UKC

Hi,

Ever since i was a a small child I've camped in Llanberis Pass, by the cromlech boulders; either over the wall by the stream or within the boulders themselves. Its handy as I always arrive late at night so dont have to worry about campsite regs.

Obviously I can't remember the details of when i was young but, since the age of 17 when i've driven over myself, a lady has always come calling in the morning for 50p, or in more recent times £1.

Who is this lady?

A couple of weeks when i was there, I was in the bookshop in Llanberis when she came in. After she left I asked the shop asssistant if she lived on the farm in Llanberis and ran the camping? "No" came the reply. I told my story and the assistant said she knew nothing of this, but she would ask her when she sees her next.

The next morning, when she came calling for her £1's (which i duly paid) I asked if she worked on the Farm or campsite down the road. She said she used to run the camping for the farmer but, not any more; It was all a bit vague.

Its just started me thinking who is this lady ive been paying my 'site fees' to all this time.

Can anyone shed any light or, just have a laugh at my expense if I've been taken for the longest ride ever?

Mike

Her name is Rosie. No idea if she collects money in any "official" capacity, but she's harmless enough and gets plenty of abuse from climbers and campers.

In reply to inframike: Are we talking about the lady who also ran the Blaen-y-Nant campsite which is now closed? I thought the lady's name was Margaret? At least that's what she signed herself on a note pushed under our tent the other year!

In reply to inframike:
reminds me of this well known story
http://current.com/149pm4c

In reply to inframike:

She now collects the money in a bling new Range Rover Sport!

In reply to inframike:
I've recall paying her 50p a few times years ago. On one occasion, our tent was ripped apart in a gale overnight and in the morning we were soaked and exhausted. She came on her rounds, and on hearing that we had to get back to Bangor (we were going to walk) she offered us a lift (we must have looked pitiful - we were only 16 and our borrowed and improvised kit was laughable).

After 20 minutes squeezed with our gear in the back of her Mini Traveller she dropped us at the coach station, and promptly asked us for a Fiver! I think we managed to scrape together about £3.50 which was all we had left on us and had been reserved for buying some grub on the journey home.

What an enterprising lady - Thatchers Britain at its best!

Rich

In reply to inframike:

A mate of mine maintains that the land down the pass is common land and therfore owned by no-one and therefore camping shouldn't need to be paid for. Any truth in this or utter b*****ks?

In reply to Jim Crow: Certainly the old Blaen-y-Nant site is specifically missed out of the Access Land in the Pass, whoch would suggest that it's not common land. I remember Margaret saying that they owned the land from the Pass up to the ridge of Crib Goch. Wonder if they've thought of putting a Toll Booth on Crib Goch?

In reply to inframike: I've encountered the £1 lady and she said that it was "by way of a small fine" but i've only seen her once and i've camped there alot. Equally i've camped at gwern gof uchaf in ogwen and no ones come round to ask for money. swings and roundabouts.

In reply to Jim Crow:

It's not true

'The bulk of the land within the Llanberis guidebook area is owned by local farmers, or by larger landowners with their land being worked by tenant farmers. The National Trust does not have a presence in the valley.
Climbers have been fortunate in the past to have enjoyed a long tradition of free access to almost all the crags in the Llanberis area. Access restrictions have been necessary in only the most exceptional of circumstances, such as the 1967 and 2001 outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease. Major legislation in the form of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act of 2000 is now in force governing matters of access; although in practical terms very little has changed locally from the status quo. Briefly, the CRoW Act gives members of the public the right of access on foot, to take part in a number of recreational activities, including climbing, in areas designated as Open Access land. Land owners have the right to impose temporary restrictions for purposes such as land management work, wildlife protection and fire prevention. 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps are now available showing the areas of Open Access land. This information can also be found on the website of the Countryside Council for Wales (details below).'

In reply to inframike:

Al's right, it's all private land and we have no 'right' to camp there. It has however ben tolerated for a long time and if she's collecting a quid on behalf of the owner then good luck to her (what's a quid for a night in the Pass!)

However I've noticed over the last couple of years frame tents with all the paraphinalia set up alongside the road and insitu for a week or more, one lot even went home and left everything in a right mess, this sort of behaviour is not acdeptable and will spoil things for all of us, be tidy, be smart folks.

In reply to inframike:

She told me the £1 was for clearing up litter......

Not mine I hasten to add

In reply to inframike:

Seems a bit harsh charging you a pound after you've driven over yourself!

In reply to Bulls Crack:

lmao!

In reply to Babika:

To be fair to her, most of the time she does have a bag and is actively collecting rubbish, most likely left by cer tourists rather than climbers - or i would hope.

I've always called her Rosie (not to her face) - it's weird if that is her name..

In reply to Mike Raine:

IN REPLY TO ALL:

Thanks for all the replies, humorous responses and shared experiences. makes me feel better but still none the wiser..

I'll keep on paying.... a £1 for a night in the pass, one of my favourite places in the world is an acceptable price to pay!

In reply to inframike:

I camped there quite a lot in 2002/3 and and got chatting to her (yes, her name is Rosie) quite a lot over a cup of tea. She is a very interesting woman. She gave me some postcards of some stained glass art that she had done in the past that were absolutely beautiful.
She said that she collected the money on behalf of all the landowners in the pass and it was then shared out. Since then i have been back a couple of times and never seen her and thought she was dead or something so its nice to hear she is still around.

In reply to inframike: I am not sure what right she has to claim £1 off campers, but I have seen her often enough walking down the pass putting litter into the bins that she has collected from where everyone camps to think she probably deserves your £1.

More of an issue in the pass is the new bridge that could support an lorry, that the new owner of Blean nant have errected, along with the slate drive way so they don't have to get there feet muddy, when driving over from Wolverhampton. Can't believe the National Park have let them get away with it.

They are often not about, so might I suggest that everyone camps in there front garden, when they are away!

In reply to inframike: I remember her trying to get 50p out of me for sleeping in my car in the Cromlech lay-by, in 1989!

Andy F

In reply to inframike:met her a couple of years ago. a quids kinda ok.but 50p for the dog felt off. he was only a pup

In reply to inframike:
Are we talking about the woman with an Irish accent? If so, she's a minor national treasure -- very interesting and intriguing.

In reply to mikeryder:


Uhm... that's because you're supposed to go the the farmhouse RIGHT BY it, knock on the door, and pay. It's a CAMPSITE FFS. It's not an expensive one either but they do provide quite nice showers.

Do you just walk out of shops with stuff under your arms if no-one comes up and actually asks you to pay?

In reply to Mark Reeves:
Totally agree with you on that score I drove past yesterday - looks like that they are getting ready to tarmac or concrete the driveway up to the house and add pretty driveway lighting ...

wow if they can do it I'm sure others will copy them ... hoary for retrospective planning ...

In reply to Ian McNeill:

Do the planners know, and maybe get a stop notice on the place?

In reply to sutty:

Who knows ??? its very visible and they are demolishing the left side of the house to rebuild it .. all looks a mess..


the drive way should be eco matting and grass they should never be allowed to get away with tons of slate waste ...

they should be made to use this
http://invisiblestructures.com/GP2/grasspave.htm

In reply to Ian McNeill:

here are the other options they could use ...

http://www.ecosherpa.com/green-construction/green-options-for-your-driveway...