Bonington Collection now open

MHT are delighted to announce that the Bonington Collection is now open to the general public thanks to funding received from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the BMC.

The papers include expedition documents, correspondence, press cutting scrapbooks and manuscript drafts of Sir Chris’ books, all of which detail the unique nature and long term value surrounding his lifetime’s work as a mountaineer, journalist, photographer and, at times, diplomat and ambassador.  Chris Bonington started climbing in 1951 at the age of 16, pioneering new rock routes in the UK, before moving out to the Alps in the late fifties, making important British first ascents and struck out into the Himalaya in 1960 with the first ascent of Annapurna II, a peak only a few metres short of 8000.  He went on to lead the successful Annapurna South Face and Everest South West Face expeditions in the 1970s and took part in the development of compact light-weight expeditions.

Sir Chris Bonington said “I have kept all the correspondence, papers and diaries from all of my expeditions over the last 48 years in a shed at the bottom of my garden which reflects some of the most important British expeditions of the 60s, 70s and 80s.  I’m delighted that these are now going to see the light of day thanks to the expertise of Maxine Willett, Archivist of the Mountain Heritage Trust and, most important of all, will be made available to the mountaineering community and anyone wanting to research this element of mountain history.”