Ogwen Cottage Outdoor Pursuits Centre is situated beside
Llyn Ogwen
Llyn Ogwen (; ) is a ribbon lake in north-west Wales. It lies alongside the A5 road between two mountain ranges of Snowdonia, the Carneddau and the Glyderau. Somewhat unusually, the county boundary at this point is drawn so that the lake its ...
, in
Gwynedd, Wales. It is owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, who bought the property at auction in October 2014 for £450,000. It was formerly for many years part of
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...
's Outdoor Learning Service, providing
outdoor education, and with links to the climbing community.
Thomas Telford
Located on the London to Holyhead
A5 road (Great Britain)
The A5 (commonly known as the London-Holyhead Trunk Road) is a major road in England and Wales. It runs for about from London to the Irish Sea at the ferry port of Holyhead. In many parts the route follows that of the Roman Iter II route ...
, Ogwen developed as a stage coach inn and the present stores building was once stabling for horses. The nearby Tin Can Alley was a source of honing stones used to sharpen tools during the construction of the A5 by
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...
. This mammoth project started in 1815 and it was 1836 by the time the first mail coach crossed the
Menai Straits via Telford's bridge. Telford designed the milestones and the hexagonal toll houses every five miles. Toll houses survive in
Capel Curig
Capel Curig (; meaning " Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 ...
and
Bethesda, Wales whilst in the middle stands Ogwen.
Climbers
The centre is informally referred to as "The Cott" and has been used as a base for
climbers since the nineteenth century. During the 1890s climbers stayed at Ogwen or the
Pen-y-Gwryd
Pen-y-Gwryd is a pass at the head of Nantygwryd and Nant Cynnyd rivers close to the foot of Snowdon in Gwynedd, Wales.
The area is located at the junction of the A4086 from Capel Curig to Llanberis and Caernarfon and the A498 from Beddgele ...
and early accounts make mention of Mrs Jones of Ogwen Cottage; " Mrs Jones at Ogwen Cottage always most good naturedly received and fed us if we turned up, no matter at what hour.”
In 1895 Archer Thompson ascended Twll Du, climbing the ice with an unusual tool; "According to tradition Thor was armed with a hammer for his battle with the Frost Giants, and with such a weapon, we too, were luckily provided in the form of a hatchet, surreptitiously removed from Mrs Jones' coal cellar at Ogwen.”
The 1894 Climbers' Club Journal contained an advert for The Cott citing it as "the chief centre for climbers visiting Snowdonia….the cottage is on the high road and conveyances meet visitors at Bethesda Station if so desired.”
Geoffrey Winthrop Young
Geoffrey Winthrop Young (25 October 1876 – 8 September 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering.
Young was born in Kensington, the middle son of Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet (see ...
, a noted alpinist with many first ascents to his credit, stayed at Ogwen between visits to the Alps in the early 1900s.
Mountaineering School
1959 saw
Ron James, Trevor Jones and Tony Mason-Hornby purchasing The Cott from Mrs Williams and opening it as a mountaineering school. Ogwen became a climbing base and Mrs Williams gave the new owners advice on mounting rescues; "Fire a red flare in the car park – get the climbers together and put the one with the cleanest boots in charge.”
With increasing leisure time and improved transport links, Ogwen grew as a climbing mecca and The Cott's instructors regularly became involved in rescuing climbers in trouble and gradually a specialist mountain rescue team evolved into what is now the Ogwen Valley
Mountain Rescue
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with tech ...
Organisation.
Birmingham City Council
Ron James remained chief instructor for another five years after Birmingham City Council purchased The Cott in 1964.
Over the next 45 years thousands of Birmingham people attended courses at Ogwen. Until the 1980s courses were for a fortnight but economic considerations and the need to take more students meant a reduction to six days.
The Adventurous Activities Licensing Service (AALLS) pays regular visits and while the activities may not be as extreme as they once were, Ogwen is probably the only centre in the UK to programme multi-pitch climbing for secondary school students.
Activities
The traditional core of mountaineering activities remains with an emphasis on mountain walking and climbing but the programme has expanded to include kayaking, gorge walking, canoeing, ski trips, orienteering, expeditions. A student might ascend Hope on the Idwal Slabs as their first ever climb, before descending Suicide Wall by abseil. An evening of orienteering and then the next day might see a kayak descent of the Afon Llugwy or a walk up Tryfan.
Residential experience
The National Trust for Wales purchased Ogwen Cottage in 2014 and since 2015 works in partnership wit
The Outward Bound Trustto offer young people from all over the country a memorable outdoor experience.
Sale in 2014
In October 2014 it was sold off by Birmingham City Council, which had to close its outdoor education service due to funding cuts and an increasing number of schools switching to different venues for educational trips. The
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
purchased it at auction for £450,000.
CP Bigwood Auction results
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See also
*Llyn Idwal
Llyn Idwal is a small lake (approximately 800 m by 300 m, or 28 acres) that lies within Cwm Idwal in the Glyderau mountains of Snowdonia.
It is named after Prince Idwal Foel, a grandson of Rhodri Mawr, one of the ancient Kings of Wale ...
*Cwm Idwal
Cwm Idwal is a cirque (or corrie) in the Glyderau range of mountains in northern Snowdonia, the national park in the mountainous region of North Wales. Its main interest is to hill walkers and rock climbers, but it is also of interest to geologist ...
*Glyderau
The Glyderau (a Welsh plural form, also known in English as the Glyders) are a mountain group in Snowdonia, North Wales. The name derives from the highest peaks in the range, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. According to Sir Ifor Williams, the word ...
*Carneddau
The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in Wales and England (although l ...
File:Ogwen Cottage Mountain Leader.jpg, Mountain Leader Trainees from Ogwen Cottage
File:Ogwen Cottage Sea Level Traverse.jpg, A Birmingham School group on a sea level traverse on Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
File:Climber above Llyn Idwal.jpg, Former Principal (2010) Stan Lowe above Ogwen
File:Ogwen Cottage student Kayaking.jpg, A student from Ogwen Cottage on kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
activity day
References
External links
Ogwen Cottage OPC home page
Birmingham City Council Outdoor Learning Service
OVMRO
{{Coord, 53.1232, -4.0187, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Buildings and structures in Conwy County Borough
Outdoor education organizations
Capel Curig
Education in Conwy County Borough
Mountaineering in the United Kingdom