| The Barnsley
Mountaineering Club was formed on 2nd
February 1946. Its main
activities were in the Peak District of
Derbyshire. Every four weeks
meets were held either camping or Youth
Hostelling from Friday Evening to Sunday
evening. These were mainly in
the vicinity of the gritstone crags. Eventually the club
had the use of a barn near Hope railway
station which was converted by our own
members to suitable standard but was soon
lost when the farmer required
it. We then got a twenty-year
lease on “Wood Cottage”
situated up the Snake pass which became
our second High Peak base.
The rules at that time
were strict and stated that members had
to attend all meets or explain their
absence to the committee. We were
always a responsible club having close
relationships with the local community in
the Snake valley.
We held litter clean
up sessions at the local gritstone crags
and in the Snake Valley. We
also enjoyed annual football matches with
the local young farmers.
The club was actively
engaged in the consultancy process
leading to the formation of the Peak
District National Park putting forward
the views of climbers, fell walkers and
mountaineers. When the Park
was formed in 1951, the first in Britain,
our members took part in the voluntary
wardening, as laid down in the
act. Wood Cottage was used as
the base for wardens on Bleaklow.
As the years passed
our activities spread further afield and
we ran buses to Wales, the Lakes and
Scotland. These were very
popular indeed but were overtaken as
members acquired their own forms of
transport. Other outdoor
activities came in such as skiing,
caving, canoeing and sailing and the club
became more tolerant of kindred pursuits.
Now, after 60 years,
members have climbed in most mountain
areas of the world in all continents,
giving pleasure, excitement and
experience to satisfy our members’
needs.
Ron Darwent
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