history
Pilgrim’s Progress: a century of development in climbing equipment and technique
Alex Roddie charts a century of development in the tools we take for granted This feature was first published in Mountain Pro Magazine, January 2016. Take a look in your rucksack. If you’re a winter climber, you’ll find a pair of crampons in there, and two ice axes
In the Footsteps of Forbes: how the Alps have changed since 1842
Professor James Forbes is probably the most significant mountain explorer you’ve never heard of. In this piece, first published in the summer 2015 edition of Mountain Pro Magazine, I’d like to show how studying his pioneering work led me to appreciate the enormous changes that have taken place
Lili Marlene and misplaced nostalgia
Today I’d like to welcome my dad, Ian Roddie, to these pages. He was born in the late 1930s and this essay provides an insight into the power of nostalgia – and how we cannot allow it to determine our future. Lili Marlene by Ian Roddie The other day, I
Why I love the 1840s
Until now, readers of my work will be familiar with a narrow time period beginning in 1893 (the first chapter of Crowley’s Rival) and ending in 1897 (most of The Only Genuine Jones). This period interests me as a climber because it stands at an important crossroads in the
The Great Stink by Clare Clark: book review
The Great Stink by Clare ClarkMy rating: 3 of 5 starsThe Great Stink is one of those books that immediately grabbed my attention. It’s an historical novel set in London during the industrial surge of the 1850s, and revolves around the tragic figure of William May, a civil engineer
Equipment for Victorian climbers: puttees
Regular readers will be aware that, during my time in Glencoe, I did a bit of practical research into 19th century climbing equipment. It’s a subject that has been very influential towards my writing. The Victorian pioneers climbed mountains in a very different way to the mountaineers of the
Now reading: THE GREAT STINK by Clare Clark
Image from http://goo.gl/MMr20 I have just started reading The Great Stink by Clare Clark. So far I have only read the first twenty or so pages but already I can sense this will be a rare pleasure. In the first chapter, we meet the main character (William
Sherlock Holmes and Young Winston: The Deadwood Stage by Mike Hogan (book review)
Sherlock Holmes and Young Winston: The Deadwood Stage by Mike Hogan The Deadwood Stage is the first in a series of books by Mike Hogan that explore a fascinating premise: what if a young Winston Churchill had joined forces with the famous detective duo, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson? The
Facts and the historical novelist
Fact or fiction? The historical novelist has a very important responsibility. Most people stop formally learning about history at school, which means that as an adult, the bulk of our historical education comes from fiction: in the broadest possible sense, that includes books, movies, and costume dramas on the BBC.