« Back to timeline

Brecon Beacons National Park committee

9 May 1972

On 27 April 1972 Mary was sent a letter by David Gibson-Watt, then Minister of State for Wales, asking her ‘to serve on one of the special committees established as part of the arrangements for administering the Brecon Beacons National Park’. Mary accepted, the appointment was confirmed on 9 May 1972 and was to last for three years, expiring on 31 May 1975.

At that stage, the Park was jointly administered by the county councils of Breconshire, Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire, within whose borders the park was located, and Mary’s appointment was as a member of the Monmouthshire Park Planning Committee.

In 1974, an Act of Parliament abolished the Monmouthshire County Council (amongst others) so the administration of the national park was also changed. A new National Park Committee, consisting of 27 members drawn from the still-extant local county councils and appointments by the Secretary of State, took effect from 1 April 1974 and Mary was again asked to serve on the new committee.

When her appointment expired on 31 March 1975, she agreed to extend her service for a further three-year period, until 31 March 1978.