Alpine Club (UK)
Encyclopedia
style="font-size: larger;" | The Alpine Club
Founded 1857
Home Page www.alpine-club.org.uk
Address 55-56 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...

Clubhouse occupied since 1991
Club established for Mountaineers
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...


The Alpine Club was founded in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club
Alpine Club
The first Alpine Club, founded in London in 1857, was once described as:Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment...

. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.

History

On 22 December 1857 a group of British mountaineers met at Ashley's Hotel in London. All were active in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

 and instrumental in the development of alpine mountaineering during the golden age of alpinism
Golden age of alpinism
The golden age of alpinism was the period between Alfred Wills's ascent of the Wetterhorn in 1854 and Edward Whymper's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, during which many major peaks in the Alps saw their first ascents....

 (1854–1865). It was at this meeting that the Alpine Club, under the chairmanship of E. S. Kennedy
E. S. Kennedy
E. S. Kennedy can refer to :* Edward Shirley Kennedy, alpinist and writer* Edward Stewart Kennedy, historian of science...

, was born. John Ball
John Ball (naturalist)
John Ball was an Irish politician, naturalist and Alpine traveller.-Background and education:Ball was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Nicholas Ball and his wife Jane Sherlock...

 was the first president and Kennedy, the first vice-president, succeeded him as president of the club from 1860 to 1863. It then moved its headquarters to the Metropole Hotel.

One hundred and fifty years later, the Alpine Club continues, and its members remain extremely active in the Alps and the Greater Ranges
Greater Ranges
The Greater Ranges comprise the high mountain ranges of Asia:*the Himalayas,*the Karakoram,*the Hindu Kush and Hindu Raj,*the Pamir Mountains,*the Tien Shan,*the Kunlun Shan,...

, as well as in mountain arts, literature and science.

For many years it had the characteristics of a London-based Gentlemen's club
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...

, including a certain imprecision in the qualification for membership (said to have been 'A reasonable number of respectable peaks'). By the mid 20th century however, the club had evolved into the UK's senior mountaineering club with a clear qualification for membership, for both men and women, and an 'aspirant' grade for those working towards full membership. However, the club still requires that existing members act as proposer and seconder for prospective members.

Though the club organises some UK-based meets, its primary focus has always tended towards mountaineering overseas, and it is associated more with exploratory mountaineering than with purely technical climbing (the early club was once dismissed as doing very little climbing but 'a lot of walking steeply uphill'). These higher technical standards were often to be found in offshoots such as the 'Alpine Climbing Group' (ACG), founded in 1952.

The club has produced a suite of guidebooks which cover some of the more popular Alpine
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

 mountaineering regions. It also holds extensive book and photo libraries as well as an archive of historical artifacts which are regularly loaned out to exhibitions. The club's history has recently been documented by George Band
George Band
George Christopher Band OBE ) was an English mountaineer.Band was born in Taiwan and educated at Eltham College...

 in his book Summit: 150 Years of the Alpine Club, and its artists in The Artists of the Alpine Club by Peter Mallalieu. Its members' activities are recounted annually in the club's publication the Alpine Journal
Alpine Journal
The Alpine Journal is the yearly publication of the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world.-History:The journal was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longmans in London, with Hereford Brooke George as its first editor...

.

As of 2009, the membership subscription costs between £39 and £60 per year, with a £27 rate for younger members. There is no joining fee http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/join/index.html#rates.

Presidents

  • 1857–1860: John Ball
    John Ball (naturalist)
    John Ball was an Irish politician, naturalist and Alpine traveller.-Background and education:Ball was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Nicholas Ball and his wife Jane Sherlock...

  • 1860–1863: E. S. Kennedy
    E. S. Kennedy
    E. S. Kennedy can refer to :* Edward Shirley Kennedy, alpinist and writer* Edward Stewart Kennedy, historian of science...

  • 1863–1865: Alfred Wills
    Alfred Wills
    Sir Alfred Wills PC was a British High Court judge and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club from 1863 to 1865.-Early life:...

  • 1865–1868: Leslie Stephen
    Leslie Stephen
    Sir Leslie Stephen, KCB was an English author, critic and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.-Life:...

  • 1868–1871: William Mathews
    William Mathews
    William Mathews was an English mountaineer, land agent and surveyor, who first proposed the formation of the Alpine Club of London in 1857.-Founding of the Alpine Club:...

  • 1871–1874: William Longman
  • 1875–1877: Thomas Woodbine Hinchliff
  • 1881–1883: Thomas George Bonney
    Thomas George Bonney
    Thomas George Bonney FRS was an English geologist.-Career:Bonney was the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Bonney, master of Rugeley Grammar School...

  • 1884–1886: Florence Crauford Grove
    Florence Crauford Grove
    Florence Crauford Grove was an English mountaineer and author, sometimes known as F. Crauford Grove.-Mountaineer:Grove became an experienced alpinist in the late 1850s and joined the Alpine Club of London soon after it was formed in 1857, later serving as its President from 1884 to 1886...

  • 1886–1890: Clinton Thomas Dent
    Clinton Thomas Dent
    Clinton Thomas Dent FRCS was an English surgeon, author and mountaineer.-Early life:The fourth surviving son of Thomas Dent, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.-Alpinism:...

  • 1890–1893: Horace Walker
    Horace Walker
    Horace Walker was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses.-Alpinism:...

  • 1893–1896: Douglas Freshfield
    Douglas Freshfield
    Douglas William Freshfield was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880...

  • 1896–1899: Charles Pilkington
  • 1899–1902: Dr James Bryce
    James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce
    James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce OM, GCVO, PC, FRS, FBA was a British academic, jurist, historian and Liberal politician.-Background and education:...

     (later Viscount Bryce)
  • 1902–1904: Sir Martin Conway (later Lord Conway of Allington)
  • 1904–1906: George Forrest Browne, Bishop of Bristol
    Bishop of Bristol
    The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire...

  • 1908–1911: Hermann Wooley
  • 1911–1914: W. E. Davison
  • 1914–1917:
  • 1917–1919: John Percy Farrar
    John Percy Farrar
    Captain John Percy Farrar DSO , also known as Percy Farrar and as J. P. Farrar, was an English soldier and mountaineer. He was President of the Alpine Club from 1917 to 1919 and a member of the Mount Everest Committee.-Family:...

  • 1920–1923: J. Norman Collie
    J. Norman Collie
    John Norman Collie FRS , commonly referred to as J. Norman Collie, was a British scientist, mountaineer, and explorer.- Life and work :He was born in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, the second of four sons...

  • 1923–1926: Charles Granville Bruce
    Charles Granville Bruce
    Brigadier-General Charles Granville Bruce, CB, MVO was a Himalayan veteran and leader of the second and third British expeditions to Mount Everest in 1922 and 1924.-Background and early life:...

  • 1926–1929: Sir George Henry Morse
  • 1929–1932: Claude Wilson
  • 1932–1934: Sir John Withers MP
  • 1935–1938: Edward Lisle Strutt
    Edward Lisle Strutt
    Lt-Col. Edward Lisle Strutt CBE, DSO was an English soldier and mountaineer, and President of the Alpine Club from 1935–38.-Family:...

  • 1938–1940: Sir Claud Schuster
    Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster
    Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, GCB, CVO, KC was a British barrister and civil servant noted for his long tenure as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office. Born to a middle-class Mancunian family, Schuster was educated at St. George's School, Ascot and Winchester College before...

     GCB
    Order of the Bath
    The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

     (later Lord Schuster)
  • 1941–1943: Geoffrey Winthrop Young
    Geoffrey Winthrop Young
    Geoffrey Winthrop Young D.Litt. was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering.-Mountaineering:...

  • 1944–1947: Leo Amery
  • 1947–1949: Tom George Longstaff
  • 1950–1953: Claude Aurelius Elliott
    Claude Aurelius Elliott
    Sir Claude Aurelius Elliott OBE, MA, was Head Master of Eton College at Windsor in Berkshire, and was later Provost at the same school.-Early life:...

  • 1953–1956: Edwin Savory Herbert
  • 1956–1959: Sir John Hunt
    John Hunt, Baron Hunt
    Brigadier Henry Cecil John Hunt, Baron Hunt KG, PC, CBE, DSO, was a British army officer who is best known as the leader of the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest.-Early life and career:...

     (later Lord Hunt)
  • 1959–1962: George Finch
    George Finch (chemist)
    George Ingle Finch FRS was a chemist and mountaineer.He was born in Australia but educated in German-speaking Switzerland and studied physical sciences at Geneva University....

  • 1962–1965: Howard Somervell
    Howard Somervell
    Theodore Howard Somervell OBE was a British surgeon, mountaineer and missionary who was a member of two expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1920s, and then spent nearly 40 years working as a doctor in India.-Early life:...

  • 1965-1968: Eric Shipton
    Eric Shipton
    Eric Earle Shipton CBE was a distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer.-Early years:Born in Ceylon in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. His mother buried her grief by taking Eric and his sister Marge and travelling constantly for the next five years...

  • 1968–1971: Charles Evans
  • 1971–1974: A. D. M. Cox
  • 1974–1977: Jack Longland
    Jack Longland
    Sir John Laurence "Jack" Longland was an educator, mountain climber, and broadcaster.He was educated at the King's School, Worcester, and Jesus College, Cambridge. He lectured in English at Durham University from 1930 to 1936. He then served as Director of Education for Derbyshire for 23 years,...

  • 1977–1980: Peter Lloyd
    Peter Lloyd (mountaineer)
    Peter Lloyd CBE , was a mountaineer and engineer, a President of the Alpine Club.-Education:...

  • 1980–1983: J. H. Emlyn-Jones
  • 1983-1986: R. R. E. Chorley
  • 1986: A. K. Rawlinson (died in office)
  • 1986–1987: Nea Evans
  • 1987–1990: George Band
    George Band
    George Christopher Band OBE ) was an English mountaineer.Band was born in Taiwan and educated at Eltham College...

  • 1990–1993: H. R. A. Streather
  • 1993–1996: Mike Westmacott
  • 1996–1999: Sir Chris Bonington
    Chris Bonington
    Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL is a British mountaineer.His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest and the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna.-Early life and expeditions:Educated at University College School in...

  • 1999–2001: Doug Scott
    Doug Scott
    Douglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott , is an English mountaineer noted for the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. Scott and Dougal Haston were the first Britons to climb Everest during this expedition...

  • 2002–2004: Alan Blackshaw
    Alan Blackshaw
    Alan Blackshaw OBE was an English mountaineer, skier and civil servant who was President of the Alpine Club from 2001 to 2004.-Early life:...

  • 2005–2007: Stephen Venables
    Stephen Venables
    Stephen Venables is a British mountaineer and writer, and is a past president of the South Georgia Association and of the Alpine Club.-Mountaineer:...

  • 2007-2010: Paul Braithwaite
  • 2010 : Mick Fowler
    Mick Fowler
    Michael "Mick" Fowler is a British mountaineer. He was awarded the Piolet d'Or and Golden Piton with Paul Ramsden for their 2002 ascent of Siguniang , was voted "the Mountaineer's Mountaineer" in a poll in The Observer, and was described by Chris Bonington in 1981 as "the most successful...


Premises

The current headquarters of the Alpine Club are at 55 Charlotte Road, on the edge of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

. The club acquired the freehold of this five-storey Victorian warehouse in 1991, and the club's lecture room, bunkhouse, library and archives are in the building.

The club's first premises were at 8 St Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...

, where it rented rooms in 1858. In 1895 the club moved to 23 Savile Row
Savile Row
Savile Row is a shopping street in Mayfair, central London, famous for its traditional men's bespoke tailoring. The term "bespoke" is understood to have originated in Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to "be spoken for" by individual customers...

, and from 1937 to 1990 the club was based at 74 South Audley Street in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...

, London (in 1936–1937 the surveying firm of Pilditch, Chadwick and Company had converted the ground floor of the building into suitable premises for the club). The club library was at the back of the building, in what was once the picture gallery of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter. In 1990 the club sold its lease and – before moving to Charlotte Road –
briefly shared quarters with the Ski Club of Great Britain
Ski Club of Great Britain
The Ski Club of Great Britain is a recreational snow sports club, founded on May 6, 1903. It is a not-for-profit organisation. The Ski Club was until the 1960s responsible for the British racing teams.-Respect the Mountain campaign:...

 at 118 Eaton Square
Eaton Square
Eaton Square is a residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is one of the three garden squares built by the Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia in the 19th century, and is named after Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor country house in Cheshire...

.

In June 1907, the Scottish artist Sholto Johnstone Douglas
Sholto Johnstone Douglas
Robert Sholto Johnstone Douglas , known as Sholto Douglas, or more formally as Sholto Johnstone Douglas, was a Scottish figurative artist, a painter chiefly of portraits and landscapes....

held an exhibition of his portraits at the Club.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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