Cymdeithas Parc Bannau Brycheiniog
Brecon Beacons Park Society
www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org

THE SOCIETY 
who we are and what we do

OUR AIMS

The objectives of the Society, as stated in the Constitution are:
 "to advance the enhancement, protection and conservation of the countryside and other amenities of the Brecon Beacons National Park for the benefit of the public," and, "to advance the education of the public in the ways in which to achieve the above  including the provision of opportunities for healthy recreation and in particular walking."

The Executive  of the Park Society have also agreed that this web-site will become bi-lingual in Welsh and English, as and when time and money permits. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The following are the Officers and Committee of the Brecon Beacons Park Society:

Nigel Phillips, Chairman
Nigel Phillips is a professional musician and musical instrument tutor. Since a serious accident, some 15 years ago, he has developed an interest in walking. He has been a member of the Park Society since 2000 and, having become a qualified walks leader, began leading for the Society in 2002. In 2004, he was co-opted onto the executive committee of the Society, to become ‘walks secretary’ and produced his first guided walks programme for the spring of that year. He has developed the current Park Society Web-Site and he is the Park Society representative on the National Park Central Area Advisory Forum and a member of the Western Area Local Access Forum.  

Geoffrey Williams, Vice Chairman
Geoffrey Williams is a retired Solicitor with a Military background. He is a past Chairman of the West Wales Law Society and has served on the Welsh Mountain Leaders Training Board and the Executive Committee of the Ramblers Association. He is currently treasurer of the East Carmarthenshire Group of the South and West Wales Wildlife Trust, Chairman of the Carmarthenshire Local Access Forum and the Park Society representative on the National Park Western Area Advisory Forum. His leisure interests are: gardening, wildlife protection, photography and long distance walking and backpacking.

Ben Sladen, Treasurer and Membership Secretary
Ben Sladen trained as a chartered accountant in Glasgow and then spent 35 years in London.  He established a base in Herefordshire in 1996 prior to full retirement in 2000.  He has always enjoyed walking and joined the Society in 1999.  He now lives near Leominster with his wife Wendy, also a walker. They have a sizeable garden, both cycle and he is involved in various voluntary activities.

Roger White, Secretary
Roger White lives with his wife Diana in Crickhowell.  He has enjoyed the hills and open country since he was a boy in north Wales.  Before his retirement he was a consultant advising on institutional development and investment planning of water services in various countries.  He leads walks for the Park Society and has also recently been the Society's Rights Of Way Co-ordinator.  He returned to the Executive Committee in 2005 having previously been a member for three years from 2000 when he served briefly as Treasurer and Membership Secretary and then as Editor of The Beacon.

Chris Barber, Editor of 'The Beacon'
Chris Barber is a founder member of the Society and is well known as an author, with currently twenty-four books published. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an accomplished  photographer and a popular lecturer. He took early retirement in 1994, having spent 20 years creating and organising the Gwent Countryside Service. He is now publisher (Blorenge Books) and the South Wales Editor of 'Walking Wales' magazine. His many interests and achievements have been recognised by an entry in 'Who's Who in the World'

Judy Cox, Editor of Walking Guides
Judy Cox, having obtained a degrees in physics, worked in research and teaching for several years then moved into computing, initially in engineering then business. After moving to Talywaun, she became a senior lecturer based at Gwent College of HE/Univ. Newport in School of Management. Since retirement (much deserved) she was, until recently, footpath secretary/officer for the RA in Gwent/Torfaen/National Park east, which included the Pentre Farm battle. She has also served on various committees connected with outdoor/countryside matters. Currently she is a member of the National Park Eastern Area Local Access Forum and the Communities Forum East. She has been involved with walks for the Park Society since its beginning. Her other interests are: world peace and disarmament, landscape history and getting the Monnow Bridge reinstated.

Clive Eiles, Pipeline Monitoring Officer
Clive Eiles joined the Society shortly after buying a house in Llanddeusant in 2000, and before moving permanently from London in 2004.  He has worked for the Coal Board, been a teacher, education administrator, trainer of education administrators, part time journalist, and most recently a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. His outdoor activities have included climbing, orienteering and hill walking, he leads walks for the Society and leads regular expeditions, walking in Iceland.

Elizabeth Gibbs, Planning and Development Control Officer
Elizabeth Gibbs combined a career teaching biology and science with raising her family of five children. Since first coming to the Brecon Beacons in 1963 she has spent holidays in the area every year apart from four when living abroad (Kenya and USA). She and her husband John finally moved here three years ago, to the farmhouse they had renovated in Llangynidr. Here she is actively involved in tree planting and hedgerow renovation but animal husbandry is restricted to chickens. 
She works as a volunteer for the Citizens Advice Bureau and other interests include walking, natural history and singing (also with the Gwent Bach Society).

William Gibbs, Representative of the 'Walls of Llangynidr'

Miriam Griffiths, Newsletter Editor
Miriam Griffiths joined the Brecon Beacons Park Society some 5 years ago, when she moved to South Wales. She has been a smallholder, renovated farmhouses, and is a keen walker, which all contributes to her enthusiasm for countryside matters. She endeavours to use her professional experience of education, management and policy development for the benefit of the Society.

Anne Pritchard, Assistant Guided Walks and Events Secretary
Anne Pritchard has been a member of the Society since the inception of the Guided Walks programme, and has been walking in the Brecon Beacons National Park for about 15 years. She first became interested in mountains and the making of the landscape whilst studying Geography and History as a mature student in the 1980s. In anticipation of her retirement from the Civil Service in 2004 she undertook training to become a Walking Group Leader and now leads walks for the Society and the National Park Authority. She  lives in Cardiff.

Jim Wilson, Guided Walks and Events Secretary
Jim Wilson lives near Raglan, having moved there with his family 5 years ago from the Bath area. He is currently MD of a small consultancy company having previously been a member of the senior executive team at Orange, and in a previous lifetime a theoretical atomic physicist. Jim is an experienced climber and mountaineer and has lead climbing expeditions to the Andes, Himalayas, Spitzbergen and many other remote regions of the world. He was formerly the Central Scotland representative for the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. He has been hill walking in the Brecon Beacons for over 15 years and has been leading guided walks for the Park Authority and Society for the last couple of years. His leisure interests include mountains, whale watching, tennis, squash, running and science fiction.

A BRIEF HISTORY

The Brecon Beacons National Park, in the early 1990s, was the only National Park which did not have a ‘Friends’ organisation. Other Parks had such bodies, some of which had been in existence for many years before the National Parks themselves were created after the Second World War.

Brian Powdrill was the catalyst in forming the Society. As a Councillor, he had been appointed to the Park Authority, and, over a period of time, he had been approached to set up a ‘Friends’ organisation.

In the early part of 1992, he contacted a number of local people to consider forming such an organisation. An informal committee was set up, and they visited and talked to the Friends of Pembrokeshire National Park, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Council for National Parks, the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, and many other bodies and people.

Many hours were spent in deciding the organisation’s name, aims and objects, logo, and numerous other matters, because it was felt necessary to present, at any launch, the bones of an organisation, which could be amended or changed as necessary when the organisation had been set up. John Evans, a local solicitor, wrote our first draft constitution. The Countryside Council for Wales agreed to fund half the setting up and launch costs as well as half of the running costs for the first two years.

The Society was finally launched at the Council Chamber in Brecon on Sunday 13th September 1992. It was a packed, standing-room only meeting, chaired by Anthony Carthew, a TV presenter who lives in the park. Chris Bonington CBE introduced the society to the general public and gave one of his mountaineering presentations. Brian Powdrill and Keith Mascetti followed him. The launch resulted in the Society achieving an initial membership of between 70 and 80. Keith and Dianne Millican were among those first members.

The acting officers following the launch meeting were Brian Powdrill (Chairman), John Revans (Vice Chairman), Sandra Belcham (Secretary), and Robert King (Treasurer/ Membership Secretary). They were joined by Ken Milnes, Carolyn Flynn, Elaine Christopher, Anne Watkins, Bob Allen and Richard Griffiths to form the steering committee. At the first AGM on 22nd April 1993, the steering committee was elected as the executive committee, with the addition of Keith Mascetti and Geoffrey Williams ( Richard Griffiths did not stand). A programme was arranged, but, with such a small membership, attendances at events were often poor. Talks given by Chris Barber at the Bear were one of the few successes.

The draft constitution, which was mentioned earlier, was approved at the first AGM. A number of changes were then made, at the request of the Charity Commissioners, so that we could be granted charity status. The achievement of charity status is a long and tortuous tale. A number of persons played a greater or lesser part in this, and, in the end, thanks particularly to Keith Millican, the status was achieved.

In 1996, Brian Powdrill stood down as Chairman of the Society and was succeeded by Keith Millican. For the next five years, Keith and his wife Dianne, first as Secretary and then Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary, were the leaders of the Society in difficult financial and membership times. Despite falling membership and little or no funds, the Society survived. 

In the winter of 1999, the National Park Authority made a decision not to run a winter walks programme. The Society, thanks to John Sansom and his walks leaders, set up a replacement programme. The resultant walks programme was highly successful, and led to on-going summer and winter programmes, which resulted in improved membership and finances.

In 2000, Keith and Dianne Millican decided to have a second retirement and moved to the Lake District. This resulted in a complete change of officers, on an acting basis until they were duly elected at the AGM in 2001. The Society was very fortunate in having as Chairman Haydn Williams, a retired conservationist. The other officers were John Sansom, Roger White and Peter Roberts. 

Haydn Williams stood down as Chairman in 2004, was succeeded by Frank Cook and in 2006 by Nigel Phillips.

Thanks to Robert King, founder member and former Vice Chairman of the Society for the above.

To find an alphabetical listing of pages and topics, click on the  Contents  page   

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