Memories of Dolphin: The life of a climber remembered. Compiled and edited by Tom Greenwood. Green Woods 2009First things first; this privately published slim volume is not a biography . The definitive ARD (Arthur Rhodes Dolphin) biography awaits publication. Sadly, the one man working on this task and from whom a section of this work has been re-assembled- Dave Cook- like his subject, also died prematurely in a tragic accident. His notes now with Bill Birkett who writes the forward for this book. As the title suggests, this is a collection of thoughts and anecdotes from many of his closest friends and associates, padded out with extracts from club journals written by Dolphin himself, lists of ARD climbs,obituaries, newspaper reports,club notes and rather tantalisingly,brief extracts from what survives of Arthur’s diaries...frustratingly now lost. Contributions from people like Joe Brown, Harold Drasdo and Pete Greenwood, all a degree younger than ARD, show just how revered and respected he was amongst his contemporaries. As a university educated Yorkshireman from the lower middle classes, Arthur managed to effortlessly bridge the social divide through his multi club memberships which included the loose association of working class climbers,The Bradford Lads, One of the arms of the climbing establishment, The Fell & Rock Club, The Gritstone Club and The Yorkshire Mountaineering Club. His membership of the F&R included stints as a guidebook author.An area where he was unstinting in his endeavours. However, it was his membership of the Yorkshire based Gritstone Club that inspired author Tom Greenwood -himself a member- to put together this volume. Tom has energetically pulled together all the threads to produce a work from which the proceeds will go into the ‘Jack Bloor Fund’. Jack Bloor being a close friend of ARD and climbing/running partner upon whose death in 1984 a memorial fund was established to enable those of modest means to pursue their dreams in the great outdoors. For those unfamilar with Dolphin himself, it is no exageration to describe him as one of the era’s greatest climbing technicians. Inately conservative, ARD embraced developments with regards to footwear and equipment rather reluctently where others who might be considered rivals were quick to take on board any short cut to pushing up their standards. As a strikingly blonde six foot man of athletic build, Dolphin was every inch the super star of his day. His self effacing modesty and puritanism rather touching and curiously old fashioned, especially to the more ribald Bradford Lads who found themselves self censoring their earthy humour when in his company. Supremely talented on gritstone and Lakeland rock, ARD also displayed his talents on his visits to the Alps in the company of people like Jack Bloor where he repeated many of the Alpine test pieces of the day despite suffering terribly from the effects of altitude sickness.His ambitions however lay in the greater ranges where he saw himself treading in the footsteps of Mallory and Shipton. Tragically these ambitions were never to be realised. Rejected by the appalling snobs that composed the Everest recruitment committee for the 53 expedition, he took solace in the Alps where tragically,in the year of Everest celebration he met his death. His demise was cruelly ironic given the fact that he had just completed a hard climb with a young Belgium climber and was descending easy ground when apparently over burdened by a heavy rucksack he slipped and banged his head on the one solitary rock protruding through the easy angled snow slope. He was buried in the village of Courmayeur where he had based his Alpine activities that fateful summer.His funeral attended by less than a dozen or so of his climbing friends including Greenwood,Bloor and Drasdo.
Anyone looking through the list of Dolphin climbs today will observe how the majority of his climbs were consistently hard by the standards of the time.The majority being of VS and above with many being in the ‘extreme’ grades. Quite outstanding when one considers the rudimentary footwear and equipment being used at the time. His partnership with the tenacious Peter Greenwood could well have matched Brown and Whillans had fate not intervened. With many photographs and sketches complimenting the text, as well as a short DVD film made by Reg Hainsworth which shows amongst other scenes, Dolphin climbing probably his best known route, Kipling Groove, ‘Memories of Dolphin’ will be appreciated by anyone who is fascinated by that lost golden age which bookended the war years. A period which threw up so many legends and heroes. Copies can be ordered from...... Alan Moss, Memories of Dolphin, 7 Chandos Garth, Roundhay, Leeds, LS81QY. Priced at £11.99 (P&P up to 2 copies £2.25) Cheques payable to ‘The Gritstone Club’
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