Club Meets
1967/68
The beginning of the Club’s 76th year was marred by a serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which restricted all movement over a wide area in Northern England during November and December, 1967. As a result the after-Dinner Meet at Burnsall and the first Meet of the year at the White Lion, Cray, had to be cancelled. Twelve Meets were held, in addition to the Ladies’ Evening and the Annual Dinner, and the average attendance was 24.
The 54th Annual Dinner took place on 18th November 1967 at the Cairn Hotel, Harrogate and marked the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Yorkshire Ramblers’ Club. The President, E. C. Downham was in the Chair, the Guest of Honour was Tom Patey and ten kindred Clubs were represented, seven of them by their Presidents and the Scottish Mountaineering Club by their Past President, Alex Harrison, whom his Club a fortnight later honoured by making him an Honorary President. The total number of Members and Guests was 157.
On—off, on—off and at the last moment very definitely ON. Despite the very short notice due to the sudden relaxing of the foot-and-mouth precautions, the Hill Inn Meet took place almost as usual, with 50 Members and Guests. Although the ban on walking had officially been lifted there was still some reluctance on the part of local farmers to allow access to their land so, on the advice of an official of the Lakes National Park, it was decided that the week-end’s activities should be in the Lake District. Two parties set out on the Saturday, one for Patterdale and High Street, the other for Dunmail Raise and Dollywaggon Pike, whence they went on Helvellyn where they enjoyed a view rarely seen in the British Isles: most of the tops were capped in cloud while to the south-east cloud was pouring over St. Sunday Crag like a silent Niagara. After the excellent traditional dinner on Saturday evening the Club’s long-standing friend Dr. Farrer gave an illustrated talk on the history of his family and on his trials and successes as Lord of the Manor of Ingleborough. Three members who decided to go pot-holing on Sunday found a queue at every hole but eventually, through the hospitality of the Leeds University Climbing Club, they were able to do the through trip Disappointment Pot—Bar Pot, an easier trip than usual as their hosts had done the rigging.
The road to Low Hall Garth is now signposted only “Unfit for Motor Cars”. Undaunted, thirty two members and two prospectives battled up Little Langdale through heavy sleet to the February Meet, to the excellent catering of the Hut Warden and Mrs. Driscoll, to the deep philosophical discussion round the stove and to the hospitality of the Three Shires. A wily member early on took the two prospectives quietly on one side to tell them that it carried much weight with the Committee if they showed that they could wash up: no full Member needed to go near the sink throughout the Meet. Saturday was fine, gullies in Deepdale presented hazardous conditions, soft snow on ice, skiers on Helvellyn found crust which showed up every deficiency in technique. Sunday, though misty below, was brilliant on the heights; the Horseshoe was done, as was Great Car Gully and rhythmic swings of an ice-axe forced a way through a cornice on Wetherlam. The skiers performed on the Kirkstone Pass with such elegance that a large photograph of them appeared in the Daily Telegraph next day. The two main events of the March Meet, at Sparth House, Malham, were the party who got themselves taken to the Hill Inn by car and took all the hills in their stride on the way back to Malham, and the Very Senior Member who attracted every sheep in the county by the mere act of putting on waterproof trousers.
Nineteen Members and Guests camped at the head of Loch Etive, a perfect camp site in which they enjoyed the finest Easter Scotland had had for very many years, gloriously sunny weather with all the snow-capped peaks showing up to perfection in the clear air. Ben Starav and the fine ridge between it and Glas Bheinn Mhor received much attention; some Members added obscure Munros to their collection while others had themselves driven half way back to Yorkshire so that they could return to camp over the many splendid peaks. One of the several parties climbing on Buchaille Etive Mor had to help in the rescue of a fallen climber, a difficult operation involving a 300 ft. abseil off the rocks in the dark. Aonach Eagach (Stob Ghabhar) was traversed and the skiers took advantage of the snow on the ridges of Bidean nam Bian and the nearby lift. The mass of driftwood on the shore of the loch was made into a huge bon-fire whose glow as each day grew to a close was there to guide the weary homewards and whose warmth later in the evening encouraged discussion as to why several Scottish mountains have the same Gaelic name.
The Whitsuntide Meet was again in Scotland, at Loch Clair, Torridon, where 26 Members and Guests camped in a spot of such beauty that it had attracted a large proportion of Scotland’s birds, which sang melodiously from 3.30 a.m. onwards, and nearly all its midges. The main activity was mountain walking; many climbed Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe, others were on Slioch, Beinn Damh, Maol Chean-dearg, An Ruadh-stac, Beinn Dearg and Beinn Liath Mhor. Some spirited fishing went on, much of it on lochans which involved a good day’s walk as well. Several groups visited the famous garden of Inverewe House, started by Osgood Mackenzie nearly a century ago and containing an amazing variety of exotic and sub-tropical plants. The basis of the Midsummer Long Walk was the ascent of three of the highest tops in Lakeland, Coniston Old Man, 2,635 ft., Scafell Pike, 3,210 ft., Helvellyn, 3,118 ft. The distance was 33 miles, starting and finishing at Low Hall Garth, and it involved 11,000 feet of ascent. Saturday the 29th June, dawned clear and at 4 a.m., while 19 of the 20 walkers were devouring bacon and eggs, the 20th man arrived in a dinner jacket from a dance on the other side of the Pennines. The start was at 5 o’clock by Prison Band to Swirl How and so along the ridge to the Old Man, then back along the ridge to the first feeding point at Cockley Beck, 8.30 a.m. The approach to Scafell was by Mosedale, Lingcove Beck and the higher reaches of Eskdale which was marshy—one bog-prone walker went in up to his thighs. A steep climb up Cam Spout, and Scafell was reached at 11.30; black clouds threatened after Esk Hause but the rain held off. Now came the slog from Angle Tarn over Stake Top and Greenup Edge, along the seemingly endless Wythburn Valley to the second feeding point just south of Thirlmere, 15.50. Here ten men decided to retire while the other ten carried on up Helvellyn, 17.50, past Dollywagon and Grisedale Tarn, to assuage their thirsts at the Travellers’ Rest Inn and to be ferried back by the support party to Low Hall Garth for a sumptuous dinner, luscious wines and an evening’s reminiscing. All were most impressed by the performance of a 14-year old guest, the son of a member; he and his father led the way over the full length of the walk.
With Y.R.C. Members scattered all over the Continent from the Alps to Beirut, attendance at the High Level Camp in July was limited to eight Members and a Guest. Nonetheless the excellent situation of the camp, in the cave on Dove Crag just above the top pitch of Hangover, the fine weather and the congenial company all contributed to make the week-end a memorable one. Assembly at the Brotherswater Hotel on the Friday evening was, as always, a drawn-out procedure and it was midnight by the time most of the party staggered up the last steep five hundred feet. On Saturday there was climbing on Hutaple and on Eagle Crag in Grisedale and there was walking over the fells to Helvellyn. The President arrived for a late supper and the company, after several bottles of rather doubtful red wine, burst into song but were almost at once interrupted by the arrival of two strange Biblical figures, one with a grey patriarchal beard and the other carrying a shepherd’s staff. They had they said, seen lights flashing from the cave in the form of the Alpine Distress Signal, there was a support party in the valley watching for a signal in case further help was needed. Very few of the Members were quite certain what the Alpine Signal was and it took time and coffee to persuade the would-be rescuers that the only lights they had seen were flashes to guide in and welcome the President. A black-out was ordered as supplies could not have coped with a whole Mountain Rescue Team; what headlines might have appeared in the Press: what hilarity there would have been among fellow climbing clubs! The holiday season being in full swing only three Club Members and two Guests attended the August Meet in South Wales to enjoy the hospitality of the South Wales Caving Club. Rain on Friday and again on Saturday caused the descent of Dan yr Ogof to be put off till Sunday but a combined party of Ramblers, S.W.C.C. and Craven Potholers did a through trip of the adjacent Tunnel Cave, starting at the top entrance and emerging a few yards from the Dan yr Ogof show cave. Sunday was a better day and the river comparatively low so the party made for Dan yr Ogof II by way of the Endless Crawl, thence, after a short pitch, on through the Grand Canyon and Monk Hall till they reached the Green Canal. Here a small group branched off through several large chambers and muddy crawls to dig at a boulder choke in the extension of Hanger Passage; the rest swam the Green Canal and carried on into the Far North series. Many magnificent formations were seen, especially in Monk Hall, Flabbergasm Chasm and the Flower Gardens.
The Lowstern Meet at the end of August was attended by the President, 9 Members and two Prospectives. As there was rain in the air and the Prospectives had little experience of potholing it was agreed to do nothing more difficult than the descent of Long Kin West, Marble Hole and Jockey Pot; several digs were examined and two Volkswagens, looking like giant beetles pushing through the long grass, saved some walking on the Allotment. Thirty six Ramblers took part in the Joint Meet at the Robertson Lamb Hut with the Wayfarers’ and Rucksack Clubs; after weeks of fine weather the wind howled and the rain poured down, all around the fell-sides were streaked with becks in flood. A slight improvement on Saturday morning tempted climbers to Dow Crag and Bow Fell, walkers to Scafell Pike via Esk Hause and Sty Head and to Helvellyn while the President having missed his party which had gone up to Stickle Tarn, did a solo of the valley as far as Rosset Pike. Everywhere walking was most exhilarating, the strong wind every now and then tore the clouds apart to reveal thrilling glimpses of valleys lit by fleeting shafts of sunlight. All returned invigorated and ready to enjoy Harry Spilsbury’s famous meal of soup, roast lamb and treacle pudding and a fraternal evening at the Old Dungeon Ghyll. Sunday flattered only to deceive and soon the rain was coming down in true Lakeland fashion. A climber in nails on Pavey Ark made older Members feel nostalgic, leading off Rake End Wall he made it look like an off day in summer on the Difficults of Tarn Crag. After an interval of several years the Club returned to Levisham for the October walking Meet. Apart from gentle strolling on the moors of Pickering and Levisham, a party succeeded in losing itself in a County Nature Reserve from which it had to be extricated by a lady of the Yorkshire National Trust who took the opportunity of presenting a questionnaire on possible improvements to the National Park.
1968/69
At the 1969 Annual General Meeting—surely the only one in the climbing world at which Dinner Jackets are worn—the Committee reported another satisfactory year, the Club’s 77th. Fourteen Meets were held and two records broken, the average attendance was 27, three higher than in the previous year, and the number sitting down to dinner at the Hill Inn in January was 80. The only two disappointing Meets were the one at Easter in the Cairngorms, where only seven were present and the Meet at Deiniolen in North Wales in August; only six turned up including the Local Member Denny Moorhouse, who acted as host. It was thought that this Meet should be either earlier or later in the year, when fewer Members are on holiday.
The 55th Annual Dinner was again at the Cairn Hotel, Harrogate and took place on the 16th of November 1968. The retiring President, Cliff Downham—upon whom the Club had just bestowed its highest award, Honorary Life Membership—was in the Chair and the Principal Guest was Peter Lloyd of the Alpine Club. Six kindred Clubs were represented and it was much regretted by all that Dr. Charles Evans, President of the Alpine Club and an Honorary Member of the Y.R.C. was at the last moment prevented from coming. The total number of Members and Guests was 146 and a fair proportion of these turned up next day at the Golden Lion, Horton-in-Ribblesdale to tramp on Pen-y-Ghent and Ingleborough or to abseil into Calf Holes.
The first Meet of the new Club Year was a welcome return to the White Lion, Cray, the same Meet a year earlier having been sadly cancelled owing to foot-and-mouth disease. Besides walking up nearly every peak in the district and exploring the fine new extensions to Birks Fell Cave—recently discovered by the Craven Pothole Club—40 Members and Guests toasted the new President, Edward Tregoning, in the traditional punch and enjoyed the overwhelming hospitality of Major and Mrs. Horner and the Christmas fare provided. At the Hill Inn in January action started at 6.30 a.m. on Saturday when a dozen men set off for the ritual assault on Whernside carried out in total darkness and almost Trappist silence: back to breakfast and out into icy wind and driving snow to complete the circuit of what were for most of them, the three lowest mountains in the world. The dinner was a masterpiece of catering by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Flint, the kitchen, though it had been feeding Ramblers for nigh on 70 years, was never designed for the influx, albeit expected, of 80 ravenous men; nobody was kept waiting and the food was excellent. Laddering of Barn Pot was carried out but owing to the rival attraction of two picture shows it did not receive the usual amount of ribald support. The Turkish and Lebanon potholing expeditions were vividly portrayed by the transparencies shown and by Tony Dunford’s commentary while in another room some magnificent old slides, dug from the archives of the Club were shown and commented upon by Fred Booth and Jack Hilton. Many of these went back to the very beginnings of the Y.R.C. and showed some of the early potholers in Eton collars and Norfolk suits.
In spite of reports about blocked and icy roads none of the 33 Members and their Guests had any difficulty in getting to Low Hall Garth for the February Meet. A heavy fall of snow on Friday night gave skiers some wet running on Prison Band but better conditions on the Kirkstone Pass; some good ice-axe work was done in the gullies. Saturday night was claimed as the coldest night on record in Westmorland, minus 2°F; Sunday was bright and very cold, everybody took advantage of the improvement, ski-ing, climbing and walking. Twenty two Members and Guests were, at different times, on and off the High Level Winter Camp at Dovedale early in March, some in caves or tents, others in the Brotherswater Hotel, the White Lion Hotel or Beetham Cottage. Three genuine campers carrying 50 lb. loads were pointed in the direction of Dove Crag at 11 p.m. on Friday, they had great difficulty kicking steps in the gully below the crag but by 2 a.m. they were safely in duvets and sleeping bags. On Saturday a party ascended a gully in Link Cove, others traversed Helvellyn by Swirral and Striding Edge, some were on the tops as far as Kilnshaw Chimney. All came together to spend a convivial evening in the valley and the President invited the Club’s third oldest Member, W. Allsup, who joined in 1919, to come from his home in Patterdale. He appeared delighted with the invitation and told many interesting tales of the Club’s early days. The campers were eventually pushed upwards, there was no moon and care had to be taken in the gully and on the snow and ice traverse to the cave. After a hard night’s frost boots had to be thawed out and persuaded to accept reluctant feet. Parties dispersed to gullies on Hutaple and Dove Crags, the President’s party traversed High Street. Later in March 22 men were at the Lowstern Meet, the object of which was the descent of Gingling Hole, first explored by the Y.R.C. in 1924. The first party to leave for the pot had some difficulty in reaching the shooting box on Fountain’s Fell as snow was piled high on the Stainforth—Rainscar road; all praise to the Land Rover and its driver, they jumped a 4 ft. snowdrift on to the green track but on arrival found Gingling Hole under deep snow. Having no digging tackle they went on to Magnetometer Pot which they bottomed in spite of the danger of getting lost in a maze of low crawls. Sunday was a perfect day, craftsmen appeared with the tools of their trades to work on the hut whilst rougher men dug out Gingling Hole and went down as far as the head of the last pitch, at which point they ran out of ladder.
The Easter Meet was at Glen Slugain in the Cairngorms, by kind permission of the Invercauld Estates, on a riverside camp site at Altdourie, near Braemar. The weather was the best recorded in the area for over thirty years and it was a pity that only seven men were able to be there, three resident in Scotland and four from south of the Border. The Edinburgh Member arrived on Thursday by a traverse of the An Socach (3,059 ft.) ridge from Glen Baddoch and on Friday climbed Mount Keen (3,077 ft.) Meanwhile others arrived and established a high camp in the corries of Beinn a’Bhuird. On Saturday a traverse was made of Beinn a’Bhuird (3,924 ft.) and Ben Avon (3,843 ft.) and on Sunday the party made a circular tour of Glen Slugain and Glen Quoich. On a bright clear Monday they ploughed up the jungle mud-track to Derry Lodge in the Land Rover, made an epic and hilarious fording of the Dee and found a good line up a snow gully through the cliffs of Ben Bhrotain (3,795 ft.) One Member returned to camp by padding alone across a desolate moor to bag a remote Munro, Carn Cloich-mhuilinn (3,087 ft.) and the Edinburgh Member, on the way home on Tuesday, traversed Carn a’Gheoidh (3,194 ft.) For the first week-end in May the President and 21 men made a return to Edale, an area not visited by the Club, as far as records show, since 1957. A potholing party got all its members to the bottom of Nettle Pot—and back: climbers made a mass attack on Stanage and inspected all the V.S. routes. Walking parties were well spread over the Peak, one did a ‘semi-valley’ walk in the Derbyshire Dales, presumably, from the characters of its component units, a 20-mile trek over hill and dale; another traversed Kinder Low and South Head and a third visited Alport Dale and crossed to Dunford Bridge, getting wet on the way.
For the Whitsuntide Meet the Club again went back to an area not visited since the late 1950’s, Inchnadamph in Sutherland. The pre-arranged camp site near Glenbain Cottage was flat and exposed; by Saturday evening it was a sorry sight. It is normal for Whit Meet tents to look rather like the dress for the Annual Dinner—some new, some hired, some pre-Mummery. There had been a wind: many tents were damaged and ‘Grand Hotel’ was flattened to the ground. The Elders went hunting the Factor, camp was struck and moved to a delightful site by a stream and looking down on to the ruins of Ardvreck Castle. The wind continued but little rain fell except in the evenings; more Members came back wet from their libations than wet from the hills. The local peaks, Quinag, Suilven and Canisp all made themselves feel higher than their O.S. heights indicated; an exchange of car keys made possible an approach to Suilven from the Kirkaig via Fionn Loch. There was much climbing on the broken ridges of Stac Polly; views from Cul Mor (2,786 ft.) and Cul Beag (2,523 ft.) of Loch Sionascaig and its ramifications prompted ideas of a camping /canoeing Meet at some future Whitsuntide. Members of the forthcoming Greenland Expedition were in camp for training but spent much time on administrative matters such as typing letters of thanks to suppliers of Scotch Whisky. Evenings were spent either round a camp fire on the shore of Loch Assynt or in the Inchnadamph Hotel, where on several occasions Members entertained the Estate Manager, Mr. Venters, a helpful and interesting character.
The Midsummer Long Walk took an unusual form, in a straight line from Wasdale Head to Wasdale Head over some hard walking country. By coincidence Wasdale Head Farm, Shap is almost on the 09 east/west grid reference line, ref: 543081, and the more famous Wasdale Head Hotel is on ref: 186089, twenty five miles to the west. The Walk throughout its length was almost entirely between the 08 and the 10 lines. At 5 a.m. on the morning of the Longest Day 15 Members and 4 Guests started the trek by flushing a red deer from the deserted farmhouse; for the first stage of the Walk mist and unfamiliar ground brought out an impressive array of compasses, the mist began to clear approaching Harter Fell and allowed glimpses of Long Sleddale and Haweswater. The first group reached the feeding point, a green tent near the Kirkstone Inn, at 10 a.m., bacon, sausages and hot tea were most welcome. From here onwards the hills were free of cloud and the sun shone: Kilnshaw Chimney, Fairfield and a steep long descent of the Tongue Gill path led to the second feeding point on the Dunmail Raise road. By 2 p.m. the pioneers were climbing past Sour Milk Gill, a thunderstorm threatened but did not materialise; by 6 p.m. they were on Esk Hause having passed Thunacar Knott and the boggy path from the Stake to Angle Tarn; they reached the hotel at Wasdale Head at 7 p.m. and by 8.30 the bar was half filled by the 16 Ramblers who finished. The support party, who had not only manned the feeding points but had ferried the walkers’ cars from Shap to Low Hall Garth, now turned up to ferry their owners back to the Club Cottage. A good paint-and-potholing Meet was held at Lowstern in mid-July. The painters painted the hut while on Saturday the potholers went down Bar Pot, into the South-East Passage and so to the Main Chamber in Gaping Gill, a new sight for several of those present. On Sunday one party scaled Twistleton Crags to finish at the Hill Inn while another went down Sunset Hole first and up Twistleton afterwards. For the North Wales Meet at Deiniolen, the first week-end of August, only 6 out of an anticipated 12 were able to turn up. A broken wheel bearing, mist which reduced visibility to 20 yards and the machine shop of Clogwyn Climbing Gear, inspected under the guidance of the Resident Member, Denny Moorhouse, delayed departure for the hills until noon, when it was agreed to head for Cwm Silin. The climb up the Great Slabs was tackled by two ropes. Wet rock, airy belays and mist which prevented more than 20 feet of the climb being seen at any one time, made progress up the 400 foot route rather slow and prompted the Club’s host to expound upon mountain safety techniques with such eloquence and soundness that it was suggested his advice should be recorded for the Journal. Parting of the clouds as the summit was reached revealed the full extent of the Great Slab Route and made the party feel that they had made up in quality what the Meet lacked in quantity. The September Meet at Lowstern lacked nothing in quantity, being attended by 20 men. The presidential party walked over Crina Bottom to the Hill Inn, investigating various sink holes on the way and a large party bottomed and explored Sell Gill Holes.
The Joint Meet with the Wayfarers’ and Rucksack Clubs at the Robertson Lamb Hut followed its usual happy course—Harry Spilsbury’s excellent fare, almost equalled by that enjoyed by the Overflow Party at Low Hall Garth, the get-together at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, sadly the last time on a Club Meet that Sid Cross was ‘Mine Host’, and a fair measure of wind and rain. A power failure at L.H.G. caused a near panic on Friday evening but the spectre of a supperless bed was laid by the energy and resource of all present and by the unexpected restoration of electric current. There was climbing on Scout Crag, Tarn Crag, Pavey Ark, Bowfell Buttress Gimmer and Raven Crag; the President’s party walked over the Crinkles to Wrynose. Even on a wet and windy Sunday parties set out for Wetherlam, the Hodge Close Mines and the Halls of Silence. Once again it was disappointing that, although Y.R.C. representation was 33, only half a dozen Members of the Kindred Clubs were present. For the last Meet of the Club’s year, again in the Lake District, there was a good turn-out, twenty-three, at the Rucksack Club’s fine new hut ‘High Moss’, just above Seathwaite in the Duddon Valley. While Yorkshire was shrouded in mist, the Lakes had glorious weather throughout the week-end. On Saturday Members followed a 9-mile course involving map and compass work and including 9 check points. The course had been attractively laid out by a Member and at the best it took 4½ hours. A similar exercise with perhaps a somewhat harder course in closer country was suggested for some future Meet.