A hobbyist gold panner fined four years ago after the first prosecution of its kind has been hauled back to court for returning repeatedly to a river in the ‘Welsh Klondike’ to continue his hobby.
Brian Wright, 69, of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, was convicted of two charges of environmental damage to a river bank and fined again.
Wright, when quizzed by officials, had maintained ‘limited gold panning formed part of the area’s cultural heritage’.
He also claimed Forestry Commission bylaws didn’t apply to the part of the Afon Wen river, in the ‘Dolgellau gold belt’ of Snowdonia.
The area is nicknamed ‘Welsh Klondike’ in reference to the remote area of Canada famed for the gold rush of the 19th century.
Wright is one of two trustees of the Gold Rivers Trust, a registered charity set up to promote the culture of gold panning, which states it operates in a string of Welsh counties as well as Devon, Cornwall, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire.
At a hearing on Monday, Llandudno Magistrates’ Court heard accusations Wright dug up or removed soil, turf, leaf-mould, moss, peat, gravel, slag, sands or minerals in the Afon Wen, Gwynedd, in October 2024.
On December 16 the same year, he was accused of ‘wilfully disturbing’ the river bed, bank or shallow on which spawn or spawning fish may be.
Brian Wright, pictured panning for gold in the Welsh Hills, disputed bylaws and river rules
Wright denied the charges, brought by environmental organisation Natural Resources Wales, but a district judge at Llandudno court convicted him of both charges and fined him a total of £1,900. He must also pay £2,800 costs.
District judge Gwyn Jones heard there were brown and sea trout, salmon and eels in the river and Natural Resources Wales wouldn’t give permission for gold panning.
Dafydd Roberts, prosecuting, said Wright had been told ‘on many, many occasions’ that gold panning wasn’t allowed in the Afon Wen and any river controlled by Natural Resources Wales.
Mr Roberts said: ‘The real issue is the damage this type of activity does cause to the river. It can be very substantial in terms of the fragile ecosystem.’
Defence solicitor Chris Dawson said the bylaws didn’t apply to the riverbed – where he had found ‘specks’ of gold – and the charge should be dismissed.
There was also ‘no evidence’ spawn or spawning fish had been disturbed.
After the case, Wright said: ‘We are considering an appeal. The judgement is puzzling. I am waiting for advice.’
In a message to any other potential gold prospector thinking of hunting for Welsh gold in the river, he said: ‘There’s not a fortune to be made in the Afon Wen. There will be great disappointment. Don’t do it.’
Brian Wright after previous court case four years ago before Llandudno magistrates
In the earlier case, which came to court in May 2022, prosecutors claimed Wright was caught ‘red handed’ the previous August after being filmed by officials at the same river – in defiance of a sign which indicated gold-panning was prohibited.
He was carrying a jar with gold dust which he said he had collected on his trip, Llandudno magistrates heard.
Wright claimed he had simply given a ‘demonstration’ of the gold panning process to an enforcement officer.
Mr Roberts, also prosecuting in the earlier case, alleged that Wright’s attitude had been: ‘I will do what I like…they can’t touch me’. The lawyer said to him: ‘That’s your blasé attitude’.
Wright replied: ‘It’s my belief that sign is incorrect. I believe I know how the regulations should be interpreted.’
He was found guilty of three offences of digging up or removing any gravel, sands or minerals, and operating a metal detector on the land of the forestry authority.
Wright was ordered to pay £600 in fines and £2,400 costs.
Welsh gold is highly popular and has been used in royal wedding rings. The so-called ‘Dolgellau gold-belt’ is said to stretch from Cardigan Bay to near Trawsfynydd, in Snowdonia.
Wright previously called for a visitor centre in North Wales where people can learn how to pan for gold responsibly and safely, in and around rivers. Wright said he had seen people in 20 vans turning up in Mawddwy looking for gold in cracks in the bedrock.
Speaking in 2022, he said: ‘It’s a risky business so those who want to do it need some instructions about safety. You can have days and days of disappointment. You can get wet and have injuries.
‘Rocks are slippery and people need to move more slowly around them, and not poach other people’s excavations.’
Wright said the biggest piece of gold he has found is a nugget about the size of a pea, which he said he is prepared to donate to the royal family.
