Rennie Montague Bere CMG (28 November 1907 in

Bere Regis Bere Regis () is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated north-west of Wareham. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,745. The village has one shop, a family-owned cheese barn, a post office, and two pub ...

, Dorset – 23 March 1991 in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Devon) was a British mountaineer, naturalist and nature conservationist. In 1928 he became a member of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

, London. In 1957 he became a

Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

Biography

Bere was the son of a clergyman. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and in 1926 entered Selwyn College, Cambridge. In 1930 he joined the British

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

, went to Uganda and worked as District Commissioner and later as Provincial Commissioner for the northern Province. In 1955 he became Director and Chief Ranger of the

Uganda National Parks See also * Conservation in Uganda * Central Forest Reserves of Uganda *List of national parks in Africa References External linksKibale Travel Guide Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...

in Cornwall. Bere published about a dozen books including ''The Way to the Mountains of the Moon'' (1966), ''Antelopes'' (1970), ''The Nature Of Cornwall'' (1982) and his autobiography ''A Cuckoo's Parting Cry: a personal account of life and work in Uganda between 1930 and 1960'' (1990).

Climbing and mountain exploration

In 1935, when on leave from Africa, Bere and David Cox made the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of ''Climbers Club Ordinary'' on the

Dewerstone Dewerstone is the site of an Iron Age Hill fort on a rocky promontory overlooking the River Plym on the South West edge of Dartmoor to the North of Plympton in Devon. The fort consists of ramparts to the Northern side of the promontory at appro ...

in Devon, a climb which is featured in the compendium Classic Rock and was the first recorded route on the Dewerstone, a cliff which ''"offers the finest climbs"'' on Dartmoor. During his thirty years in Uganda he accomplished many feats of mountaineering and added to knowledge of the mountains particularly of the Ruwenzori range. Bere researched many inselbergs, the Imatong range on the Sudanese border and the Virunga volcano.

Selected works

*''The Wild Mammals of Uganda and Neighbouring Regions of East Africa'', 1961 *''The Way to the Mountains of the Moon'', 1966 *''Wild Animals in an African National Park'', 1966 *''The African Elephant'', 1966 (German translation: ''Die Welt der Tiere: Der Afrikanische Elefant'', translated by Odo Walther, 1976) *''Birds in an African National Park'', 1969 *''Antelopes'' (German translation: ''Die Welt der Tiere: Antilopen'', translated by Theodor Haltenorth), 1970 *''Wildlife in Cornwall: a naturalist’s view of the southwestern peninsula'', 1970 *''Crocodile’s Eggs for Supper, and other Animal Tales from Northern Uganda'', 1973 *''Mammals of East and Central Africa'', 1975 *''The Story of Bude Haven'', 1977 *''The Book of Bude and Stratton'', 1980 *''The Nature of Cornwall: the wildlife and ecology of the county'', 1982 *''A Cuckoo’s Parting Cry: a personal account of life and work in Uganda between 1930 and 1960'', 1990

Sources

*A. D. M. Cox: "In Memoriam Rennie Montague Bere", in: ''Alpine Journal''; 1992, pp. 325–326 *Geoff Milburn: "Obituary Rennie Montague Bere", in: ''The Climbers Club Journal''; 1991 Volume XXI No. 1 (New Series), pp. 148–151 *Ernest Kay: ''The International Authors and Writers Who's Who'', International Biographical Centre, 1989 ; p. 65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bere, Rennie Montague British mountain climbers 1907 births 1991 deaths 20th-century British naturalists People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Colonial Service officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Dorset