Sylvia Haynes 1941 - 2003
An Appreciation and Celebration of her Life
As already reported in a previous KMC newsletter, Sylvia Haynes died this summer after fighting cancer for the last four years. She is survived by husband Bob and their two sons, Hamish and Matthew.
Sylvia was a KMC member from 1968 until 1975 when she temporarily retired from mountaineering duties to perform maternal ones.
She had met Bob in 1960 whilst descending Jacob's Ladder on Kinder. Two weeks after that first encounter they met up again on hostelling weekend, the YHA never being far from her life. It was the start of many camping/hostelling trips they organised which attracted up to 40 people. Alan Barber remembers dancing with Sylvia at a hoe-down held at Slaidburn village hall way back in 1961 when based at the local hostel. In those days she worked for Scottish Brewers who provided free beer for their employees. Not liking the beer to drink she used her allocation for washing her hair.
In the meantime, one of their YHA friends had started taking Sylvia and Bob climbing on the crags in the Peak District and both became enthusiastic.
Alan tells me when they were all staying at the Ewden hostel the weekend after JFK had been shot. On the Sunday Sylvia was soloing at Wharnecliffe when she fell twelve feet. She was badly shaken but did not want any fuss and was soon having another try on the route.
Hitch-hiking was another associated pursuit of Sylvia and Bob. Their first effort around Scotland wearing moccasins subsequently ended with feet well-blistered.
On another trip they caught the ferry to Bergen in Norway, on to Oslo by train then hitched to Stockholm where the hostel was in a naval dockyard with restricted access. They hitched down to Copenhagen in a refrigerated lorry and for 12 krona they could have all the ice they wanted but for the freezer motor being turned off. They also hitched through France and Spain to Marrakech in Morocco where the temperature of 140 degrees F. induced gyppy tummy and curtailed their plans for the Atlas Mountains.
They signed up for a beginners' mountaineering course in the Stubai Alps with the Austrian Alpine Club to learn how to climb the big snowy hills. Next summer, they returned for the advanced course this time in the Zillertal. One of the guides was Peter Habeler.
By this time Sylvia had changed jobs a couple of times and won promotion to manager of the first YHA shop in Manchester on Queen's Street. Now anyone who knew Sylvia would tell you that she was a good looking woman. She was also a competent salesperson with a winning smile, had a very pleasant disposition and had an expertise on climbing gear. Ken Beetham tells me that all the lads in Manchester started to buy their climbing gear at the YHA, to the disadvantage of the other more established shops. Bob Brigham even made a visit down to Queen's Street to see where his profits had disappeared. Alan Barber says that in the early days when hitch-hiking was a preferred mode of weekend travel, Sylvia had no problem stopping motorists who did not know what had hit them when everyone piled in after and filled their cars. On Sunday nights climbers and walkers returning to Manchester would try to get to the pub at the back of Aytown Street where Sylvia knew everyone on account of working at the YHA.
One of the first KMC meets that Sylvia and Bob attended was a Colne - Rowsley which they completed but not wearing moccasins. A couple of years later they went on the fateful Cornish meet at Easter. The Scouts had invited KMC members to join them on the scouts' bus. However, driven by Sam the Tram, it only made it as far as Bodmin Moor when brake failure ended with a somersault into a field. Amazingly no one was hurt except Sylvia who cut her head whilst climbing out of a broken window of the upturned bus.
A taste for the Alps had been kindled in both of them. Zermatt became a favourite destination for summer holidays where the Bahnhof Hotel provided affordable lodgings. They returned for three or four seasons during when they climbed serious routes on Monte Rosa and the traverse of the Taschhorn and the Dom all sustained on 'Ritz' crackers. Another year they went to Chamonix to do the ordinary route up Mont Blanc.
Back with the KMC they were at the heart of the Club's activities for many years, at one time hardly missing a meet for two years when 30 to 35 members regularly turned out. The Pringle Stone Incident happened on the Christmas meet of 1968, Alan Barber's account is below. (Sylvia was a Pringle before a Haynes.)
Sylvia served time on the Committee and became the Handbook editor for three years. That winning smile meant that a healthy profit from advertisers during those years.
When I joined the Club some thirty years or more ago, I was 'adopted' for a time by Sylvia when I was delighted and almost overwhelmed by the enthusiasm. Whenever describing a climbing route or a walk up a mountain her eyes would widen and her face would shine with pleasure. Driving down to Wales or other weekend destinations, she and Bob used to point out bends or bridge parapets named after different KMC members following incidents of steering wheel wrestling. She never mentioned that she had a rock named after her on Arran!
Sylvia was a good all round mountaineer whether climbing on rock or snow or navigating in tricky conditions in the hills when she could remember the smallest detail of the terrain. It is thought that she was the fifth woman to climb 'Dream of White Horses.' Her sense of humour and infectious laugh meant it was always a pleasure to spend a day on the hills with her.
Throughout these last four years Sylvia's rallies against her illness always left further back than before and although we saw her on walking meets from time to time there was no hint of the fitness of those previous years. We did not guess that she was so ill as it was her wish not to make it common knowledge. She was very ill during the last few months when Bob was able to nurse her full time.
At her funeral in August, many KMC members and ex-members turned out to pay their respects for a fine mountain companion and a wonderful lady.
The Pringle Stone Incident, Boxing Day 1968
The KMC Christmas meet was at North Sannox Farm on the Isle of Arran where eight or nine of us were crammed in very cosily.
Six of us plodded up Glen Sannox on this short, freezing, Scottish winter's day. After ages we emerged into mellow, low-angled sunlight under Cir Mhor. The light was already dimming as we climbed towards the A'Chir Ridge. The rock was icy with a dusting of powder snow, so we roped up. Eventually, however, after sliding and thrutching down the last corner on to the narrow part of the ridge we were able to unrope where the sun had melted the snow. We traversed the 'bad step' and the narrow ridge quickly, wary of black ice forming. It was well into twilight as we descended into the side of the valley above Glen Rosa. The party was now well spread out and Sylvia was at the back as someone shouted that we would regroup in the main glen.
Eventually, we all stopped at a large boulder and began to anticipate our dinner waiting for us at the farm. Then, we started singing carols loudly and tunelessly! After half an hour there was still no Sylvia and our stomachs were rumbling too. Bob decided to go back up the glen and I jogged down to the telephone box to ask Christine Jones to bring the van round to pick us up.
Who do you think was there first? - Yes! Sylvia Pringle! Later Sylvia insisted she had not heard or seen us as she came down the glen. However, she said it with such a twinkle in her eye that we were all left to make up our own minds about it!
It all ended happily as the farmer's wife had a massive dinner waiting for us and then later a massive Scottish supper of scones and cakes too.
Later on the meet, John Castick carved 'THE PRINGLE STONE' on the boulder and to this day people refer to it when describing routes up Glen Rosa. I am sure that I once had a map that showed it too!
Chris Thickett (with Bob Haynes and Alan Barber) November 2003
