UKC

Mick Ward reflects on the life of Al Evans, a much-loved character of the British climbing scene and long-time highly active member of our forums, who passed away last week.

Al Evans was probably the best-liked figure in the entire history of British climbing. There are many who knew him far better and for much longer than I did. This account of his life is necessarily incomplete. Hopefully it will encourage people to tell their own stories of him.

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Aaaaww Mick that is a really lovely article which evokes wonderful memories about Al. Sincere condolences to all of Al's family and friends. Cheers Dave

 

 

In reply to UKC Articles:

I probably have no right to intrude in this article but my one anecdote I realise, seems typical of the generosity of the man, as described by those who knew and loved him. I was climbing with my young teenage son around the year 2000 down at Bosigran. We had just completed Doorpost and were taking in the sun close by a far more competent crowd than ourselves. Two older guys had just finished Visions of Joanna and one of them packed up and hurried off. The other approached the crowd and did his best without success to persuade any one of them to accompany him on Suicide Wall. He then approached us and I noticed "Al" inked on his climbing shoes, instinctively I guessed it was Al Evans. "I don't suppose you fancy Suicide Wall" he asked. I laughed and admitted I had never climbed an extreme let alone one with such a reputation. He seemed to think that would add to the fun, promised to look after me and got my son's permission to borrow his dad for half an hour. Before I had time to argue, we were tied on and committed. With lots of encouragement and assistance, I joined Al on the Pedestal Stance where there was no alternative to getting up close and personal. This was my first experience of tying in to salt corroded pegs and to add to the excitement we noticed a heavy squall not too far off, I also noticed a rather fruity aroma on my partner's breath. He decided we needed to get a gallop on and scampered along the flake to the next stance below the crux. I was cajoled and pulled along to join him, and then the downpour arrived soaking us in our t-shirts and shorts. After a futile attempt to free the now soaking pitch, he without further ado climbed up me and out of sight. I was duly pulled up the crux to be assured it was effectively all over. There seemed to be a lot of sketching about for something that was in the bag and we eventually fought our way up some ferocious corner to a grateful top out. We ran back down to warm up and retrieve my boy who was asleep under a boulder. Apparently Al was acting as guardian of the Count House so he invited us in for tea and scones and could not have been more generous including making my son feel very special.

     Some years later, about the time that he came out on here with some of his issues, I took the liberty of messaging him and recounting my tale. Generous once more, he recalled the occasion, correcting me as to which climb he had been on with his friend and explaining that the friend had needed to dash off to celebrate his wife's birthday but they had managed some cheeky ciders on the morning to kick off the celebrations. As you can imagine, I felt privileged to have met and climbed with such a one off. RIP Sir.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Lovely words for a lovely man. Thank you.

 

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What an amazing time that was, what an inspiring man; what a brilliant occupation this senseless climbing can be. Thank you, Mick, you've done him justice. 

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Superb article Mick.

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Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing. 

Brilliant article Mick!

 

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A lovely reflection on Al's life. I never actually met him in person, but corresponded occasionally through the forums.  I can attest he was a great influencer in the 70s, some of his photos are established classics and incredibly evocative of the time.  They are, along with the climbing, a great legacy. 

Best,

Steve

 

 

In reply to UKC Articles:

Amazing though it may seem I never met Al but I felt like I knew him.  We were the same age and started climbing around the same time.  We both regularly frequented the same crags, cafes and pubs over a period of more than 50 years.  We climbed to a similar standard, neither of us "A team" but still reasonably competent.  I knew most of his mates and he knew most of mine as Mick Ward will possibly attest to.

More recently we communicated via this forum both of us expressing surprise that we had never crossed paths despite being aware of each others existence over a long period of time and vowing to rectify that as soon as we possibly could.  Unfortunately this never happened and I have to say that failing to do so is something that I will now forever regret.

This news together with that of Dave Gregory has left me feeling extremely aware of my own mortality. A sad time.

Al

In reply to UKC Articles:

Well written Mick.

I only met Al once . I was following someone up Thin Wall Special at Bosigran. Looking out across the final traverse under the roof, which fell as my lead, I voiced my dismay  loudly and I'm no uncertain terms. After an age of my moaning and whining, a voice drifted down from above- "I can throw you a rope, but I'm not belaying you, you'll have to climb it yourself." A rope duly appeared, looping down, which I gratefully tied into. With the security of a rope from above, I climbed the pitch (which actually fine in the end),  belated by my partner, and emerged at the top of the cliff to find Al Evans had looped the rope round a boulder to stop it slithering down the cliff, and was waiting with a smile. "Well done, wasn't that bad after all" he said.... 

Al Evans is one of the few ‘famous’ climbers I’ve ever met.

Back in the early 2000’s (I think) I was wandering along the track at The Cuttings, Portland, with my wife. We were marvelling at the ‘proper climbers’ climbing the harder, longer routes.

Al approached us and asked if one of us would top-rope and strip the gear on the recently bolted ‘Consommé’, F6a. He was climbing with another well-known climber, Geraldine Taylor, and she was saving herself for one last push on ‘Haute Cuisine’, F7a.

My top grade of climb back then was a short F5a so the thought of climbing a ‘tall’ F6a, even top roped, filled me with dread. However, I didn’t want to seem a coward so I warned him I wasn't very good but that I’d have a go.

I finished the climb with ‘relative’ ease (it wasn't as polished then) and thanked him for the opportunity to try a harder route. I asked him his name and when he said ‘Al Evans’ I knew instantly who he was. We chatted for a while and he encouraged me to try harder climbs more often.

I always enjoyed reading his posts and articles on UKC, knowing that I had climbed with the legendary Al Evans.

R.I.P. Al

 

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My early memory of Al is one I don't actually remember...

As a kid we had a b&w picture on the sideboard of me and my brother wearing matching pullovers (as was the thing then) ...and a monkey on our shoulders. Morecambe prom I think. 40 years later in a chat about Trowbarrow prompted by an article on here, we worked out he probably took it. Go easy.

In reply to UKC Articles: Al Evans was one of the “older “ climbers when I landed in the strange world of Planet Stoney Middleton at the age of 15 in 1973. He was always encouraging of the younger climbers and even told his more sarcastic mates to shut up when they’d had too much “pop” in the Moon. We didn’t understand why they all drank so much, but it seemed to be part of their scene.

Tom Proctor was on the orange squash but all the others would be in the pub at lunch time and then in for their second shift straight after the cafe closed. Al knew how and why rock climbing was going to get much harder and realised sensibly that this was something left to the next generation. He told me to “lay off the beer” if I wanted to improve. Sound advice.

I never heard him say anything nasty about anyone, even when they were horrible to him. He was a decent climber and bold with it. He genuinely seemed to enjoy being out in the fresh air, having an adventure. I guess being cooped up in the pressure cooker of a TV studio was enough to make you need the space around you and below your feet. He was always someone we were pleased to see. He made others confident in themselves and that was a vital element in new route exploration. He had a keen sense of humour, especially where his own failings were concerned.

Note to Mick. Good piece of writing Mick. You captured his essence well.

 

 

In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice tribute Mick. Al was a member of everbodys gang. Good friend, always smiling with that little foot swing he always did. Will be much missed.

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Many years ago, early 1980's I bumped into Al whilst running in a Marathon at Birmingham. It was a multilap affair and we spent the second lap running together and having a natter , I wasn't taking the race  serious so let him get on with it for the final lap. Many years later on UKC I put in a comment about something and he remembered me from that lap we ran together. I was gobsmacked, he was Al Evans, I had read his magazine contributions for years, I was just a punter he had briefly, accidentally met once and for only a few minutes but he remembered me, even my name. Don't know how he did it, maybe from a diary, perhaps from the race results, but he knew who I was. Thanks Al.

John

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Great article and thread. UKC at it's best. RIP Al.

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Ace! A lovely tribute.

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Well done Mick, great job!

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Lovely article Mick, and it made me feel very emotional. The fond way you remember him is exactly the way he always came across on these forums - friendly, mild, self-effacing and more interested in having fun climbing than in the grade of anything. 

In reply to Alyson:

Oh my! those days on Morecambe Prom taking photos with the monkeys! It all comes flooding back — it was never just the climbing with Al ( though we did plenty of that) it was the easy fun, good banter, and the excitement of exploring new bits of limestone no matter how small or scrappy — we just loved the stuff! you will never be forgotten old buddy. 

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That Crags cover is a masterpiece of design

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A truly great obituary article Mick. Thank you.

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A lovely article Mick. Al was, above all else, a kind and decent man. His decline and premature death was and is heartbreaking. 

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Many thanks for all your kind comments and emails. What matters most, of course, is that people have had a chance to share their experiences of Al. And what experiences!

For me, the true stature of a person is how they treat other people. For a climber, a lot of that is about how they behave at the crag. There are eloquent testimonies as to how Al conducted himself, both on and off the crags. So many people’s lives were enhanced by knowing him.

Subcultures (particularly climbing!) can be odd places. Perhaps we’re like an unruly family, happy to bicker about stuff which doesn’t really matter but equally coming together with a fierce commitment to each other when it does matter.

Sadly we’re losing comrades at an alarming rate. I’m thinking of people such as Derek Walker (a while ago), Nick Bond, Ian Howell, Al... and now Dave Gregory. All of these people gave back a very great deal indeed to climbing. Although they’ve gone, what they’ve left for us lives on.

And we must go on, do what we can for as long as we can. I had a lovely email from Andy Hedgecock, saying that he’s got a suitable line for ‘Sooty Comes to Benidorm’. It will take a little while, as he’s not out in Spain for a couple of months. But there’s no hurry.

Another lovely email was from one of Al’s oldest friends and climbing companions, Dave Parker, who’s posted just above. Amid other things, he gently pointed out that Al went to college in Blackpool, not Preston. Mea culpa! And I always thought that it was Blackpool, not Morecambe, where Al’s fabled performing monkey (Trowbarrow, here we come!) enticed the holiday visitors. So there’s a couple of monkey bites for me.

In conclusion, I’d like to mention something which Annabelle Ison wrote on Facebook. I hope she won’t mind me reproducing it. It catches the essence of Al: ‘Sleep well, gentle soul.’

Yes, Al, sleep well, my friend...

Mick

In reply to UKC Articles:

Lovely recollection and tribute Mick, thank you.

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Al was one of the the most generous and warm-hearted guys I have ever met in climbing. A superb climber without ego, faultless in his encouragement of "youths", he gave generously of his time and experience: a mentor to many, including to me for a few years from 1975. Seeing him and Jim Moran  "running up" Great Wall on Cloggy in the summer of 76 is still a vivid image. Thanks for the memories, Mick. My heartfelt  condolences to his family. 

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Great memorial Mick.

Al was a major instigator/motivator for us young Peak limestone climbers in the mid seventies, establishing (with Gabe Reagan) such classics as 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen' and 'Darl' both in Cheedale, along with many other great routes.

RIP Al.

 

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RIP nice guy, thanks for the article Mick!

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Lovely article. My hubby (Chris the Tall/Chris Moor) climbed with Al on a number of occasions both in Spain and Kálymnos and I used to love hearing all the stories. I believe Al was the cameraman on the notorious Grundy/Sex Pistols interview.

Just found and read Mick Ward's article on Al Evans. Saddened by the new. Al, Kieth and I climbed a lot together in those late 60's. I remember Al found a 'new' crag in the northern suburbs of, somewhere near Sheffield Wednesdays ground.  It was a scruffy place, north 'ish facing amongst a forest. The three of us spent evenings after work putting up routes. Don't remember the name of the crag. We spent a day at Agden Rocher pulling ivy off a wall during a snow squall at to reveal a new route

He came round one day to borrow my jumar clamps, which they then used on their first ascent of St Johns Head. 

The article captures the man so well, nice, well done.

Steve  C

 

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I had the honour to know him a little, and climb with him a little. He was absolutely lovely.

Such a loss. He was a wonderful climber and a wonderful person.

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Sad news.  I met Al on a CC Lundy meet in 2000.  Didn't climb with him but did have a few pints with him in the Marisco Tavern.  He was great company.

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I didn't know Al personally but experienced his generosity.  About 10 years ago I was looking for info on UKC about Chulilla in Spain.  Al replied and offered to send me his only copy of the local topo guide in the post, provided I swore to send it back.  I did swear, he sent it and I returned it, and he refused to accept anything for his postage costs.  Thanks Al!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article Mick, thank you.

I was in Manchester on Tuesday which brought back so many memories of Al. I walked past the old Granada studios where Al worked as a cameraman and then down Deansgate past where the old YHA shop where I worked with Brian Cropper and co back in the mid 70’s. Al used to frequent the YHA two or three time a week during his lunch break and was inspirational in motivating me and many others to push our grades and try harder routes.

The Manchester crowd would regularly go bouldering on winter evenings to the Abraham Moss Centre which  had some incredibly hard problems performed by the very talented elite much to my astonishment, there were no mats back in the day and some problems were very high ball.

Thursday evenings were spent at The Grapes pub where we met with Al, Brian, Black Nick, Blonde Nick, Big & Liittle Sid, Con, Touty et all and often with the BMC team including Alex Mc, Dennis G and many more.

At the weekend we would end up at Stoney climbing in the locality; eating in the legendary Stoney cafe and in the evenings at the equally legendary Moon pub, drinking and playing darts with the local legends.

We would usually stagger out and sleep on Windy Ledge which was always an “interesting” experience!  I don’t remember who fell off the ledge when relieving himself but luckily they survived to tell the tale. Some were able to show their impressive talent by being capable of doing the starting moves of Our Father inebriated by torchlight.

Happy days indeed. I’m very sorry I wasn’t able to attend Al’s funeral yesterday. 

Rest in peace Al.

Chris L

PS. I don’t think the names of the climbers in the group photo on Windy Ledge are correct as I’m in the photo with my old pal Martin Hair and the late John Tout.

In reply to Christheclimber:

Hi Chris.

cant see John Tout on there? We were only talking about him yesterday, well Big Sid was...

In reply to BlownAway:

Hi Phil, 

I think John is on the far right of the Windy Ledge photo?? Not sure Graham was on the scene when this photo was taken but I could be wrong........

Chris

In reply to UKC Articles:

Sad news. I didn’t know him well but had met ateast a couple of times at some of the old UKC meets. He’ll be well missed, as will his enthusiasm for UK Traditional rock climbing.

RIP

In reply to UKC Articles:

Hi Mick

You are correct in your comments about losing many a climber who gave so much back to the climbing community at a rapid rate at the moment (including my dad Nick Bond)

One would hope sharing these stories inspire and encourage the younger/newer climbers to do the same.

Thanks for sharing

RIP Al, have fun in the big climbing wall in the sky!

In reply to gingerwolf:

Hi Tom,

Good to hear from you. Serendipidity? I've been doing an obituary for Al for the CC journal. (Nah, I'm too much of a teenage(!?) rebel to be a member - fine organisation though it is.)

And we've lost so many - Derek Walker, Ian Howell, Al, your dad, to name but a few. All of them have left our climbing world (a microcosm of the big bad world) so much better for their presence. They're gone - but what they've achieved remains - even if people coming later never know of their sacrifices.

Though I suspect that, generation versus generation, yours' is much more aware and giving that mine was when we were young. I hope so.

Mick

P.S. Memories of Nick flooding back now. His cheeky smile will be with me always. And some great one liners  - put me in my place!  Bless him...