From the Archives

by Raymond Harben

One of my final jobs as archivist was to recover the last batch of material from the cupboard in the old City Librarian’s office now converted into a computer room. At long last I have managed to go through and record the papers/documents held by the Club and now passed to the West Yorkshire Archive Service in Leeds. From the following  you can see that the material covers a wide variety of items of which the Whymper papers and the Newscuttings and Scrapbook are probably of most value.

Folder 1

• List of Easter & Whit meets from 1954 to 1971
• Typewritten manuscript – Daniel Defoe in Yorkshire by Geoffrey Brook
• 4 Nº original line drawings by Hal Yates & used as end pieces in YRC Journal in 1960 et seq.^[1]
• 8 Nº original pen and wash drawings by Hal Yates & used as end pieces in YRC Journal in 1966 et seq.
• Music for “Yorkshire”
• In memoriam – list of YRC members at the time of death 1892 – 1972
• Typewritten manuscript – Reminiscences (Part 1) by E.E.Roberts.

Folder 2

• Correspondence – E.E. Roberts and Robert de Joly 1932 – 1947!
• Reminiscences – E.E. Roberts

Wallet 3

• YRC meet reports July 1956 to July 1962.

Wallet 4
(labelled “Miscellaneous”)

• Blueprint of Gaping Ghyll Cavern dated May 1896
• Blueprint of Descent du Gouffre Gaping Ghyll from “La Nature” 20th January 1896
• Various drawings/blueprints of Gaping Ghyll
• Newspaper cuttings re caving and E.A. Martel :-  
  • La Depeche 27th January 1893
  • Le Temps 9th February 1896
  • Le Petit Journal 27th April 1898
• Extract from the Bulletin of the Societe Belge de Geologie :- Constatations a Han-sur-Lesse by Broek and Martel.

Envelope 5
(Whymper material)

• Publication for private circulation. – A Letter to the Members of the Alpine Club – London 1900. Cover endorsed by the author – “ With Edward Whymper’s compliments”  This concerns a debate as to whether a jump by Christian Almer on the Pointe des Ecrins in 1864 recorded by Whymper ever took place. Horace Walker who was in the party confirmed that it did.
• 3 Nº memoranda (very brief) from Edward Whymper to T. Gray dated 1st May 1899, 22nd. April 1902 and 20th October 1908.
• Copy of letter from Horace Walker to Edward Whymper dated 21st March 1866 re the Matterhorn. Mr Walker’s mother had referred to the route above the Hornli “as a mere stroll” which Walker puts down by saying that “in spite of her experience does not understand much about the high alps”. He goes on to say that “3 brothers named Parker did in 1858 go some way in that direction but as they took no guides, did not sleep out or even took a rope I should think it hardly worth your mention.”
• Article by Edward Whymper from the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries dated 8th December 1898. Cover endorsed – “With the compliments of the Author”

Envelope 6
(ex H.L. Stembridge)

• Annual Reports 1933 – 1949
• Annual Dinner Menus 1933 – 1964
• Envelope 7. (ex G.T. Lowe bequest)
• Sketches re Savage Club (See YRC Bulletins Issues 3 and 5)

Envelope 8

• Typewritten manuscript – E.E.Roberts’ memoirs – pages 36 to113 (end)

Librarians File

• Correspondence 1956 to 1962

Photo Album

• 55 Nº postcards of British castles (including southern Ireland)

YRC Newscuttings and Scrapbook.

• Various newspaper cuttings dating from 1871 through to 1962. Includes :-
• Liverpool Albion 4th September 1871 – Descent into a Yorkshire Cave.
• The Times 6th April 1929 – Climbing Ben Nevis including a photo of Frank Smythe and Ernest Roberts on Tower Ridge.
• Yorkshire Evening Post 30th June 1956 – Leeds BSc. Injured in Pothole with photo of Frank Wilkinson.
• Various newspapers 1957 – Articles on the fatal YRC Himalayan expedition.

Miscellaneous

• Photograph of library room of 13 Well Close Place, Leeds – January 1898?
• Studio photograph of 6 Nº businessmen – no date (ca 1900)

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Some five years before his death Ernest Roberts, aged about 80, penned these two letters to Geoff Scovell….

12 Southway
Harrogate
11 Nov. 1955

Dear Scovell

I have at last had the energy to hunt up my postcard of Gaelic.   I hope you will get half in your memory before next summer.   It is easy to get “continental vowels”. but useless without knowing the blank consonants which disguise the actual spelling.

I have suggested to the President that in some address he shall make the assembly release itself from the tyranny of the Scot by chanting T-R-E-TRAY, B-E-BAY, D-E-JAY, S-E-SHAY, T-E-CHAY.   He was quite vigorous on the matter after the 2nd Skye Whitweek.    I have also put in a p.c on Welsh & have expresses my indignation over a language which has no alternatives & alter the spelling when it alters the pronunciation.

I am not quite sure about Gaelic, but it is correct for Welsh that we are alike in using the phrase “I am writing” in place of “I write”.   A liguistic oddity.

Kind regards

Welsh Pronunciation V annoying as it is always the same & does not swop about. Mutations are used as in Italian & French but then the spelling is corrected to the right letter e.g. Cader Idris or Pen-y-Gader W = OO (Eng) as in Eng TWO & older English I = U e.g. Alun = (Eng) ALEEN or ALIN As there is no u y does duty for it in all syllables but the last e.g. FFYNNON = (Eng) FUNNON LL = HL or THL as in Spanish etc. We have 2 th sounds one spelling.   Welsh has 2 spellings th & dd So-called diphthongs are as spelt first vowel short not long Gaelic (1)    Most important DH = nil GH = nil Final G = K SH & TH = H GH appears to be consonant Y (2)    AO = vowel sound of Eng TURN (3)    Mucked up consonants D     is      J     before e & i S    is     SH        ”       “ T     is     CH          ”       ” RT     is     RST or RSJ (4) Continental vowels ea, eo, ia, iu, ua are double syllables ib, if, im, ip are distinctly eeb,eef,eem eep Otherwise 2nd vowel is faint or nil Minor Trouble oll = (Sc) all           oll = (S)oul (1) aun = (S) awn      ann = (S)oun (2) Gaelic can only say l,n,r before b,g(k),m,p as an extra syllable e.g. Film is filum, Dearg is Jyarak (as in Durham & Yks)

 

 

30/9/55

Dear Scovell

I am sorry I was away when you called the other day.   I fear it has happened before through sheer ill luck.

I have had no real mountain holiday this summer.   When I was free it was obvious that I must be treated for lumbago, which treatment left me like a washed out rag, sitting down every ½ mile.

I thought Pen y gwryd would cure me, but the most I managed in a day was 5 miles in 3 goes.  The hotel is very good, expensive, & frequented by manymotorists, passagiers.   The road is a maselstrom of motors, driven by cads & hooligans with a few lorries driven by gentlemen.

Rescue work seems to be quite a casual business nowadays.  Rusher mentioned he had been out twice but seemed to think it semi-serious.   The big search is embarked on with great reluctance, since a party at the old Royal Hotel came in late & went out early secretly to avoid doing chores.

I should think next summer the Llanberis Pass may be a complete deadlock as the parking space is hopelessly insufficient & the crowd will be larger still.

I have been very unlucky asbout getting to meets this year.

Do come again

Yours sincerely

E.E.Roberts

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