Tim Taylor – Page 2 – The Rucksack Club

Tom Anderson reflects: The Coomloughra Horseshoe

29th August 2025 Tim Taylor Member Posts, Members Tales

Tom Anderson remembers: The Coomloughra Horseshoe is a delight to walk! A circuit Ireland’s highest Mountain plus a great scramble en route! I started at the Hydro road at a new car park at the west end of the circuit. A concrete path climbs up to the lower Lake which gives a fine view of the full circuit of hills. My route took me left on a broad ridge leading to Skregmore & on to Beenkeragh via two other summits. All with no difficulties. On reaching this point you reach the really interesting part of the outing. This is the Beenkeragh Arete which no faces you! This cannot be taken lightly! The ridge is spectacular as well as loose & slippery with a lot of exposure so great care should be taken on the crossing. There are two walkers routes around the high point of the ridge so you have a choice. Continue along passing the top of a gully until you reach the col and an easy walk to the summit of Carrauntoohil. The view from the summit is very good of the ridge of the Reeks showing the remaining 3,000ers to good effect. The final part of the[…]

September Meets

28th August 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets

As the heat and languor of high summer subside, the Rucksack Club steps up to offer a busy programme of mountainous activities: We begin (6th September) with another episode of our long-running series of High Camps, but this time on a quiet hill on the edge of the Lake District, Whinfell, which offers extensive views over central Lakeland, the Howgills and maybe the Isle of Man! A week later we have two simultaneous events: a joint meet with the Wayfarers and Yorkshire Ramblers in the Robertson Lamb hut in Langdale and a do as you please meet in our Welsh hut, Beudy Mawr (12th-14th). On Saturday 20th, members will attempt to complete the orienteering challenge created by the late renown climber, Joe Brown, whilst he taught at the White Hall Centre near Buxton in the 1960s. Succeed or otherwise, it’ll be an invigorating day out around the Goyt Valley. We end the month (26th-28th) with another visit to Beudy Mawr to enjoy the last of the summer sunshine – or the first of the autumn frosts. A communal dinner is on the agenda! The photo is from an earlier High Camp. Best wishes Andrew Beckett Meetstaff Editor

The Journal Needs YOU

26th August 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets

The Neil Goldsmith, Journal Editor, writes: The Journal Needs You Now that the summer holidays are coming to an end, it’s time to submit your tales of adventures, or just rattling good walks or climbs. Please send articles as word or pages documents in .doc or .docx format, and not as pdf format please. Remember, pictures make for more interesting articles. Please submit pictures in as high a resolution as possible. Photos that make the front cover, back cover or frontispiece are chosen on photographic quality and are usually, but not always, in portrait orientation and have people in them. Please send the photos as separate files with files names – pic1, pic 2 etc.. in the order they go in the article. Put the caption in the place in the article where you intend the photo to go. You can paste the photos in the article with a caption, but remember I can’t use those as they have too low a resolution for me to use in print. Send articles to me, either at journal@rucksackclub.org, or to my email address as shown in the handbook. Neil Goldsmith Editor

Parthian Climbing – Manchester

30th July 2025 Tim Taylor Member Posts

Geoff Gosling writes: Just to let our members know about this. Farewell and Thank You from the Team at Parthian Climbing Manchester When we first discovered the St Benedict’s church building in 2003, we instantly saw its potential. With its impressive height, stunning architectural features, and proximity to central Manchester and its vibrant student community, it felt like the perfect place to build something special. At the time, Manchester was one of the only major UK cities without a large indoor climbing facility, so we set out to create a much-needed space for climbers, whether local or rained off in the Peak District. Over the past 20 years, we’ve been proud to offer a unique climbing experience, introducing thousands of people to the sport and helping forge countless lifelong friendships and relationships. We also take pride in having saved a beautiful, historic building that was once on the English Heritage “at risk” register. In the years since we opened, Manchester has grown into a major hub for climbing, now home to eight indoor centres. As the sport has evolved, especially with the rise of bouldering, the needs of climbers have changed. Modern climbing centres now require larger communal floor[…]

Veterans in Sefton at Craigallan this summer

26th July 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets

John Patrick, Craigallan Hut Warden writes: Veterans in Sefton at Craigallan this summer. Most Club Members will be aware of the valuable work undertaken by this charity and that our Club is pleased to be able to support them in allowing use of the huts. Over the next couple of months the Veterans will be based at Craigallan for the first time over two separate weeks. I normally let Members who need to use Craigallan at short notice during a visit to Scotland to do so without booking if they cannot contact me in time. This helps with sudden weather or transport issues and there is normally space at the hut. However, the priority is to allow the charity to work with the Veterans without disturbance so, during the following dates Craigallan is not available for un-booked “drop ins” and no other bookings will be taken. Craigallan is not available on the following nights: Monday 4 to Thursday 7 August (Friday night, 8 August is ok as usual) Monday 15 to Thursday 18 September (Friday 19 and Saturday 20 are also fully booked by another group) I will leave a notice in the outside[…]

Clive Lane

6th July 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets

Carole Smithies writes: Regret to say that Clive Lane died on the 6th June; his funeral took place on the 30th June. Clive became a Rucksacker on the 1st January 2021, when the Liverpool based Anabasis MC merged with the Rucksack Club.

On the Hill with … Peter Edgerton

3rd July 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets, On the hill with

Welcome to “On the hill with…” a short interview with (current vice president) Peter Edgerton! How did you get into walking and climbing? A teacher at school, as is so often the case, took us out in the sixth form onto the local hills around Bury during our sports afternoon and one year helped us to arrange a trip around the Lake District in winter conditions which was a memorable experience. I had a school friend who did climbing and caving but a few days with him seemed to be about cold and discomfort! It was sometime later after university that a student friend got me out to climb at Froggatt as well as taking me on a trip to the Cairngorms for Munro bagging in some superb weather one Easter. I was well and truly bitten by the bug by this stage and started to do more trips with him, subsequently being introduced to Ski Mountaineering. Waiting for the Fuente De cable car with RC members Tony Cuddy, Gerry Goldsmith and Mary Edgerton Who has had the most influence on your mountain experiences? Lots of people stand out as being influential in my love of the hills and the[…]

A dip into the Club Journals 1965: Turkey and Persia by Basil Goodfellow

30th June 2025 Tim Taylor Classic Journal Articles, Featured Meets

Welcome to the half year dip into the archive of club journals, this month 1965. The journal gives a concentrated selection to choose from. Two fine alpine seasons: Richard Harris on the South Ridge of the Aguille Noire de Peuterey, enchained with the East Face of the Grand Capucin; Bill Bowker warmed up on the Cassin Route on the Cima Ovest in a day, before an ascent of the South West (Bonatti) Pillar of the Petit Dru. Philip Brockbank enthuses on the attractions of Moorland Plateaux. Tony Moulam wites on his start in climbing, much with Peter Harding. Rod Wilson submits his paper on numeric grades, the beginning of modern grading. And another landmark, the club decides to buy a barn in the Lake District, to become the High Moss hut. “The June Club Night was used as an Extraordinary General Meeting to consider the proposed purchase of the High Moss Barn. There was much talking, both for and against, and good points were produced by both sides, but it was obviously felt that over 30 years was long enough to search for a hut in the Lake District and the proposal was finally carried.” However, my choice is Basil[…]

July Meets

29th June 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets

The Meetstaff Editor writes: Our fabulous Dunnerdale hut, High Moss, features strongly in the Club’s programme for this July (see photo by Mark Baron): We begin the month (4-6th) with a family-friendly climbing weekend at High Moss Then we have a day walk (12th) traversing the Derbyshire moors, visiting cabins along the way (20 miles with 1000m+ of ascent) It’s back to High Moss over the weekend of 18th-20th for a family meet. And we end the month (25th-27th) at… High Moss! But this time it’s for an Arts Meet, reviving and broadening a past fixture in the calendar from painting to whatever artistic endeavour inspires our members – perhaps writing, music, acting, crafts, baking, knitting….

The Journal

26th June 2025 Tim Taylor Featured Meets

Neil Goldsmith, the journal editor, writes: As prime holiday time approaches remember the Journal needs you to contribute. Reports of your trips and exploits written whilst they are fresh in the mind are required. Photos should be the highest resolution possible please. If you want to make the front or back cover, portrait format is best. Remember, the Journal is part of the record of the Club’s activies and provides a valuable reference for future generations. Contributions by December please. Neil