UKC

Pete Greenwood

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Footless Crow 07 Feb 2010
I haven't seen any mention of this on UKC but I thought it appropriate to recognize the death of one of the Lakeland greats..Pete Greenwood.
Not a household name in the manner of a Birkett,Brown or Whillans, Pete Greenwood as one of that loose band of working class climbers 'The Bradford Lads' was seen by his contemporaries as very much on a par with anyone on the rock face in his day. In an all too brief climbing career compressed into four short years, Pete Greenwood brief trajectory across the climbing firmament saw routes such as Sword of Damocles and Thirlmere Eliminate, state of the art Extremes in the 1950's fall to his fearless approach.
Greenwood famously spat on Joe Brown's peg on his hero Arthur Dolphin's Kipling Groove in Langdale and was so outraged by Dolphin's rejection by the Climbing establishments' 1952 Everest recruitment team that he named one of his Thirlmere routes 'Anarchist'.
Pete Greenwood suddenly gave up the ghost on the spur of the moment and gave his gear to Don Whillans.
In the late 80's he did return to the Cumbrian rockface with David Craig and Paul Ross and enjoyed a brief swansong but we can only ponder 'what if' his peak years had been extended.

Peter Greenwood..1931-2010.
In reply to Footless Crow:

RIP. Vividly remembered in Dennis Gray's various works, of course.

jcm
 Mick Ward 07 Feb 2010
In reply to Footless Crow:

Thank you for putting this on. Another sad loss and another part of climbing's history gone. Did he give up because of Dolphin's death? It seems to have cast a shadow.

Mick
In reply to Mick Ward:

I believe he gave up because 'it burns out', according to Dennis in one of his works.

jcm
 USBRIT 09 Feb 2010
In reply to johncoxmysteriously: Pete was one of my best pals on and off the rock. Certainly was at least as good a climber as his hero Dolfin or Whillans.He was extreamly daring and had the best foot work I have ever seen.. We did have some fun when I got him back on the rock after my ten year return to Britain from the States in 1988,putting up a number of first ascents. We also did many hikes together over that period ,one being around all the Lake District lakes..stopping of course at the pubs on route . I will miss him... Paul Ross
J1234 10 Feb 2010
In reply to Footless Crow:
This is sad, I have just been reading the Arthur Dolphin book were Pete Greenwood is often mentioned. Is there an official obituary as I think some of the people in my club will have known him.
Footless Crow 10 Feb 2010
In reply to J1234:


Peter's funeral is today...Wednesday at Carlisle Crematorium with his wake being held in Keswick later on.

"Is there an official obituary as I think some of the people in my club will have known him.'

An 'official' obit written by someone who was close to Pete like Harold Drasdo will no doubt appear in a forthcoming CC publication. In the mean time.....http://tohatchacrow.blogspot.com/2010/02/peter-greenwood-1930-2010.html
 Sam Beaton 10 Feb 2010
In reply to Footless Crow:

RIP to one of Yorkshire's unsung greats

When I was 18 I decided to follow Pete's example on KG. I spat on the peg, climbed past it, ran out of finger strength near the end of the traverse, and ended up swinging in space past my surprised belayer in the cave

It was about 12 years before I dared go back and finish it off....

Sam
 Sam Beaton 10 Feb 2010
In reply to Sam Beaton:

didn't he also do the FA of the Gnome at Ilkley, probably one of the hardest and highest boulder problems on grit in the 50s?
brian cropper 12 Feb 2010
In reply to Footless Crow: i remember him a realy importaint part of history
 Iain Peters 12 Feb 2010
In reply to Footless Crow:

A short tribute to Pete will appear in the Spring issue of the CC Newsletter followed by a full appreciation of his life and climbs in the CC Journal.
Footless Crow 12 Feb 2010
Sadly, one of Pete's old muckas, Harold Drasdo set off for the funeral Tuesday,intending to spend the night at The F&R Salving House before heading up the Carlisle the following day. However,poor H was overcome with a rather unpleasant attack a winter bug which is doing the rounds and had to hunker down in Borrowdale to recover. Missing his old mate's funeral and send off in Keswick.
H sends his apologies to those who might have been surprised by his absence.
brian cropper 13 Feb 2010
In reply to Mick Ward: hello mick sword of damocles and thirmere eliminate great routes another star gone
 stewart murray 20 Feb 2010
In reply to Footless Crow: Just to say that Anarchist, though modestly graded at HS has a great top pitch (pitch 3 in current guide). I believe originally the first 2 pitches were another route - Genesis. Would urge anyone who hasn't done it to do so. Can always climb Communist Convert then abseil to the tree belay at the foot of the big corner which is the best bit of Anarchist.
NicolaGuest 27 Feb 2010
In reply,

Thank you everyone for your kind words. Peter Greenwood was my Grandfather and it's so nice to see his life being celebrated and remembered by so many people.

Thank you
Footless Crow 28 Feb 2010
In reply to NicolaGuest:

Nicola..watch out for a Guardian obituary by Pete's friend David Craig,possibly in the next week? Sorry I can't be more specific.

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...