May 1972 - A Trip to Mull

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I've been scanning slides of a 1980 visit to the island of Mull, but before posting that entry I noticed these pictures from a visit in May 1972. This was probably my second visit to the island, the first being a year earlier during the solo trip described here.

Anyway, I think I'd spotted a place to camp near Tobermory the previous year when I'd stayed in the Youth Hostel. This time I was with John Clark and Roger Freeman, travelling in my green Mini, BVN 406B, that would be my principal means of transport for the next five years or so.

Our campsite was next to the path leading from Tobermory to the lighthouse at Rubha nan Gall, in the vicinity of Rubha na Leip, around NM 511 557, just above the high tide mark. It's pictured above; high tide reached to within inches of the tents..

It seems that we encountered this waterfall en route to Tobermory.

Our accommodation appears to have been a Blacks Good Companion tent with a giant flysheet, and by this time I had purchased my first Vango tent, one of the early Mk4 versions.

It really is (was) a fine place to camp, just a few minutes walk from the fleshpots of Tobermory. Roger climbed a tree for a better view. He encompassed the Spirit of Adventure in those days.

Without the benefit of a diary, I can't remember what we did. We may have gone up Ben More, but I doubt it. We certainly did drive around to Lochbuie, where the next picture was taken.

Camp was set up near Bunessan, just above a wonderful sandy beach.

Rather than go for a walk, my companions preferred to exercise their vast engineering skills by creating complex waterways on the beach.

Our campsite can just be made out in the centre of the next picture.

Bunessan is close to Iona, and the last day of our trip was spent on a visit to that island, the prospect of which appears to have Roger jumping for joy!

I think the next (last) four pictures in this sequence were taken on Iona, where we spent a whole day before returning home.

Next up - the 1980 trip to Mull that marked the start of our 'diary' records. We also visited the island in 1979 (and maybe other years in the 1970s) but I haven't got to those pictures yet.

Saturday 28 February 1970 - A Walk in the Glyders

Today's posting was inspired by an email received yesterday from Neil Barrass, entitled "We are the 'old days'!" Neil provided a link to a wonderful old (1948) film entitled 'Youth on the Hills'. What he found striking was the similarity between the equipment used in 1948 and that which we were using in the early 1970s, and he appended one of my photos from that era by way of illustration.

The photo concerned was taken on 28 February 1970 during a Tech Domski Hiking and Hostelling Club (TDHHC) weekend at Idwal Cottage YHA. This may have been my first visit to Idwal Cottage, and a version of the Saturday walk over the Glyders has become one of my favourite excursions, walked many times over the years, and not always without incident (as, for example, described here!).

I have a recollection of arriving at the hostel and being directed to a dormitory that may have been in an outhouse. I do recall being on the top bunk. It was a long way down. The bunks were in three tiers!

Anyway, my archives have jogged the memory of an excellent weekend in good company. Very few pictures were taken on my old Zorki 4 camera, and a scan of the negatives may produce better results than these scans of the photos, but given they are from over 50 years ago, and the negatives are not immediately to hand, so please bear with me.

Who were all these people gathered at a sheltered point on the Glyder plateau?

Well, from left to right: Kate Thompson (sitting), Roddy Burns, Gaspar Sanvicens, Howard Gee (RIP), Gary Beighton, Kev Hall, Neil Barrass and Pete Palmer.

Below, at the time I captioned this photo as 'Steeper than it looks'. 'Gas' is in the lead, with (L to R) Roddy, Mike Hope, and far right in the background - Gary Beighton and John Clark.

There was an impressive amount of frost on the summit pinnacles, below which Gas is posing.

I'm not sure which route we took, maybe Neil will remember, but there's certainly not an ice axe or a crampon in sight.

Glissading is good, but safer with an axe, and the enthusiasts amongst us were soon equipped with wooden shafted ice axes that were very similar to those seen in the 1948 film. (I still have mine, and I have an even earlier war department axe made in Cannock that's very similar but has a longer shaft.)

 

Here's the photo that Neil used in his email to illustrate how winter gear may have changed. Ian Taylor is being followed by Howard Gee and Don Waye.

We had great fun, but the weather was cold. On getting back down we realised that Pete Palmer was suffering from exposure. It took some time to nurse him back to health, though unlike Sue's experience with a friend in the same place in the 1980s, no hospitalization was necessary. 

I can only find one picture from the following day - there are five more somewhere. We walked into Betws-y-Coed from Capel Curig, pausing for some time en route to make our mark on a beech tree.

Here's another picture from the early 1970s, showing our gear at the time.

From L to R: Beryl, Roger Freeman, John Clark, Roger's friend who drove around in a Morris Minor estate car with a corrugated roof * Stuart Mellanby, Gary Beighton, and me. I still have that anorak, which in its day completed about twenty Lyke Wake Walks (40 miles across the North Yorkshire Moors).

Whilst I've been writing this, ears must have been burning, as - not having heard from him for many months - a message from Roger with some photos attached popped up. This shows our garb in the mid 1970s, at a time when Hellyhansen and Henri-Lloyd moved into the outdoors market. They were specialists in sailing equipment and their non-breathable waterproofs for active walkers, who soon become drenched in sweat, was possibly a retrograde step.

I'm pictured above in my 'Helly', flanked by Roger, and Dave Scruby.

Another friend of ours, Mike Parsons, lived through all this and has recently co-authored 'Keeping Dry & Staying Warm', that I wrote about here. This is the place for you, if you have an interest in the technicalities.

Lots of good memories, also for my mother, who will enjoy reading about some old names that will 'ring bells' when she turns on her computer tomorrow.

Feel free to comment...

* I'm getting confused here - the chap with the Morris Minor was Richard Thompson. He's not in this picture - I think I have confused him with Stuart Mellanby, who came on a few trips. I now think the person on the right in the picture above is Dave Scruby, not John Mansell. Thanks to Roger for attempting to clarify this.

Easter 1972 - A Trip to Skye

 

Here's a trip with a few photos but no diary entry. I'll do my best to remember it, and Mike may provide some additional comments that I'll add later.

 

I'm pretty sure it was Easter 1972, and we probably travelled up to the Loch Lomond area on the Thursday or Friday. I'll assume Thursday. I would guess that the top picture was taken the following morning, 31 March, possibly at the Ardlui campsite by Loch Lomond.

 

My companion was my schoolmate Mike, who has appeared previously on these pages as 'Poor Michael', my hapless mate on the rather inclement TGO Challenge of 2011, and on an earlier 'training' walk in the Lake District. 

 

I think the next picture was probably taken looking back to the Ben More range, site of my first Munro 'bag' in 1968, from north of Crianlarich.

 

 

We were traveling in my first car, a 1964 Mini 850. I had it from 1971 to about 1976, and took the mileage from 30,000 to 100,000 before crashing it. At this point in 1972 the passenger floor leaked, so I'd waterproofed it using a unique blend of glass fibre and the old metal 'Marvel' tins. This worked a treat, but didn't stop the leak into the car. On this trip, Mike found the water level in his footwell steadily rising as we progressed north in the rain. Eventually he found a pan with which to bale out. Unfortunately the sliding window didn't open wide enough, and he managed to empty the pan all over himself. When I got home I drilled a hole in the floor of the car.

 

 

We headed north, through Glencoe.

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the War Memorial, and admired the view towards Ben Nevis.

 

 

By the time we reached Loch Cluanie, we were ready for a walk. So we headed up the Five Sisters ridge, aiming for Sgurr an Fhuarain.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't reach the summit, but it was a good walk in the mountains. Here's a panorama constructed from the last two images - a fine view - click on the image...

 

  

Then we headed onto Skye, and the single track road (most were single track then) to Glenbrittle, pausing on the way at a viewpoint.

 

 

The next day (Saturday?), I think we must have toured around on a dreich day, during which we undertook a short coastal walk and I took just one picture.

 

 

Then on Sunday we enjoyed a walk in the Cuillins, heading up Coire Lagan. We set off from where we were camped, at Glenbrittle. I think there were others in the party, whom we met up with at Glenbrittle, but I can't recall who they might have been.

 

 

Mike is on the left in the next picture, next to an unidentified friend.

 

 

We gradually worked our way up into Coire Lagan.

 

 

 

 

 

There were rocky views all around, but when we turned around we were still some way off reaching the ridge, which in the next picture is dominated by the In Pin.

 

 

Here, we are looking back down into Coire Lagan.

 

 

The next two pictures were taken in the direction of Sgurr Alasdair, with the Great Stone Shoot looking formidable.

 

 

 

Whilst I've been up that since, on this occasion we were happy to reverse our steps and head back to camp, from where I presume (in the absence of evidence to the contrary) we headed back home the following day, Monday, in time for work on Tuesday.

 

 

I must have dropped Mike off somewhere. Perhaps his memory is better than mine - I'll add his comments, if any, in due course.