Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Maria met Alex shortly after a phone call from Tim Lewis, who had taken over as
editor of Mountain magazine after Ken Wilson sold the magazine. Knowing Maria
had spare rooms to rent, he phoned to ask if one was free.
'He's a really nice guy,' Tim told her, 'and really sharp as well. He's just got a job
in Manchester. You'll like him - his name is Dirty Alex.'
'He arrived and I just thought he was great,' Maria said years later. 'I loved his
energy, his cheekiness and all those rings of hair. So he moved into a room and im-
mediately lived up to his name.'
Maria recalled going into his room the day after he disappeared on a trip. She
wanted to tidy but described what she found as a 'rat's nest'. 'I gathered up dirty
clothes and thought as I went along and the pile got bigger that I might as well do a
complete wash. So I pulled back the sheets to discover a half-eaten bowl of Corn
Flakes in the bed completely covered in mould.'
Maria and I were drinking in a pub as she told her story. Her dark eyes shone
with memories and her straight, jet-black hair shook as she laughed, recalling her
days as Alex's concierge. 'My house became a base camp for lots of Alex's friends. I
can't remember how many times in the morning I'd be downstairs in the kitchen
when a bleary-eyed bunch of climbers appeared.' She paused, taking a sip of wine.
'Years later, I bumped into one of Alex's Manchester friends, Nicky Connelly. He
told me how much he enjoyed staying at Alex's doss because he got a great free
breakfast in the morning. He had totally forgotten it was me who cooked them.'
There were lots of wild parties. Maria had recently started teaching in
Manchester, but she still lived a student lifestyle so Alex was hardly out of place.
'Alex and I became true friends. I think that came from what he learned about
dealing with women from his mother Jean. He had the ability to talk openly and
freely with women he liked. He knew how to respect people's ideas, if not always
their sensitivities.'
Maria continued: 'He was sweet, really, and gave me advice, almost like a broth-
er. There were times when I really needed to talk to someone and he would draw
back and really listen. And then the lawyer would come out in him. He'd ask poin-
ted questions like: “Are you really happy with that guy?”'
The one thing that drove Maria mad was the way Alex would habitually pick an
argument. When in that mood, whatever anyone said, he would take the opposite
view. That was a consequence of his legal training; he was able to see all sides of a
story. It gave him the ability to hold his own in any debate and was a key skill at
the BMC. Alex was far from lazy during his BMC days, whatever he may have told
Voytek. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He brought tremendous flair and cre-
