Club Meets

1961/62.

There were fifteen Club Meets during the year, the average attendance was 22, this includes guests but not the After-Dinner Meet.

The 48th Annual Dinner was at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate and the Meet next day was at Burnsall. A splinter Meet took two of the Club’s guests, Chris Bonington and Don Whillans, to Brimham Rocks, where they performed amazing feats on gritstone. The Club Year started in early December with hopes of a week-end’s ski-ing based on the Mortal Man Inn at Troutbeck, but steady rain washed the snow away and soaked the party that reached the summit of High Street over Hagg Hill, the Roman Road and Ill Bell. An excellent turkey dinner, a roaring fire and rum punch revived spirits and stimu­lated hearth-side chat among the 21 Members present.

The January Meet at the Hill Inn was held in splendid weather and the attendance approached 60. Members sat in the sunshine on the fells admiring the view, the Three Peaks Walk was done and a pot­hole party got wet in Sunset Hole for the pleasure of emerging on to the sunlit moor. On the Saturday evening George Spenceley described his wanderings in Lapland and showed some superb films. Promise of snow which did not materialise caused 7 members to bring skis to Low Hall Garth in February and to search Grisedale for suitable slopes. Fourteen climbed gullies on Great End in perfect snow and ice conditions and in spring weather, including an interesting and steep 40 ft. ice pitch. On Sunday the secondary aim of the Club, “to gather and promote knowledge concerning Natural History, Archaeology, Folklore and kindred subjects”, was fulfilled by an inspection of the Roman Fort at Hardknott. Ten members went to Llanberis for the March meet and enjoyed the hospitality of the Climbers’ Club Hut in perfect weather. Everybody was on the Horse­shoe on Saturday—glorious views with the snow-capped peaks un-marred by mist or cloud. On Sunday there was climbing on Milestone Buttress and walking on the Carnedds and Moel Siabod.

The President, five out of six living Past Presidents, 39 members and guests rambled over Blubberhouses Moor and assembled for tea at the Hopper Lane Hotel on a fine Sunday in April to recall and celebrate “the first time that members met as a body away from Leeds”^[1] at the same place in 1892, seventy years ago.

A reported bothy by Loch Muick tempted 8 members and a guest to Scotland at Easter; most of them were glad they had brought camping equipment. Avalanche displays and sagging cornices dis­couraged gully routes but there was a frenzy of Munro bagging round the horseshoe of Upper Glen Muick. Exploration of Glen Collater, ski-ing on the Devil’s Elbow, ridge walks beside Glen Shee and trav­erses long and high in the Cairngorms showed how the best could be made of excellent weather but frustrating climbing conditions.

Again in celebration of the Club’s 70th year, and 66 years to the very week-end after Calvert made the first Yorkshire Ramblers’ descent of Gaping Gill by the Lateral Shaft on 9th May, 1896, the President and 17 men repeated the operation. (The first descent of all, by the Main Shaft, had been made by Martel on 1st August, 1895). Certain changes over the 66 years made everything seem somewhat easier. There were the comforts of the Lowstern Hut, though the President and a Past President were among the few who manfully trudged up to G.G, and camped in the time-honoured spot. A 750 ft. nylon lifeline went a-missing but one was borrowed thanks to the kindness of the Brad­ford Pot-Hole Club, in residence at the Flying Horseshoe. Two Land-rovers took the tackle to the pot instead of man-handling, or at best a horse and sledge to pull it across the moor. The stream was dammed, ladders and pulley blocks fixed and two men put down in record time, to be met in the Main Chamber by a party from Bar Pot.

Whitsuntide: and the Club back in strength at Killesher. The Presi­dent and 16 men again attacked Reyfad Pot and did enough sur­veying of previous years’ discoveries to prove that the work could not be completed in the short time available and that another trip would be necessary. A party went into Pollasumera but found that flooding had silted up the access to the further reaches of the system discovered by the Club in 1959^[2]. The “Long Walk” at Mid-summer was over the Seven Peaks from Dent to Cray. The route included Great Coum, Whernside, Ingleborough, Pen-y-Ghent, Fountains Fell, Great Whern­side and Buckden Pike; it covered 35 miles with feeding points at the Hill Inn, Dale Head and Kettlewell. Of the 19 members and guests who walked, 8 completed the course and most of the others reached Kettlewell. Stalwart work was done by six members who cooked and provided food, drink and, where needed, transport. The average time, including stops for meals, was 15½ hours.

The President and one member sat down to supper and a glorious sunset at the Brotherswater Hotel, Patterdale at the end of July in anticipation of a fine Saturday. Nine more people turned up later to face the wettest, coldest July day in living memory. Half way up Great Dodd the party got engulfed in cloud, driving rain and bitterly cold winds. Soaked to the skin and frozen they made their peak and beat a hasty retreat via Sticks Pass to the valley. Various crags and cliffs were “looked at” in slightly less wet conditions on Sunday, but there was really “no place like home”. Only three members and four guests took part in the Bank Holiday Meet at Low Hall Garth, it rained and a little climbing was done on Bowfell Buttress and White Gill. A Past President, the Secretary and 11 potholers had hoped to spend the August meet making a descent of Juniper Gulf, but their hopes were dashed even before they got to Settle by the volume of water they saw flowing down the hillsides. Sell Gill seemed a sporting alternative and bets were made that nobody would get more than 60 ft. down the big pitch. So 150 ft. of ladder was lowered through the stream and soon 150 ft. of lifeline had twice been lowered and several bets lost. After this the through route went merrily, just to prove that exposure suits are sufficient to raise the morale of any Club.

At the joint meet in September with the Wayfarers and Rucksack Clubs at the Robertson Lamb Hut determined efforts were made to accommodate most of the 35 Y.R.C. men in R.L.H. and Raw Head. Even so the popularity of this meet still meant an overflow into Low Hall Garth where they are believed to have feasted on steaks cooked in Burgundy before getting together at the Old Dungeon Gill with those replete from Harry Spilsbury’s traditionally excellent fare. There was again climbing on Bowfell Buttress, which was greasy, and on White Gill, where the party had an interesting time rescuing a French damsel in distress from a cliff where she could go neither up nor down. It was too wet and windy for the usual assaults on Gimmer but climbing parties went to Scout Crag and Raven and walkers walked – over the Crinkles to Wrynose and Wetherlam, and back by a Jungle Swamp route, alongside Blea Tarn; over the Stake into Lang-strathdale; up to Stickle Tarn and along the ridge to Chapel Stile.

The October meet at the Lowstern Hut was held jointly with the male section of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club. In view of the frustrations of the week end it was perhaps as well that of the 36 attending only 5 represented the Guest Club. The original plan had been to do the through route in Lancaster Pot, but owing to some junior club having caused trouble in Easegill the whole of Casterton Fell had been closed, even to the Y.R.C. Gaping Gill via Bar Pot and Flood Entrance was chosen as an alternative; permission was granted with the warning that the Craven Pot-hole Club would be in Bar Pot on the Sunday, Mainly owing to the exceptionally large number attending the meet and to lack of earlier discussions, there was some confusion and delay and a certain lack of leadership. To crown this the third man to squeeze through the narrow fissure of Flood Entrance on the Saturday was trapped by a fall of roof. Happily he was re­leased uninjured after an hour of much effort and good team work in which both leadership and service were evident. On Sunday a dignified return to the surface had to be made from Bar Pot and a somewhat changed Flood Entrance when the C.P.C. turned up in­censed, and with some right on their side. There were lessons to be learnt from this meet.

1962/63.

Fifteen Club Meets were held and the average attendance was just over 23.

The 49th Annual Dinner was at the Hotel Majestic, Harrogate, and was the occasion for officially celebrating the Club’s 70th birth­day. Of the eleven representatives of Kindred Clubs attending, nine were Presidents, one a Past President and one a Vice-President. A birthday cake bearing 70 candles, decorated with ropes, ladders and ice-axes was borne in in state. The Principal Guest, Jack Longland, gave much food for thought in an exceptionally fine speech in which he dealt widely with the care, forethought and prudence so necessary in our approach to the hills, both above and below ground. A blizzard and biting east wind sprang up during the night, in spite of which parties battled up Pen-y-Ghent, Fountains and other Fells, and sat down 55 strong to the after-dinner Tea at the Craven Heifer in Stainforth.

For the first meet of the Club’s 71st year the President, with 24 members and guests enjoyed Christmas fare at the White Lion, Cray. There was walking to Semmerwater and Bainbridge, wintry skies to be admired from the summit of Buckden Pike, while the President led a party down Walden Beck and some ardent pot-holers were up to their necks in water in Dow Cave. The Hill Inn Meet, attended by 59 members and guests, was in the middle of the Great Frost. Ablu­tions were impossible, the only liquid available at the Inn being for internal consumption only. This did not detract at all from the Satur­day evening’s entertainment which included a photographic competi­tion as well as the usual acrobatics. At the end of the evening a large party set off for Mere Gill and in an all-night expedition reached the head of the bottom pitch before thaw water caused them to withdraw. Parties walked the surrounding hills and skiers enjoyed the hospitality and enterprise of the Gritstone Club who had installed a rope tow above Horton. The Great Frost was still on for the mid-February meet at L.H.G. when the Cottage Warden carried water for the Presi­dent and 21 men in buckets from the stream, the plumbing of the cottage having long since frozen up. Ideas of a grand siege of Great End Gully were dispelled by soft snow on top of ice making it very dangerous. Some climbed Hanging Knott Gully while others, after a gay glissade down to Angle Tarn, made the frost-encrusted summit of Esk Pike. Glorious Alpine conditions prevailed on Sunday and encouraged yodelling; a ski party found the descent from Prison Band a disconcerting variation between unbreakable crust and soft new snow.

The following Saturday was the “Ladies’ Evening” at the St. George Hotel in Harrogate. This had by now come to be regarded as an Annual Event and a high light in the Club’s affairs. Some ninety members were there to show their Ladies that the weird and wonderful contortions that they perform in caves and on climbs can be put to equally good use in the “Twist”, the “Madison” and other such measures. Local colour was provided by electron ladders, rubber dinghies and a gay display of continental coloured posters. The Oldest Member presented a bouquet to the President’s wife and each lady received a floral decoration.

The President and twelve men were at the Blue Bell Inn at Alston in March and walked in wind and showers along the Black Burn to Cross Fell over ground which remaining frost made firm and pleasant under foot. Back along the Pennine Way towards Garrigill with pride so rain-soaked that a telephone call to the Blue Boar produced trans­port for the last 4 miles. True to the second part of Rule 2 an inspection was made of the Roman Wall between Crag Lough and Housesteads on Sunday. The Pot Hole Practice Meet originally meant for one day developed into a whole weekend at Lowstern. Cross Pot was quickly laddered, bottomed and unladdered in rain and sleet on Saturday. Sunday was fair and the Treasurer gave a welcome talk on caving procedure, safety methods, personal equipment, knots and the rigging of pitches. The older element then looked on while less­experienced members rigged Pillar Pot for ladder climbing practice on a 140 ft. pitch and a small pot nearby for work with pulley-block and lifeline.

Easter at Crianlarich was a fine sporting meet with a certain amount of unforeseen adventure. From Thursday until Monday morn­ing 18 members and guests had their waking and sleeping hours filled with high winds, snow, sleet and hail. On Friday morning 8 men left to climb Ben Lui. The President and one member chose the N.W. ridge and reached the summit. The other six attempted the more ambitious Northern Gully, but after roping up in pairs they were forced to make the decision to retreat. The snow then avalanched, they were overwhelmed and all three ropes were swept down the gully for six or seven hundred feet. They took the right action and emerged unscathed except for one strained back and several lost ice-axes. On Saturday a party cutting steps up the north side of the N.W. Ridge of Ben Lui were treated to the imposing spectacle of a whirlwind drawing snow from the crest in a great white inverted cone. Sunday was wet and overcast but Monday dawned and continued a glorious picture of snow-clad peaks against a cloudless sky. In spite of the fickleness of the weather Ben Lui, Ben Cruachan, Clach Leathead, Beinn a’Chleibh, Ben Oss, Beinn Dubhcraig and Stob Gabhar all felt the tread of Y.R.C. boots. The High Level Camping Meet on the Haystacks in May, among some of the finest scenery in the Lake District, saw some routes of the utmost severity climbed in Birkness Combe and there was walking over the Haystacks, High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike, but the meet was mostly an epic battle to main­tain tents in a habitable condition in the face of wind and rain. Only a proportion of the 20 contesting Ramblers could claim victory.

At Whitsuntide the President and 17 members camped by the Cladagh River at Killesher and carried out a most successful further exploration and survey of Reyfad Pot. One party broke through the boulder choke upstream and added 600 yards of new passage, an im­pressively high aven and a side passage containing exquisite grottoes with every colour and variety of formation. Another party explored the North West Passage and found that the previous survey was almost 180° out; instead of running, as thought, S.S.E., it really goes almost due north. This passage was pushed a further 500 yards to a boulder choke thought to be near the surface. The whole pot, with the new discoveries, was carefully surveyed. A descent of Noon’s Hole showed nothing new; expeditions were also made to Pollnagollum, Pigeon Pots, Marble Arch and Rattle Hole. The week was memorable for six o’clock starts, first class cuisine with wines and all, a most comfortable camp, lovely weather and a lot accomplished by a strong team.

The Long Walk on Midsummer Day in the Lake District was from Scafell in the west to Harter Fell in the east, a distance of about 28 miles with 14,350 feet of ascent. The route, which started at Whahouse Bridge, included Scafell Pike and Great End, Rossett Pike, Pike o’ Stickle, High White Stones, Dunmail Raise, Hart Crag, Dove Crag, Kilnshaw Chimney, High Street and Ill Bell. There were victualling points at Dunmail Raise and the Kirkstone Pass Inn. Six men com­pleted the whole course starting at 4.20 a.m. and finishing in two parties at 8.50 and 9.45 p.m. Fifteen members and guests met at the Climbers’ Club Hut at Helyg in July and climbed on the Amphi­theatre Buttress of Craig-yr-Isfa, on Tryfan and on Cwm Silyn where a new 250 ft. route up Great Slab was pioneered and named “The Sentinel”. The mid-August meet was a return to Derbyshire with 25 members and guests at the Barnsley Mountaineering Club’s cottage. Some climbed on Gardon’s Edge and Yellowstones, others walked on Kinder Scout and Bleaklow and a party got to the top of the last pitch in Giant’s Hole, which they described as “Not a very pleasant hole, wet, cold, dark and rather tight”.

New ground, as far as the Club is concerned, was broken in Sep­tember when 13 members stayed in a fine bothy at Back Hill of the Bush, in the Glen Trool/Merrick area of Kircudbrightshire. After climbing Merrick in thick cloud on Saturday, there was walking on the Rhinns of Kells on a cold, fine and clear Sunday with good views in every direction. Four members descending Cairnsmore of Fleet saw a herd of wild goats, who watched their progress with close interest. The R.L.H. Joint Meet brought the usual strong muster of 30 Y.R.C. men and the inevitable overflow into Raw Head and L.H.G., the latter contingent being press-ganged by the Hut Secretary into giving the cottage a face-lift. Impossible to detail all the activities, though one irrepressible party was seen armed with lamps and helmets making for Hodge Close Main Drain and the slate quarries. The last meet of the Club year was at Lowstern, the virtues of the new stove were appreciated and a party reached the head of the final pitch in Juniper Gulf. One man in an exposure suit faced a large volume of water for 120 ft. down this pitch but came up wetter and wiser.

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