Tony Greenbank RIP

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 65 27 Sep 2020

I haven't seen any mention of Tony Greenbank's passing on the forums. His writing featured regularly in the outdoors media over the past few decades. Some posters on here must have known him and have stories.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/sep/23/tony-greenbank-obituary

 Greenbanks 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Indeed sad. He was a worthy successor to Harry Griffin - both wrote with exceptional insight and love about The Lakes. For those like me for whom those places are held dear, Tony’s words were a comforting reminder when embroiled in the world of work deep in the smoke far from the Fells. RIP.

OP 65 27 Sep 2020
In reply to Greenbanks:

When I first saw your name on these forums I had wondered if you were TB.

 Greenbanks 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

No relation...I’m quite sure the real Greenbanks would have made far more lucid, perceptive and engaging contributions to these forums!

 Rob Exile Ward 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

I've had a US edition of the Book of Survival for years and I was never sure that it was the same 'Anthony Greenbank' who lived in the Lakes. It seemed so improbable, but now I find it really was! RIP.  

 BelleVedere 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Everytime i go in the ODG i look at the photo of him climbing in White Gill that's on the wall, and remember all the coffee i've served him over the years in pippins cafe, and that he's the dad of one of my teenage freinds.  Such a lovely man. 

 Sayon 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

I knew Tony back in the 80s when I was living in Ambleside. He was a delightful man, who by that stage had enjoyed a lot of success with his survival book. 

I remember that he was asked in an interview if he had ever used any of his survival tips in real life. His reply was- just the once, when he was hit by a yellow cab in New York. He used his own advice and clung on to the windscreen wipers. The only damage was to his pride when the taxi driver shouted " get outta the way you bum!"

 alan moore 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Nobody ever wrote about the outdoors with greater enthusiasm.

 craig h 27 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Sad news about Tony, a lovely guy with a relentless enthusiasm.

I met Tony in the late 80's while climbing around the Lakes and often trying to find somewhere to doss in Ambleside at weekends. If we bumped into Tony at the Golden Rule he often let us sleep on his floor.

Me and a friend were involved in an accident at Pembroke and Tony wanted to write an article about it for the Readers Digest. I remember sat in his lounge while he tried to extract the story from us, his best plan was running to the Golden Rule to buy us pints, after a few trip he got the story he was after. It ended up with the story being recreated in the first series of BBC 999 a few years later.

A few years since I last bumped into him, but he was still as keen and enthusiastic about the outdoors and what I'd been up to.

Post edited at 21:30
In reply to 65:

That is so sad. Such a nice guy. I got to know him quite well when I was doing a book on the Lake District in the early 1990s. He was very helpful and we had quite a few pleasant social evenings as well.

 ben b 28 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

That's very sad to hear. I first came across his writing in the quirky "Walking Britain's Skylines" which IIRC started off on a  nuclear submarine (!) before treading assorted ridges and introducing a variety of topics, interesting characters, and a good line in humour.

I always enjoyed seeking out his other work, a man with a fine sense of the hills.

b

 Offwidth 28 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Thanks for letting us know. Tony sort of adopted Lynn and I as newish visiting climbers in the area, in about 1990, and we always caught up with him in the Golden Rule on subsequent visits. We met him when he was guiding someone on Little Chamonix. One of the first things he said to us was something like:

"See the guy soloing up from below, he was a bad lad and lost his eye in an axe fight but then he found climbing and it saved him."

We felt we had met someone special and that never changed as we got to know him better. We sadly lost touch with him about a decade later.

RIP Tony and condolences to family and close friends.

Post edited at 00:43
 Pete Pozman 28 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Isn't he featured in "Feet in the Clouds"? 

 DaveHK 28 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Sad to hear that. He was a regular contributor to climbing magazines when I was starting out and then I subsequently read his Guardian column from time to time. He was one of those constants for me who always seem to have been around.

 IanNicBit 28 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

I was bought a copy of “Climbing for Young People” in a garden centre in Grasmere around 40 years ago. This completely changed my life. 
Thank Mr Greenbank. RIP. 

In reply to 65:

It's worth adding that he did the first ascent of the classic Coronation Street in Cheddar Gorge in 1965 with Chris Bonington and Mike Thompson (it was a live broadcast on the BBC).

In reply to 65:

I always looked forward to his contributions to Guardian Country Diary, so much so that I kept a collection of them. He was a worthy successor to Harry Griffin in that role. A sad loss.

 ring ouzel 28 Sep 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

He wrote *that* book? Wow, that was our bible growing up in the 70's. Our school library had it and we'd take turns taking it out and building shelters etc. A huge part of my childhood. RIP Tony.

 Rick Graham 28 Sep 2020
In reply to 65:

Honoured to have known Tony for most of the last half of his life. Always good for a great day on the crag or in the pub. His exuberance was legendary but I don't think he ever got round to writing a novel. He was always writing down notes for this master project that never happened. Driving to Lochnagar for the first time from the south, we missed the obscure turn off in Blairgowrie. After about 20 miles , without an atlas  and after midnight, we realised our mistake. I pulled into a garage, recalling that the Michelin tyre pressure signs often included a road map, problem solved. Tony was suddenly enthused and produced a notepad and pencil. It took a bit of interrogation to get him to admit to his novel ambition.

Tony always enjoyed a bit of banter in the Rule , he could give as good as he got , but you were always wary that if you crossed a line , he would pull off his party trick of dropping his false teeth in your pint.

RIP Tony


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