Memorial to a great friend
19 11 2009
Memorial to a great friend
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of one of my climbing friends who died in the hills. He was a great lad called ‘Dozy George’ Hamilton. George was a wonderful, friendly, hay fever suffer who sneezed his way round the Scottish hills despite appalling eyesight. He was literally a legend in his own lifetime such were the stories about him and there was nothing he liked better than to hear some of these stories told by third parties.
One of the best was when he went for a plod in the Cairngorms with my late pal Angus (I’ve lost two friends in mountaineering accidents). It was a dreadful day and as they reached the carpark at Cairngorm the wind was blowing so strong that George couldn’t get the car door open. Thinking this would be a great excuse for a day in the pub, George underestimated Angus, who simply turned the car round and let him out.
He was a dreadful navigator and simply followed Angus that day. They had been walking hours when George discovered that it wasn’t Angus he was following but a piece of muck on his glasses.
There were dozens of stories like that one.
George died on one of the very rare occasions when he took a correct bearing – the map was wrong and he stumbled over a cliff to be found dead a few days later. He was one of those rare souls who everyone liked and I never heard him utter a bad word about anyone. A wonderful friend with whom I shared many days on the hill with.
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Kilmory towards Antrim in the rain
8 11 2009
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