UKH

I haven't seen any mention of the passing of David Craig on here. 

Native Stones is the only thing I've read by him and it was a fair time ago but it remains one of the best articulations of the human relationship with climbing and the mountains I've ever read.

David Roberts and now David Craig. It's a year for losing our best mountaineering writers. 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/24/david-craig-obituary?fbclid=I...

This is very sad news. I got to know him well when I was doing my Lake District book 30 years ago. A very nice, very good man, with unusually deep values regarding everything that is best in our world of hillwalking and rockclimbing. And of course he was an unusual, outstanding writer.

Native Stones introduced me to a new way of thinking about climbing and the The Crofter's Trail did the same for the way I thought about my adopted home of Scotland. A sad loss.

Completely agree about Native Stones, which stands out from much climbing literature in a number of ways, not least its focus on the experience of the ordinary recreational climber, rather than the elite. It also contains a couple of his rare climbing poems, well worth seeking out by anyone interested in this small niche of climbing literature. His thoughtful and detailed analysis of how literary style has developed in its attempts to capture the intense physical and mental experiences of the act of climbing is perceptive, challenging and always fascinating. A lovely writer.

I worked with David to update the Buttermere guide in the mid 80s.

Our paths never crossed before or since .

Despite being of completely different backgrounds and writing styles, there never seemed to be  any disagreement between us,  just a positive approach to getting the job completed. Looking through the guide, despite the residual text of the earlier editions and the editors hand , it is still fairly obvious which are Davids updates and input.

Fond memories of repeating obscure climbs together  that felt desperate compared to popular trade routes that were  in theory two or three grades harder.

I'm very sad to hear of David's passing.

I was also touched by Native Stones, and discovered many connections to him, as a rock climber, a socialist and a long-time student and some-time teacher in the English & Creative Writing department at Lancaster University. I believe he was an important progressive force within the university during the 1960s and 70s - an important conjuncture, during which Higher Education was being transformed from the preserve and plaything of the elite into something more modern and democratic. Eventually, I was very pleased to meet him and had a good chat during the anniversary celebrations for the Creative Writing courses he established.

Two stories about David that I find particularly illuminating are told in subtext, a newsletter created by students and academics at Lancaster University following the "George Fox 6" incident. These episodes are known to some as "The Craig Affair" and, in short, demonstrate the challenges that a progressive educator faced in the febrile atmosphere of the Cold War:

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/subtext/archive/issue008.htm
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/subtext/archive/issue009.htm

I don't know what more to say other than that it is hard for us to understand and fully appreciate the immense contributions made by someone like David Craig. His passing is also the passing of a rich history of people coming together in the hope of transforming the world through knowledge, solidarity and the excitement of change.

Sad to hear this. I was talking to my mum about him just the other day. David helped my brother and I get into to climbing in the late 80s pointing us towards Farlton and the Rakes just a couple of miles away. I think he gave us a photo copy of some personal crag notes he had. But I was more in awe of him being officially embargoed from travelling to America due his left-wing politics. And a few years earlier he was understanding when he caught me nicking apples off his tree.