Former BMC President Derek Walker Dies

by Ed Douglas - BMC Jan/2013
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+Sir Chris Bonington, Mark Vallance and Derek Walker, 40 kb
Sir Chris Bonington, Mark Vallance and Derek Walker
UKC Articles, Mar 2009
© Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com Derek Walker, who served as both president and general secretary of the BMC, has died at the age of 76. He was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. General secretary from 1989 until his retirement in 1995, he oversaw major changes, including the relocation of our premises to Didsbury. The BMC wishes to express its deepest condolences to his wife Hilary, and the rest of his family.

Derek began mountain walking in 1954 and took up climbing in 1956 during national service with the RAF Mountain Rescue in North Wales. He was president of the University of Bristol Mountaineering Club in 1959-60 following the first of many Alpine seasons in 1958. He joined the Climbers' Club in 1969, and served as president from 1984-7. He was a member of the Alpine Club and the Fell & Rock CC.


* Forums ( Read More... | 17 comments, 24 Jan 2013 )
Very sad to hear this. I didn't know Derek very well but his face and cheerful demeanour will be missed from cheshire sandstone evenings, usually up at frodsham. There will be a lot of people missing Derek, but plenty...
Ben Farley - 22 Jan 2013

Hi Dave, I think you've come as close as any of us ever will to capturing what was so special about Derek. His decency, his humanity went far beyond the norm. The last time I met Derek was at a funeral in Bangor. A...
Mick Ward - 22 Jan 2013

Once out running miles away from home thinking I've bitten off to much I turned a corner and there was Derek out walking with his friends. A smile came across his face and he must have seen my slight discomfort and...
Dave Douglas: Awesome Walls - 22 Jan 2013

A lovely guy and a very keen and active climber long after many had hung up their boots. I remember getting onto a bus in Zion Canyon and finding him and Hilary sitting there. Somehow it was no suprise at all. I asked...
Wiley Coyote - 21 Jan 2013

very sorry to hear about Derek's death, he was a real gentleman and a great friend of the mountaineering world. Sitting writing this whilst in Patagonia makes it all the more poignant, Derek worked in a school down this...
Dave Turnbull, BMC - 21 Jan 2013

I only came to know Derek relatively late in his life but warmed to him immediately. He was always so friendly, courteous and enthusiastic. As someone said a real gent and a real climber. A terrible loss and a terrible...
Old Skooled - 21 Jan 2013

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