About Us

Bach Ventures was a vision of ours some ten years ago, in 1998 it became reality as we (Gordon & Karen Neil and three children) moved to North Wales from London.

From experiencing the joys of the outdoors through family holidays and work, our aim was to provide this to others through offering a range of self catering holiday accommodation and outdoor activities.

On numerous climbing trips in the Peak District we’d stayed in Camping Barns. So we thought we’d introduce the idea to Northern Snowdonia. From a very basic start we have continued to improve the facilities to what you see today.

 

Gordon Neil

Having had a love of walking and climbing from his teen years Gordon gained his Mountain Leader (Summer) Award in 1996 while working for the Surrey Youth Service in Epsom running a Duke of Edinburgh Open Award Centre. Gordon is still involved today with the DofE and is a Bronze, Silver & Gold Expedition Assessor.

Following the move to North Wales with it’s wide variety of climbing it wasn’t long until Gordon rekindled his love of the sport. Gordon qualified as a climbing instructor gaining the Single Pitch Award and is working towards the Mountain Instructor Award (MIA).

Not content Gordon then discovered the joy of kayaking and canoeing and spends as much time out either running rivers or sea kayaking around the shores of Anglesey or the Llyn Peninsula.

This interest has seen him exploring the Scottish Slate Isles, the Isle of Skye and the North Eastern coast of Scotland. His furthest trip however has taken him across the world to Stewart Island, New Zealand where he and a friend circumnavigated the island for charity.

He is a British Canoe Union (BCU) Level III Sea and Inland Kayak coach.

Gordon has also found the joy of travelling and has successfully lead a number of school expeditions abroad for a local expedition company. Travelling to South America (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia), Asia (Borneo, Vietnam) and Africa (Morocco).

 

Karen Neil

A qualified nurse Karen has worked in most aspects of health care both hospital and community.

Karen will usually be your first point of contact with us, dealing with the majority of bookings / enquiries and deals with the day to day running of the business.

Karen joined me recently to discover the joys of travelling, our first visit to Morocco was very enjoyable and won’t be our last.

 

Instructors

All our instructors are selected due to their professionalism, enthusiasm for the outdoors and the ability they have to take you into their special environments and allow you to experience the magic yourself.

They all hold as a minimum the relative National Governing Body award for their specific sport * (the majority holding higher awards), an up to date First Aid certificate and have all been through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) disclosure procedure.

*
Hillwalking, trekking – MLTUK – Summer Mountain Leader Award
Rock climbing & Abseiling – MLTUK – Single Pitch Award
Canoeing & Kayaking – BCU Level II Coach

 Giles Hartley – has been working with us since 2005 when he returned from his travels to New Zealand.

He is passionate about the outdoors and works freelance for a number of providers up here in North Wales.

Giles is a real alrounder: swayying from mountain biking through rock climbing to paddle sports. He recently completed the Great North run with only two practice runs, in a time just under 2 hours!

His main love however is kayaking and especially sea kayaking. Gordon and Giles still rave about their circumnavigation of Stewart Island New Zealand.

Dan Bright – having completed an Outdoor Education course with John Moores University at Liverpool he initially worked abroad in the US and France. On returning to the UK, Dan settled in North Wales and worked with Gordon at a local LEA centre.

Dan’s easy going outlook endears him to both his group and their leaders.

Personally, Dan loves to boat. Although having travelled extensively and paddled numerous white water rivers abroad he is never as happy than when putting his skills to use on some of our great rivers up here.

 

Simon Verspeak – a student of Bangor University, he has always enthused about the outdoors. Simon is a deadicated focused professional who is continually striving to enhance his skills.

Holding the Winter Mountain Leader and Mountain Instructor Award he is currently working his way towards the Mountain Instructor Certificate (highest Mountaineering award in the UK).

Simon spends most of his winters either in the Alps or battling the elements in the Scottish Mountains.

Instructor training