Friday 4 September 2026 was a special and memorable day in the John Parry Hide on the Glaslyn Osprey site, as renowned Welsh naturalist and broadcaster Iolo Williams unveiled a granite memorial to Ted Breeze Jones, teacher, birder, photographer and popular author.
Ted was, first and foremost, a primary teacher at Ysgol Bechgyn, Maenofferen and then Ysgol Manod, Blaenau Ffestiniog. Through his teaching and his remarkable contribution to Welsh-language natural history, he inspired generations of people to take an interest in the wildlife around them.
His great passion was photography, and his images of the natural world appeared in publications including Cymru’r Plant, Birds Monthly Illustrated and the Country Times. He became a popular lecturer, travelling throughout Wales with slide shows featuring some of the country’s rarer birds, including the chough. He was also a regular broadcaster on the popular Welsh radio programme Seiat Byd Natur, alongside his friend, T. G. Walker.
Ted’s friendship with the celebrated artist Charles Tunnicliffe was another notable part of his life. Through his work with Tunnicliffe, Ted would photograph the artist’s paintings before they were sold.
Between 1966 and 1997, Ted published around 30 illustrated books and contributed countless articles to magazines and publications. His contribution to Welsh ornithology was particularly significant. In 1974, working with Peter Hope Jones, he published the Welsh names of all the birds — an important contribution to the development and use of Welsh-language bird terminology.
Ted died in 1997, but his influence continued. His passion for birds and his desire to enjoy and share that interest through the Welsh language inspired a group of like-minded friends to establish Cymdeithas Ted Breeze Jones.
When the Society ceased its activities in 2025, its remaining funds were donated to Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife. The Charity and Society worked together to create a lasting memorial to Ted. The granite memorial stands on the banks of the Afon Glaslyn, facing Cnicht, Moelwyn Mawr and Moelwyn Bach, the landscape and natural surroundings that Ted cherished.
The unveiling by Iolo Williams was attended by former members of Cymdeithas Ted Breeze Jones, including people who shared Ted’s enthusiasm for birds and wildlife and some of Ted’s former school pupils, making the occasion particularly meaningful.
The memorial is a fitting and permanent tribute to a man who inspired generations to appreciate the natural world around us. His legacy lives on in the birds we watch, the countryside we value, the Welsh names we use for our birds and in the people he inspired.
