Category: On the hill with

Our  “On the hill with…” series continues with Andy Stewart who has been a very active member over many years, quietly amassing an enviable climbing and trekking CV. He also co-ordinates the summer Wednesday evening climbing meets, arranging an eclectic mix of crags to visit each year.   How did you get into walking and climbing? One of the benefits of a private education was a climbing club, which I was desperate to join aged 14, having been a keen hill-walker for several years.  I loved climbing on gritstone outcrops such as Castle Naze, but sweating in tweed breeches and tartan wool shirt in summer seemed somewhat archaic. Tracksuit bottoms were the way forward. My first climbing holiday to Cornwall in 1979 was memorable and being the youngest I got the booby prize of a full rack of ancient steel karabiners. Undeterred and totally hooked from the outset, I saved up for a rope and aged 15 headed off to Laddow and the Pass. Where else? When I had no-one to climb with I would happily cycle up Longdendale, stash my bike in the bracken and go and solo on crags such as Rollick Stones. I learnt very quickly whilst[…]

“On the hill with…” series continues with a Club legend, John Richardson, long distance runner and walker, skier, mountaineer and latterly cyclist. He has the accolade of being the only person to be elected President of the Club on two separate occasions [the second being over the 100th Anniversary].John river crossing in Chile 1999 How did you get into walking and climbing?    I guess it was almost written in my stars: my maternal grandfather was a lifelong enthusiast for what were then known as Walking Tours. He, Entwisle, was co-founder of our Club and served as Secretary for the first nineteen years of the Club’s existence. He raised three daughters –the eldest was my mum – to love the Great Outdoors and so this love was passed down to me. After the passing of his wife, whom he had looked after devotedly through several years of dementia, he set off at the age of 82 to walk from Land’s End to John o’ Groats [RCJ 1956 pp82-84] As the years have passed I have become ever more warmed by his memory.   Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? The name that springs immediately to mind is[…]

Our “On the hill with…” series continues with Club stalwart, Mike Hartley who has many strings to his bow including…fell runner [holding the Pennine Way record of 2 days 17 hours 20 minutes and 15 seconds set in 1989], rock climber and sea kayaker.  Mike…clean aid soloing practice, Beeston Tor How did you get into walking and climbing?  I joined an outdoor activities club at Secondary School, the student teacher introduced me to rock climbing and persuaded the PE Department to buy a rope and one sling.  After he left the school my mates and I used to borrow the “equipment”. When we left we borrowed it on a more permanent basis!  This number 3 nylon rope came with us on many hitching trips to the Roaches and North Wales, proudly displayed on the top of our rucksacks as a sort of talisman.   Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? The student teacher initially and then my parents in an inverse sort of way, they didn’t encourage me to climb nor did they discourage me so I took this as a sort of signal that it was okay.  Eventually I joined Stafford Mountain Club followed by Lichfield Mountaineering[…]

 On the ‘hill’ with…this week it is the turn of active Club member Paul Taylor Or, in his own words: “A few lines from ’t’ other side ‘o’ th’ pennines…”   How did you get into walking and climbing? I started walking and climbing with family, particularly my dad Allan and younger brother Oliver. Perhaps most memorable was a family scramble along Crib Goch aged 8 years old and another epic getting slightly lost on Bodmin Moor in the mist. Later these experiences merged with Oundle School adventure training trips, where dad worked as a teacher. I climbed from a young age, frequently looking up to trees, buildings, local Leicestershire disused bridges (Twyford viaduct or Slawston bridge), any possibility… to get the best practice outdoors, whether on rock, any accessible architecture or on the freely available natural environment. Slawston bridge, Leicestershire                                   Teenage Kicks Twyford-Style; aid climbing with my brother Oliver Stanage and Froggat were a long way from home but none-the-less became the “local” crags. Holidays usually meant North Wales. Often, I climbed with my brother, and we also made regular annual Scottish trips[…]

Continuing our occasional series of “On the hill with…” interviews with Club members, it is the turn of Vice President Brian Cunningham…a life time of adventure and still ‘getting out there’.  How did you get into walking and climbing? I was born and brought up in Portrush, on the North Coast of Ireland. When I was seventeen I bought an early nylon climbing rope and, along with a mate, prowled around the coastal cliffs looking for lines. Some of the places where we did early routes now have full climbing guides – Fair Head and Ramore Head in particular. The other day I noticed a Youtube video of Alex Honnold doing a free solo ascent of one of the hardest routes on Fair Head…though not one we put up!   Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? Lionel Terray. His book ‘Conquistadors of the Useless’ triggered my lifelong love of the mountains.   How did you come to join the RC? I was a keen runner, however the thing I seemed to be best at was the seriously long stuff where keeping going is all that matters. In my fifties I spent years trying to do a[…]

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a series of short interviews with members of the Rucksack Club…this week it is the turn of Helen Pritchard…fell and long distance runner, mountaineer and new Committee member Helen on the summit of Mt Blanc How did you get into walking and climbing? My parents took me for a walk up Yew Barrow when I was four years old and apparently I cried at the end as I didn’t want to finish and go home. I’ve always felt a need to be outside so I had a misspent youth walking, particularly in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District. I always described myself as a hill walker with bits of running, climbing, cycling and swimming. I travelled and trekked abroad in my twenty’s. I had my daughter when I was thirty and didn’t have time to go walking all day but discovered that I could cover the same distance in less time if I ran! I started running with a couple of neighbours who did this odd thing called ‘fell running’. I was hooked and joined Pennine Fell Running Club. I realised quickly that I was not a fast runner but could keep going and[…]

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a series of short interviews with members of the Rucksack Club.   This week it is the turn of our long suffering Secretary, John Farrow John at the High Moss celebrations, May 2018. How did you get into walking and climbing? I was brought up in the Fens where the only hill for a hundred miles has a cathedral on it. It wasn’t until I moved to Stockport in 1965 that I knew what uphill meant.  In 1967 I signed up as a volunteer Peak Park Warden and ran into half a dozen similarly engaged Club Members, eventually graduating to higher things with them.   Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? That might well be Bill Russell who would have a go at anything.   What was your last great day out in the ‘hills’? Just been on the Skiddaw House Meet.  Really splendid day on the eponymous hill in good company.   What does the perfect ‘hill’ day consist of? There surely isn’t a formula.  The most awful conditions can be memorable, so it might be a sense of achievement as much as finding a wonderful spot in perfect weather.[…]

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a series of short interviews with members of the Rucksack Club. Netty, the current Editor of Meetstaff, has kindly agreed to be interviewed for the website. Netty on the Lune How did you get into walking and climbing? My dad had done a lot with the Scouts before having children and did try to take us walking as a family. I remember rainy days out on Kinder in new wellies and having to get 2 buses each way, which was not popular with all of the family however. There were also some forays into the hills with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme which often proved too expensive and difficult to get to without a car. At Secondary School there was a super teacher, Mr Thorpe, who would often spare a day at a weekend and take a small group of us to the Lakes which is where I had my most successful introduction to the hills   Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? Joining the Llewellyn tribe has definitely had a major influence on my outdoor activities. Cycling touring for our honeymoon began a series of biking adventures with[…]

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a series of short interviews with members of the Rucksack Club. This week is the turn of Keith Towell, our immediate Past President. President Keith at the High Moss 50th celebrations How did you get into walking and climbing? At the age of 14 I went to the YMCA Centre Lakeside on Lake Windermere on a school residential week . During that week we climbed Helvellyn and went rock climbing and gorge walking. At roughly the same time I met Keith Treacher who was running the Waterside Youth Centre, Newbury, who furthered my interest in climbing, walking and canoeing. Trips to Skye, North Wales, the Lakes and the Alps followed with Keith, who became a great friend and mentor and Keith introduced me to the Rucksack Club. Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? Keith Treacher introduced me to a whole new world of experiences and friendships which may have passed me by. What was your last great day out in the hills? Doing a remote Marilyn with Mike Gregg and John Farrow above the Sound of Sleat on the Isle of Skye in October. What does the perfect hill day[…]