South Wales Mountaineering Club celebrates it’s Fiftieth Anniversary this year. As part of the festivities this Friday Pat Littlejohn will deliver a guest lecture entitled "Good times and climbs in South Wales 1977-85”.
Pat was a leading figure in the development of climbing in South Wales during his time living in Cardiff. His adventurous traditional climbing soon put South Wales and the South-West firmly on the climbing world map. Shocked, like many others, into a new professionalism by the training induced high standards of Peter Livesey in the seventies, his output of routes became prodigious (now over a thousand) and resulted in many modern classics. All this was in spite of holding out against the use of ‘gymnast’s chalk’ until 1984 on the grounds of sporting ethics!
Pat says: “When I moved to South Wales in 1977 I thought I was moving into a real climbing backwater. What I found there was a thriving, friendly climbing scene and enough inspiring rock to keep anyone happy for a lifetime. The talk is about my seven years in Cardiff, exploring the crags (especially the sea cliffs of Ogmore, Gower and Pembroke) starting a business and climbing with a great bunch of people.
Nowadays, with more south-facing rock than anywhere else in Britain and scores of nationally famous routes, South Wales is anything but a backwater. I’ll certainly never forget the countless fantastic climbing days the area gave me.”
The lecture will take place at UWIC Llandaff Campus, Western Avenue, Cardiff CF5 2YB on Friday 26th November starting promptly at 7.30pm. Tickets are just £10 each and are available from Dave Parsons (029 2051 3440) or Up & Under in Cardiff.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
The South Wales Mountaineering Club (SWMC) was established in 1960 and aims to encourage interest in mountaineering in all its forms and to bring together like minded people. With approximately 150 members, the club covers much of the South Wales area, with the hub of club activities mostly concentrated around the Cardiff and Swansea areas.
http://www.southwalesmountaineering.org.uk
