EXECUTIVE NEWS
HUTS NEWS
John Foster Retires
By Tom Webster
The Glen Brittle Memorial Hut was opened in 1965 and has been run by a management committee of volunteers who, whatever their length of service, always became very dedicated to the "ethos" of the hut which was built in memory of climbers killed in war.
John Foster joined the management committee in 1976 and in 1983 took over as Chairman, the fourth person to hold the post, and by far the longest serving. John was a happy choice. He had fallen in love with the Cuillin on first seeing the cliffs of Sron na Ciche and in 1971 had bought a croft at Sconser. As well as being a keen and active climber, he was a trained electrical engineer and could tackle most problems which arose in keeping the hut in good condition. He had been involved with climbing huts as a member of the Achille Ratti Climbing Club, particularly with a hut at Bethesda in North Wales, which he wardened for 18 years from 1966. His career as an electrical engineer with Manweb, a power company in NE England, and lecturing at Bolton Technical College, was interrupted by service in the RAF from 1955 to 1957 where he ended up as a member of the RAF Mountain Rescue Team at Valley in Angelsey.
As well as managing an enthusiastic team of committee members, John arranged successfully for all the hut maintenance, including a complete refurbishment of the kitchen, and the replacement of flammable wall and ceiling panels, doing much of the routine work himself.
The original site for the hut was in effect a gift from Dame Flora McLeod (strictly an annual feu of one shilling to be paid when requested. It never was). More recently John negotiated the purchase of additional land, now the car park, but was unable to obtain similar terms.
Despite a serious illness, John continued his major contribution to the running of the hut, but decided he would retire at the end of 2004 after 21 years of service. A celebration of the 40th anniversary of the opening of the hut was held in the hut in June, and John was presented with a painting by Jill Aldersley of Sron na Ciche by the new Chairperson, Ruth Payne.
New Pastures for Mike
As you will learn from the Access and Conservation pages of this issue, Mike Dales is leaving us for a new post with the Scottish Canoe Association. In fact, by the time you read this he will have been gone for several weeks. This is terrific news for the SCA but a great loss for us. We shall certainly miss Mike's input; he has a huge amount of experience, enthusiasm, talent and in depth knowledge of access and environmental matters. His efforts have been appreciated not only by ourselves but also by colleagues in other organisations, where his efforts on access legislation and conservation issues are highly regarded. We wish Mike a happy and fulfilling career with the SCA. I've no doubt that he'll enjoy the job, being a very keen paddler; he's just back from a kayaking trip to the Lofoten Islands. Lastly, a personal thanks from me to Mike for his support and advice during my time as Chair of the A&C Committee.
Beryl Leatherland
Mountain Article Competition 2005
Winning Entries
This year there were fewer Prose entries than normal; compensated for by the biggest selection of Poetry entries we have ever had, obviously there was something in the air this year!
The Judges were Ex-MCofS President, old sage and diplomat John Donohoe, Ex-MCofS Vice President, teacher and instigator of the Poetry competition Ingrid Parker, Irvine Butterfield, author and grumpy old man, myself, and finally Joe Brown, the winner of last years Prose competition.
Firstly the Prose category: The judges were torn between two entries for a potential winner. In the end a story of a father's love of climbing and an awakening in his children of the true beauty of the outdoors through a gift entitled 'Treasure' by Gudrun Koch won out. This balanced piece of prose "conveyed simplicity of message without falling prey to sentimentality". Doubts as to whether it was fact or fiction helped make it more memorable and it wins £100. Just coming second, was John Pearson's 'Conversion'. Neatly capturing the arrogance and the futility involved in sectarianism by describing one hill walkers disparaging view of climbers only to be 'turned' as he discovers climbing, to proceed to belittle walkers like a born-again evangelist. John wins £50.
Close 3rd place was shared between 'Indian Wall' by Nick Hamilton and 'Partners' by Nigel Suess. Nick's story of finding his limits unfolds during a solo climb up a Native American Mesa, and falling off? Whilst Nigel gives a well written recollection of climbing partners of the past, convincingly describing events many climbers will relate to.
In the Poetry category: there were several recounting the moods and atmosphere of the hills, particularly noteworthy being Martin Cooper's 'Suilven'. However there were two that stood out, both coincidentally relating to recent Talking Point subjects, but which both captured the essence of their subject. Jennifer Purvis Smith's 'To Bolt or not to Bolt' stole from Shakespeare, but did not seem any the worse for it and came 2nd. The clear winner was 'Cairn' by Thomas Rist, with its evocative use of tone and layout and "deconstruction/construction visuals" to quote one of the Judges. Thomas wins £50.
We shall publish one or more of the winning entries in the March edition of the magazine. We would like to thank all the authors who contributed this year and if you feel you can submit something for next year, start planning it now. Good luck.
Mountain Article Competition 2006
Enter Now
PROSE Category
1st PRIZE £100; 2nd PRIZE £50
POETRY category
1st PRIZE £50
Deadline 1st June 2006.
Send your entries to Joe Brown (marked "Mountain Article"), c/o the MCofS Office or email to: article@mountaineering-scotland.org.uk.