INVITATION

THE SABRINA CLUB

You are cordially invited to a lecture. “Everest needs you, Mr Irvine” by Julie Summers, prolific author, broadcaster and Andrew Irvine’s great-niece on

Saturday 11th October 2014 at 6.30pm at the Yale Boathouse, Shrewsbury School.

A light buffet supper will be served in the Bowring Room in the Pugh Boathouse after the lecture.

To book Contact Miriam Walton – [email protected] or on 01743 280 892 Ticket price £17.50 (including supper), £10 (lecture only). Cheques should be made out to ‘The Salopian Club’ and sent to Miriam Walton, The Salopian Club, The Schools, Shrewsbury SY3 7BA. For payment over the phone, please use the above number.

Attendance will be limited to a maximum of 100 and early application is recommended.

Parking. A very limited number of spaces, for the disabled and elderly, will be reserved at the boathouse itself. Parking on the south side of Kingsland Bridge is free after 6pm and there will be more space in the School grounds, with access to the boathouse via the path from the Chapel. Mallory Irvine - History

The disappearance of George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine close to the summit of in June 1924 is without doubt the most compelling and the greatest unsolved mystery of all time. On June 8th in that year, they set out for the summit of the highest mountain on earth, wearing gabardine jackets and hobnail boots, tied together by a thin rope and equipped with primitive and unreliable oxygen cylinders.

A fellow climber, Noel Odell, caught a glimpse of them as they crossed a patch of snow just 800 feet from the summit, “going strong for the top”, but clouds rolled in to obscure his view and they were never seen alive again. What happened to these two men has never been resolved. Were they, more than ninety years ago, the first to stand on the summit of Mount Everest or were they forced to turn back before they reached it? The discovery of Mallory’s body in 1999 stirred further speculation but answered few questions.

George Mallory was, without doubt, the finest technical climber of his generation – and widely recognised as such. There were also other experienced mountaineers in the 1922 team - Somervell, Norton, Odell to name but three; so why was Andrew Irvine, fourteen years younger than the average age of the party, and sixteen younger than Mallory, chosen by him as his partner on the most challenging climb of his life?

One of the reasons almost certainly lay in Andrew’s school and university careers as an oarsman. Having arrived at Shrewsbury in 1916, he soon demonstrated his ability in a boat. He was a member of the crew which won the Elsenham Cup at the Henley Peace Regatta in 1919; two years later he rowed in the Shrewsbury eight which became only the second school crew ever to break the course’s iconic 7 minute barrier. He left Shrewsbury in 1921 as Captain of Boats and Head of House of Severn Hill. Sandy Irvine was already a man both of strong character and strong physique and it was no surprise when he was awarded his Oxford Blue in 1923, rowing 3 in a boat which won by ¾ length.

Irvine was given two term’s leave of absence from Merton College, Oxford for the Everest trip. The College, like his parents, would have seen it as an honour for him to represent his country – and a great opportunity. This may have outweighed other concerns about his participation, but there is no doubt that he was warmly welcomed by his more mature and experienced colleagues. Somervell wrote : “Neither bumptious by virtue of his ‘Blue’, nor squashed by the age of the rest of us. Mild, but strong, full of common sense, good at gadgets....Thoroughly a man of the world, but with high ideals.”

Our speaker, Julie Summers, is a prolific author and broadcaster – and current chairman of the Mountain Heritage Trust. She is also Andrew Irvine’s great-niece. She therefore brings to the subject of her talk a unique insight into her central character, as well as a profound knowledge of the mountain itself. Superbly illustrated with historic pictures taken at the time, her lecture has been much admired by Sir Chris Bonington and many others. We are indeed fortunate to have such a distinguished contributor to our first Sabrina Lecture. Martin Slocock

President, Sabrina Rod Spiby Email: [email protected]