First Meet – Saturday 20th April 2024.
Arthur Dolphin left a legacy of wonderful rock climbs in Yorkshire and the Lake District put up during the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of which was ‘ruddy ard!’ or maybe that was most of them? The FRCC were grateful to be gifted his diaries recently and are in the process of working towards publishing them. FRCC archivist Deborah Walsh has been transcribing them into a digital format. To celebrate Arthur’s contributions to UK rock climbing and to the FRCC we are running a series of ‘Arthur Dolphin Appreciation Meets.’ The best place to get these meets going is where his detailed diaries started, at Almscliffe, at the age of 14. Arthur used to meet regularly, on Saturdays, with school friends to throw laps on already established routes and make variations on them by downclimbing them, top roping them, ascending them in boots or plimsolls and eventually leading them. On Saturday 20th April 1940 he wrote “fine and quite warm – climbing conditions good”, so with that in mind our first meet in his appreciation will be on Saturday 20th April 2024, starting at 10am.
Below is his diary entry for that day.
Saturday April 20th
Weather – fine and quite warm – climbing conditions good.
Arrived at Almscliffe at 12 o’clock. Arrived home at 8.45p.m.
Party A.D., D.D., R.D., B.J., Dobson, Allsop, etc.
Climbs – Three Way Boulder (3 routes) North Boulder (2 routes), and other boulders
Easy – Three Chockstones Chimney (ascended and descended)
Moderate – Low Man Easy Way (descended) South Chimney (descended)
Difficult – Virgin Boulder, North Face (descended, Boots) The Pothole (Boots – first time) Square Chimney (Boots – first time)
Very Difficult – The Stewpot (Boots) Fluted Columns “V” Chimney and Traverse The Arete (North Boulder) Long Chimney (outside finish) Virgin Boulder (North Top Corner – Boots) The Nose The Goblin (Boots – first time) Bird’s Nest Crack (Boots)
Severe – Pinnacle Flake Climb (Boots) Whisky Crack Piggott’s Stride (Boots !!) Matterhorn Boulder Layback South Face Climb (Boots) Parson’s Chimney (Rubbers)