The Yorkshire Ramblers' Club (YRC) was founded in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on 6 October 1892. It is the second-oldest

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

club in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(the oldest being the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

), and the UK's oldest

caving Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...

club, active in mountaineering and

caving in the United Kingdom Recreational caving in the United Kingdom dates back to the mid-19th century. The four major caving areas of the United Kingdom are North Yorkshire, South Wales, Derbyshire, and the Mendips. Minor areas include Devon, North Wales, and the Scottis ...

and internationally. The club’s purpose is to enable “…experienced and competent hillwalkers, scramblers, climbers, mountaineers, ski-tourers, snowshoers, cavers and explorers who want to meet enthusiastic like-minded individuals to pursue their chosen activities in the UK and abroad.”

History

On 13 July 1892 four

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

gentlemen met at the home of Herbert Slater in Leeds 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 Headingley ...

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 is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

. 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. From the club’s beginning, members were meeting in “…Switzerland, for instance, and greater attention was paid to climbing in the Lake District, North Wales, and other mountainous parts of the British Isles.”

Cave exploration

YRC members were major exponents of early cave exploration in Great Britain and in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. From 1907, YRC members 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 six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, Ireland (later

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) with occasional forays into Counties Leitrim and

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

. Their work included surveys of Marble Arch Cave and its feeders, the first complete descent of

Noon's Hole Noon's Hole ( Irish grid ref H12684431) lies about 5 km northwest of the centre of Boho, in the townland of Old Barr in the civil parish of Devenish, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, close to the border with Boho parish. The cave is u ...

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 Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

and Cavan. From 1935 to 1937 the club was active in

the Burren The Burren ( ; ) is a karst/glaciokarst landscape centred in County Clare, on the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

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. In 1968 and 1969 a YRC caving team in conjunction with the Speleo Club du Liban discovered and explored the Magharet El-Khassarat cave system at Antelias, north of Beirut. More recent international caving expeditions have been conducted in Guangxi, China (2000), Fengshan, China (2004–05) and Iran (2008).

Mountaineering

The club has a long history of mountaineering in the UK, the Alps and the

greater ranges The Roof of the World or Top of the World is a metaphoric epithet or phrase used to describe the highest region in the world, also known as High Asia. The term usually refers to the mountainous interior of Asia, including the Pamirs, the Himalay ...

. The YRC’s second Club President, William Cecil Slingsby, is regarded as the ‘father’ of Norwegian mountaineering. The YRC was a founding member of 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 ...

, the national representative body for climbers, hill walkers and

mountaineers Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

1957 Jugal Himal expedition, Nepal

The 1957 YRC expedition to the Jugal Himal in Nepal was the first British Himalayan expedition to be sponsored by a single club and drawn from its own members. Six YRC members and six climbing Sherpas – Crosby Fox, leader, George Spenceley, deputy leader, Wilfred Anderson, Dan Jones, Arthur Tallon, Maurice Wilson, Mingma Tensing, Lakpa Norbu, Lakpa Tsering, Pemba Gyalen, Ang Temba, and Pemba Tensing – attempted the first ascent of Loenpo Gang (6,979m) in the Jugal Himal range. While returning to Camp IV (5,800m) from a reconnaissance, Fox, Spenceley, Mingma Tensing and Lakpa Norbu were avalanched. Only Spenceley survived, withdrawing the remainder of the team from the mountain. More recent international trips have included:

Himalayas

Kanchenjunga base camps, Nepal 2015; Lhakhang,

Spiti Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

, India, 2008; Dorje Lhakpa, Nepal 1995.

Africa

Morocco 2024; Malawi 2013.

Americas

Bolivian Andes

Cordillera Real 2024; Quimsa Cruz 2010; Cocapata, Real and Occidental 1999; Apolobamba 1988.

USA

Climbing and trekking in the Wind River range, 2017; Yosemite, 2010; High Sierra, 2004.

Arctic

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

2006, 2008, 2010.

Liverpool Land Liverpool Land is a peninsula in eastern Greenland. Geography The peninsula is bounded by Scoresby Sund in the south, Carlsberg Fjord in the northwest, '' Kangerterajiva'' (Hurry Inlet) in the southwest, the Greenland Sea in the east, and ...

Peninsula expedition, Greenland, 2014.

Europe

Bulgaria, 2015; France, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2022; Italy, 2006, 2019; Switzerland, 2012; Norway, 2017, 2019, 2022; Stubai Glacier Tour, Austria, 2009; Iceland, 1998.

Club Premises and Huts

Between 1892 and 1896, club meetings were held in the Victoria Hotel behind Leeds Town Hall. Between 1896 and 1924 the Club lodged at the Thoresby Society’s premises on Park Street, Leeds, before taking on a more peripatetic existence for the middle part of the 20th Century: in 1924 the Club moved to 10 Park Square, Leeds where its library was also housed, until 1941. In 1941 the Club moved to a room in the Salem Institute in Hunslet, and then to York Place, Leeds. Today, the Club’s hut at Lowstern serves as its headquarters. The YRC has two huts: Lowstern near

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

in North Yorkshire, and Low Hall Garth in Little Langdale in Cumbria. Low Hall Garth is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

property, leased to the club since 1950 by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, to whom the property was gifted by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

Notable Members

Notable past and present members have included: * Bentley Beetham. * Alan Hinkes. * Clive Rowland, member of, ''inter alia'', the 1977 expedition that made the first ascent of Baintha Brakk (The Ogre). * William Cecil Slingsby. *

Frank Smythe Francis Sydney Smythe, better known as Frank Smythe or F. S. Smythe (6 July 1900 – 27 June 1949), was an English mountaineer, author, photographer and botanist. He is best remembered for his mountaineering in the Alps as well as in the Himal ...

, mountain photographer. * George Spenceley, after whom the Spenceley Glacier is named.

In Other Media

Lawrence Geoghegan's 1932 novel ''The Subterranean Club'' features a fictionalised account of the YRC, informed by the author's visit to Rowten Pot and Yordas Cave with members of the Club. In April 2025,

Leeds Central Library Leeds Central Library is a public library in Leeds. Situated in the city centre, on Calverley Street, it houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection and hosts the Leeds Art Gallery. Services avai ...

held an exhibition of climbing and mountaineering archive material that included YRC memorabilia, including the

Wasdale Wasdale (; traditionally ) is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is ...

climbing book produced by the Club's first President, George T Lowe.

Notes

References

* * Rowland, C. (2022), ''Towards the Ogre'', Scarborough: McRay Press, {{ISBN, 978-1739109004

External links

Yorkshire Ramblers' Club official site

The Alpine Club official site
Climbing clubs in the United Kingdom Sports clubs and teams in Yorkshire Caving organisations in the United Kingdom Mountaineering in the United Kingdom