Andy
Hi, and welcome to my web site. First of all thanks for visiting. The aim of this section is to tell you a little bit about me and my background. It may also give some idea of what has motivated the development of the site.
I am a 26 year old and graduated with an M-ENG in Computer Systems Engineering at the University Of Wales, Bangor in 2000. I have decided to stay in Bangor, and am now working for a Company which deals with online payments where I work as a member of the Systems Operations team, and am the Company's Information Security Officer.
I am currently working towards starting my own business supplying IT services such as system montoring, website design and information security services, and will post a link to my business website when it is complete.
Following an excellent year living with Al (a forestry student, and also my climbing partner) I am now living on my own again. Congratulations to Al for gaining a good degree, and best of luck for the future - I am sure we will share some more mountaineering experiences!
Before coming to Bangor I went to Bishop Vesey's Grammar School. The school owns a house in Betws-y-Coed, and our chemistry teacher (Mr. Andrew Jones) ran fell walking trips to the house each autumn half term and Easter. I used to go on these, and it added to the introduction to Snowdonia which I had been given by my parents. We had always gone to Criccieth for our Summer holidays from when I was 3 years old. We spent some time on the beach and some in the mountains.
Going walking with the school included some longer walks than I had done before, going over the Glyderau and Carneddau. The weather was varied as would be expected, but I enjoyed the days out, and decided that I wanted to carry on with walking when I went to University. This heavily influenced my choice, and I ended up by choosing Bangor.
I went abroad several times with my parents, visiting the Swiss and Austrian alps. I always enjoyed these holidays, and liked the higher mountains, however there is something about the British hills which makes them special, and I have spent time during summer holidays walking in Brecon and Scotland.
Previously whilst in Bangor I have been lived in Neuadd Rathbone, one of the halls of residence. During the first year I took on the position of Male representative on the hall committee, and followed this up by becoming chairman, a position which I held for 2 years. I was a hall tutor there last year. More details of my time in Rathbone can be found in the Bangor section.
I was a member of the mountain walking club at University for three years. During the first year I went out with them most weekends, and took my mountain leader (Summer) training with the club during the Easter holiday. I did more solo walking over the following two years, exploring the main ranges covered in the Snowdonia section of this site. I took and passed my mountain leader (Summer) assessment in September 1999.
A couple of years ago I went on an Introduction to Climbing course at Plas y Brenin, and following this I have been climbing in the Peak District, the Ogwen Valley, and on Holyhead Mountain. Al and myself went to the Alps for the two weeks in 2002, staying in Chamonix, and visited Zermatt in 2003. Photos are available in the Alpine section of this site. This year I visited Saas Fee, and will add details to this site at a later date. Thanks to Al and Lard for an excellent introduction to mountaineering. I have now joined Clwyd Mountaineering Club of which I am the Secretary.
I hope that you find the information provided here to be a useful addition to other walking sites currently on the internet. Please feel free to e-mail me with any comments on improvements or additions.
I would also like to use this space to give a few personal messages. First a great big country "Warp" to Ross, I look forward to seeing you again. Also best wishes to all those Ratbinners who completed their degrees what is now five(!) years ago (particularly John, Huw, Byron and Nick - see you again soon!). Special congratulations go to Pete and Jo on their wedding earlier this year. Good luck to those who finished three years ago (especially Lard and Aids), and finally best wishes to those who graduated last summer.
Finally a special thanks to Andrew Jones of Bishop Vesey's Grammar School without whom I would not have developed such an interest in walking.
Last updated: 10/08/04