UKC

I have just read that Tom Proctor has died after a long illness, one of my true climbing hero's. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

The picture of Tom on menopause hanging on the wall at stoney caff was a source of inspiration for years !

In reply to The Fat One:

The picture of Tom on menopause hanging on the wall at stoney caff was a source of inspiration for years

Too right, I loved that pic.

Rest In Peace.

In reply to The Fat One: Tom Proctor has died after a long illness, one of my true climbing hero's. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

The picture of Tom on menopause hanging on the wall at stoney caff was a source of inspiration for years !

Same here.

Stu

In reply to The Fat One: Tom's funeral is at St Thomas's Church, Brampton, Chesterfield on Friday 14th September (tomorrow)at 12.30

In reply to Stu T:

Maybe Als James and Evans could get together to find one of the Hydraulic Man cartoons from the early Crags and put it on the site somewhere? Tom was a real hero.

In reply to Dave Garnett:

I haven't got a copy of that cartoon myself but I would be happy to put together something about Tom. He was indeed an inspiration for many but particularly those of us who learnt their climbing in the early 80s in the Peak and sat in Stoney cafe with its walls covered with those great pictures.

Has anyone got any photos we could use on the site?

Alan

In reply to The Fat One:

In response to Al Evans posting recently - I sent Tom a birthday card reminding him of his star route, Yankee Doodle at Lands End. I couldn't have known that his untimely death was so close.

B******!

Dennis M.

In reply to Alan James:

I've got a full set of Crags (yes, including the first one) up in the loft somewhere. I can dig them out for you to scan the cartoons if you like.

Al Evans or Geoff Birtles might have the original artwork.

In reply to Dave Garnett: The mags scan will be ok if you want to do this. Probably need to get permission from Geoff though to be totally legal!!

In reply to Al Evans:


Tom Proctor & Billy Whizz. I will always remember the name & the man round the Stoney parade.

We had a bit of a tribute earliet for Tom on the site.........still, he was a memorable fella to us all who knew of him.......

Si

In reply to Al Evans:

Given my job, this had crossed my mind! I'll see if I can find his e-mail address somewhere.

Tom was buried today in Chesterfield. More than 200 people came to the funeral. Friends, family and a galaxy of climbing stars from the 60s, 70s and 80s. We heard true tales of Tom's amazing feats on Peak rock and under it when he took up extreme caving. Tom was my inspiration to get strong and climb harder routes. He always had time for the younger generation, and being one of the best never went to his head. Before the funeral today, I stopped at Stoney Middleton and took a long look at Windy Buttress, the scene of many of his triumphs. Tears came to my eyes, as they did to many at St Thomas's Church an hour later. Tom was unique in his manner, and in his dedication. The world is a sadder place without him.

In reply to John Kirk:
Well said, John.

I remember meeting him in Stoney cafe in the late 80's, an inspiration too all climbers. That picture of him on Menopause in his stripped t'shirt, using a grim one finger pocket undercut, bicep looking like a melon. Green death in a pair of e.b's and a climbing helmet that probably weighed more than your average comp. climber.

Did Tom actually dicover Tom's roof and glue the crimp back on?He did train there didnt he?
A sad loss indeed

In reply to Britney Smears: Tom did "discover" the cave and did indeed glue back the lip hold when it came off. I think he also contributed to digging mud out of the cave to make the "route" longer. This was typical of his crag mending tendencies.

In reply to The Fat One: The picture and Tom are now immortalised in The Independent newspaper obituary by Stephen Goodwin. Dated 19th September 2001.

In reply to John Kirk:

online version here, alas without the pic.

In reply to brendonTendon: I still have the negative and if a few people want a copy I could get some prints done - or if Geoff Birtles could scan the one he has and post it somewhere people could print it off.

In reply to John Kirk:

a scan would be great - if somebody emailed it to me I could put it online straight away, no probs.

In reply to The Fat One: Tom was indeed a great inspiration to me in the 70's and 80's my thought's go to his friend's and family.
Bryn Major.

In reply to The Fat One: For anyone who's interested, an obituary of Tom appeared in yesterday's Times. The online version is at http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,60-2001333916,00.html

In reply to brendonTendon: My picture of Tom on Menopause is now in the Photo Gallery.

In reply to John Kirk:

thanks for that John, I've been promised some other pics of him this w/e so if I get 'em, I'll scan them and post the url on here...