Number in series 70; Year of publication 1986 - Fell and Rock ...

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June Parker 135George and Ashley to climb with him. Jones knew the power of a goodphotograph because he himself had first been attracted to climbing by Dixon'sphotograph of the Needle which he saw in a London shop. When Jones's bookcame out in 1897 it was illustrated with 30 Abraham photographs.The brothers were already very good climbers, but the partnership with Jonesled to a whole spate of excellent new climbs such as Walker's Gully on Pillar,led by Jones in icy conditions, after removing his boots. Jones not onlyintroduced them to the mainstream of the sport which had been going on atWasdale Head for a decade or more, but also to climbing in Snowdonia whichthey visited for the first time at Easter 1897. Sadly, the partnership with Jonescame to an early end when Jones lost his life on the Dent Blanche in 1899. Afterthis, George and Ashley combined to write Rock Climbing in North Wales, usingJones's notes as a base and taking many photographs to provide the illustrations.It was published in the same format as the Lake District book and becameequally popular. Later Ashley made his last venture into mountaineeringwriting with his Rock Climbing in Skye, which forms the third volume in aclassic trilogy now very scarce and much sought after. George went on to writemany more books, two of which were as influential as the photographs. Thesewere the Complete Mountaineer in 1907 and British Mountain Climbs in 1909.The former was a massive book of nearly 500 pages, packed with information onthe history of the sport, advice on equipment and detailed descriptions ofclimbing in the British Isles and abroad. It is a chatty and very readable bookwith 75 photographs. Until 1920, when two important mountaineering bookswere published, (Geoffrey Winthrop Young's Mountain Craft and HaroldRaeburn's Mountaineering Art), it was the only book which gave suchinformation. British Mountain Climbs was the forerunner of modern pocketguidebooks, but encompassed the whole of the British Isles. It was used byclimbers for decades, even going into a 6th edition in 1948, although by thistime it was somewhat out of date.After Jones's death George developed even more strongly as a lead climber.He was a natural, described by Geoffrey Winthrop Young as being 'graceful towatch and one of the earliest to climb by balance rather than grip'. Ashley wasthe ideal second man, being patient, heavy and cheerful. He also took almost allthe photographs, so that it is George who is seen most often poised on the rocks.(Ashley can be seen in plates 4, 5 and 6 in Camera on the Crags.) The twoclimbed together for many years, making several new ascents not only in theLakes but also in Snowdonia and Scotland. Their favourite was the New Weston Pillar, which they first climbed in 1901 and which was the scene of their lastclimb together in 1936.There are over 700 glass negatives in the collection and these are in the care ofthe Abbot Hall Art Gallery and Museum in Kendal. They are bulky, heavy andfragile. They survived a fire in the Lake Road shop but many suffered damageby heat, smoke and water. To sort them out, identify them and arrange them305 The Inaccessible Pinnacle, Skye. Abraham Collection
136 THE ABRAHAM COLLECTIONwas a formidable task. Thanks to Alan Hankinson, one hundred of them werepublished in his Camera on the Crags in 1975. A few years later, variousworking parties of Club members got together and spent many hours on the taskof identifying and sorting the others. It was not until 1983 that there was anopportunity to finish the job, when the present writer left full-time work andwas able to work on the collection for one or two days every week. The biggestjob was to get all the negatives arranged in some kind of logical order, so that allphotographs of the same area were together. This makes the catalogue easier touse and also facilitates examination and searching of the negatives. At the sametime as the sorting was going on all the negatives were cleaned on the plain glassside with methylated spirit which removed a lot of soot and other stains. Acatalogue was finally prepared and several copies made. The photographs usedin Camera on the Crags were kept in the same order as in the book, so that thebook can be used as a reference for these. All the others were then arranged byplace; the Lake District, Snowdonia, Skye and the Alps. There are a few notidentified but these were noted descriptively in an addendum.The catalogue is not illustrated but the inclusion of references to publishedphotographs in the Abrahams' books has proved very helpful to users. Work isin hand to produce either positive transparencies or contact sets from newnegatives of all the photographs so that the collection can be used without toomuch handling of the irreplaceable glass negatives.It is good that the photographs that were taken with such care and effort arestill being used to illustrate books and for display in both private and publicplaces. Long may it continue!Main publications illustrated by Abraham photographs!887 Rock-climbing in the English Lake District 1912 Beautiful Lakelandby O.GJones. Longman.by A.P.Abraham. Keswick: G.P.Abraham.1906 Rock-climbing in North Wales 1913 Some Portraits of the Lake Poets and Their Homesby G.D.Abraham and A.P.Abraham.by A.P.Abraham. Keswick: G.P.Abraham.Keswick: G.P.Abraham. 1913 Motor Ways in Lakeland1907 The Complete Mountaineer by G.D.Abraham. Methuen.by G.D.Abraham. Meihuen. 1919 On Alpine Heights and British Crags1908 Rock-climbing in Skye by G.D.Abraham. Meihuen.by A.P.Abraham. Longhman. 1923 First Steps to Climbing1909 British Mountain Climbs by G.D.Abraham. Mills & Boon.by G.D.Abraham. Mills & Boon. 1933 Modern Mountaineering1910 Mountain Adventures at Home and Abroad by G.D.Abraham. Meihuen.by G.D.Abraham. Methuen. 1975 Camera on the Crags: a portfolio of early rock1911 Swiss Mountain Climbs climbing photographs by the Abraham Brothersby G.D.Abraham. Mills & Boon.by Alan Hankinson. Heincmann.Victorian Climbers below the Requin. Abraham Collection W6
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100 YEARS OFROCK CLIMBINGIN THELAKE
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EDITOR'S NOTESGeoff CramIn June 188
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4 THE FIRST ASCENT OF NAPES NEEDLET
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6 THE FIRST ASCENT OF NAPES NEEDLEb
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10 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIM
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H.M.Kelly and J.H.Doughty 33for the
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H.M.Kelly and J.H.Doughty1892 Moss
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H.M.Kelly and J.H. Doughty1923 Toph
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John Wilkinson 47men: Birkett, Peas
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John Wilkinson 53are now Hard Very
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John Wilkinson 57have radically tra
Page 49 and 50: 60 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIM
Page 51 and 52: John Wilkinson 6 5being made by the
Page 53 and 54: John Wilkinson6SWith the opening up
Page 59 and 60: Pete Whillance 73good routes on Low
Page 67 and 68: A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIMBIN
Page 69 and 70: A SHORT HISTORYOF LAKELAND CLIMBING
Page 71 and 72: Ron Kenyon and AlMurray 89climbed b
Page 73 and 74: Ron Kenyon and Al Murray 91spotligh
Page 77 and 78: Ron Kenyon and Al Murray 97In the E
Page 79 and 80: 102 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLI
Page 81 and 82: 106 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLI
Page 83 and 84: 110 THE NORTH-EAST SPUR OF THE DROI
Page 85 and 86: 112 THE NORTH-EAST SPUR OF THE DROI
Page 87 and 88: ROCK CLIMBING IN NORTHERN ITALYAl C
Page 89 and 90: AI Churcher 119Sergent and Caporal,
Page 91 and 92: 13 MILES FROM THE EQUATORRay Cassid
Page 93 and 94: Ray Cassidy 123and I suddenly found
Page 95 and 96: W. Heaton Cooper 127One element see
Page 97: June Parker 131show a new route bei
Page 101 and 102: 140 THE WASDALE CLIMBING BOOKClimbi
Page 103 and 104: SCAFELL CENTRAL BUTTRESSG.S.SansomR
Page 105 and 106: G.S.Sansom 145bulge, above-mentione
Page 107 and 108: MORE OF C.B.Bill BirkettWhen the ed
Page 109 and 110: 150 MOREOFC.B.ground, rather overha
Page 111 and 112: 152 CLIMBING IN THE MIDDLE AGEStemp
Page 113 and 114: THE MAN WHO BROKE THE NEEDLEGraham
Page 115 and 116: G. Sutton 157tooth....'Ron's voice
Page 117 and 118: G. Sutton 159view; they must have b
Page 119 and 120: Ed Grindley 161A couple of hours la
Page 121 and 122: 164 THE MODERN ICARUS!This was now
Page 123 and 124: 166 THE MODERN ICARUS!Aware that I'
Page 125 and 126: Angela Soper 169whispered happily,
Page 127 and 128: 172 THE WELL-OILED MACHINE - TWELVE
Page 129 and 130: 174 THE WELL-OILED MACHINE - TWELVE
Page 131 and 132: A. Harry Griffin 111the same mould
Page 133 and 134: A. Harry Griffin 179merged together
Page 135 and 136: 182 WAY OUT WESTone of them picked
Page 137 and 138: 184 WAY OUT WESTseverity it was of
Page 139 and 140: 186 WAY OUT WESTwho made me a pair
Page 141 and 142: SCOTLANDThe Fell and Rock members c
Page 143 and 144: Jim Sutcliffe 193June Parker report
Page 145 and 146: NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESAlan Murray & P
Page 147 and 148: 198 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESIvor the Bo
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200 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESBLEAK HOW C
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202 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESJoker Man.
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204 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESPrivate Eye
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206 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTES6a. Climb t
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208 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESBURNT CRAG
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210 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESYEW CRAGAut
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212 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESSilverstone
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214 IN MEMORIAMGladys died peaceful
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CLUB OFFICERS AND MEETS 225Libraria
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Number in series 70; Year of publication 1986 - Fell and Rock ...

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