The first 50 years

The club was founded (in the usual local manner) following a letter to the Dundee Courier in January 1927, and the first meet was held in Glen Clova in March: 12 members attended and a snow gully was climbed on Mayar. In December 1928, a party was avalanched in Corrie Fee- “a valuable lesson had been learnt”. In summer 1929, the club visited Skye and 2 years later recorded the first a of Raeburn’s Gully on Lochnagar (curiously 70 years later 2 members recorded the fastest unintentional descent of Raeburn’s, but that is another story). In 1932, the club was joined by Dr JHB Bell for several ascents of gullies and buttresses on Stuc a Chroin and he remained with the club till his death in 1975 as Hon. President.

In 1935, the club held it’s first of many slide shows and “a group emerged as expert rock climbers” with a number of first ascents which raised the club’s prestige nationally.

From 1939 to 1945, regular meets were held in the Sidlaws, Fife and Angus, using public transport, except for 15 months from February 1940. A few managed weekend train meets to Aviemore and Crianlarich and membership numbered 65 with 25 on active service and 2 as prisoners-of-war.

Thereafter things returned to some normality though local food at hotels on meets was being reported as “a problem” as late as 1948. Membership rose to 102 in 1950 and in that decade club parties ventured as far afield as Wales, Ireland, the Alps, Norway, Greenland, Iceland and Africa. There were regular and popular meets to the Cairngorm Club’s hut, Derry Lodge and eventually the club got its own at Inbhirfhaolain which was leased in 1961 and officially opened in June 1962. The hut was closed for 2 months in 1967 because of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease-plus ca change.

In the sixties, membership was around 160 and overnight meets were started (and often never-to-be-forgotten!). Overseas trips continued and the acquisition of Munros became a popular pastime with member, Eric Maxwell, being the official Keeper of the List of Compleationists at the time, compleating his 2nd round at the age of 72.
In the 70s club membership peaked at over 200 and in 1977 on the 50th anniversary meet, some 86 members made it to the top of Mayar including a founder member in his 80s.

1977 to 2004

A survey of the club bulletin for this period reveals an active club with a varied programme of meets all over Scotland and members visited other mountain ranges abroad including old favourites like Greenland, Norway and the Alps (with Arolla being popular) but as international travel became easier trips were made farther afield to New Zealand, the Himalaya and Canada and the USA.

In this period too, obituaries appeared more frequently as the years caught up on members who were active in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Reading these accounts provides valuable and moving glimpses of the characters and deeds of club members and of the very warm, friendly and caring atmosphere of the Grampian Club which has persisted to this day.

In 1981, the hut custodian retired on the 20th anniversary of the acquisition of Inbhirfhaolain and it was left to the new custodian to install electricity and to his successors to continue the tradition of steady improvement and indeed the hut is now almost unrecognisable to those who knew it well in the 1960s and the glory days of gas lighting and cast off furniture and crockery. We are now on our third and hopefully final porch in the hut.

In 1984, the club had a major hand in the construction of the Roy Tait Memorial Bridge at Bachnagairn to commemorate a member killed in the Black Spout of Lochnagar in 1981.

The club purchased our cottage in Torridon in 1984 but in that year we also suffered a major road accident on a club meet at Auch which resulted in the death of club secretary, Liz Stenhouse. Around this time Nordic Skiing began to appear as a popular club activity and a commemorative collection of club writings was published called “Grampian Tales 1937-1987” which served to remind of our rich heritage.
In 2002 the Club celebrated its 75th Anniversary when at the Annual Dinner the health of the Grampian Club was toasted by the President of theMCoS, John Donahoe.A special Edition of the Bulletin featured coloured covers recording members visits to the Himalayas,New Zealand and the Western Isles in addition to the usual Scottish venues.The Hebrides, climbs in Colorado, walks in Shetlands and the Andes were places visited by club parties and accounts appeared in another Special Bulletin this one to mark the 50th Edition.

Throughout this time members have made a major contribution to the Dundee Mountain Film Festival and on a less serious note to the local Mountain Mind Quiz with some success. The club continues to have a keen interest in environmental issues and access to the Scottish Hills and members have been involved in M.C. of S.,S.C.A.C, Tayside Mt Rescue and many other local and national organisations.

Thanks to Roy Partington for help in writing this history of the club.