A stalwart of British climbing Dave Gregory passed away recently. In this article his long-time climbing partner and good friend Chris Craggs takes a look at 'a life lived to the full'.
Nice tribute, Dave was my physics teacher at Lady Manners and for a loan of the School's climbing gear he asked us to help check his script for Tegness Pinnacle and I never looked back after that.
Is there any news on his funeral arrangements please?
In accordance with Dave's last wishes, there will be no funeral, he donated his body to medical research - one final selfless act I guess.
Instead there will be a Wake on Sunday 10 February at the Red Lion / Peak Edge Hotel in Chesterfield. There will be a tribute to him followed by a pie and pea lunch to give him a good send off. Anyone who knew him is welcome to turn up,
I had no sense of imminence when I walked over to site #63 many years ago, but Dave and I were already partners who had yet to meet. We discovered this fact at a belay high above Tenaya Lake a couple of days later. My teen son and his buddies were far below us at the north shore beach. We were idling before dealing with the intricate descent from Stately Pleasure Dome. I mentioned that I liked to write about climbing. He sat up straighter and told me he shared that interest. I told him that Roper and Steck had accepted a story of mine for their "Ascent". He sat up straighter still and said that he, too, had contributed to "Ascent". We laughed and stared at each other in surprise. Upon my return home, I discovered that his "The Latter-Day Saint" and my "Spiderman" were next to each other in the 1993 "Best of Ascent". Roper had already introduced us. We just had to discover the fact.
Thanks Chris, my Dad was asking after any details today as well and that’s fitting that Dave has given himself to medical research, he was as you say a selfless man.
I know the Red Lion, it’s just over the road from Stone Edge Quarries and this mega roof:
Dave (Mr Gregory) was my Physics teacher at Lady Manners and the first time he called my name in class register, there was a long pause after I had confirmed my presence. ‘You’re not one of THOSE Jacques are you?’ he bellowed, eyes glaring over his half moon glasses. This fearsome bloke''s got my cards marked I thought, he’s taught my Father and Uncles and so I attempted to keep my head down in fear of any lingering retribution.
We crossed paths a year or so later when one day we were knocking about round the back of the sports hall, which consisted of sculptured grit blocks. Some fine crimps were on offer, accompanied by slots of recessed mortar which looked to have been forced by a chisel, by whom we never found out. The smokers used to assemble in the corner nearby and accepted our rather dismal display of gripping and slipping as we provided a handy screen for any oncoming teachers or prefects. Just as my Doc Martin boot slid off another smear, Mr Gregory rounded the corner and we all froze, we were all for it, the smokers gasping, taking in a lungful of cheap fag smoke.
We were all asked what we were doing and I explained we were practicing for climbing as we’d been recently been taken out in Lawrencefield Quarry and didn’t appear too good at it. With a hard stare, Mr Gregory summoned us to follow him, as the purple faced smokers all exhaled in unison and relief. They waved us goodbye as we set off for detention as Dave lead the way into the School buildings. We arrived at a door that I hadn’t noticed before, having successfully escaped detention by fair means or foul so far, I knew at that moment what this room was for.
To our surprise and relief, the door opened to a cupboard full of ropes, rather dodgy harnesses and bits of home-made gear. Mr Gregory pulled out his trusty Yellow 1978 Froggatt guide, handed it to me and said “here you go youth, what gear do you need?”
Dave filled our schoolbags with an amazing array of climbing kit on the promise that we’d help him in return, a trip to Tegness Pinnacle Quarry and a mission to check his new script for the forthcoming BMC guidebook.
I never had Dave as a teacher again at School, that wonderful man and ourselves were guidebook collaborators and best of all, climbers.