The Wayfarers' Club

Last updated

The Wayfarers' Club is a senior mountaineering club founded in Liverpool, England, in 1906.

Contents

In the century of the existence of the Club, Wayfarers have left footprints in every continent and countless countries. In recent years, members' activities have ranged from homely rambles up Langdale to the ascent of Everest.

The club's handbook stated that the club's charter was to "encourage the pursuits of mountaineering, walking, ski-running and cave exploration, to bring together men who are interested in these pursuits and to do whatever shall be deemed by the Committee from time to time to be conducive to the attainment of the foregoing objects". To pursue the club's objects, the Wayfarers have regular organised meets around the UK, often in their own hut or those of their "Kindred Clubs". Informal climbing parties are also frequently in action at home and abroad.

The Wayfarers' Club was a founding member of the British Mountaineering Council, [1] the national representative body of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers.

Until the AGM of 2018 the club maintained the men-only membership rule with which almost all the senior clubs were founded. It was a subject that was debated and voted on numerous times over the years not quite reaching the 75% voting majority required by the club constitution. At the AGM on 24 November 2018 the amendment of "All references in these Rules to the masculine gender shall be interpreted as including the feminine gender" was approved with 84% being in favour of the change. In practice, however, life at the hut had been almost always mixed. Since 1981 members' wives, lady friends and female members of kindred clubs have been cordially welcomed on every day of the year, even the traditional men only weekends had been mixed for some years. [2]

The Robertson Lamb Hut

The Wayfarers' Club hut is in Langdale. Officially opened on 16 March 1930, the hut was the first dedicated climbing hut in the Lake District. It has been converted from an existing 18th century barn and is named in memory of Robertson Lamb, whose sister largely financed the conversion. There have been many alterations since 1930, but the character of the hut and its surroundings is an absolute in any such decisions. [3]

Kindred clubs

The Wayfarers' Club have reciprocal rights and 'Kindred Clubs' relationship with some of Britain's oldest climbing clubs.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Nevis</span> Highest mountain in the British Isles

Ben Nevis ( NEV-iss; Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Nibheis, Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: 

[[Help:IPA/Scottish Gaelic|
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountaineering</span> Sport of mountain climbing

Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Mountaineering Council</span> National body for climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC are also recognised by government as the national governing body for competition climbing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peak bagging</span> Goal to reach a collection of summits

Peak bagging or hill bagging is an activity in which hikers, climbers, and mountaineers attempt to reach a collection of summits, published in the form of a list. This activity has been popularized around the world, with lists such as 100 Peaks of Taiwan, four-thousand footers, 100 Famous Japanese Mountains, the Sacred Mountains of China, the Seven Summits, the Fourteeners of Colorado, and the eight-thousanders becoming the subject of mass public interest.

Established in 1889, the Scottish Mountaineering Club is a club for climbing and mountaineering in Scotland.

Mountaineering Scotland is the national representative body and membership organisation for mountaineers, hillwalkers, climbers and ski tourers who live in Scotland or enjoy Scotland's mountains. With nearly 16,000 members as of 2022, it encourages participation and progression in these activities, promotes safety and skills, campaigns to safeguard access rights and responsibilities, and seeks to protect Scotland's cherished mountain landscapes from insensitive development. The organisation is based in Perth and was formerly known as the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS).

Harold Andrew Raeburn was a Scottish mountaineer. He was one of the most prominent British mountaineers of his era with several first ascents. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries he took part in numerous ascents in Norway, contributing to the popularization of Norwegian mountaineering among the international mountaineering community. Some of his regular mountaineering partners in Norway were William Cecil Slingsby, Howard Priestman and Norwegians Kristian Tandberg and George Paus. He was mountaineering leader on the initial 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition.

Thomas William Birkett better known as Bill Birkett is an English civil engineer, climbing writer, photographer, rock climber, and mountaineer, from the Lake District, Cumbria, who has undertaken many expeditions around the world. The 541 peaks of the lake district listed in one of his books are known as Birketts in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpine Club of Canada</span>

The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is an amateur athletic association with its national office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, who served as its first president, and Elizabeth Parker, a journalist for the Manitoba Free Press. Byron Harmon, whose 6500+ photographs of the Canadian Rockies in the early 20th century provide the best glimpse of the area at that time, was official photographer to the club at its founding. The club is the leading organization in Canada devoted to climbing, mountain culture, and issues related to alpine pursuits and ecology. It is also the Canadian regulatory organization for climbing competition, sanctioning local, regional and national events, and assembling, coaching and supporting the national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McNaught-Davis</span> British television presenter

Ian McNaught-Davis was a British television presenter best known for presenting the BBC television series The Computer Programme, Making the Most of the Micro and Micro Live in the 1980s. He was also a mountaineer and alpinist. He was managing director of the British subsidiary of Comshare Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fell & Rock Climbing Club</span>

The Fell & Rock Climbing Club of the English Lake District is the senior climbing club covering the English Lake District. It was founded in 1906–1907 and, amongst its other activities, publishes the rock climbing guides to the area. It owns many of the early climbing photographs taken by George & Ashley Abraham, who were founding members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climbers' Club</span> Rock climbing clubs, England and Wales

The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in England and Wales. The club was founded in 1898. The CC one of the largest publishers of climbing guidebooks in many of the main climbing areas of England and Wales. The club also owns and operates a number of climbing huts in England, Scotland, and Wales.

The Rucksack Club was founded in Manchester in 1902 and has a current membership of well over 500 men and women. According to the Rules, "The purpose of the Club is to encourage mountaineering, climbing and hill walking and bring together all those who are interested in these pursuits."

The New Zealand Alpine Club (NZAC) was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest alpine clubs in the world. The NZAC is the national climbing organisation in New Zealand and is a member of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme. It has over 4000 members who are spread across twelve sections, eleven in New Zealand and one in Australia, plus members in other countries. It runs a national office based in Christchurch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Alpine Club</span> Mountaineering club

The Swiss Alpine Club is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 111 sections with 160,000 members (2020). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss Alpine Club.

Allen Parker Steck was an American mountaineer and rock climber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Bromwich Mountaineering Club</span>

West Bromwich Mountaineering Club (WBMC) is one of the oldest and most active climbing and hill-walking clubs in the West Midlands. It meets at "The Red Lion" in All Saints Way, West Bromwich on Thursday nights, where from October to April it holds a series of illustrated mountaineering talks on the second Thursday of the month. It has a membership of around 200 and every month runs a coach to a mountainous region in England or Wales, on which seats are available to its members and the general public on a 'first come - first served' basis and also maintains a members-only hut in the Nant Gwynant valley. It affiliated to the British Mountaineering Council in 2003 and became a Community Association Sports Club (CASC) in 2005.

The Ladies' Alpine Club was founded in London in 1907 and was the first mountaineering club for women. It merged with the Alpine Club of Great Britain in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Nisbet</span> Scottish mountaineer (1953-2019)

Andrew Nisbet was a Scottish mountaineer, guide, climbing instructor, and editor of climbing guidebooks. Regarded as a pioneer of mixed rock and ice climbing techniques, he built a 45-year reputation as an innovator by developing over 1,000 new winter climbing routes in Scotland, of which 150 were at Grade V, or above.

Mountaineering Ireland is the representative association for hikers and mountaineers on the island of Ireland. It is recognized by both Sport Ireland, the Irish authority for sport, and Sport Northern Ireland, the corresponding authority of the Government of Northern Ireland, thus operating across the island of Ireland. The association has been an International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) member since 2004, as well as a member of other federations. The association is also a publisher of walking and climbing guides.

References

  1. Walker, Derek (2 November 2003). "Clublife". Summit. British Mountaineering Council (33). Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  2. "Club Origins". Wayfarers' Club. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  3. "Robertson Lamb Hut". Wayfarers' Club. Retrieved 14 February 2011.