Category: Featured Meets

OPENING OF CRAIGALLAN FROM APRIL 2021 John Patrick writes: I am pleased to be in a position to take bookings again from Rucksack Club Members wishing to use Craigallan.  Members who intend to make a booking must agree to comply with the: Risk Assessment and; Conditions of Use, which are available on the website (click on the document name to open it).  My understanding of the latest Scottish Government regulations, and including Rucksack Club decisions, allows for the following: From 26 April: One household up to four people. From 17 May: One booking for up to two households known to and trusted by each other with up to four people.  Children (probably under 12) may also be allowed in addition but I await clarification on this. From Early June: As above with an increase to six people. CAMPERVANS From 26 April: Up to three self-contained vans with no access to the hut.  Maximum six people in total. From Early June: Maximum total number of people in three campervans increases to eight. These regulations may change and we will respond with further easing if allowed.  The situation beyond June in Scotland is very unclear at the moment and I can find[…]

As noted in my previous Post about organised Meets recommencing, I am coordinating a walking Meet [of around 16mls] in the western Peak on Easter Saturday [3rd April 2021]. The full details are held in the Members Only Documents area of the Website, which can be accessed here. Please note you will need to be logged in to access this information. The Meet information is in Document 5 [One Day Meets – Walking & Climbing], but please also read the other 4 Documents] As it is likely to be very busy, I propose starting at 08.30 and limit the numbers attending to 12 on this occasion [first come first serve basis]. If you would like to join me, please contact me by email or mobile phone as in the full details. Andy Tomlinson 

Good news…organised outdoor meets are recommencing in England. The Committee have agreed that organised single day Club Meets should recommence from March 29th with up to 20 participants. BMC Guidance based on Government policy must be followed. This does bring its challenges, but I hope that it also brings significant benefits to Members and Associate Members. I intend to run a Meet in the western Peak on Easter Saturday with numbers restricted to 12 given this is likely to be a very busy weekend [details to follow before 31st March]. Members of the Committee have worked very hard to develop detailed guidance; information on the meets available will be added as members volunteer to co-ordinate a meet. You will need to be logged in to access this information as it is held within the Members Only Documents area of the Website, which can be accessed here. Ad hoc ‘Rule of 6’ mini-meets are also permitted and we imagine that members are likely to take advantage of these too, although they are out-with the Club organised Meets. Log in and check the Members Only Documents area for regular updates on organised day meets close to your locality…we encourage members to stay[…]

Lyn Noble adds some reminiscences of Doug Scott from their formative days … Here are a few much earlier memories of Doug.  We first met as students at Loughborough College. He was training to be a PE teacher.  I was a “chippy” (trainee craft teacher).  We did the usual sort of stuff, bivvying in the heather above Gardoms and waking (if we ever slept) covered in frost then on to the old classics.  Most of the time Doug climbed with is Nottingham mates whilst I teamed up with Colin Mortlock and other college pals.  However once a year we joined forces for a bit of indoor aid climbing.  The Victory Hall at Loughborough was a massive, grim building with steel rafters in the roof… more like a hanger than a sports hall and doubling up as an examination room.  Forty feet above the desks and chairs were the rafters, perfect nesting places  and ideal for bombing exam papers.  Although most of the college staff and students had little idea what climbers got up to Doug and I were seen as a convenient and cheap way of evicting the birds.  We had great fun and cleared out one or two nests[…]

David Nightingale has shared his personal reminiscences of Doug scott in this excellent article: DOUG SCOTT – some personal reminiscences by David Nightingale Note: you will need to be logged-in to the site to see this content.

Welcome to the March Update. We had a lively ‘Zoom’ Committee meeting at the end of February and following on from this there are three things to highlight: Social Media: thanks to the hard work of four new committee members, we launched a new Club Instagram page and updated our public Facebook page on March 1st. We hope that by using these platforms to share photos and information about club activities it will make it easier for people to discover, and get involved with, the Club. You can help our social media presence by following either of these pages if you are already on Facebook or Instagram. Alternatively, you can find us on both at The Rucksack Club, or via the links on the Home Page of the website. Please tag/hashtag us in your posts on Instagram. If you have any photographs that you would be happy for us to share please email them over via Photos@rucksackclub.org and please include some information about the photos. Covid-19: On 22nd February the government published its plan on how it hopes England will exit lockdown and the restrictions that have limited activities over the past year. It outlines how life could get back to normal and the[…]

I plan to Post a brief update of RC related information/activities at the beginning of each month [ideally a bit earlier than this one!]. There are three things I would like to highlight this month:  Firstly, a very warm welcome is extended to all former Anabasis Mountaineering Club [AMC] members who have now joined the Rucksack Club. The AMC decided to dissolve after 60 years of activity as a result of losing the tenancy on their hut in Snowdonia. They approached the Rucksack Club to discuss whether their members could join us and I am delighted to say that our Committee and AGM approved this transfer. The last few months must have been very difficult for the Anabasis membership, but we hope they enjoy their new found home.  RC members will have noticed that they have not yet received the 2021 Handbook, which is normally published about now. We decided to hold back on its publication so that we could include as many ex-Anabasis members’ details as possible, which our Secretary and Membership Secretary are currently working on. Our aim is to get the Handbook to all members by Easter, which will almost certainly be before any form of Meet[…]