Len Stubbs: August 1922 - 28 June 2007, Founder Member of KMC
There must now be quite a few Club members who perhaps don't know a
great deal about the lifelong influence of Len Stubbs on the KMC, and
the foresight he and the other nine founder members showed in getting
the Karabiner Mountaineering Club down the slipway to its launch on
11 November 1944. Now that Len has died we can reflect on the central
role he played in those wartime and after years, and how he led the
resistance to forming a new Manchester section of the Sheffield-based
Peak Climbing Club, in favour of an autonomous body in no way subservient
to any White Rose influence.
For younger and newer members the Club's 50th Anniversary Journal
will reveal a lot of information on the early period of KMC life, but
until last June Len was 'living history' and could always provide a
good yarn over a cup of tea or pint of beer. Like some others, I used
to pop in to see him when passing through the Peak and spent much
time in Len's company, talking of mountain and crag deeds and
swapping news of other members. Even in his last years Len was always
eager to know about the KMC, able to express trenchant views (a great
KMC tradition - spades are after all spades!), and occasionally
regret the apparent dearth of Club interest in really challenging
walks.
Back in 2002 I went to visit Len with the purpose of making a
tape-recorded conversation cum interview with him, which I still have
here. I hadn't quite anticipated the number of hours this would take,
but it was fascinating to talk with and listen to Len and to go
through his photo collection and some of his diary entries from years
ago. I will just indulge you with a few random selections.
Just after the war, outdoor equipment was hard to come by. Len told
me of a chap called Jim Widdicombe, whose name you will see in the
list of Honorary Members in your handbook. According to Len, he was a
frequent source of simple items like Primus stoves or climbing boot
nails and the like, all given to Len and his pals to help them into
the hills.
With his friends, Len also aimed high for the KMC with its dinner
guests and presidents. Just now I have here letters to Len from Eric
Shipton and John Hunt in reply to KMC invitations. The first half of
the KMC's Presidents list also shows Len & co mixing with some of the
mountaineering world's illustrious names. "Did the KMC ever consider
offering the presidency to Don Whillans?" I asked Len. A sharp intake
of breath - "Not on your life. We knew trouble when we saw it!"
The famed 'club of pals' - Len and one other turned up for a meet at
Laddow after a Saturday morning at work. No one else appeared. A
short while later another member of the time passed along the top of
the crag having taken a walk over from Greenfield. "Oh, didn't you
know, Len. They've all gone down to the Roaches". Len and his mate
then, immediately, set off to WALK from Laddow to the Roaches, to
have it out with the others about last-minute unofficial changes to
the Outdoor Meets list!
The KMC and dogs - Len himself used to take a dog along on some
meets. At Glen Brittle, Len and his mates wished to climb up to Sgurr
Dearg via the Window Buttress and go on to the Inaccessible Pinnacle.
The dog was given into the care of a lady member with strict
instructions to keep it on lead until Len's group was off up the hill
and well out of sight, so it wouldn't follow them. Just after
finishing Window Buttress, the dog appeared all on its own. Cursing
the lady member, Len's pals insisted that in order to avoid problems
(and being the owner!), Len should carry the dog in his rucksack. He
then described to me the awkwardness of climbing the Inn Pinn with
the dog licking the back of his neck and knocking his cap down over
his eyes at each tricky move on the climb.
"Len, you resigned from the Rucksack Clup when they started to let
women join. How does that square with being a founder member of a
club that had mixed membership from the word go?" "Ah, well - there
were nine of us plus Plum's wife, Robbie. We used to meet round at
Plum's house and Robbie (a keen mountaineer in her own right - JG.)
used to feed us and provide pots of tea. Ye didn't dare tell her she
couldn't join!"
There's a lot more like this: competitive walks with the Rucksack
Club; epic journeys to Scotland; close calls; early trips abroad. Of
course I remember the result of being at Len's place, first at Hardy
Green Cottage and later at Paddock Close. You came away kippered with
fag smoke, awash with tea, but mostly chuckling with laughter. Len
was always interested in where you'd been. John Hunt used for his
autobiography title the phrase "Life is Meeting". If you met Len
Stubbs and spent time with him, you came to realise that you'd been
in the company of someone special, and in KMC terms, someone unique.
I'm sure some of you who have been members longer than me also have a
few tales to tell of time with Len; you should share them with us.
Len Stubbs, R.I.P. We will miss you, but we'll laugh long and loud
when we speak about you.
Jim Gregson
November Newsletter Index.
Copyright © 2007 Karabiner Mountaineering Club
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