Helyg

On the south side of the A5, c 3.5km W of Capel Curig.

Helyg probably originated as a small cottage on the Penrhyn Estate and was possibly the ‘wretched hovel’ mentioned by George Borrow in ‘Wild Wales' (chapter XXV). It is shown on the 1st ed OS map as a small N-S building, with a small extension on its N end (possibly the existing coal store) and a smaller separate building to its S. An irregular enclosure to the SW is shown attached to the building.

Helyg was thought to have been a road-mender’s hovel before it was acquired on a long lease by the Climbers’ Club in 1925. The club purchased it in 1932, and extended the original two room, lofted cottage in 1933 to provide additional sleeping accommodation and a bathroom. Photographs of 1934 displayed inside the property show that there have been some minor changes since then – the replacement of a casement window in the E elevation of the old cottage, the chimneys reduced in height, and the loss of a third (axial) chimney probably in the E wall of the extension.

The Climbers’ Club itself was conceived in 1897, and aimed to encourage mountaineering, particularly in England, Wales and Ireland (it was preceded by the Alpine Club, and by the Scottish Mountaineering Club). At its formal establishment the following year, Charles Edward Matthews became its president. It almost immediately attracted 200 members, largely professional gentleman climbers. Early members included Winthrop Young and George Mallory, who as president in 1923-4, set up ‘the de-moribundisation sub-committee’ in an effort to revive the fortunes of the club, whose membership had been decimated during WWI. The committee recommended the establishment of a club hut for north Wales.

The club already had a strong Welsh bias, evolving as it did from the Society of Welsh Rabbits, and initially using the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel as a base. Helyg was found thanks to the efforts of Herbert Carr and Raymond Greene. They considered that the ‘adjacent rough shed could form an admirable coal store or wine cellar’. This ‘old ruined outhouse’ was duly converted for use as coalshed and store in 1930.

A garage (listed separately) was also quickly provided – newly built on a site on the opposite side of the road, designed by Stewart McLoughlin and completed in 1927 – the garage allegedly cost more than the main building, and was paid for by another prominent mountaineer and founder member of the club, W.E.Corlett. The garage was deemed ‘very suitable… which owing to its low setting, local stone, and Capel Curig slates, snuggles down to the moorland like a native’.

The Climbers' Club also has huts elsewhere in Wales, at Llanberis (Cwm Glas Mawr and Ynys Ettws) and Pembroke, but Helyg is the primary and original club base. It retains an Everest commemorative plaque in its lounge, detailing the club members involved in expeditions to Everest, and demonstrating its links with the foundation of climbing in the UK.