Wear & Gear Exhibition
On Fell and Rock...
The
first people to use the hills and rocks for pleasure were university students.
In the late Nineteenth Century they came to study but stayed to climb. They
developed mountaineering skills and wrote enthusiastically about their
discoveries.
In the past hundred years access to the hills has got easier, people have more leisure time and spare money to spend on hobbies. The number of people walking and climbing has increased dramatically but for the pioneer and the 21st century walker/climber the pleasure remains the same, the thrill of exploration, the freedom and the sense of achievement.
The main changes have probably been in the development of specialist clothing and equipment and an increased interest in safety. Clothing in particular has come full circle from being leisure wear for mountaineering to mountaineering wear for leisure.
Guide Books...
‘…sixteen miles of excellent mountain road, furnishes much amusement to the traveller. If the season be rainy...all the possible variety of cascades...are seen in this ride…’ - Thomas West, A Guide to the Lakes, 1796
Guides to the Lakes were first published in the late Eighteenth Century. These early guides were mainly aimed at tourists who wanted to see all the best views from the comfort of their horse drawn carriage. No writer expected their readers to walk any distance.
Gradually tourists began to want to explore the high fells. From the mid-Nineteenth Century many guides included route maps and advice on hiring ponies. Tourists were still not expected to walk to the top.
By the 1880’s walking and climbing were becoming more popular and there was an increasing demand for detailed guides. The needs of climbers were met by the Fell and Rock Cimbing Club who started publishing climbing guides in the 1920s. For walkers there was first Poucher’s guide, then in 1955 the Wainwright guides started to be published with descriptions of every feasible route to the tops. Today there are hundreds of guides written to help every type of walker and to cover almost every route .
Maps...
The early tourists relied on local people to guide them on the fells. Gradually detailed guide books supported by accurate maps made independent exploration possible.
The Lake District was first mapped by the Ordnance Survey between 1856 and 1865. The 1”:1 mile country maps and the hill maps were issued from the 1870s and the ‘Popular Series’ 1” maps from 1912. These were used by walkers until the more detailed 2˝”:1 mile (now 1:25,000) became generally available from the 1960s.
Alfred Wainwright favoured the 6”: 1 mile (1:10,000) when he was doing his detailed surveys of the fells.
Wear...
‘Our tweeds—there were no anoraks or waterproofs in those days—were freezing on our bodies and we could see nothing at all.’ A Harry Griffin, The Coniston Tigers, 2000
Nineteenth Century climbers and mountaineers wore their usual leisure clothes of tweed jackets, woollen shirts, plus-fours, woollen socks and a deer stalker hat. As the number of people involved in climbing grew clothing became more casual. Many people found that old clothes were ideal for climbing on abrasive rock.
Post war mountaineers still favoured natural fibres, woollen stockings, ‘moleskin’ (smooth cotton) breeches and Ventile (a closely woven waterproof cotton cloth) jackets. Great changes have taken place in the last thirty years and the new clothes are almost entirely made from synthetic fibres. Special fabrics have been designed to ‘wick away sweat’, to maintain warmth without bulk and especially to be waterproof but breathable.
Many of these fabrics are now used in leisure wear worn well away from Fell and Rock, indeed fleece has moved from cosy jackets to designer wear.
Gear...
‘Axes should be kept in any room in which no fire is lighted, and should have as much attention paid to their keep as a favourite cricket bat.’ - C. T. Dent, Mountaineering, 1892
The first climbers and walkers in the Lake District had only very basic equipment. The poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge had a besom stick and an oilskin in a net bag. Early Victorian climbers adopted equipment that was being used in the Alps. Many carried a long handled ice-axe and a fell pole but the later could be dangerously inconvenient on steep rocky climbs.
By the 1930s there had been some developments, particularly in footwear. As climbing on sloping rock replaced standing on obvious ledges, boots gave way to ‘rubbers’ and then to thin soled rock boots. Similarly as steep ice became the challenge new crampons were developed with sharp pointed fronts. Today equipment has become a matter of science and precise design.
Boots...
‘Shoes, soles at least half an inch thick –the upper leather three-quarter galoshed. Nails of tempered steel must be provided, the point screws; their heads near half inch diameter, must be cut in the form of a square pyramid…’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Collected Letters.
The early climbers used traditional nailed boots. Over the years nailing patterns became of great interest, some for climbing rock, others for general walking. Today a range of boots are made, each for a different use, from winter mountaineering to technical rock climbing. The modern mountain boots weigh much the same as the early nailed boots but have much more padding and need fewer layers of socks for comfort.
Climbing Napes Needle...
‘The Needle is indeed a fine fellow as rocks go - just the sort of ornament for one’s back garden in town, a gymnasium in itself. It has many admirers.’ - Owen Glynn Jones, Rock Climbing In the English Lake District, 1900
Part of the Napes range on Great Gable, Napes Needle was first climbed by William Haskett-Smith in 1886. Soon the Needle was one of the most popular climbs in the Lake District. In 1910 George Abraham reported that the climb had become more difficult due to the foot holds becoming worn and smooth.
There are better climbs on neighbouring crags on Great Gable but Napes Needle is popular, partly because of the varied routes on the lower sections and partly because it is so photogenic.
Most Lake District rock climbers have climbed the Needle at some time. Bobby Files (Fell and Rock President 1966-1969) acted as a guide on the Needle and holds the record for the number of ascents.
Grading Climbs...
Climbs are graded according to their difficulty;
Moderate, Difficult, Difficult (hard), Very Difficult, Very Difficult (hard), Severe (mild), Severe, Severe (hard), Very Severe (mild), Very Severe, Very Severe (hard), Extremely Severe.
The Extremely Severe grade is further divided into E1, E2 to E9 grades. Climbers give names to individual climbs, some are descriptive, others romantic or commemorative. The Crawley Route, Eagles Corner, Tricouni Rib and Alligator Crawl, are on Napes Needle and its neighbour Napes Ridge.
Ice...
Mountain Rescue...
‘...we were afraid of being bewildered in the mists till the Darkness should overtake us –we were long before we knew that we were in the right track….’ Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journals, January 1802
Rescues have been taking place as long as people have been walking and climbing in the hills. The earliest rescues were by local farmers, later helped by other climbers who were staying near by.
Formal Mountain Rescue teams were formed in Keswick and in Coniston in the 1940s. In the 1950s an informal team operated from the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, Langdale and in the 1960s another team worked from the St Johns Ambulance Brigade Hut in Ambleside. In the 1970s the Langdale and Ambleside teams amalgamated and they are now the busiest team in the area. Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue has over forty members who are skilled in first aid, climbing and rapid response to emergencies. All members of the team are volunteers and the service is entirely funded by gifts and donations.
Safety On The Hills...
The Mountain Rescue team don’t want to have to rescue you and you don’t want to be rescued - so
BE PREPARED - Get a reliable local weather forecast (017687 75757)
- Take with you - a relevant map, a compass and make sure you can use it
- Learn some First aid - carry a First aid kit
- Don’t go hungry carry enough food for the trip plus a bit extra (chocolate, nuts, mint-cake), take plenty to drink (not alcohol)
- Keep warm and Dry - take waterproofs, spare warm clothes, hat and gloves, sun hat in summer
- Plan for the unexpected - carry a torch, whistle and a survival bag
If It All Goes Wrong...
Don’t Panic
- If it is a medical emergency dial 999 on your mobile phone or send someone (two people if possible) to the nearest phone, leaving at least one person with the casualty.-make sure you know exactly where the casualty is, preferably with a six figure grid reference.
-stay by the phone, the Mountain Rescue Team will phone back
Or
If you are lost; Think, - Are you really lost? If you continue but end up in the wrong place is it the end of the world? Can you get yourself out of this? If you can’t manage then work out your grid reference and dial 999 as above. The rescue could take a long time and involve a lot of people. A helicopter will not miraculously appear and whisk you to safety but you will be rescued.