Bowden Black
By Derek Seddon
Up the mountain face and down the ski slope
Bowden (Bow) Black who has died aged 72, was for 60 years an active
mountaineer - rock climber, fell-walker and skier.
The epitome of northern out-door club life, he helped found the
Karabiner Mountaineering Club, based in Manchester, and the
Rossendale Ski Club in Lancashire, becoming a driving force in both.
Introduced to the Peak District at the age of 12, he climbed Cader
Idris at 13, the start of a fascination which never left him. During
the war he was a seaman on one of the four-funnel destroyers which
the Americans had transferred to the Royal Navy under the lend-lease
arrangements. The old tub dating from the first world war, spent more
time in dock for repairs than it did at sea and Bowden volunteered
for the Fleet Air Arm - a very high risk occupation. He was sent to
Canada for flight training, caught pneumonia after a snow bound
cross-country run and eventually had his passing out parade on VJ
Day, as Japan surrendered. Back home he was soon rock climbing again,
seconding Pete Harding on the first ascent of Valkyrie, a superb very
severe route on the Roaches, Staffordshire. Gradually he built up an
encyclopaedic knowledge of routes, holds and techniques on the
gritstone crags, never missing a weekend although - as a bank clerk
in those stiff and formal days - he worked on Saturday mornings.
Dressed in a suit jacket for appearances above the counter, he wore
climbing breeches below, for a quick take-off for the hills at
closing time. He made his first pair of skis in the kitchen with tyre
inner tubes for safety bindings. When ex-army skis became available,
he grasped the opportunity and joined the earliest days of popular
skiing in the Lake District (Where before you skied you first dragged
half-a-mile of ski-tow up the mountain), or in Scotland which
required a 350-mile motor bike ride with two pairs of skis lengthways
and his wife Millie on the pillion.
The Karabiner Mountaineering Club was founded in 1944 as a mixed
group for working men and women when the established clubs tended to
be mainly for single-sex professionals. It was also happy to accept
beginners and offer them training in the sport. Bowden was secretary
for nine formative years, in which time he patiently guided scores of
tyros through there first faltering scrabbles on rock and gave them
with some of his enthusiasm. His gift was to pass on his view that
life was fun and could be exciting. Though not a hard climber by
modern standards he was a life long enthusiast, achieving one
ambition by climbing Central Buttress on Scafell and Dream of White
Horses on Gogarth at the age of 58.
Millie his wife for 40 years, had a taste for long-distance
fell-walking and was the first woman to complete the 126-mile Tan
Hill to Cat and Fiddle, joining the two highest inns in England.
Bowden was the organiser and navigator for this and her subsequent
Snowdon to Brecon (120-miles) and the Scottish fours, linking all the
4,000ft peaks in Scotland _ Millie's record as the only woman to
complete this stood for 30 years. Once a year for about seven years
he would leave Millie behind for a week and race down to the south of
France to climb on the great cliffs of St Victoire, Provence, visit
the local vineyards and replenish his wine cellar, His companion o
these excursions, did not drive: so Bowden drove the whole way from
Bury to Provence overnight and ditto on the return with his boot full.
Millie died in 1994 after a long struggle against cancer, tended
devotedly by Bowden, man of action turned gentle carer. Afterwards he
suffered a succession of illnesses which depleted his physical powers
until, only weeks ago, he admitted his climbing days were over and
even walking became difficult as his balance was affected: but he
still appeared at the pub to talk to new young club members,
advising, encouraging and telling tall tales.
The end fitted the man. He was on holiday in Vancouver, visiting old
climbing friends: after a day in that beautiful city and its local
hills, he was playing the piano for a sing song at a party when he
suffered a stroke, from which he never regained consciousness. He
leaves a daughter and two grandchildren.
Arthur Bowden Black, climber, born August 27, 1924; died May 6, 1997
Extracts from the Guardian newspaper obituaries
1997
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