January eNewsletter
View from Carn Dearg Meadhonach Jan 2023. Carn Dearg and Castle ridge on left. Photo: K Daykin
Welcome to the January Newsletter. A new look for the New Year. This should be most noticable if you read your newsletter on your phone.
You should see it as one column layout, with the links being blue buttons that extend right across the screen, for easy tapping! Also no more tiny text alongside photos.
Another improvement particularly for Android users is that the linked documents are no longer pdfs, instead they are web pages and should therefore open directely, with less fuss.
Members who read the newsletter on a desktop computer should see less change but again the links will be large obvious blue buttons (hopefully no more confusing underlined text).
Tablet users, well I don’t think I have cracked it yet but would very much appreciate feedback on how it looks, screenshots welcome.
In fact feedback from anyone who doesn’t see the new effects would be most welcome.
President’s Remarks
Happy 2023 to all our readers!
We are starting the run-up to the AGM/dinner on 11th March, so now is the time to:
- get in touch with Ali Lancashire, Secretary, if you want to propose anything at the AGM (closing date 10th February)
- book onto the dinner (closing date 15th February)
- book your hotel room directly with the hotel (rates/rooms were held till 24th January)
I hope to see many familiar faces there.
Tony Moulam Legacy
I received a welcome Christmas present for the Club, in the form of a legacy of £20,000 from Tony Moulam’s estate. Tony (A J J) Moulam joined the club in 1947 (74 years a member!)
and was our President from 1969-72. He produced a number of guidebooks and was also a Custodian of Cwm Glas Mawr and Helyg.
Tony died in October 2021 and the Club had already received a gift of £210 last January in the form of funeral donations.
You can read his obituary in the Guardian and Times and his eulogy from the link below. Although there was no restriction on the legacy Tony had expressed a wish that the money
should be spent on Helyg.
Hamish Nicol Accord
Some of you may have spotted a thread on Facebook in December about the Hamish Nicol Accord with the Wayfarers’ Club, which gives CC members easy access to the excellent Robertson Lamb Hut
in Langdale in return for their members having easy access to CC huts. Following some negotiation with the Wayfarers since last summer, Rob Seymour and I ‘met’ up with them a few weeks
ago and agreed both to continue the Accord and also to reinstate the joint meet, which Stuart Hesketh has volunteered to coordinate. The revised wording of the agreement hasn’t been
finalised yet, but will appear on the website in due course.
Contacting the President
Please note that I no longer have a landline, so if you wish to phone me please use my mobile number 07 767 12 97 56. Emails about Club business should be sent to
president@climbers-club.co.uk, personal ones to hilary.lawrenson@yahoo.co.uk
Every now and then I come upon the letters that my supporters sent in when I joined the CC. They always make me chuckle, even if they do focus as much on my domestic skills as my climbing.
Hilary Lawrenson President
Hut News
Progress at The Count House. Photo: Rob Seymour
Booking on Hut Meets
The meets programme is looking pretty good for 2023 with a wide range of meets at our huts. Always book before arriving, it helps the volunteers who administer hut bookings and collect hut
fees, and gives other visitors an idea of how busy the hut is likely to be.
Rob Seymour: Chair HMSC
Hut Maintenance Meets
One thing we have lacked over the last few years are Hut Maintenance Meets to undertake small repairs and thorough cleaning of the hut.
We need members help to co-ordinate and take part in these yearly weekend meets.
The likely format for a meet will be one volunteer for each hut to coordinate the meet and others to attend. Ideally a full day’s work on Saturday with a communal meal in the evening
then Sunday for climbing or walking. There will be no hut fee charge to attendees on the working meet.
These are usually great fun and a good way to meet other members as well as giving something back to the club.
Can members please respond to express their willingness to either co-ordinate or attend a meet and state which hut they would/could lend a helping hand with.
Steve Christian: HMSC
The Following are under consideration for membership.
Members wishing to comment on any candidate are asked toMembership Secretary
Name
Home
Proposer
Seconder
James Ralph Hugo Tamlyn (Jim)
Wandsworth London
Thomas Priestley
Ian Bryant
Richard Talbot
Sedbergh
Richard Bailey
Ross Brown
Ian Hey
Llanberis
Maggie Bass
Graham Desroy
Michael Chan
London
Anthony Ball
Francisco Castillo
Sarju Mashru
Bristol
Colin Knowles
Evan Hall
Peter Coldham
Leeds
Will Smith
James Rowe
contact the membership secretary, Chris Allan.
Contact details are in the handbook or by;
Chris Allan: Membership Secretary
Meets Secretary
Alison Cairns Costa Blanca. Photo: Debbie Marsh
Meets Update
The Skye Meet is now full and taking a reserve list.
I am about to put a new meet on the calendar for a Joint Wayfarers/CC meet in their hut in Langdale (16th-18th June at RLH)
to celebrate the Hamish Nicol accord.
Do check the calendar and book early for meets, so as not to be disappointed.
Upcoming Meets Include:
During the next three months we have:
- Riasg Winter Meet (24th February to the 3rd of March) this meet is nearly full.
- Morocco Meet (25th February to March 5th) there were 25 members on this meet, but Paul is happy for it to go higher.
- Aspirants Meet in the Peak (31st March to 2nd April) if you would like to help, by offering to climb with an aspirant please contact me.
- New Members Meet (14th to 16th April) at the Downes Hut. This is not an aspirants meet. It is for new members who have joined in the last 5 years to have the opportunity to meet.
However, any other members are very welcome to join the meet. - TheLundy Meet is currently full. We will have 24 people camping and it should be a brilliant week. To join a reserve list let Val Hennelly know.
Debbie Marsh Meets Secretary
Publications Sub-Committee
Pocket size Cloggy and Lliwedd still available (while stocks last)
Forthcoming North Wales Guidebooks
The PSC is pleased to announce we have authors for new editions of two of our North Wales definitive guides;
- Calum Muskett will be tackling a guide which will cover Llanberis crags along with Lliwedd and Clogwyn Du’r Arddu.
- Steve Long is going to revisit his much loved Tremadog guide to modernise it and to include Cwm Silyn and crags south of Snowdon.
Thanks to both of those gentlemen for taking on the tasks. Consequently there is a call out for good actions shots from Calum and Pete,and I am sure once the summer
comes there will be opportunities for checking, posing and otherwise contributing.
Both these guides will be produced using the facilities of our new datastore. Training on that is in the pipeline – courtesy of Roger Everitt who is providing his SMC experience for
our benefit.
Val Hennelly: Chair of PSC
AGM 11th March 2023
The committee are pleased to confirm that we will be holding an annual dinner and AGM on Saturday 11th March 2023. In addition to the in person AGM we hope to offer
a virtual link via Zoom.
The Annual General Meeting will be held at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal at 4pm on Saturday 11th March 2023
Motions
Anyone wishing to submit a motion for the AGM should do so by 10th February 2023 Motions need a proposer and seconder.
Please send any proposals for motions to Hon. Secretary, Alison Lancashire
either by email or by post to: 38 Westbrook Drive, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 3PQ.
If anyone wishes to raise a topic that is not a motion, likewise please send this to Alison beforehand.
AGM Papers
The papers will be available electronically to all members on the website on 24th February 2023
Zoom
Information for members who wish to join the AGM via Zoom will be available nearer the date of the meeting.
Alison Lancashire, Hon. Secretary
Come and explore one of the Lake District’s lesser known areas, the beautiful and unspoilt Duddon Valley. A wealth of quality climbing can be found within the valley,
Duddon Valley Meet
as showcased in the latest guidebook ‘Duddon and Wrynose’. Also accessible are neighbouring areas such as Eskdale, Wrynose and Dow Crag.
We have booked the Rucksack Club Hut at High Moss for our exclusive use over the weekend – well appointed and superbly located, within walking distance not only of the popular
Wallowbarrow crag but also the superb local pub, the Newfield Inn at Seathwaite.
Book early to secure your place in the hut – only 24 places available!
Don’t worry if you don’t have a climbing partner – just let me know and I’ll attempt to team people up. I will also co-ordinate a communal meal on the Saturday night.
Monday 8th is a bank holiday for the Coronation – we haven’t booked the hut for the Sunday night but if people want to stay on
then book as Kindred Club Member. For more details visit website below:
Alison Cairns: Meet Co-ordinator
Members’ Activities
Helen Allan
French Ban Sport Climbing
Slightly hysterical headline but read on! The FRCC have cancelled their Easter Meet to La Clape in the South of France because the local mayor has
banned all climbing in the La Clape Massif until further notice. This ban is part of a wider trend of bans on sport climbing spreading through France. It appears that the French national
climbing body FFME used to assume responsibility (maintaineance contract) for any crags equipped according to their guidelines and had insurance to back this up.
However, following an accident where their insurerers had to pay out 1.6 million euros the FFME have withdrawn their guarantee and have stated that local authorities should take on the
role. In response some landowners and local authorities all over France are banning climbing and in some cases threatening to remove the bolts.
Book Review:Tom patey: One Man’s Legacy. Mike Dixon
Published by Scottish Mountaineering Press 2022.
The Scottish Mountaineering Press says: One Man’s Legacy chronicles the brief but brilliant life of Dr Tom Patey: bard, musician, and one of Scotland’s foremost climbers and mountaineers.
His story is one of pioneering ascents and boundless enthusiasm, and his spontaneity, carefree approach and ability to burn the candle at both ends remain legendary.
The narrative is brought to life by unseen images from renowned photographer John Cleare and the Patey Family Archive, Supported by first-hand insights from leading climbers
of the last century, including Sir Chris Bonington, Joe Brown and Paul Nunn, One Man’s Legacy celebrates a complex, larger-than-life character who rightly deserves his place in mountaineering history.
The winner is: Agustin Guardiola A copy of Mont Blanc Lines is on its way to him.
Quiz: Win a copy of Tom Patey
Last Month’s Quiz
That’s all until next month! Ken Daykin Communications Officer. January 2023