Friends of the Ochils Newsletter 20: Spring 2002
In the days before Goretex: Chris Andrews
A photograph from April 1941, taken just to the west of Ben Cleuch summit - the knuckle of summit rocks is faintly visible at the right-hand edge. The skier with the collar, tie and slicked-back hair is a remarkable man, one Christopher Gibson Andrews, then of 1 Murray Crescent, Perth. Chris Andrews (13/6/1888 - 16/12/1953) originally came from Bedfordshire and moved north via his work as an income tax inspector. As well as being a great man for the hills, he was a keen practitioner of golf, tennis, football and skiing. He married Maysie Howe, herself a keen sportswoman, in 1933.
Chris Andrews was a member of the Scottish Mountaineering Club and a founder member of the Perth section of the Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland. He was also, notably, one of the first people to climb all of Scotland's 3000ft summits, the Munros. His name is not included in the published list of Munroists, however, and I'd be interested to hear from anyone who can recall him, especially if they can help in pinpointing the date and hill for his final Munro.
That he did complete the Munros is not in doubt: it's referred to twice in obituaries in the 1954 SMC Journal. I've recently been in contact with his son, another Chris, who lives in Thurso and who kindly loaned this picture as well as others of his father perched on various Munros. Between us, Chris Jnr and I have been trying to narrow down the time-envelope for the completion - we know Chris Snr was still busily ticking off the hills in late 1938, shortly after which the war of course began to interfere with leisure-and-pleasure activities such as hill climbing. Post-war, Mr Andrews is known to have climbed Beinn Fhada and the Saddle above Glen Shiel in April 1946, and there is evidence to suggest that these were "new" hills, ie that he hadn't been on them previously. It's impossible to say with any certainty however, although an ascent of Cona-mheall (east of Ullapool) on 13 October 1947 definitely was a repeat, perhaps implying that he had by then completed his Munros.
The best guesses are therefore for completion in early 1939 or sometime between April 1946 and October 1947, but, as I say, any information on this would be gratefully received (contact address on page 5).
What is certain is that the Ochils, not overly busy even today, would have been very quiet hills in April 1941 - although the rail-lines to the Hillfoot villages would have provided one form of access not now available. And note that the picture shows substantial snow cover in April: something we only rarely see in these modern, globally warmed times.