Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia. Terry Marsh

      Pen yr Helgi Du from The Saddle (Walk 15)

      In 1984, my first book The Summits of Snowdonia was published. Ironically, having lived, rock climbed and walked in North Wales in the early 1970s, by the time of publication I was living back in my native county of Lancashire, and spending my time walking and climbing in a much wider arena. But those first impressions, and a wealth of exquisite literature, principal among which were Amory Lovin’s Eryri, The Mountains of Longing, Showell Styles’ The Mountains of North Wales, and Carr and Lister’s The Mountains of Snowdonia, remained with me over the years. 1985 saw the publication of my book The Mountains of Wales, which embraced all the mountains of the principality. The present work is a modern interpretation of these two books, combining the exploration of those early writing years with countless return visits over the intervening period, as well as, one would hope, a surer and more accomplished hand on the literary tiller, and a mind on the wiser side of 60.

      It was in Snowdonia that I first found my feet; here I worked as a voluntary warden in the National Park, and learned the skills and hazards of rock climbing. But most of all, it was here that I acquired a love of mountains, of recreational walking and days at ease among the hills. Everything I’ve achieved as a writer, photographer and lover of wild landscapes is built on foundations laid here in Snowdonia.

      The 40 walks offered here will take you through landscapes of peerless beauty, along ways