Yr Wyddfa summit cafe Hafod Eryri reopens after four-year hiatus due to renovations and Covid

  • ITV Wales reporter Rob Shelley ascends Yr Wyddfa as summit cafe reopens for first time in four years

Wales' highest cafe has reopened to visitors for the first time in almost four years after being shut due to renovations and the Covid pandemic.

Hafod Eryri, on the summit of Yr Wyddfa or Snowdon, attracted around half a million visitors a year before closing in 2019.

The cafe is accessible by foot or train but tourists have only been able to take the Snowdon Mountain Railway to the very top since Tuesday, after it also closed for upgrades in 2019.

Mount Snowdon to be known as Yr Wyddfa from now on
More than 1,000 metres of track have been relayed in the refurbishment of Snowdon Mountain Railway.

Since April, the train has been travelling ¾ of the distance to the summit, ending the service at Clogwyn Station.

Railway operators say visitors could buy a cup of tea on Yr Wyddfa by the 1820s.

By 1847, there was a small cluster of wooden huts around the summit.

Visitors can once again enjoy food and drink at Wales' highest summit.

By 1930 they had deteriorated and a new building was erected, designed by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, the creator of Italianate village Portmeirion, in Gwynedd.

In 1982 it was decided that the national park authority would buy and renovate it. Construction began in 2006 and Hafod Eryri opened to the public in 2009.

Hafod Eryri opened for business as the UK's highest cafe in June 2009, costing £8 million. Credit: PA Images

There is also a gift shop where visitors can buy a postcard and send it from a summit post box.

Karl Jones, summit manager at Hafod Eryri, explained why renovating the cafe took so long.

"Because we don't have any mains power here or water, we've got to bring everything up ourselves," he said.

"So the water comes up on the train, we've got generators powering the building, so it's completely different to everywhere else."

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