The key role of the Mountain Heritage Trust (MHT) is to ensure that Britain's unique & fascinating heritage of the people connected with its mountainous areas are conserved, documented, made accessible and, most importantly, communicated to as wide an audience as possible.

VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED!

MHT is seeking help with making its archive collections more accessible.  Please contact Maxine on 01768 840911 to apply or for further information.

Who's who?
The Mountain Heritage Trust is the only organisation of its kind in England. The Trust is comprised of appointed officers, Professor Terry Gifford (Chairman), Julie Summers (Vice Chair), John Porter (Secretary), Ron Kenyon (Treasurer) and Nick Colton (Secretary to the Board) and the trustees, namely, Sir Chris Bonington, Paul Braithwaite, John Innerdale, Jerry Lovatt, Jim Lowther, Doug Scott, Mark Vallance and the British Mountaineering Council.

Echoes from the Crags - an Audio Climbing Archive

The climbing and mountaineering world is full of characters. Many of them have interesting and exciting stories to tell. Wouldn't it be great if we could capture them for posterity? 

MHT is continuing its important work by looking at the potential for recording interviews with climbers and mountaineers.  The spoken word is a potent way of capturing the past and making history come alive.
 
MHT currently holds interviews recorded for research purposes by Alan Hankinson - interviewees include members of Everest expeditions (1924-1975), Geoffrey Winthrop Young, A B Hargreaves, Ivan Waller and Harry Griffin amongst others.
 
If you are aware of any existing interviews, or would be interested in working towards creating an audio archive for your club, then MHT would like to hear from you.
 
Email: maxine@mountain-heritage.org  Tel:  01768 840911 

Mallory Clothing Replica Project

The Mallory clothing replicas challenge the conventional view that Mallory's clothing and equipment were inadequate for his ill-fated 1924 Everest expedition. Based on the scientific analysis of textile fragments from the original clothing, uncovered on Everest in 1999, the replicas were created to provide a better understanding of the construction of the garments. They demonstrate how effective they would have been at providing protection at altitude, and have been rigorously laboratory-tested for comparison with current mountaineering products.

Graham Hoyland, mountaineer and great-nephew of 1924 Everest climber Howard Somervell, has field-tested on Everest an exact replica of the clothing worn by George Mallory in 1924 . He concluded it was: 'very pleasant to wear, easy movement, sufficiently warm to summit.'

The replicas are the result of a three-year project headed by Professor Mary B. Rose and Mike Parsons both of Lancaster University Management School's IEED. Research work and replication was undertaken at the Universities of Leeds, Southampton and Derby; the £30,000 project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with added support from the Pasold Research Fund and the Clothing for Extremes conference and under the direction of the Mountain Heritage Trust.

A copy of the brochure which provides further information on the above project is available from the Trust, priced £4.95.


Other projects
Funding from the Northern Rock Foundation for a project entitled 'Onwards and Upwards: The Archive of Ascent' enabled the Trust's archivist, Maxine Willett, to contact all UK based climbing clubs to assess exactly what records/artefacts exist, where they are held, the condition they are in and whether there is any existing information on the club holdings. An element of the project involved visiting some of the clubs to help compile a descriptive list and offer advice on preservation issues. This work continues as working with the clubs now will ensure that their history is preserved and available to be used in centenary celebrations and beyond.


How to help
If you know of any equipment, documents, papers, film or photographs which contribute to the history of British Mountains and Mountaineering, then the MHT would like to hear from you. Please contact:

Maxine Willett
Mountain Heritage Trust
Station House
Ullswater Road
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7JQ
T: 01768 840911
E: maxine@mountain-heritage.org


Mountain Heritage Trust, a Registered Charity, number 1083219, Station House, Ullswater Road, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 7JQ, 01768 840911, enquiries@mountain-heritage.org
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