Gwen Mary Moffat (née Goddard; born 3 July 1924) is a British mountaineer and writer.

Climbing career

Moffat was an Army driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, stationed in North Wales after the end of the Second World War, when she met a climber who introduced her to climbing and a bohemian lifestyle. During the 1940s and 1950s she lived rough, climbing in Snowdonia, the Lakes, Scotland and the Alps, supporting herself by working in several roles including as a domestic service, a farmer, a forester, an artist's model and the driver of a travelling shop. In 1953 she became the first female British certificated

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

, and for ten years she was closely associated with the

RAF Mountain Rescue Service The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) provides the UK military's only all-weather search and rescue asset for the United Kingdom. Royal Air Force mountain rescue teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescue aircr ...

, making a living from climbing. Moffatt was known for often climbing barefoot, claiming that it was better because there was more contact with the rock and no constriction of the toes. She is an honorary member of the women-only

Pinnacle Club The Pinnacle Club is a women's rock climbing club based in the United Kingdom, founded in 1921. History The Pinnacle Club – the UK’s only national rock-climbing club for women – was founded in 1921 by Pat Kelly (climber), Emily Kelly (know ...

and the

British Mountaineering Council The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...

Media

Moffat featured in the BBC film ''Eye to Eye'', broadcast in 1958. Joe Brown did the hard amateur climbing and Moffat, the professional, took her husband up a route on Idwal Slabs. In 2015 Jen Randall and Claire Carter made a film, ''Operation Moffat,'' based on Moffat's autobiographical book ''Space below my Feet'.'' The film was premiered during Banff Mountain Film Festival's UK tour, and has won over 20 international film awards. Moffat is included in Herrington's photographic work ''The Climbers'' featuring 60 climbers considered legends of the 20th century. In 2017 she contributed to a documentary ''Give Me Space Below My Feet'', for BBC Radio 3.

Writing career

Moffat began her writing career in the 1950s, working for

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

, and published her autobiography in 1961. In the 1970s, she started writing crime fiction, in particular the Miss Pink series featuring Melinda Pink, a middle aged climber and magistrate. Following a commission by

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

to follow the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

and produce a book, she subsequently wrote 11 mysteries set in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. She wrote her last novel, ''Gone Feral'', when she was in her 80s. She currently reviews for the crime magazine ''Shots''.

Personal life

Moffat married Gordon Moffat with whom she had a daughter, Sheena, born in 1949. In 1955, Moffat married Flight Sergeant John Lees, GM, BEM. They were divorced in 1970.

Works

* ''Space Below my Feet'' (1961) * ''Two Star Red'' (1964) *''On My Home Ground'' (1968) *''Survival Count'' (1972) *''Deviant Death'' (1973) *''Lady with a Cool Eye'' (Melinda Pink) (1973) *''The Corpse Road'' (1974). *''Hard Option'' (1975) *''Miss Pink at the Edge of the World'' (Melinda Pink) (1975) *''A Short Time to Live'' (Melinda Pink) (1976) *''Over the Sea to Death'' (Melinda Pink) (1976) *''Persons Unknown'' (Melinda Pink) (1978) *''Hard Road West'' (1981) *''Die Like a Dog'' (Melinda Pink) (1982) *''The Buckskin Girl'' (1982) *''Last Chance Country'' (Melinda Pink) (1983) *''Grizzly Trail'' (Melinda Pink) (1984) *''Snare'' (Melinda Pink) (1987) *''The Stone Hawk'' (Melinda Pink) (1989) *''The Storm Seekers'' (1989) *''Rage'' (Melinda Pink) (1990) *''The Raptor Zone'' (Melinda Pink) (1990) *''Pit Bull'' (1991) *''Veronica's Sisters'' (Melinda Pink) (1992) *''The Outside Edge'' (1993) *''Cue the Battered Wife'' (1994) *''A Wreath of Dead Moths'' (1998) *''The Lost Girls'' (Melinda Pink) (1998) *''Private Sins (Melinda Pink)'' (1999) *''Running Dogs'' (1999) *''Quicksand'' (2001) *Retribution (Melinda Pink) (2002) *''Man Trap (2003)'' *''Dying for Love'' (2005) *''Gone Feral'' (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffat, Gwen 1924 births English crime fiction writers Living people Women autobiographers English women novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers 21st-century English women writers English biographers British women biographers Women mystery writers English autobiographers British mountain climbers English women non-fiction writers British female climbers Auxiliary Territorial Service soldiers