CMC Newsletter July 2024

Upcoming Club Events

• • Scafell/Wasdale Meet: July 28th
  • Carlisle Club Hut, Newlands Valley: August 9th-11th

Keep up to date via the club’s Faceache Group!

Notes From the Newsletter Editor

Once again we have some sad news to report with the death of Phil Wilkinson. Phil had been ill for quite some time with prolonged stays in hospital but his determination to carry on and enjoy life was inspiring. He had only recently bought an electric bike so he could get out more easily. There are some nice tributes to Phil below.

Funeral details – Wednesday 31st July 11.40am at Carlisle Crematorium

 

Tributes to Phil Wilkinson

John Holden: Reflects on Phil’s climbing journey and personal impact.

Sue Greenwood: Shares memories of Phil’s adventures and determination.

Bob Bennett: Remembers Phil’s enthusiasm and resilience despite illness.

 

 

A Quiet Man – Phil Wilkinson by John Holden

I started climbing in 1970, at the tender age of 19, when I went to teacher training college in Matlock, so had a good grounding of gritstone climbing in The Peak and enjoyed weekends away with the college club to Wales and The Lakes, giving me a good grounding in cragging
and mountain rock. I built on this experience as I moved into work, marriage and family extending my experience to Scotland, sport climbing in Spain and climbing in The Magic Isles of Lofoten.

So it was that by the time we moved to Cumbria in 2003, thankyou Deb, I was an experienced if steady climber and joined the Carlisle Club in 2004. Throughout the 70’s I had been in awe of the exploits of the likes of Pete Botterill, Dave Armstrong and Pete Whillance but it
was to be when I started climbing with the club that I was to meet someone who was to become a personal hero of mine, Phil Wilkinson.

Unlike me Phil had started climbing relatively late in life and I think had recently done an introductory course in the company of Sue and Dave Greenwood, run by, I think, Alan Greig. Nevertheless, I was soon to partner up with Phil, at first passing on to him my experience on
the crags, but it wasn’t long before Phil was climbing much bolder stuff than me. He was also responsible later for introducing me to Scottish winter climbing, although I had first climbed ice here in The Lakes with Ray Cassidy.

As Phil’s skills developed new partners came along providing the back up for Phil’s insatiable desire for adventure. On top of his largely solo ascent of The Monroes he started to make regular trips to the Alps where, with Sue Greenwood he ascended many classic alpine climbs, a fantastic effort by them both, let’s just say that neither of them were spring chickens.

Phil was a quiet but determined chap who, in spite of his appearance ,had had a very adventurous youth, living (and legend has it, loving) in Greece for a number of years before being deported and spending time travelling around the Eastern Mediterranean. I believe
that at some time he was an architectural draughtsman and know that he was also an accomplished, if not very active, artist. However he will always be known as a reliable window cleaner, a job he continued to do along with his climbing until just a few weeks ago.

He passed his 74th birthday this year. In recent years Phil has suffered from a number of
illnesses that would have stopped others from climbing and work, but such was his resilience and determination he carried on, even recently with a feeding tube…..at the recent club meet at Peel Crag I’m told by Greg that he quietly sneaked off between routes to give himself a
feed via his tube.

As I think most of you now know he was found recently, sitting peacefully on his settee, passing away as quietly as he lived. He was a great guy and an inspiration and I will miss him personally. I’m sure there will be a quiet hole in future meets. Rest in peace, my hero.

Phil Wilkinson by Sue Greenwood

Can you see Phil? He has dismounted from his very new bike, started to climb his ladder, reached a good ledge, left the ladder behind and now he goes up step by careful step up the steep rocks, meticulous about protection, on his way to heaven. A man of faith in meditation, quiet, nervous,
kind, self effacing, conquering all the Wainwrights (did you know that as a boy he met Wainwright on the hills and responded to a challenge from the old man?) and Munroes.
He came to climbing in his early fifties which then became his all absorbing occupation. He gave me courage and I gave him confidence and trust to try some amazing adventures, here, Norway, the Alps, the Dolomites, and islands like Kalymnos. He tried to overcome his terrible illness last year and was determined to be active again. 10 days before I heard the sad news, he talked animatedly of the future. It is good that he died while expecting that new treatment would work and was living happily even though he was coping with problems. Still sad! Rest in peace Phil,
you will never be forgotten.

(n.b. Rae ) I was curious enough to ask Sue for more details about the challenge Wainwright had set Phil. This is the response –
The Wainwrights were not really all invented….only the 1st book was being printed. I think the challenge was something like completing a 2,000 ft mountain each month and sending him a log book when completed at the end of the year. Phil did that, complete with details of swims and
Mars Bars consumed, photos and sketches. Wainwright sent Phil’s father a signed edition of his 1st book with a lovely letter, which had a small oldish haversacked rambler drawn in it.

Phil Wilkinson by Bob Bennett

I first met Phil when I joined the CMC in 2009, then inseparable climbing companion of Sue Greenwood. We later met them in Benidorm in 2016, where they joined us at our hotel for Christmas dinner when we were both there on holiday and in 2017 Gill and I spent a week with them again in the Costa Blanca climbing and walking.

I had climbed with John Wilson for many years, but when Sue decided to give up climbing, Phil joined us both at Kendal Wall during the winter and out on the crags during the summer season. He brought with him some must needed enthusiasm for a couple of jaded old climbers who had “done it all”. We would set off for all sorts of venues such as Castleberg crag in Settle, the bolts at Wilton upper quarry, and the pleasant trad limestone crag in the same area, with the usual visits to Bram Crag Quarry, Castle Rock and various venues down Borrowdale usually not far from the car due to one member of the trio possessing ageing knees!

It was about a year ago that Phill developed problems with his hands and other symptoms which led to his hospitalisation. One of the many symptoms of the illness he suffered was a loss of swallow reflex which required him having to take all his nutrition through an external tube. Nevertheless, this did not inhibit his outdoor activities and we soon heard he had managed to climb Criffel our local hill in Dumfriesshire. He was also soon back on his job of window cleaning, and started to cycle again, rejoining us at the climbing wall and outside despite his obvious handicaps. The illness affected his breathing, and he lacked energy, but this did not deter him from coming along. Early this year, he mentioned that there was a chance he would
be able to swallow food again which was obviously good news.

It therefore came as a great shock to hear of his death. A trip out with Phil, playing his beloved sixties rock music in the car, along with his chatty friendliness and endless enthusiasm for climbing was the making of a good day. His quiet demeanour belied a person of depth and knowledge. His grit and determination in the way he dealt with his illness was to be admired. I shall miss him.

Trip Reports

Cycling and Climbing in Provence and Ariege: Dorine Tinnion recounts a van trip celebrating Mike’s retirement.

Year in Brief: Rae McNab summarizes the year’s activities, including trips to Morocco, the Peak District, and Arran.

Velo et Grimper en Provence et Ariege by Dorine Tinnion

Mike retiring after 50years hard labour was the catalyst to celebrate with a van trip to Catalonia, and Provence, essentially cycling, but with a little sport climbing as we slowly make a comeback! Having an ebike allows me to do some big climbs and epic rides, matching our abilities as Mike actually enjoys suffering on climbs and is pretty fit on a bike. The Garrotxa region of Catalonia , volcanic hills somewhat off the beaten track, aromatic and steeped in history. Notable cycling was Roquacorba for Mike and we loved the epic gravel rides from Sadernes, where we spotted superhero climbing similar to Gordale but with sun! The 12th C Pont de Llierca is next to the exquisite Camping Montagut with Hoopoes, exotic butterflies, pine martens and Nightjars chirring through the evening.

Onwards, through the Pyrenees to the French side simply to visit our favourite crag at Appy in the Ariege. Camping de ferme at Lordat, overlooking a Cathar Castle nearby, was our base for a couple of nights. Cycling to the crag with the heavy gear in my panniers was a joy, until Mike had to shoulder it to the crag! Basking in the sun, overlooking snowy mountains in the distance, as we climbed several classic 4c lines and Mike a 5c was heavenly.

Our next stop was old time favourite Buis les Barronies, where we camped at the municipal site, still good despite the cramped pitches. This historical town is a great centre for climbing and definitely cycling and also sports an epic Via Ferrata overlooking the campsite.

We climbed at Baume Rousse with Murmoroa 4+ being our favourite route. St. Julien is also on the doorstep but difficult to find shade on – thankfully only to Mike!

 

 

 

The cycling in Provence is sensational, the fragrant patchwork of vines, olives, lavender and fruit in the valleys, dominated by Ventoux and connected by dramatic rocky gorges.

 

 

Onwards to Orpierre, styled rightly as ‘the climbing village’ but also authentically French with little English spoken and boules a permanent fixture. Here is a wonderful arc of crags surrounding the village Chateau, Cascade and Belleric being dwarfed by Quiquillion, which sports the magnificent multipitch routes including Brazil 5c+, recommended to us by Phil Wilkinson – next time Phil! Camping des Princes d’Orange with magnificent views of the crags allows you to park the car for the week, with many crags in easy walking distance and some maybe an hour’s walk. En route is a boulangerie and market, also an UCPA and a couple of bar/restaurants handily situated for post climb beers. We climbed at Chateau and Ardreche, upping our game to 5’s! I said we were getting there slowly – French fives though, not namby-pamby Kalymnos grades 😉 haha. We discovered Orpierre many years ago, escaping from cold wet weather in the Ecrins and it is a quite different mediteranean type climate and would be a great venue for a club meet. As well as the extensive climbing, the cycling is awesome including the Gorge de Meouge, Col St Jean and Col de Perty, walking and swimming popular too.

I hope to have given a flavour of our trip and the regions, and yes it is glorious being retired, it’s been a long time coming, and going off for weeks on end – I think we deserve it!!

The year in brief so far – Rae McNab

The year started full of promise, a good few of us had been training enthusiastically over winter at Penrith Wall or Eden Rock in the evenings and Kendal Wall at weekends, but that came to an abrupt halt with the closure of the main hall on 13th April for refurbishment. However Spring had arrived with some decent days to be had.

Before that at the beginning of April there was another trip to Morocco for a group including Tony Morley, Dave Ferguson, Dave Armstrong and Charlie Booth, where there appears to have been mixed weather, to start with enough heavy rain for a large waterfall to develop before the sun did it’s thing and drove the climbers off in search of shade. The crags look pretty amazing but I don’t think the routes are for softies.

Ian Armstrong took the opportunity to stay with climbing friends now living in Spain and was kind enough to take my rock shoes with him to be resoled. These were eventually posted back to the UK with the best resole I have ever had for only £30 and that included postage. Thankyou Ian.

The Peak meet was pretty lively in blue sky and sunshine. Thorpe Farm is always a good place to stay and it looks like Dan’s Chilli went down well with everyone.

The club meet on Arran was a new venue for this year, camping at Glen Rosa (how were the midgies?). After a 2.5 hour walk in to the crag the team climbed West Flank Route which appears to have had some very strange moves on the chimney! I expect there must have been another 2.5 hour walk back out again, so I was surprised to hear tales of Tony Morley having another long walk the next day in his Crocs after getting lost on the way back from the showers!

Tony also managed a trip with some other climbing friends to Mingulay, but I believe the weather wasn’t very forgiving but it resulted in a bit of sheltered climbing and some lovely photos of Puffins. I have been trying to persuade Tony to write some articles but so far it is falling on deaf ears – even when I have him captive in the car on the way to Kendal!

Evening meets started off quite well with good turn outs at Kings Meaburn, Castle Rock and Quayfoot but the weather seems to have spoilt most other nights as far as I can tell from Facebook posts anyway.
Personally the only day climbing I’ve had in the Lakes this year was a very enjoyable visit to Sunny Pike on the 11th May. I was actually away in the Lakes testing my little motorhome was working well after being off the road over winter. I was lucky enough to have stayed the night in the car park on Kirkstone Pass when there was the best Aurora display for years. I have always wanted to experience them and was very excited to be able to actually see them slightly with the naked eye but even better through my phone camera. Sadly I didn’t have a decent camera with me to get very sharp images but I was still pleased with those I got and the memory will last me a lifetime.
I’d seen on Facebook that some members were heading to the Duddon Valley but I hadn’t brought any climbing
kit with me. Dorine came to the rescue and being similar size managed to supply a harness, helmet and
rock shoes for me. We arranged to meet at Elterwater, of course I was late as the Google maps estimation of time was somewhat different to the reality of driving a 24 year old motorhome on narrow twisty roads. The team were champing at the bit and I’m sure we left rubber on the road as we headed off down Langdale.
It’s a good job somebody knew the way as I had no idea where I was going, but we eventually arrived at a good parking spot and a relatively easy walk in to the crag as the Bracken hadn’t grown up yet, it may not be so easy later in the year. I think the hardest part was crawling under a fence as Mike Tinnion being the tallest found out, much to everyone’s amusement.

There were a couple of folk already there who must have looked on in despair as the CMC mob arrived to
shatter their peace, I think there were 8 of us. The crag isn’t tall, ranging from about 8m to 25m but it faces south and on a good spring day it was just what we needed. The routes range from Diff to one at E2 so a good variety to get started on. I can’t remember the names of the routes we climbed as I didn’t have a new guide book with me but they were all on good rock.
A visit to a suitable local hostelry was in order before the drive home, where we enjoyed plates full of chips to keep us going. A grand day out and a crag I would happily visit again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to those who have provided tributes for Phil Wilkinson, and to Dorine for her article on the Spain and France trip. It would be greatly appreciated if others could provide me with something for future newsletters.