Bull D.C.

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Biografie:
D. C. Bull 1927-1974
Derek Bull was a man of friendship. And so his accidental death last April was a tragedy to very many friends. His interests were wide. He enjoyed skiing and although he was not a greatly experienced skier, he was bold and adept. At one time we raced sailing dinghies together; he was a natural crew. He gained a legendary and justifiable reputation as a driver. No one could get you to Wales for a weekend more rapidly and safely. He found, to his surprise-for he was a modest man, that when he turned to competition he was good enough to win National car rallies in the days when it was still a sport for individuals.
But always he was a mountaineer. He began climbing through his Lakeland connections. His uncle was a president of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club and he had the advantage, while still at school, of being introduced to rock by people like A. B. Hargreaves and Alf Bridge. After the Army he went up to Oxford to read Law at a time when the University clubs were at the forefront of the post war resurgence of climbing that was very soon to spread throughout the British Isles. As an experienced climber, he used his knowledge to encourage and train the many beginners with the OUMC. He also showed his skill in climbing some of the hardest climbs then being made in Wales. His Alpine seasons at that time suffered somewhat from bad weather and he himself considered his best climb ever was the ascent of the Bezingi Wall of Shkara with Band, Harris and Anatole Kutsovsky during the 1958 Caucasus expedition. He never visited the Himalaya but was on the ill-fated Pamirs expedition in 1962 when the accident to Noyce and Smith disrupted the climbing.
He was a dedicated smoker and anyone who climbed with him can picture him appearing over the top of a crux with nonchalant cigarette in mouth-and the less fit amongst us will remember with pleasure those ten minute rests on any long haul while Derek lit up. But then we will remember with pleasure all our climbing days with him. His cigarette, his beret and especially his ragged anoraks were his climbing trademarks. But so too were his tolerance and his quiet competence. His encouragement of new climbers spread over many years and he was a very successful organiser of training camps for under-privileged youngsters. Here perhaps was a vocation he might have pursued further had he lived. He served his clubs with loyalty, hard work and distinction. He was a committee member and meetings organiser for the AC as well holding various posts in the Cc. Last year during a family camping holiday in Carinthia, after some enjoyable scrambling in the lower mountains, we got two days 'leave' to go climbing. We did the Gross Glockner by the Stüdlgrat. It was early September, there were few others in the hut, the weather was perfect and although not difficult, with that easy companionship of old friends, the climb was all that a climb should be, except that it was the last climb we were to do together.
Our sympathy goes out to Natalie and the children, and to Derek's mother who has lost both her sons in tragic accidents. We shall all miss him, his anecdotes, his friendship and his generosity.
Alex H. Jones
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 80, 1975, Seite 299-300


Geboren am:
1927
Gestorben am:
1974