The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in England and Wales (outside the Lake District). The club was founded in 1898. The CC one of the largest publishers of climbing guidebooks in many of the main climbing areas of England and Wales. The club also owns and operates a number of climbing huts in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Early history

The Club developed from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

's and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

' earliest attempt to formally organize and bring together those who were active in participating and developing the "new" sport of rock climbing. In 1870,

C. E. Mathews Charles Edward Mathews (4 January 1834 – 20 October 1905) was an English mountaineer, a leading member of the Alpine Club and writer on mountaineering. In his professional career as solicitor he was active in public affairs in Birmingham. Life ...

founded the '' Society of Welsh Rabbits'', which was a loose association of climbers who were largely English. By 1897, members of the Society saw a need for something more formal, and forty met at the Café Monico in London to discuss forming a new Club. Originally perceived as merely a dining club, meeting once a year in London, one-third of the original members were also affiliated with the venerable

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whic ...

- generally more conservative and populated largely by alpinists who had little regard for climbing in Great Britain, except as training for the Alps. The first president, C. E. Mathews, was, himself, a pillar of the AC, but supported this new adventurous but parochial initiative. Not without the wry criticism so fashionable at the time, however, as the arch-conservative mountaineer

Douglas Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club and s ...

punned:Clark, R. W. and Pyatt, E. C. (1957). "Mountaineering in Britain", Phoenix House. :::Why is it to the Alpine Club :::Our C. E. M. no longer keeps? :::Why should he found - himself as hub – :::A Climbers' Club for ''chimney sweeps''.

Huts

The Climbers' Club operates a number of climbing huts.

Wales

* Ynys Ettws (

Llanberis (; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, ...

, North Wales) * Cwm Glas Mawr (

, North Wales) * Helyg ( Ogwen, North Wales) * May Cottage ( Pembroke, South Wales)

England

* RO Downes ( Froggatt, Peak District) * Count House ( Bosigran, Cornwall) * Grange Old School (

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' ...

, The Lake District)

Scotland

* Riasg ( Roy Bridge, Central Highlands of Scotland)

References

* Hankinson, Alan (1972). "The First Tigers", J. M. Dent & Sons

External links

* Climbing clubs in the United Kingdom Climbing organizations {{climbing-stub