A Sea King from RAF Valley flew Mr Griffith to hospital

A prominent countryside campaigner and environmentalist died at the weekend while walking in Snowdonia.

Michael Griffith, 75, collapsed with a suspected heart attack while leading a group near Beddgelert. He was a former president of the Council for the Protection of Rural Wales and a descendent of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last prince of an independent Wales.

Mr Griffith farmed at Trefnant, Denbighshire, but was involved in many public bodies, including the Countryside Council for Wales, the National Trust in Wales and various NHS bodies. He championed environmental farming and was an amateur national hunt jockey and keen hillwalker, having summited most of Snowdonia’s peaks.

He was with a group from the Butterfly Conservation Society when he collapsed. A doctor with the group tried to revive him and he was airlifted to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor by an RAF Sea King, but was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Peter Ogden, director of the CPRW, said: “I and everyone in CPRW are stunned and feel a great sense of loss at the tragic news of the passing of Michael Griffith, our former president.

“In his many years as CPRW’s president, and through his actions as a progressive farmer in the Vale of Clwyd, Michael was in every sense a great ambassador for the landscapes and heritage of Wales.

“All those in CPRW will be saddened by his passing, but remain ever thankful for the contribution he made to our work, the vision and sense of care that he had and was able to instil in others for stewardship of the Welsh countryside he so dearly cared for.”

Mr Griffith leaves his wife Jill and a surviving son Anthony.