Alfred Sefton "Fred" Pigott (1895 – 28 July 1979) was a leading English

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

of the 1920s and 1930s.

Personal life

Fred Pigott attended

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

and in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

joined the Royal Fusiliers. While serving as a sniper, he received a

gangrenous Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

wound that deformed his hand and caused his discharge from the army. He became a sugar merchant in Stockport and had two sons, Geoffrey and Hugh, with his wife Frances.

Climbing

Pigott climbed extensively with Morley Wood, mostly leading. They pioneered many routes in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...

including Stanage Edge and

The Roaches The Roaches (from the French ''les roches'' - the rocks) is a prominent rocky ridge above Leek and Tittesworth Reservoir in the Staffordshire Peak District of England. The ridge with its rock formations rises steeply to . Along with Ramsha ...

and he later moved to mountains including new routes at

Glen Coe Glen Coe ( gd, Gleann Comhann ) is a glen of volcanic origins, in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the north of the county of Argyll, close to the border with the historic province of Lochaber, within the modern council area of Highland ...

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; gd, Beinn Nibheis ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. The summit is above sea level and is the highest land in any direction for . Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian ...

, the Inaccessible Pinnacle and the 3rd ascent of the central buttress of

Scafell Scafell ( or ; also spelled Sca Fell, previously Scawfell) is a mountain in the English Lake District, part of the Southern Fells. Its height of makes it the second-highest mountain in England after its neighbour Scafell Pike, from which ...

in 1923. ''Pigott's Climb'' (VS, 5a, 1924) on the East Buttress of

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (, translates as the "black cliff of the black height"), or "Cloggy", is a north-facing rhyolite set of cliffs located on the northern flank of Snowdon mountain. Cloggy is considered to be one of the best traditional climbing a ...

set new standards for exposure.

Jack Longland Sir John Laurence Longland (26 June 1905 – 29 November 1993) was an educator, mountain climber, and broadcaster. After a brilliant student career Longland became a don at Durham University in the 1930s. He formed a lifelong concern for the we ...

wrote 'it was impossible to ruffle him or to imagine him flustered, much less frightened'. Pigott was a member of The Rucksack Club including being its president for two years and on its committee from 1921 to 1971 without interruption. He was a pioneer with Morley Wood of using natural chockstones and later machine nuts for protection. He wrote a chapter in the book ''Recent Developments on Gritstone''. Fred Pigott was involved in

mountain rescue Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with tech ...

and, from 1932, the Mountain Rescue Committee becoming secretary, chairman and president. He received the OBE for services to the Mountain Rescue Committee in the 1964 New Year Honours.

References

*
Obituary
in the ''

Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The magazine was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London ...

'' (1980)
Obituary
British rock climbers 1895 births 1979 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Manchester Grammar School People from Stockport Royal Fusiliers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I {{Climbing-stub