Arnison Charles Eric

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Biografie:
Charles Eric Arnison (1901-1992)
Eric Arnison was for many years head of his family firm of solicitors, with offices in Penrith, Cumberland. He was Clerk to the Magistrates at the West Ward couns of Shap and Hackthorpe, and Secretary-Treasurer of the town's Chamber of Commerce and Trade, posts which he occupied for 23 and 33 years respectively.
Eric was educated at Penrith Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and at St. Bees where he became head of School House. In 1920 he entered into Articles and served the normal five years' clerkship with his father. After qualifying in 1926 he worked for a short period in London before returning to the family 'firm in Penrith and subsequently becoming a panner.
His proximity to the main climbs in the Lake District gave him the opportunity to become a keen rock climber. In 1930 he joined the company of local climbers, and his first ,climbs were Main Wall on Gimmer and most of the routes on Scout Crag. They used to meet at Keswick, Langdale or Coniston and 'tick off the climbs in the old Red Guidebook'. Eric relates in his memoirs how he climbed with the legendary George Bower, and knew the Abraham brothers, Dr Wakefield and Geoffrey Winthrop Young. The memoirs record his very full professional and sporting life and give an insight into his character.
Eric received his introduction to the Alps in 1932 when he visited St Gervais and walked round the Mont Blanc massif. He organised several trips to the Alps for his local climbing companions; in 1937 they all went to Chamonix
where they 'knocked off 15 major peaks in 12 days'. During the war years Eric served in the Home Guard while on secondment to the Board of Trade. After the war he was soon back in the Alps 'sometimes with A B Hargreaves, Malcolm Milne, Hill Porter and Ewan Banner Mendus'. On this expedition he considered the Matterhorn to have been 'the plum' of several ascents, including the Nadelhorn, the traverse of the Rimfischorn, the Aiguille de la Tsa and the Douves Blanches.
Eric was elected to the Alpine Club in 1943, proposed by P J H Unna and seconded by E Anderson. He declared in his memoirs: 'It is about the only club where you are elected on merit and not by just signing a form and paying a sub.' He returned often to the Alps and, being an adept skier, he visited all the popular Swiss and French resorts and completed the haute route three times in either direction.
As Chairman of the British Mountaineering Council's Lakes Committee one of Eric's duties was to check aspiring guides for their certificates. He relates, in his habitual unassuming manner: 'It was a way of having a top climb, often above my standard.' He was also a member of the Keswick Mountain Rescue team. Eric occupied numerous other posts during his long life, including the presidency of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club, as well as of the Ski Club of Great Britain and the Lake District Ski Club. He was a director of the Ullswater Outward Bound Schoo!. His foreign exploits included an ascent of Mount Kenya in only I2 hours at the age of 68, and Mts Kosciusko and Ras Dashan in Ethiopia at the ages of 72 and 73 respectively.
On a more personal note, I would add that I cannot imagine my own boyhood without 'Uncle Eric', as I have always known him, and I will for ever be grateful for the generous part he played in my formative years. Our respective families passed several long summer holidays together both in Cornwall and in Scotland, in some of the wildest parts of the Western Highlands north of Ullapoo!. We often met too for climbing and fishing expeditions in the Lake District where both our families lived. Indeed, I am certain that it was thanks to Uncle Eric's experience, foresight and attention to detail that we, eager and carefree youths, did not meet with trouble on our many adventures. Although happily oblivious at the time, these holidays took us through an outdoor schooling with exhilaration, while Uncle Eric had the patience and the art to transmit, without our realising it, certain of his own talents, not least his knowledge and understanding of nature, which complemented our academic education. For all that I am grateful, and will not forget Uncle Eric.
Charles Eric Arnison died peacefully on II March 1992. Sadly, his wife Jean died in 1982. He is survived by a daughter and two sons. The Club, and all of us who knew this gentleman of great character, mourn his loss and extend our deep sympathy to his family.
Tony Joyce
Tom Price writes:
Eric Arnison was a spare and active man, enjoying vigorous health for most of his life and blessed with a sanguine and matter-of-fact disposition. He joined the Alpine Club in 1943 and was also a long-standing member, and one time president, of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club. Educated at St Bees School, he spent most of his working life as a solicitor in his native Penrith and was a highly esteemed and well-loved citizen of that t9wn. His interests and enthusiasms were many and included rugby, shooting, fishing, natural history, travel, potholing, skiing and, above all, mountaineering. He climbed in Britain, the Alps, Africa, Australia and North America. Though he liked conviviality and good living, in the mountains he was a hardy traveller and even in old age accepted spartan conditions in huts and camps, as, for example, when he made an arduous journey in the highlands of Abyssinia at the age of 73. At 68 he was the oldest man to have climbed Mount Kenya. For all his adventures on crags and mountains, he was a devoted family man. He was a good friend, unsentimental but quick to offer practical help in time of need. At his memorial service, a very large crowd paid tribute to the passing of a fine and generous spirit.
Quelle: Alpine Journal Vol. 98, 1993, Seite 329-331


Geboren am:
1901
Gestorben am:
1992