Introducing prominent members of the Trust...

Marilyn Barrack

Marilyn is a primary school teacher from Cardiff. In her younger days she was a frequent visitor to the Elenydd hostels and she has particularly enduring memories of Christmas parties at Ty'n Cornel with the Cardiff YHA Group. She was devastated to hear that the last 3 hostels were to close in 2006 and arranged the public meeting which led to the setting up of the Trust. Her role as chairperson includes keeping the rest of the committee in order and making sure deadlines are met.

Marilyn is proud to be Welsh and has a strong interest in the Welsh culture and language. She has been learning to speak Welsh for the last 6 years and enjoys using it when she visits mid-Wales. She loves the peace and solitude of the Elenydd, especially Dolgoch where she finds 'peace for the soul'!

Derek Edwards

Derek is a Camarthenshire exile whose Elenydd connections started with a wartime school trip to Rhandirmwyn. Solo cycle excursions followed, along unsurfaced tracks and across unbridged rivers. He spent the summer of 1954 wardening Blaencaron youth hostel and exploring the surrounding wilderness, then unforested, on foot and cycle.

Now principally a walker, Derek considers the view of the river Doethie from the Nantllwyd track to represent one of those truly unforgettable moments in life. His ambition is to see Dolgoch and Ty'n Cornel remain open for future generations and, with ten grandchildren of his own, he is a very committed trustee!

Steve Griffith

The magic of the Elenydd captured Steve over 30 years ago when he stayed at Ty'n Cornel on an early cycle tour, and he explored the area further when he was a student at Aberystwyth. He is chairman of the Rough Stuff Fellowship and has ridden, dragged, pushed and carried his bike around most parts of mid-Wales. He says "I never go for a walk without my bike." His favouite routes are the Doethie, the upper Tywi with its numerous unbridged crossings, and the ancient road over Carn Ricet.

Steve has been a volunteer warden for the past 15 years and is vice chairperson of the Trust. He has worked in various managerial roles for the Royal Mail, including that of Travelling Post Manager in the latter days of the mail trains.

Arthur Osbourne

Arthur retired from the Lucas engineering company in 1997 after working in instrumentation and metrology for nearly 40 years, but retirement has seen him busier than ever. In addition to his work for the Elenydd Trust, he is also a trustee of Shrewsbury Mountaineering Club, does canal restoration, is a scout leader, runs an annual camp for disabled people in Surrey, is a volunteer warden for the YHA, and helps run Much Wenlock church choir.

Arthur has sorted out many of the practical problems at Dolgoch, including the unusual water and lighting systems.

Janet + Richard Hollins

Janet and Richard have been visiting the Elenydd hostels since the mid 1980s and have served as volunteer wardens at Ty'n Cornel since 1992. They originally met through the Worcester YHA group, which they now take on regular working parties to the hostels. Janet is acting secretary of the Trust and Richard is the manager of Ty'n Cornel.

Janet is a librarian whose first job was in the college library at Lampeter. Richard is a research physicist who grew up on a farm and thus appreciates the contact with the working countryside that he gets through the hostels. Both are keen walkers and are particularly fond of the Doethie valley near Ty'n Cornel.

Pearl Chalk

After a career in the medical laboratory services, Pearl and her husband moved to West Wales to farm in the 1970's. The Cambrian Mountains soon became a favourite walking area, especially the Doethie Valley near Ty'n Cornel.

Her YHA involvement began with a cycle tour of the Isle of Wight when she was 15, but she only became active again in recent years, becoming a volunteer warden when the Elenydd Hostels were upgraded around 2001. She is the Trust's grant applicant/fundraiser and is very concerned with developing our local community links.