NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Well, what a glorious Summer! I hope you have made the most of it, the only downside is that it’s been far too hot walk on some days but now the main holidays are over and Autumn is here we will have some good walks coming up. Thanks to your support, our group continues to prosper 264 members at the last count. I particularly want to thank Matt for his visionary skill in making our website more interesting with frequent updates and the patient, thorough way he has taken on organising our leaders and programming our walks.
A spin off from our Leader’s training session was clarifying our walk grades to aid members to choose the most appropriate walks, the new classification of Grade B as “Energetic” has been accepted by the Area Council and passed up to HQ for adoption. The grades are published on our Walks page.
Thank you for responding to our July survey, it is important that we listen to your views and that you feel part of Eryri group. Your feedback gives us a good indication of preferences from our wide range of members and helps us to plan walks.
Ideally it would be great to run a walk for each grade each week but we would need more leaders, we are always on the lookout for new leaders. If you know of anyone who might have the skills and command to become a leader, please let Matt or myself know.
Sadly, we offer our sincere condolences to Pat Stephens for the loss her husband Dave long time popular members of Caernarfon and Dwyfor and latterly Eryri. We also offer our sincere condolences to member Roland Gliddon for the loss of his wife Isobel.
Finally, I’ve snaffled this article Soleus - the muscle that can ward off frailty .pdf from the Telegraph.
I did not know what the Soleus muscle was or how important it is to our wellbeing for cognitive function, knees and even warding off diabetes. It’s on our website – keep flexing - you will never feel the same again!
Hwyl Roy
PHOTOGRAPH COMPETITION
Lots of you take great photos while out walking with us which we quite often see on our Facebook page after the walks. They are great and so we thought we would hold a photo competition to be shown and peer judged at the next AGM (See Notices for details).
We will probably create a slide show on a loop so that it is running during the evening and then attendees can choose one or two that they like.
We can create a shortlist of winners on the night.
If you are interested in showing your photos, please pick 2 of your best and send them to me at di.dee.jamal@gmail.com letting me know the location of the photo.
OUR WALK LEADER NICK OSBORN
Nick spends most of his week on Yr Wyddfa as a Volunteer Warden. Here’s an account of what he does, and his time spent on the mountain this Summer:
I am a member of Yr Wyddfa volunteer warden scheme, the team consists of 40+, we work alongside the full time wardens. We patrol the mountain on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays and Bank Holidays between the end of March until the beginning of November. All the team members are experienced mountain walkers, who hold mountain first aid certification and who have a detailed knowledge of Yr Wyddfa. The teams patrol the six main paths and Alt Maenderyn (South Ridge) with priority being given to the Llanberis, PyG and Miners paths. Each team consists of a minimum of two people.
The warden’s main duty is to provide a visible presence on the mountain, branded bright blue
T-shirts and baseball caps, as a contact point for walkers wanting advice, provide first aid, assist mountain rescue as required. The secondary task is to carry out litter picks.
This year has provided fantastic weather so far; however, this has brought loads more visitors many of who were not prepared. The usual issues were not carrying enough hydration, people thinking 500ml was sufficient (we were carrying 4L) and insufficient sunscreen.
Loads of people assume that once they reach the summit, they can take the train back down - most are surprised when we tell then is not the case.
One of our, and mountain rescues bugbear is Tik Tok especially with Crib Goch. They have seen the videos and think it is an easy walk. Most will not listen when we try to advise against attempting it. We have had two fatalities in the last 3 weeks.
Another problem we have is the amount of litter that is left behind. The teams I have been on have collected 450kg so far this year.
Personally, this year saw me become a member of the 200 club: Clwb Dau Gant Yr Wyddfa and being recognised by Gwynedd volunteers awards for the amount of volunteer hours I had completed.
Nick says he’s happy to lead walks on the paths of Yr Wyddfa if there is enough interest. He is leading a walk up the Rhyd Ddu path shortly which is full but will hopefully post some other options during the year.
MOBILE PHONES AND TICKS The Unseen Connection
"The discovery that ticks perceive and respond to the electromagnetic fields generated by our mobile devices represents a fascinating convergence of technology and biology.
As we continue to modify our environment with wireless technologies, understanding how these changes affect disease vectors becomes increasingly crucial.
The radiation-shielded tube experiments have clearly demonstrated that ticks—particularly specific species and sexes—are attracted to 900 MHz electromagnetic radiation.
This finding challenges us to expand our understanding of tick sensory capabilities and consider the potential implications for disease ecology.
While much remains to be explored, this research exemplifies how curiosity-driven science can reveal unexpected connections in our world. The next time you venture into nature with your mobile phone, remember that you might be broadcasting your presence to the tick population in ways we're only beginning to understand. As we unravel these invisible connections, we move closer to developing more effective strategies for managing tick-borne diseases while deepening our appreciation of the sophisticated sensory worlds of even the smallest creatures."
The author is a science writer specializing in making complex biological research accessible to general audiences.
Links: Infected Ixodes Ricinus ticks are attracted by electromagnetic radiation of 900 MHz
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32209348/
Ticks react to electromagnetic radiation
https://scienceinpoland.pl/en/news/news%2C29450%2Cticks-react-electromagnetic-radiation.html
(A fascinating article spotted by Roy Milnes)
NOTICE
Our AGM will be held on Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 13:30 Royal Victoria Hotel, Llanberis
We look forward to seeing you there. We will be discussing all matters concerning Eryri Ramblers, the Election of Officers, our photo competition plus our guest speaker