I had a fantastic time during my four years at I.M.Marsh as a "mature" student. It was a great course, including learning how to become proficient in a wide range of outdoor activities, eg. climbing, mountain leadership, winter mountaineering, skiing, caving and canoeing. I was rubbish at canoeing, the roar of the Tryweryn (a section of horrendous white water near Bala) used to fill me with dread every time we went there. I even enjoyed the periods of teaching practice, that ultimately led to me becoming a science teacher.
Most of the other students in my year group were younger than me and most had a general outdoor pursuits background. The only other real climber was MarkFluff Taylor. Unfortunately we were usually separated during any climbing trips. However we did manage to get out for a couple of hilarious days on Yorkshire limestone.
Fluff didn't particularly enjoy studying in Liverpool and was a bit disappointed that there was more time spent studying on campus than in the outdoors. He also decided that he didn't want to become a teacher, so he packed it in and moved to Llanberis. That summer we did manage to spend a few days climbing on the slate, culminating in "Naked before the beast".
Llanberis became Fluff's home, where he quickly settled into the local scene and climbed with many of the great names of those times. He's still there, enjoying the quiet life and appreciating being in the mountains with his partner Kate. Not surprisingly, he has no regrets about packing in teacher training!
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| Fluff at Malham in 1987. |
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| Fluff found a novel rest on Ground Effect at Kilnsey, 1987. |
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| Fluff at the Rainbow Slab, 1987. |
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| Fluff hasn't lost his sense of humour! |
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