The history of the
Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel, founded nearly one hundred and forty years ago is
closely interwoven with the development of rock-climbing and
mountaineering and with the great figures responsible for those
innovations. It may be argued that few individual places in the world
can claim a longer or more honourable connection with the sports. In
the same manner that the Wastwater Hotel became home for
the Lake District climbers, so the Pen-y-Gwryd was to become for the
North Wales school. The location of the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel is
singular, and interesting enough. Perched high above the Gwynant
valley, it stands alone below Cwm-y-ffynnon, in the shadow of both
the Glyder and Moelwyn peaks. There is some confusion concerning the
correct derivation of the inn's name. One plausible and attractive
explanation put forward by Nea Morin in her book, 'A Woman's Reach'
proposes that when the Hotel is viewed looking from upstream, or
better still, from Moel Siabod, the twists and turns of the Afon
Mymbyr resemble the links of a silver chain.
The area to the fore
thus taking on the Welsh " Pen-y-Gwryd", meaning simply,
"head of the chain". Long before the formal construction of
the Pen-y-Gwryd, the Romans occupied this vantage point. The large
four-square earthwork bestriding both roads in front of the existing
hotel bears testimony to their one time presence. The remains show it
was a temporary fort, similar to those found near to Hadrian's Wall.
This one, decidedly high and exposed for Roman tastes, dictated by
the harsh surrounding terrain and the severe climatic variations. The
interim following the Roman evacuation saw only pedestrian traffic
traversing this location.
The divides separating
the Snowdon, Glyder, and Moelwyn massifs were long avoided by the
route-makers. There was only a drover's track permitting transit
between the coastal plains and Anglesey and the English markets to
the south. It was trodden by shepherds, livestock, indentured
apprentices and the sons of rich landowners who moved with the
drover's for adventure and security of travel. The mountains were a
veritable haven for brigands, thieves and footpads. With the revival
of scientific inquiry and the proclamation of philosophies by people
like Jean-Jaques Rousseau pointing out the superior value of things
simple, natural and wild, men's eyes were opened to the appreciation
of savage landscapes. The number of visitors to the mountains of
North Wales increased.
The first access road to the areas was opened
in 1805. The Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel began life soon after the road was
completed over the Llanberis Pass in 1830. Its founder and first
landlord was John Roberts of Pen-y-Bryn, Llanberis. On offer was a
small parlour with half a dozen hair-bottomed chairs and a mahogany
table, an upstairs kind of cock-loft which was divided into two
compartments, one for the family, the other for the travellers. In
1847 Henry Owen, whom for some reason everyone called "Harry",
took over from John Roberts. With his wife Ann he was to run the
Hotel for the next forty years and more. Little is known about those
first tentative years, most of the details in the visitors' book were
destroyed. However the records do show that the Owens were hosts in
their first year, to two of the most influential men in the
development of mountain exploration in Britain.
The first was Fitt
Bowring, a compulsive hill-walker. Regarded by many as an eccentric,
he maintained his enthusiasm long enough to introduce Walter Parry
Haskett Smith to Lakeland scrambling in the early 1880's. The second
was C. A. 0. Baumgartner, one of the pioneer "Pillarites"
of the Lake District, and the first man known to have traversed the
airy Crib Goch crest of Snowdon. The year 1886 saw the cleric and
novelist Charles Kingsley at the Hotel, also playwright Tom Taylor
who was later to become editor of Punch, and author Thomas Hughes who
was soon to find literary fame with his work 'Tom Brown's Schooldays'.
Kingsley had been to the Pen-y-Gwryd before. He was a man of sound
constitution, who embraced wholeheartedly the cult of physical
fitness. Born in 1819, he is reputed to once have walked from London
to Cambridge, a distance of some 52 miles in one day. With Taylor and
Hughes, Kingsley enjoyed the fishing in nearby waters. They also
clambered around on Snowdon and Glyder Fawr, and found pleasure in
their activities in a way particular to successful Victorians.
In
1887, Kingsley included a colourful account of the Pen-y-Gwryd in his
novel Two Years Ago. Oscar Eckenstein, regarded as one of the most
formidable characters the early climbing scene produced, came first
to the Pen-y-Gwryd in the Spring of 1887. Particularly fascinated by
the classic mountain lines of Lliwedd, Eckenstein partnered most of
the leading men of the time. A man of superb ingenuity and
inventiveness who applied his engineering skills toward the design
and manufacture of original climbing hardware. He was perhaps the
first great theorist of rock-climbing. Like Dan Tyson's
Wastwater Hotel in the Lake District, the success and
reputation of the Pen-y-Gwryd flourished on the strength of the
homely and welcome atmosphere created by "Harry" Owen and
his family. The popularity of the place rose especially amongst the
public school and university elite. Holiday and reading parties were
fashionable in those days. Regular visitors to the Hotel included a
group of masters from Winchester College.
The lawyer C. E. Mathews
came to the Pen-y-Gwryd in the opening months of 1854. Although a
great deal more creative during his forays in the Alps, Mathews was
remembered amidst "Gwryd" circles for his amiability. It
went on record that during his lively career he climbed Snowdon and
Cader Idris more than a hundred times each. The list of distinguished
guests staying at the Pen-y-Gwryd grew rapidly. The Pendlebury
brothers, Charles Pilkington (a pioneer of guideless climbing in the
Alps) and Frederick Morshead, whom Geoffrey Winthrop Young described
as, "the finest and fastest Alpinist of the day." H. G.
Willink, the artist and Clinton Dent were also of the band. Included
in the convivial gatherings came Horace Walker and A. W. Moore, the
latter accompanied Mathews on the original ascent of the Brenva Ridge
in 1865. Christmas 1860 witnessed Professor Tyndall, Professor Huxley
and Mister Busk taking up a stay at the Hotel.
Significant though it
was, Tyndall's motivation was overshadowed by the sustained interest
of C. E. Mathews in making the Pen-y-Gwryd's name. From 1861 onwards
he went there almost every year. Forty years later he was still
coming to the rendezvous, but on a more occasional basis. The arrival
of the Alpinists, especially their coming outside the normal tourist
season, established the Pen-y-Gwryd, and made it both possible and
necessary to expand facilities. In 1859 a coffee room was built, and
the existing pension was given a new roof. During the 1880's a
complete new wing was added. Come 1890, the Owens were prosperous
enough to be able to install a hot water facility in each bedroom —
considered an advanced feature at the time! 1889 saw the premier
visit to the Pen-y-Gwryd of two men who were to play essential roles
in shaping the development of rock-climbing in Snowdonia. A. W.
Andrews and James Merriman Archer Thomson. The latter had lived in
Bangor, only a few miles distant, but previously had paid no
attention to the neighbouring mountains. Several years were to pass
before he began his pioneering climbing. Sadly, in May 1891, after
forty-four years as landlord, "Harry" Owen died. From that
point forward the Pen-y-Gwryd embarked upon a period of disturbance
and decline. With "Harry" dead, his wife Ann struggled to
keep the hostelry a going concern. Regrettably the standards once
known were to be a thing of the past.
Deterioration in the
house facilities were equalled by the decline in the health of Mrs
Owen. In 1896 she died and joined her husband in the churchyard
cemetery at Beddgelert. The closing years of the Nineteenth Century
brought fresh recruits to the Welsh hills. Just some of the quality
names included amongst them were W. R. Reade, Geoffrey Winthrop
Young, and Owen Glynne Jones who in turn introduced his very able
friends from the Lake District, the Abraham brothers. For the most
part, the Abraham brothers were not made to feel welcome at the
Pen-y-Gwryd. Resentment from the regulars stemmed from seeing the
steady flow of choice first ascents put up by the brothers. The class
difference helped to aggravate their case. The situation was further exacerbated by their own character and approach to the sport.
Hostility reached a climax when the Abraham's business and commercial
sense took hold of things. As impressive photographers, the prospect
of a book in preparation met with outright condemnation from the
conservative quarter. Even with the Pen-y-Gwryd as home of the
Climbers Club (Formed there in 1898), the raging Abraham brothers'
controversy, progressed out on to the crags.
In the summer of 1901
the Pen-y-Gwryd went up for sale. It never reached its reserve price
at auction and so was withdrawn from the market. What remained of the
trade succumbed to the acumen and superior accommodation just a mile
up the road at Pen-y-Pass. This establishment in turn took on and
embraced the great names of the day. It followed an equally colourful advance.
The Pen-y-Gwryd was to stand in awe of personalities and events at
Pen-y-Pass for many years. Drained of enthusiastic management and climbing world patronage, only with the passage of time
was there to come a change in circumstances. Another chapter in the hotel's life was to be opened with the spread of climbing as an
activity for the "working" and artisan classes. An era of
new "Hard Men" and "Carpet-baggers" was on its
way . . .
Eammonn Dolan: First published in Clinmber & Rambler-September
1981
