The Rucksack Club

A Dip into the Club Journals – 1943 – Jonathan by C.D. Milner

This month’s journal article, another decade back, is from 1943.  The 1943 and 1944 journals were combined, and there are few articles, there was a war on … C.D. Milner’s article revitalises the spirit despite advancing years.  An accomplished mountain photographer, he was also a member of the FRCC, Wayfarers and Alpine Club, worth reading his obituary in the RC 1991 journal here. It was a hardly a difficult choice this month, the other article may well appear next year when we visit 1944! Read the article here and in the 1943-44 Journal in the archive section of the website here, amongst other things the climbing notes have a write up of the first ascent of Manx Wall on Clogwyn Du in 1942, a climb worth seeking out.

Read more
The Rucksack Club

Gordon Adshead’s Thanksgiving Service – Message from Judy Adshead

Carole Smithies writes: Further to Gordon Adshead’s Thanksgiving Service. Came back from holiday to find a note from Judy posted earlier this month, in which she says she could have never imagined so many Club members would come to say goodbye to him, he would have been amazed. She has asked me to pass on this message to you all. “Judy and Gordon’s whole family want to thank Club Members for all their cards and kind messages and especially their presence at the Service.  It means such a lot to us all.”

Read more

Last Chance for Dinner Rooms

This week is the last chance to secure a room at the Cairn Hotel, Harrogate for the Annual Dinner at the RC negotiated price. We have already sold out of twin rooms for Saturday night, and only have two ‘classic’ doubles left and half a dozen or so superior rooms.    Dinner tickets themselves will remain on sale until towards the end of October. I am currently in China so please drop me an email if you would like a room.

Read more
Indoor Climbing

Sheffield Winter Walls

For many years the club has run a successful programme of Wednesday climbing wall meets in the Manchester area, currently run by John Jefferies.   This year the club has decided to experiment with a Sheffield based Winter Walls programme in addition to the Manchester meets. Initially we will run these until Christmas, if they prove popular we will extend them, and if not we won’t. For the initial run I have organised them how I like my indoor climbing, with repeat trips to the same wall to have a second attempt on all the things I failed on the week before.  Along with a mix of route climbing and bouldering.   If they prove popular, and we extend them into spring I’ll seek feedback on what people prefer.  I have also only selected a couple of pubs for now, as there is no point choosing a pub on the west side of Sheffield, if everyone who comes lives on the east etc. and the Depot and AW both lack nice pubs in the vicinity. Date Venue Pub 27/09/2023 Depot Shakespeare, S3 8UA 04/10/2023 Depot The Crow Inn, S3 7BS 11/10/2023 Awesome Walls tbd 18/10/2023 Awesome Walls … 25/10/2023 Climbing Works ..[…]

Read more

2023-24 Indoor Meets Season

As the nights draw in, we all need something to look forward to… Good News – we’ve got a packed Indoor Meets season that is sure to entertain and enthral, as well as providing a much-needed opportunity to socialise! We’ll be sticking with the successful format of last year, with a monthly event on (typically) the second Tuesday of the month, with three of these (Oct / Dec / Jan) in-person at Heaton Moor Rugby Club (also on Zoom for those who can’t make it in person) and Nov / Feb / March shows on Zoom. Entry will be FREE for all Members and Associate Members of The Rucksack Club, with a modest charge for non-members for the October f2f event featuring a guest speaker. 10th October (In person – Heaton Moor) – Franco Cookson, Chasing The Impossible Franco Cookson is one of Britain’s most accomplished and boldest trad climbers, with a string of first ascents up to E11, and an uncompromising philosophy recently captured in the acclaimed Brit Rock film Fall Theory. Join Franco as he agonises in the quest for the perfect objective. Where is the boundary between the ideal hard route and the lunacy of the impossible?[…]

Read more

A Dip into the Club Journals – 1953 – Ted Courtenay: The Tan Hill Walk

The 1953 Journal is a celebration of the Club’s 50th Anniversary. At the time, photographs were few and far between, so all the articles are mainly prose. There is an amazing selection to choose from as shown here:I was torn between Neil Mather’s Peteret Ridge and Ted Courtenay’s Tan Hill Walk; indeed these two authors are Club legends. Ultimately, The Tan Hill Walk [click here] stood out as a celebration of an activity central to the Club over many years…long arduous walks. It records the first Tan-Cat walk, which Courtenay proposed to friends in the Club as “a hundred-mile hill walk, to take place sometime during the Jubilee year”. Neil Mather was one of the participants although he pulled out after completing over 100 miles because of severe knee pain…undeterred he returned the next year to complete it, as recorded by Brockbank, his partner, in the 1954 Journal [click here]. Finally, the whole of the 1953 Journal can be accessed here…happy reading!

Read more

THE JOURNAL

Neil Goldsmith writes: Now that the summer is drawing to a close, it’s time to put pen to paper and write up all of those adventures. In the recent editions of the Journal there have been a number of retrospectives. It would be good to fill the Journal with what is happening now. Without contributions, there is no Journal. Get writing! Neil Goldsmith. Journal Editor

Read more

A Dip into the Club Journals – 1963 – Ralph Jones, And No Birds Fly

This month’s journal article is from sixty years ago, Ralph Jones’ account of the joint AC and SMC expedition to the Pamirs in Soviet Russia (at the time).  Noted for the tragic accident and deaths of Wilford Noyce and the young Edinburgh climber Robin Smith.  What could he have achieved?  Interesting views on the mass alpine style approach of the Russians compared to the siege tactics of the UK group. It was a difficult choice this month, and a word for the other contending article, Len Stubbs’ account of a Three Peaks attempt in an unreliable car, before motorways, in poor weather and apparently fuelled by cigarettes, tea and toast! Read the Pamirs article here and others in the 1963 Journal in the archive section of the website here.

Read more

Joint RC/CC Cornwall Meet report

Joint Rucksack Club Meet with the Climbers Club at The Count House, Cornwall. July 10-16. The forecast for the week didn’t look great as we headed to Cornwall, but has this ever deterred us?! John and I arrived at the Count House to find quite a few CC members already there…the majority of the RC members arrived on Monday, with two hardy individuals arriving in pouring rain on Wednesday afternoon having cycled over a couple of days from Exeter, even managing to nab a route on Haytor [Dartmoor] and another on The Lizard on the way! Over the week, 11 CC members and 16 RC members and guests enjoyed a couple of wonderful sunny days, two more mixed days when it dried up late morning allowing good climbing conditions over the remainder of the days and two very wet and windy days…one being Friday when many decided to head home early. A highlight of the week was a communal pasty supper night, with a local supplier providing an excellent selection of meat and veggie pasties of varying sizes! Thanks to the CC for helping to sponsor this evening. A pesky little virus also visited, but the vast majority of people[…]

Read more

On The Hill With … John Patrick

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a series of short interviews with members of the Rucksack Club. This edition features our current hut warden of Craigallan, John Patrick.  How did you get into walking and climbing? Growing up in Sheffield allowed easy access to the Peak District and family walks were my first experiences amongst the hills.  Joining a local Scout group led to more adventurous exploits involving camping trips further afield to the Lake District.  The equipment available to the Scouts included not only camping gear but ropes.  This was available for loan with no questions asked and certainly no Health and Safety precautions.  Along with a group of school friends, I borrowed a rope and we invested the proceeds of Saturday jobs in other climbing gear.  We often caught the bus out of Sheffield as far west as possible then continued walking until we reached Stanage.  After A levels a group of four of us had a post exam celebration by spending a week climbing whilst living in the somewhat basic accommodation provided by Robin Hood’s Cave.  University time in Nottingham provided more opportunities with weekends in Lake District and Welsh Huts.  I became enthused about the chance[…]

Read more