The Rucksack Club

Classic RCJ Article: Eustace Thomas, Manchester Mountaineer by Steve Dean [2002]

  Eustace Thomas was a member who had a significant impact on many aspects of mountaineering and the Rucksack Club, joining in 1909. He was an engineer, long-distance athlete (‘inventing’ the Derwent Watershed) and mountaineer (the first Briton to complete the Alpine 4000m peaks in 1932). In the 1930s he was actively involved in the formation of mountain rescue services, designing and manufacturing a stretcher for carrying the injured, aptly named ‘The Thomas Stretcher’, which was the forerunner of modern rescue stretchers. He was very active within the Club and was President in 1924/25; engineering and the Club were considered his two main loves. This classic article from 2002, Eustace Thomas: Manchester Mountaineer, gives an insight into the man himself as well as documenting his many notable achievements.

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Eustace Thomas and The Welsh 3,000s and more

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[…]

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Classic RCJ Article: The Conventions of Mountaineering, by JH Doughty [1925]

Harry Doughty joined the Club in 1920 (at the age of 31). As well as a Journal Editor [of some repute], he was President of the Club in 1934-35. He was a good rock-climber and was usually in the company of his great friend, HM Kelly. He was a popular, and much sought after, after-dinner speaker…indeed, The Conventions of Mountaineering was first ‘read’ before the Club in 1924 and then appeared in the 1925 Journal [not one for which he was responsible], which had the photograph of the Grandes Jorasses by Eustace Thomas on its cover [below]. At around the time Doughty wrote this article, someone had made a plea that nailed boots should not be used on certain climbs. The somewhat contrary edict was put forth that the nailed boot should be the standard wear and that rubbers should be used only by experts on climbs of great severity. Doughty was strongly opposed to this. Far from leaving rubbers to the experts, he was known to allow a beginner to climb in them on his first day out, to help him acquire movement in balance at an early stage, provided he had begun the day with a climb or two[…]

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Classic RCJ Article: The Crossing of Greenland, by Ted Courtenay [1982]

The next article to be Posted in this series of ‘Classic RCJ Articles’ was written by Ted Courtenay after a successful crossing of Greenland by the team he led. I am very grateful to John Beatty [a member of that team] for his short afterword, that follows, and also the stunning colour images he took on the expedition, which I have added below. For more of John’s incredible photographs, please visit: johnbeatty.co.uk. Ice cap sunrise Afterword Thirty eight years ago is half a lifetime behind me now, and I still think about sledging those four hundred miles across Greenland nearly every day. Forty-four days of struggle out on the ice, gifted innumerable insights that have served me well  physically and emotionally throughout life. But it granted me one other unexpected gift, that of experiencing deepest respect, camaraderie and a lifetime of friendship with my companions on the ice; Rob Ferguson, Robin Illingworth, Ian Campbell, Stan Woolly and especially Ted Courtenay, whose love of the Arctic and whose wisdom and grace through the hardships, helped us all to stay strong. John Beatty – June 2020 100 miles in from the east coast A typical ice cap camp The team on the[…]

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Classic RCJ article: Trespassers will be Prosecuted, by C.H. Pickstone [1922]

 The Classic Article“Trespassers will be prosecuted” was published in the 1922 RCJ. The author, Charles Pickstone, was a solicitor and one of the original members of the Club. He was President 1914-1916 and was also very influential in writing the first “Rules of the Club”. Club member Jean Walker, who is also a solicitor, has kindly provided the following introduction: Are we any freer to roam today than we were in 1922? Are we still likely to be “prosecuted” if we trespass on private land? Firstly, nothing has changed so far as notices are concerned. The absence of a notice indicating private land does not mean we have a right to go onto that land. Equally the notice that says “trespassers will be prosecuted” remains misleading. Prosecutions relate to the process of bringing criminal offences before the court. What those posting the notices really mean is that if we trespass they will start civil proceedings for compensation for any damage we do. Landowners and their gamekeepers can remove us from private land using only reasonable force, if we refuse to leave when requested. They do however risk a prosecution themselves for assault if that force was not reasonable so, as before,[…]

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Classic RCJ Articles…two articles on the first Club hut [Cwm Eigiau] from 1913 and 2001

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. 

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The Rucksack Club

Classic RCJ article: A Bivouac at Thirteen Thousand Feet, by Stanley Jeffcoat [1912]

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[…]

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The Rucksack Club

Classic RC Journal article: “A True Account of a Moorland Walk” by F.A. Dust [1908]

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. 

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Classic RC Journal article: “With Rucksack Men to Beckfoot, Easter 1906” by George Milner

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[…]

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Classic RC Journal article: HM Kelly [1927] on the first ascent of Moss Ghyll Grooves

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! 

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