20 November: Snowdonia

On this date in 1951 Snowdonia in Wales was designated a National Park. It was the third national park in Britain – after the Peak District and the Lake District. 10 things you might not know about Snowdonia:

1. The English name for the area derives from the mountain, Snowdon, which in turn comes from the Saxon for 'Snow Hill'. In Welsh, the area is called Eryri. Some say this means 'land of the eagles' but evidence suggests it means 'Highlands'. The Welsh for Mount Snowdon itself is “Yr Wyddfa” which means Great Throne or Tomb.
2. Snowdonia has a lot of mountains. There are about 90 which are over 2,000 feet and 15 which are over 3,000, including, of course, the highest mountain in Wales, Mount Snowdon. Snowdon is 1,085 metres or 3,560 feet above sea level at it’s highest point.
3. The first person to climb Snowdon was a botanist called Thomas Johnson in 1639. Today, 350,000 people climb Snowdon every year. There are six designated paths up the mountain which vary in terrain and difficulty. It's common for people to use Snowdon as training for more difficult expeditions. Edmund Hillary trained there prior to climbing Everest.
4. There are fragments of fossils of shells on the summit of Snowdon, telling us that it was once under the sea – about 500 million years ago.
5. According to legend, King Arthur killed a giant here. The giant was called Ritta, and wanted Arthur's beard to add to his cloak.
6. The area of the park is 823 square miles. As well as the mountains, it has 200 miles of coastline and the largest natural lake in Wales, Bala Lake (1.87 sq mi).
7. About 26,000 people live in Snowdonia – that's 12 people per square kilometre.
8. There is a Snowdon Lily, which is exclusive to the slopes of Snowdon, and Snowdonia hawkweed. There's also a Snowdon Beetle, also known as the Rainbow Leaf Beetle.
9. The park contains the wettest place in the UK, Crib Goch, which has an average rainfall of 4,473mm a year.
10. There's an area in the middle of Snowdonia which isn't part of the national park, effectively a hole in the middle of the map. This is around the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, a slate quarrying centre. It was deliberately excluded from the park to allow the development of new light industry to replace the reduced slate industry.

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