SandyBrook
knowlegable brummie
Following on from the photo of the BAI building I'm hoping someone will have memories or pictures from the mountaineering courses from the 1960s.
Ive found a brief mention that after a few years these spun off into the formation of the Mercian Mountaineering Club but can't find anything else..
I did a course round about 1964 or 5 and can remember that we did an evening once per week with either instruction on map reading etc and more practical things like practicing rope work by climbing up and down the open 3 floor stairwell using the little bits of tread outside the balustrades.
There were also weekend trips to Wales with a pick up from the Hall of Memory on a Friday evening and return on the Sunday. I recall that the first trip I went on the driver turned up with a brand new coach and was not happy to have a load of slightly scruffy climbers with rucksacks on board his pride and joy.
That first trip I had never been to Wales before and the magic of arriving in the pitch dark to see so many stars was added the next morning by coming out of the youth hostel to a brilliant blue sky and seeing peaks soaring up all around.
I think it was this trip that saw us part way up a scramble ( I.e. You needed to use hands as well as feet) called Bristly Ridge on Remembrance Sunday and we all stopped for the silence at 11 am. As a teenager it was something I'd never really thought about before but have always done since.
Hope this will stir someone else's memories.
Best Regards
Sandy
Ive found a brief mention that after a few years these spun off into the formation of the Mercian Mountaineering Club but can't find anything else..
I did a course round about 1964 or 5 and can remember that we did an evening once per week with either instruction on map reading etc and more practical things like practicing rope work by climbing up and down the open 3 floor stairwell using the little bits of tread outside the balustrades.
There were also weekend trips to Wales with a pick up from the Hall of Memory on a Friday evening and return on the Sunday. I recall that the first trip I went on the driver turned up with a brand new coach and was not happy to have a load of slightly scruffy climbers with rucksacks on board his pride and joy.
That first trip I had never been to Wales before and the magic of arriving in the pitch dark to see so many stars was added the next morning by coming out of the youth hostel to a brilliant blue sky and seeing peaks soaring up all around.
I think it was this trip that saw us part way up a scramble ( I.e. You needed to use hands as well as feet) called Bristly Ridge on Remembrance Sunday and we all stopped for the silence at 11 am. As a teenager it was something I'd never really thought about before but have always done since.
Hope this will stir someone else's memories.
Best Regards
Sandy