THETHE FELLFELL AND AND ROCK ROCK JOURNALJOURNAL EditedEdited by by Doug Doug Elliott Elliott and and John John Holden Holden XXVII()XXVII(3) No.No. 8080 Published by THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB OF THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT 2006 CONTENTS Editorial Elliott & Holden ........ 601 The Second Half John Wilkinson .......... 603 The Club Huts Maureen Linton ......... 638 A History of Lake District Climbing Al Phizacklea ............ 641 Nimrod - 40 Years On Dave Miller ............... 657 Helvellyn to Himalaya Alan Hinkes ............... 662 Joining the Club 50 Years Ago Hilary Moffat ............ 667 Lakeland Weekends Dick Pool ................... 670 Arthur Dolphin John Cook .................. 672 Mallory's Route or North-West by West Stephen Reid ............. 678 Lake District Classic Rock Challenge Nick Wharton ............ 688 A Lakeland Nasty Leslie Shore ............... 693 Panoramic Photographs Paul Exley between 700/701 Mountain Memorials Doug Elliott ............... 700 Slingsby's Pinnacle Peter Fleming ............ 706 A Kentmere Round Al Churcher ............... 708 The Brothers Oliver Geere .............. 712 Assumption Bill Roberts ............... 717 Confessions of a Lapsed Peak Bagger Dan Hamer ............... 719 600 The Mystery of the Missing Napes Needle Stephen Reid ............. 725 About a Valley Bill Comstive ............. 729 How to get Certified Nick Hinchcliffe ....... 734 Ordeal by Fire or A Crag Reborn John Cook ................. 739 Raven Seek Thy Brother David Craig ............. 742 Suitable for a Gentleman Dave Gregory .......... 748 BMC Lakes Youth Meets Ron Kenyon ............ 752 Members Illustrations .................................................................... 757 A Hundred Years' Miscellany George Watkins ........ 766 The Electronic Early Journals Roderick Smith ....... 834 Bicentenary Supplement George Watkins ........ 841 A History of Lake District Climbing Guidebooks Stephen Reid ........... 852 Climbs Old & New John Holden .............895 In Memoriam ................................................................................. 918 Book Reviews ................................................................................. 940 Club's Officers & Meets ..................................................................... 953 EDITORIAL Issue of this `bumper' Centenary Journal comes at the end of our term as Joint Editors. After years of amicable teamwork disagreement surfaced in the tenth year of our collaboration, but gratifyingly this was due to the pressures of sifting and selecting through an abundance of articles. From the magnificent response of Club members the product of our labours is pre-eminent from a quantity viewpoint, and with hard covers and other production `trimmings' it can be claimed as prominent in appearance. More importantly we trust that the quality of the contents will be recognized. As Editors we have generally kept faith with aims of limiting subjects within a Lake District theme and of assembling records on Club history and activities. Particular thanks are due to those targeted as contributors for identi- fied subjects. Initially Members are brought up to date by John Wilkinson's chronicles of events succeeding The First Fifty Years in the 1956 Journal. Un- fortunately there is space for only a brief resume on the history of Club huts, but the results of Maureen Linton's comprehensive research will be made avail- able elsewhere. An informed update on the climbing scene, continuing on from a series of articles in the 100 Years of Rock Climbing Journal of 1986, is pre- sented by prolific pioneer of new routes, writer of guidebooks and illustrious illustrator Al Phizacklea; and from Guidebooks Editor Stephen Reid there is a knowledgeable and detailed account of Lakeland guidebooks. It was during discussions on the Club's centenary when desires surfaced for a separate anthology from past Journals. In the absence of action George Watkins was commissioned to produce a Miscellany, to include within the Centenary Journal, and his thoughtful assortment is clearly a labour of love. Again limits on space led to some pruning, but aspirations may be appeased via an electronic version of early Journals outlined in the commentary by Roderick Smith. Though prestige for the Club was enhanced as a result of Alan Hinkes becoming the first Briton to summit all fourteen 8,000 metre peaks in the Hima- laya, his feat presented a dilemma for Editors adopting a Lake District theme. A title of `Keswick to Kangchenjunga' was suggested, leading to the article `Helvellyn to Himalaya'. At lower levels of elevation, but not necessarily lesser elation, other members have tales to tell, recollections to reflect and views to voice. Together with major Centenary articles there are numerous and notable contributions on places, people and performances exhibiting pleas- ure, passion and perhaps poignancy. As always our Journal is the work of FRCC members, and once again quality writings have relaxed the role of Editors. We are grateful to all contributors over the period of our Joint Editor stint. 601 602 EDITORIAL We wish our successors well, and we are sure they will appreciate a truism whereby most people going onto the crags and fells also read about them. We have previously noted how very few activities spawn such a huge volume of literature as do climbing and mountaineering, and in the FRCC we have writers as well as readers. They recognise the Journal as an asset to underpin the Club, and we trust this will not change. The first Editor of the FRCC Journal, Edward Scantlebury, forecast the Club: "will last as long as there are hills in the Lake District". In the half- centenary Journal a prediction by Frank Simpson was that after another fifty years the Club's history would be brought up to date: "printed in a Journal with a bright red cover". To continue the tradition of predicting the inevitable, we have no doubt that the Journal celebrating one hundred and fifty years of our Club (and some current members will be around to see it!) will contain novel sentiments, fresh insights and be in red covers. Long may the Club and the Journal flourish. For this Centenary Journal the various writers of articles, photogra- phers and others are acknowledged alongside their contributions. We appreci- ate all their support, together with recognition of Jill Aldersley for her fine painting of Napes Needle, and of Al Phizacklea for his action on the Wasdale Roof depicted on front and back of the dust wrapper. Doug Elliott John Holden THE SECOND HALF John Wilkinson "not so much a Club as a way of life " Frank Simpson. Fell and Rock Journal 1956. In order to meet the editorial deadline, Frank Simpson, in his splendid account of the first 50 years of the Club's history was obliged to end it a year short of the half century. It is therefore, from this point, 1955, that the present account begins, although for the sake of continuity there are a few overlaps with the previous period. As in Frank's article, it is not possible to separate the growth of the Club from the personalities of its leading figures over the years, and I must apologise in advance for any omissions on this score and for events that have gone unrecorded in this article due to lack of space. Unless stated other- wise, all names mentioned are those of Club members. However, unlike Frank's account which covered mainly the constitutional and family history of the Club in chronological order, the Club's history in the second half century is so diverse that it is perhaps best described in several sections dealing with the many and varied aspects of Club life, although within each section events are described, where possible, in chronological order. The Huts The first 50 years of the Club marked a period of expansion unique in British climbing club history. Not only did the membership increase to a level that made the Club the largest climbing club in Britain, but also over a period of just 16 years, the Club acquired huts in four Lakeland valleys. Donations and interest free loans from members largely financed the acquisition of these prop- erties, but there is no doubt that the Club was financially stretched. So when the Club had the possibility of purchasing further huts, the Gospel Hall in Coniston at the end of 1953 and another in Patterdale in 1959, the Club Treas- urer Dick Plint, called a halt. The Club had to enter a phase of consolidation with the paying off of debts: no more huts for the time being! During that long hot dry summer of 1955, Club members having paid the annual subscription of 1 guinea (f 1.05p) and an entrance fee of 10/-(50p), heading for the Lakes, filled up their cars with petrol at 4/4d. a gallon (4.9p. per litre); they might arrive at Raw Head 3/- (15p) per night, pausing perhaps to admire the hut warden's brand new Jaguar Mark I, 2.4 litre. with overdrive (£1,444-17-00) parked outside before going up the valley to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel for a pint 1/3d ( 6.3p.). 603 604 SECOND HALF Since the conversion of the Barn in 1950, Raw Head had become by far the most popular hut, and by the end of the decade several improvements were put in hand, the most important being the installation of electricity to both the cottage and the barn. This was made possible by a legacy of £1,000 left to the Club for this purpose by Dr. Theodore Burnett (1908 - 1956) who died in 1956 aged 79, the only member to have served two terms as President. The original intention by the North West Electricity Board was to supply the huts by over- head cable but shrewd negotiation and the payment of an additional £16-10-0 over and above the £15.p.a. levied for five years resulted in supply by under- ground cable. The cottage and barn were wired by a group of Club `experts'. The kitchen in the barn was extended by demolishing the small lean-to on the gable end and building over it to provide washing and toilet facilities on the first floor.