Category: Member Posts

After Andy Stewart’s recent Indoor Meet and last weekend’s Annual Dinner, I reckon we’ve sold 50 or so calendars to Members. That leaves about 500 Members of the Club who haven’t got one yet! So – come on, get yourself a calendar. They are available for £10 at various climbing walls up and down the land, but if you can’t get to those, simply transfer £12 (includes £2 postage) to the Rucksack Club Community account (account number 40599913, sort code 20 55 41) then email me (billdeakin@yahoo.com), and I’ll put one in the post to you. Not only will you be supporting Climbers Against Cancer (because every penny of that £10 goes to them), you will be able to look at at what Club Members were up to in 2025. Plus – all next year’s Meets are shown, so you will have no excuse for not ‘Getting Out There’! Looking forward to being inundated with your requests!

On 8th November – the Annual Dinner weekend – I have arranged walks of varying length on the magnificent and mysterious Ilkley/Rombalts/Burley moors (don’t forget your hat!).  The walk(s) are not just for dinner attendees, feel free to come along as any normal Rucksack Club meet. The start of the Ilkley Moor walk(s) has changed to the White Wells car park (free) off Wells Road, Ilkley: SE115470  What3words: thumbnail.breakfast.helpful  There is lots of parking on the lane there as well if needed. For dinner attendees it’s the same 35min drive from the hotel. Start time is 10:00. This change of car park is due to the Burley Moor Run (fell race) which goes over the east part of the moor on Saturday but will be long gone by the time we get there. So, the routes (A, B & C) now run anticlockwise and can be summarised as: A: 14.5 miles. 3 trig points, 3 Stanza stones, an ancient cross, a stone circle, various carved stones/crags and a Georgian spa pool. Coordinators Ian H/Andy L. B: 10 miles. 2 trig points, 2 Stanza stones, an ancient cross, a stone circle, various carved stones/crags and a Georgian spa pool. Coordinators Gwyn[…]

Thanks to everyone who came last night (or watched on Zoom) and contributed to Tessa Palmer’s Gofundme for Dave. Gareth informs me that we raised several hundred pounds through raffle tickets and donations. CAC Calendars were selling like hot cakes courtesy of Bill. They will be available at the dinner this weekend.

Due to a cancellation, High Moss is now available this coming weekend. Cheers, Karen

Just a reminder that I will be bringing some 2026 Calendars and a selection of Climbers Against Cancer merchandise to the Meet next Tuesday. Calendars are £10 each and every penny goes to CAC. If you can’t make the Meet or the Dinner on the 8th, I can post a calendar to you – send £12 to the Beudy account (40599913, sort code 20 55 41) and I’ll sort it out. Thanks. Bill

Following on from Dominic’s post, , if you are unable to pick a calendar up at the Dinner or any of the Indoor Meets, you can obtain one from the CAC online shop or from me, via Royal mail. P&P are the same, whichever you choose – £2. Up to you. If you want one from me, send £12 to Barclays Bank Ltd, sort code 20 55 41, account number 40599913, account name The Rucksack Club Ltd. I’ll get it to you. Thanks.

The note below recently appeared in Meetstaff, but I have updated it slightly and attached the link to the original article in the 1927 RCJ.   The Outdoor Organiser, rather cunningly I thought, contacted me recently to enquire if I realised that the first ever Colne-Rowsley was completed sometime in 1926. I certainly did not, but immediately found myself reaching to the shelf for the relevant Journal, which strangely turns out to be the 1927 edition. On page 113 under ‘Climbs and Excursions’ (link here) there is a wonderful account of the first crossing of this epic walk. It is well worth a read and therefore I don’t intend spoiling your pleasure by reciting many details here, but in summary a walk of this length had never been attempted by the Club before, so it was unknown territory.  The maps of the time were basic and there were hardly any tracks or trails to follow across the moors. Due to work requirements on Saturday mornings they only managed to arrive by train in Colne at 4.15pm, therefore walking almost immediately into a long night. After a mixture of trials, tribulations, very sore feet, and one drop out at Hathersage, two[…]