y canlyniad yw llystyfiant a mawn sy'n hongian drosodd. Mae'r corn yn rhy serth ac ansefydlog i lystyfiant ymsefydlu, felly maent yn parhau i erydu'n gyflym oni bai bod camau adferol yn cael eu cymryd. Mae'r mawn sydd yn agored i’r amgylchedd yn rhyddhau carbon, ac yn lleihau ansawdd dŵr i lawr yr afon.

“Mae ail-broffilio’r mawn yn cael gwared ar wyneb fertigol y gors, gan leihau ongl y llethr i fod yn sefydlog (hy 30 gradd), ac mae’r mawn yn cael ei orchuddio trwy ailddosbarthu’r llystyfiant. Mewn hagiau mawn mawr, efallai y bydd yn rhaid i beiriant cloddio mecanyddol wneud hyn (os gall un gyrraedd yno), ond gellir adfer hagiau llai â llaw. Mae'n waith caled, ond gall grŵp mawr gyflawni lot fawr. Dyna le mae gwirfoddolwyr BMC yn achub y dydd!”

Meddai Tom, “Roedd y ddau ddiwrnod wedi’u trefnu’n dda iawn ac mae’n wych cael cydweithrediad cystal gyda’r Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol gyda’r prosiect Mend Our Mountains. Hoffem ddiolch i holl wirfoddolwyr y BMC am eu gwaith caled yn Eryri fis Ebrill yma.”

Awydd rhoi cynnig ar atgyweirio llwybrau ac ail-broffilio mawn? Edrychwch ar yr holl gyfleoedd gwirfoddoli gan y BMC yma.

BMC Travel Insurance

Join the BMC

Cotswold Outdoor Discount

Related Content

COOKIES

We use cookies to analyse web traffic, and to improve the user experience. For these reasons, we may share your site usage data with our analytics partners. You can choose to accept all cookies, or select separate preferences for each of the third-party partners we use.

SET COOKIES PREFERENCES