UKC

Which is the best 'un? Hard Years or One Man's Mountains?

In reply to RobE: No Contest, Patey wins hands down.

In reply to WdubyaG:

Ditto.

In reply to RobE:

I preferred the latter. Bellyachingly funny in places.

In reply to WdubyaG:

Ahhh, but what's he ever done on grit?

In reply to Clauso:

Why would he bother with grit with all that virgin torridonian sandstone on his doorstep.

If he'd been bothered, he would doubtless have 'kicked ass' in his day -- who did his contemporaries respect I wonder?

In reply to Alan Stark:

Not sure, I got the impression that Patey was more of a mountaineer than a rock jock.

He'd probably have soloed HVS in tackety boots mind.

Patey is brilliant. 'A Walk with Whillans' hilarious and wonderfully observed.

In reply to JB:

Yep. A great piece of prose. It gives a real insight into Don's character.

In reply to RobE:

Years since I read it, but I'm in need of a laugh -- must get the Patey book out again! -- Wonderful.


He was loved by the Ullapool folks where he practiced.

One landlady my wife and I stayed with during our honeymoon in Ullapool said fondly of him -- 'Oh -- Doctor Tom, Lovely Man -- He'd more than likely be wearing odd shoes and socks when he turned up at the surgery or was doing his house calls. Always a smile and a laugh - as good as any prescription!"

In reply to Alan Stark: Remember going to a house somewhere near An Teallach to ask if I could use their phone back in the early 80s after getting down late & not wanting folk to worry - "are you're a climber, did you know Dr Patey ?'

In reply to RobE:

They are both good books, and totally incomparable. A pity that the question is posed 'which is the best' (no, I won't be grammatically pedantic!). The Hard Years is particularly interesting re. Brown's upbringing and early years.

In reply to RobE: No contest....Patey, by a country mile...I must have read that book 8 or 9 times....always entertaining,,,,

In reply to alan wilson:

I don't see why it should be a contest. Patey's book is extremely entertaining, but relatively slight. Brown's has the more interesting content.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: Like you say, The Hard Years has some good stuff about 'the early years', but very much a pragmatic rather than an inspirational autobiog - little soul-gazing or deep reflection (apart from his description of when he first saw Cloggy emerge from the mist).

If you're looking for a good Xmas read, I can recommend my Uncle Teddy's's memoirs of his years as an undercover police surveillance officer at New Scotland Yard, 'The Yard Hears'. Or - and I'm sure you know this book - a little-known Chinese photographer's glorious photos of Yorkshire abbeys and monasteries - 'Wun Fan's Fountains'

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Rope Boy seemed to be the best of the rock and ice books I read. Browns was quite good but Dons was the worst of the three.

Patey is good for dipping in and seeing something anew each time, and good for dubunking the pompous.

In reply to sutty: I liked Portrait of a Mountaineer more than The Hard Years.

In reply to Marc C:

I think what you should get for Xmas, Marc, is 'Puns of a Climber'.

In reply to Marc C:

Yes, I think Portrait of a Mountaineer is very good actually, and has had an unjustified 'bad press'.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: Surely my autobiography - given my track record of pop groups and poetry - should be called 'Bands of a Rhymer'?

Have there been any attempts to write a Patey biography? He seems a natural choice...

In reply to Alan Stark:
Me and a couple of mates were on Glass Slipper on Creag meagaidh 1970'ish I think, fannying about on a belay when Patey appeared from nowhere and stopped for a chat like he had just bumped into us in the steet. He was doing his solo 1st. winter ascent of the girdle traverse. Quite impressive. He was off the butress and on his way home before we were off our route!

In reply to bobg:

You're probably mentioned (at least indirectly) in One Man's Mountain's then!

In reply to DougG:
Davy Gardner, Allan Angus and me, yes I think he said we would be lucky to get off before dark and he was nearly right, we just made it, too slow climbing in threes. What a sunset as I remember