Category: Classic Journal Articles

Joe Fisher spotted an article on the Welsh 3s https://www.ukhillwalking.com/articles/destinations/how_to_do_the_welsh_3000s_challenge-12857 and posted the following question on FaceBook: From reading this article I had no idea that it was a group from the Rucksack Club, lead by Eustace Thomas, who completed the first “Welsh 3000’s” challenge! Is this correct? Does anyone have anymore information on this? I promised to trawl the relevant Journals for the period and found that Mr Thomas was pretty busy with extraordinary feats of long-distance walking around then, along with others in The Rucksack Club. Here are some extracts from the Climbs and Excursions section of the 1919 and 1920 Journals: Long Walks of Eustace Thomas and others from 1919 and 1920 Rucksack Club Journal The first recorded 24-hour traverse of the Welsh 3s barely warrants a footnote: Other ‘excursions’ around that time included (the first?) Derwent Watershed (37.5 miles in 11:39hrs); Colne to Doveholes (51 miles in 17:57hrs ‘including wait for meals at various pubs of about 2 hours!’) and a Lakeland ‘Fell record – peak-bagging course’ of around 60 miles and 23,500 ft in 22:07hrs which doesn’t sound a lot less ground that the BGR, not to mention ‘a Proper Night Walk’ which involved the[…]

On 15th June 1912, the Rucksack Club opened the first club hut in Great Britain in Cwm Eigiau below Craig-yr-Ysfa in theCarneddau. 28 year old Stanley Jeffcoat was the prime mover in its acquisition who, with a small group of mostly younger members, had been looking for suitable premises. They were put in touch with a local tenant farmer who was in a position to sub-let the cottage in March 1912. There is more information on the influential Jeffcoat in the last Classic Article A Bivouac at Thirteen Thousand Feet [RCJ 1912] which can also be found in ‘Classic Journal Articles’. On this occasion two articles are attached: The first is simply called The Rucksack Club Hut authored by T. Wyldbore, which appeared in the 1913 RCJ. It provides a fascinating insight into the hut and its first ‘working meet’…how easy it is for us today! The second and much more recent article Cwm Eigiau Centenary by Roger Booth, appeared in the 100th RCJ issue in 2011. This provides a detailed and fascinating insight into this unique hut and its place in UK mountaineering history, even though it was only leased for 8 years as security issues became a significant problem. 

The next offering for the Classic RCJ article appeared in the 1912 Journal entitled “A Bivouac at Thirteen Thousand Feet”. Another understated article, it is a delight to read…candles rather than head torches, no alarm clocks and step cutting, are some of the impediments to climbing not normally suffered by the modern alpinist! The description of the pleasures of an unplanned bivi will, however, ring true to many. Its author, Stanley Jeffcoat [above], was a rising star in the Rucksack Club. He was elected to the Club in November 1908 at the age of 24 and was already an experienced climber in the UK and Switzerland. He rapidly developed his skills in the Peak, Wales and the Lakes climbing with the likes of Herford and Laycock. Three first ascents in the Peak stand out: Jeffcoat’s Chimney [VDiff] and Jeffcoat’s Buttress [HS 5a] at the Roaches [both climbed in 1913] and Scoop Face [HVS 5a] at Castle Naze [1914]…the picture below shows Jeffcoat soloing Scoop Face barefoot! Scoop Face remains a Peak District classic and is a Top 50 route in the Western Grit Rockfax Guide. A year after becoming a Club member he was on the Committee and delegated to[…]

This Classic RC Journal article appeared in the anthology published by the Rucksack Club in 1987. The Preface of the anthology notes that Dust accomplishes two things: he provides a memorable account of a long day out in the company of a group of prodigious fell walkers and that he adopted a particular style, ‘depreciatory praise’. Reading the article reminds me of Club walks involving present day Pickstone and Corbett personalities…the last time being on the night crossing of Bleaklow on this year’s M-E double!  So, enjoy A True Account of a Moorland Walk by clicking here. 

In 1987 the Rucksack Club published an Anthology compiled from articles published in the Rucksack Club Journal over the years. The Preface notes that the first edition of the Rucksack Club Journal was published in 1907 and that “it was a handsome affair bound in a now familiar dark green cover. It was hoped to ‘blazon forth’ to a waiting world ‘the deeds heroic of the Rucksack Club’.” This article, written by George Milner entitled With Rucksack Men to Beckfoot, Easter 1906, was published in the first edition of the Rucksack Club Journal in 1907 [he was 76 at the time of writing]. Please click here to read the full article…savour it as it takes you back to a completely different, as well as style of writing.  Mike Dent, one of the Club Archivist’s, has kindly sent the following information [and photograph] about George Milner… George Milner was a distinguished member of the Club in its early days. At the first full meeting of the recently elected Committee on November 10th 1902, 16 men were elected on the basis of their written applications, including George Milner, aged 72. At the next meeting on November 19th, John Hobbins and Edwin Roberts pointed out[…]

A new venture for the Website entitled: Classic RC Journal articles The first chosen is ‘The History of Moss Ghyll Grooves’ by HM Kelly [please click on link], which appeared in the 1927 RCJ, the year after his first ascent. His list of first ascents also includes such classics as Rib and Slab [Pillar]  and Tophet Wall [Gable] and he was President of the Club for 1930/31. This article also appears in “From Kinder Scout to Kathmandu; A Rucksack Club Anthology 1907-1986” published by The Rucksack Club in 1987. It is a classic article about one of the great climbs of the Lake District. I first became aware of it when Classic Rock was first published in 1978 and, in the arrogance of youth, determined it would be a climb to do when I got older…sure enough I finally climbed it in 2018!