The Yorkshire Ramblers' Club (YRC) is the second-oldest

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

club in England, the oldest being the Alpine Club. Founded in 1892, the YRC is still a highly active club mountaineering and caving in the UK and all over the world.

History

On 13 July 1892 four

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

gentlemen met at the home of a Mr. Herbert Slater in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populatio ...

to discuss the idea of forming a club for individuals interested in promoting the idea of walking and the study of the countryside. At an open meeting held at the Skyrack Inn,

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headin ...

on 6 October 1892 it was unanimously decided to form a club to organise walking and mountaineering expeditions and encourage the study of

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

. The name of the club was picked from others including The Three Peaks Club, but Yorkshire understatement prevailed and the name Yorkshire Ramblers' Club was chosen. Consequently, "greater attention was paid to climbing the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

", in both the club's earliest days and today with the adjoining Scottish Borders also continuing to be of particular interest to the club. Marble Arch Survey (Brodrick, H

Cave exploration

The Yorkshire Ramblers were major exponents in early cave exploration both in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European islands by area, largest European island and the List of ...

and in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the seco ...

. Beginning in 1907, members of the Yorkshire Ramblers' Club took a close interest in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

, Ireland (later

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) with occasional forays into Counties Leitrim and

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Ball ...

. Their work included surveys of

Marble Arch Cave The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The caves are named after the nearby Marble Arch, a natural limestone arch at the upstream end of Cla ...

and its feeders, the first complete descent of Noon's Hole and many other pots. From 1950, in association with the Craven Pothole Club, they considerably extended the Marble Arch system and opened up new ground in Counties Sligo and Cavan. From 1935 to 1937 the club was active in the Burren,

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

and recorded the first descent of Pollelva (1935) and discovery of part of Upper Pollnagollum (both later linked to become the longest cave in Ireland), as well as exploring some of the pots on the west side of Slieve Elva (Faunarooska, etc.), Coolagh River Cave and Ballycasheen, near Corofin.

Mountaineering

Besides caving the club has a long history of mountaineering in the Alps and the greater ranges. Recent trips include... Himalayas: Kanchenjunga base camps, Nepal2015; Mera Peak, Nepal 2012; Dorje Lapka, Nepal 1995; Nubra, India; Sikkim, India Andes: Bolivian Apolobamba 1988 (AJ 1989 247-249); Bolivian Cocapata, Real and Occidental; Bolivian Quimsa Cruz 2010; Peruvian Cordillera Blanca 1964
YRC article
Arctic: Svalbard 2006, 2008, 2010; Greenland's Liverpool Land 2014 US south west: several visits between 1996 and 2010, ridge climbing and trails; 2015 rock climbing and backpacking in the Wind River range Africa: Morocco; Malawi 2013 Europe: Bulgaria, Romania, France, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Spain, Austria, Ireland, Iceland

Notes

References

* {{Citation , last=Coleman , first=J. C. , author-link=J. C. Coleman , title=The Caves of Ireland , publisher=Anvil Books , location=Tralee, County Kerry , date=1965

External links