NOTES AND NEWS

1. By THE PRESIDENT
2. The Yorkshire Ramblers Club Journal, Vol. vii, No. 25, 1949

 

 

By THE PRESIDENT

An Annual Report seems of necessity to be a somewhat formal document and the present one is probably no exception. The intention of these notes is to provide for members something more informative about their Club and its activities.

There has been a feeling, I think, particularly amongst Overseas Members that the Club has 'faded out'. I am glad to say categorically that the Club is not dead; it is not even dying; but it is understandable that members should be impatient for some visible signs of life and I trust they will sympathize with the reasons for the long silences now I hope to be broken. The unavoidable lapse of the Journal for five years may have contributed to this feeling though thanks to the efforts of the Committee in Delhi and particularly to its Honorary Secretary, Annual Reports were presented which covered the major activities of these years.

You all know, too, that during 1947 the growing shortage of members in Delhi made it impossible to continue with the work of the Club there and its headquarters was therefore transferred to Calcutta. The 1947 Journal gave hints on the impending change and the 1948 Journal, which is in active course of preparation, will I hope enlarge on subsequent events more fully. This is as it were an interim report as an earnest of better things to come.

To those of the 127 Founder Members who are still with us and who inaugurated the Club in February 1928, the change must have seemed a vital one. To them and to the many distinguished members who were associated with the Club in Simla or in Delhi until 1947 I would like to say that the present Committee are doing their utmost to continue the Club's traditions from a new headquarters and in changed circumstances.

Though nothing has appeared in print since the last Annual General Meeting a great deal of work has been done behind the scenes. The first and greatest difficulty to contend with appeared to be that of tracing members, and to judge from information received some members found equal difficulty in tracing the Club! It will be seen, however, from the Annual Report that the Club now has a permanent Calcutta address through which it can be reached. The Honorary Secretary, Bill Murphy, has had his hands full with the job of correcting addresses so please remember to send him details of any changes. The strength of the Club's membership is at present an unknown quantity, though it is believed to be not less than at the end of 1946 when it numbered 572. The exact number will only be known when the up-to-date Register is completed, which I hope will be by the end of this year for publication and issue with the next Annual Report.

The problem of finding accommodation for the Club in Calcutta has been a major one for a number of years. The Eastern Section equipment had to be moved from the offices of the Geological Survey of India during the war and has since, in turn, been housed in the Museum, in Fort William, and in a Boat House belonging to the Calcutta Rowing Club. In a state of sad deterioration, except for equipment brought personally from Delhi in 1948 by Brigadier Osmaston, it is now housed in a room which the Club has been able to rent from the Calcutta Light Horse Club in Park Street. The Library is also being installed there for the time being, at any rate this will be its headquarters.

The Committee have also had under active consideration a revision of the Club's Memorandum and Articles of Association to suit changed conditions. The need for this revision became clear when considering the necessity of applying through the High Court for transfer of the Club's Registered Office from Simla to Calcutta. The proposed revisions will, when ready, be put before members for their approval.

It is hoped by the end of this year to produce a Journal for 1948. Col. Tobin, who incidentally was the first Honorary Local Secretary of the Club in Darjeeling, has kindly consented again to undertake this arduous work in which he has the assistance of Mrs. Townend, another old member of the Club and a one time Vice-President. I regret the delay in publication of this volume for which the transfer of the Club's centre has largely been responsible. But the Editor has also to contend with a serious shortage of copy and he would be most grateful for any articles and photographs which members can produce, if not for the 1948 then for the 1949 Journal. Let it not be thought that articles must be long and of a technical nature to be of interest. In the editorial to the 1946 Journal the Editor expressed regret that there were so few articles of general or non- climbing interest about Himalayan matters, and notes on treks and expeditions, however brief, are of great value to the Club which endeavours to act as a clearing house for information of this sort. The Honorary Secretary would be glad to receive these, and also, with conditions changed as they have, information on regulations regarding access to any part of the Himalayas.

We have unfortunately lost touch as a club with many of the porters who at one time or another have accompanied members on treks and climbs, and the porters' register needs to be revived and brought up to date. Individual members have, however, I am fairly sure kept in contact with certain- Sherpas and information about them and their capabilities is greatly wanted.

We have recently bidden adieu to Rex Fawcus, our first President in Calcutta, and now we learn with regret that A. F. Clark, who for ten years was Assistant Treasurer and then Secretary of the Club for all but a year since 1941, is leaving India in September. We shall be most sorry to lose him and I must record what a help he has been in assisting the new Committee to take over. We have also lost the services of J. L. Bhatnagar who has looked after the Club's library since its foundation. The careful way in which the Club's valuable books have been looked after is due to him; and his final work for the Club was the supervision of packing up the books for transfer to Calcutta where they arrived in excellent shape.

Of visitors this year we record the arrival of H. W. Tilman and Peter Lloyd who are at present in Nepal. Frank Smythe was with us for a few days before leaving for Darjeeling where he became ill; his untimely death which occurred later in England is deeply regretted by the Club and by mountaineers throughout the world.

We have met members of the Swiss party who have just concluded a three months' sojourn in Sikkim and Nepal during which, having crossed from Sikkim into Nepal by the Kang La, they were successful in climbing Pyramid Peak from the Nepal side over the Sphinx. They were good enough on 13th August to show to the Club some excellent colour films of the 1947 expedition to Garhwal under the leadership of Andre Roch, and it is hoped that a fuller account of their recent climbs will be available for the Journal.

Looking through back numbers of the Journal one appreciates how much has been lost in contacts throughout this continent both in the official world and in the way of liaison on scientific subjects. I hope and believe that such contacts can be revived. We look forward also to a revival of expeditions from other countries who wish to visit the Himalayas. The Club will always be glad to assist them in any way possible and would welcome their advising us beforehand of their intention.

Reviewing the scene in this year of the coming-of-age of the Club I think we may fairly say that its vitality remains undiminished. Though at times it may have seemed to those connected with the Club here that necessary attention to administrative details was obscuring the wider objects of the Club, our aim still remains to encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through Science, Art, Literature, and Sport⁵.

 

 

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The Yorkshire Ramblers Club Journal, Vol. vii, No. 25, 1949

This is the first number of the Journal to appear since 1947. It is still under the editorship of E. E. Roberts who this year took part in further exploration of Irish caves notwithstanding a severe operation last summer.

H. G. Watts describes a ski-ing holiday at Wengernalp, R. E. Chadwick 'A First Visit to the Alps' (Zermatt District), and A. W. A. Matheson ‘A Summer Gamp in Lewis'. There are three articles on 'caving'. H. E. Stringers in 'Gyrene Underground' describes the extraordinary underground water-caverns (containing a Temple and Oracle of Apollo) in the Tocra-Derna area of North Africa, while Stembridge and Holmes each contribute an article on the explorations of the Irish Caverns. For Gritstone Crag climbers Stembridge provides an article, illustrated with route-diagrams, of Almscliff near Harrogate.

The editor's summary of efforts by various parties in Mere Gill puts into a form convenient for future reference the story of a complicated series of explorations. The idea is worth following up with further articles both on mountains and on caves, now that so many more people are interested in such matters: it is not easy to obtain a full series of back numbers of climbing journals for personal possession.

By the courtesy of the Craven Pot-Hole Club there is a very full story of 'Car Pot Break-through’ in this journal of a kindred club.

The editor's well-known feature 'Chippings' contains, as always, notes on odd but useful items. His article on Cave Exploration summarizes recent underground work, and does not confine itself to the Pennine area: brief mention is made of two caves near Cherrapunji in Assam, India.

W. Allsup

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