Andy Tomlinson – Page 11 – The Rucksack Club

Classic RCJ article: Trespassers will be Prosecuted, by C.H. Pickstone [1922]

1st June 2020 Andy Tomlinson Classic Journal Articles

The Classic Article“Trespassers will be prosecuted” was published in the 1922 RCJ. The author, Charles Pickstone, was a solicitor and one of the original members of the Club. He was President 1914-1916 and was also very influential in writing the first “Rules of the Club”. Club member Jean Walker, who is also a solicitor, has kindly provided the following introduction: Are we any freer to roam today than we were in 1922? Are we still likely to be “prosecuted” if we trespass on private land? Firstly, nothing has changed so far as notices are concerned. The absence of a notice indicating private land does not mean we have a right to go onto that land. Equally the notice that says “trespassers will be prosecuted” remains misleading. Prosecutions relate to the process of bringing criminal offences before the court. What those posting the notices really mean is that if we trespass they will start civil proceedings for compensation for any damage we do. Landowners and their gamekeepers can remove us from private land using only reasonable force, if we refuse to leave when requested. They do however risk a prosecution themselves for assault if that force was not reasonable so, as before,[…]

On the hill with…Gerry Goldsmith

29th May 2020 Andy Tomlinson On the hill with

Welcome to another “On the hill with…”. This time it is the turn of Gerry Goldsmith. Gerry was one of the Club’s first female members, joining within a year of the historic change in 1990, and a very active member in all aspects of Club activities as she reveals. Gerry on home ground; 2020 How did you get into walking and climbing? Camping with the Girl Guides got me started. Then lots of walking on Kinder with the YHA Society at Sheffield University, and hitch-hiking (in pairs) to Youth Hostels in the Lakes. A few years later I met Neil, we moved to Stockport and joined the Kinder Mountain Rescue Team (KMRT). They took us climbing (Tuesday evenings) and we were hooked. With KMRT we learnt winter climbing in Scotland and went to the Alps in summer.Gerry climbing on Anglesey; early 1990’s Lifting heavy stretchers and climbing with heavy sacks ruined my knees, so I graduated to fell-running. It seemed the answer, nothing to carry! My favourites involved running long challenges such as the Bob Graham round, the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon (KIMM…now morphed in to the OMM) and the Derwent Watershed. Who has had the most influence on[…]

Covid-19…latest guidance from the BMC

16th May 2020 Andy Tomlinson Archived

The BMC have produced updated guidance as lockdown across the UK evolves. Please click on the link for the full update, which the Club Committee fully supports. https://www.thebmc.co.uk/can-i-start-climbing-and-hill-walking-again Our huts remain closed until further notice.

Classic RCJ Articles…two articles on the first Club hut [Cwm Eigiau] from 1913 and 2001

16th May 2020 Andy Tomlinson Classic Journal Articles, Member Posts

On 15th June 1912, the Rucksack Club opened the first club hut in Great Britain in Cwm Eigiau below Craig-yr-Ysfa in theCarneddau. 28 year old Stanley Jeffcoat was the prime mover in its acquisition who, with a small group of mostly younger members, had been looking for suitable premises. They were put in touch with a local tenant farmer who was in a position to sub-let the cottage in March 1912. There is more information on the influential Jeffcoat in the last Classic Article A Bivouac at Thirteen Thousand Feet [RCJ 1912] which can also be found in ‘Classic Journal Articles’. On this occasion two articles are attached: The first is simply called The Rucksack Club Hut authored by T. Wyldbore, which appeared in the 1913 RCJ. It provides a fascinating insight into the hut and its first ‘working meet’…how easy it is for us today! The second and much more recent article Cwm Eigiau Centenary by Roger Booth, appeared in the 100th RCJ issue in 2011. This provides a detailed and fascinating insight into this unique hut and its place in UK mountaineering history, even though it was only leased for 8 years as security issues became a significant problem.

Young caver Peak District…who and where?

11th May 2020 Andy Tomlinson Member Posts, Members Tales

Young caver in a famous Peak District cave in 1965…who and where?!

“On the hill with…Geoff Bell”

6th May 2020 Andy Tomlinson On the hill with

On the Hill (and other RC pursuits) with…Geoff Bell who, as you will read, has been a serious and successful long distance endurance cyclist, runner and walker over many years. A very active Club member he was President in 2003-04. How did you get into “being out there”? As a Sheffield teenager I was into cycling. Club runs and time trialling at the weekend and a 7 mile ride to work in the labs at the Stocksbridge steelworks. In all weathers. I carried my bike through the snowdrifts that the bus couldn’t get through. I never got under the hour for 25 miles, but did manage 226m in 12 hours. In hindsight, this was an early example of my being able to pace myself over long efforts. Teens over, I was married to Mary, proud father of three daughters, and living in Glossop with a demanding job ensuring that the superalloys we made were up to spec. Then at 34 came my epiphany. Chris Brasher wrote an inspiring account of the 1972 Karrimor mountain marathon in his regular column in The Observer. I resolved to do the next one, so it was Chris who got me going on foot in[…]

Classic RCJ article: A Bivouac at Thirteen Thousand Feet, by Stanley Jeffcoat [1912]

27th April 2020 Andy Tomlinson Classic Journal Articles, Member Posts

The next offering for the Classic RCJ article appeared in the 1912 Journal entitled “A Bivouac at Thirteen Thousand Feet”. Another understated article, it is a delight to read…candles rather than head torches, no alarm clocks and step cutting, are some of the impediments to climbing not normally suffered by the modern alpinist! The description of the pleasures of an unplanned bivi will, however, ring true to many. Its author, Stanley Jeffcoat [above], was a rising star in the Rucksack Club. He was elected to the Club in November 1908 at the age of 24 and was already an experienced climber in the UK and Switzerland. He rapidly developed his skills in the Peak, Wales and the Lakes climbing with the likes of Herford and Laycock. Three first ascents in the Peak stand out: Jeffcoat’s Chimney [VDiff] and Jeffcoat’s Buttress [HS 5a] at the Roaches [both climbed in 1913] and Scoop Face [HVS 5a] at Castle Naze [1914]…the picture below shows Jeffcoat soloing Scoop Face barefoot! Scoop Face remains a Peak District classic and is a Top 50 route in the Western Grit Rockfax Guide. A year after becoming a Club member he was on the Committee and delegated to[…]

“On the hill with…” Amy Illingworth

24th April 2020 Andy Tomlinson On the hill with

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a series of short interviews with members of the Rucksack Club. This week it is Amy Illingworth, another member who was introduced to the Club from an early age. She, and husband Will, are based in Chamonix and this “On the hill with…” completes the first husband and wife interviews! Amy on Jebel Rum How did you get into walking and climbing? My parents met through the Chester Mountaineering Club and they were both keen to spend time in the outdoors. My sister and I weren’t really given an option, though most of my childhood memories are of wild swimming and canyoning, rather than walking. Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? My Dad taught me to climb and gave me an incredible foundation. My friends from Sheffield Uni days are hugely important to me, we’ve been on so many trips together and they’ve introduced so much fun and laughter into the process… plus one became my husband. I’ve also been inspired by a number of women who I see out leading and enjoying exciting trips, in particular some of the women who I met when I lived in[…]

The Moffat Hills in Winter: Tom Anderson

20th April 2020 Andy Tomlinson Member Posts, Members Tales

Tom Anderson has sent a short video of a series of photographs taken in the Moffat Hills in 2017. Tom writes (in lock down!): the group in the pictures had come up from Moffat and I think they were on a D of E expedition! The Moffat hills are often missed by climbers going north on Munro trips. The three hills Hart Fell, Saddle Yoke and White Coomb are a delight to do in a round and are at their best in snowy conditions. This is my favourite place in the Southern uplands and is a short drive from the M74. I think this area has an advantage over the Lakes as it does not have large numbers of visitors. I recommend you visit them next time you’re passing.

Classic RC Journal article: “A True Account of a Moorland Walk” by F.A. Dust [1908]

20th April 2020 Andy Tomlinson Classic Journal Articles, Member Posts

This Classic RC Journal article appeared in the anthology published by the Rucksack Club in 1987. The Preface of the anthology notes that Dust accomplishes two things: he provides a memorable account of a long day out in the company of a group of prodigious fell walkers and that he adopted a particular style, ‘depreciatory praise’. Reading the article reminds me of Club walks involving present day Pickstone and Corbett personalities…the last time being on the night crossing of Bleaklow on this year’s M-E double! So, enjoy A True Account of a Moorland Walk by clicking here.