Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'All students are we?' he said, shining the light on Alex's face and wild hair, and
then around the rest of us sprawled in the back. 'Best be on your way then. Mind
how you go.'
Had he checked, as he would now, the officer could have got him for bald tyres,
no tax and no insurance as well as being over the limit, but society was more toler-
ant of these things in the early 1970s.
Although the vans ultimately belonged to individuals, they were treated as com-
munal property by the club and we all drove them. The fleet was occasionally aug-
mented with a few cars borrowed from parents or those hired by visiting Americ-
ans. Rarely did these go back to their owners without a new dent or two.
When the moon was full, driving back from the crags without headlights seemed
a normal thing to do. On a single lane hump-backed bridge near Malham, Alex and
John Powell met a car also without headlights at the crest of the bridge. For-
tunately they were in Powell's father's solid Morris Oxford and there was little
damage to it. The other car was a near write-off. The other driver was a farmer on
his way back from the pub, already banned for drink-driving. He had been driving
without lights to avoid the attention of any police car in the area. They cleared the
farmer's wrecked car from the bridge and then took him home where enough cash
to repair the Powell family vehicle was proffered.
Alex's van became so badly dented that only the rear doors opened. Stopped by
the police, the officer had a shock when he asked Alex to step out of the car. As he
stood by the driver's door, the back doors suddenly flew open and five scruffy lads
jumped out before Alex himself climbed out the back. Having recovered from this
shock and ascertained that we were all students, we got the usual 'mind how you
go' speech and set off again.
In his first years in the club, Alex was not a particularly strong rock climber. He
often drew irreverent comments when his name appeared in the Leeds 'Book' -
the journal recording the climbs and the antics of the club, illustrated with pictures
of particularly spectacular falls and car crashes. Exactly when Alex gained the
nickname 'Dirty' Alex is not recorded in the topic, but it does appear halfway
through his first year. Like most students, Alex was not often seen at the launder-
ette. His face was usually unshaven and his unruly hair reached his shoulders. Alex
was doing grunge well before anyone tried to build a fashion around not washing.
John Powell recalls that despite this, Alex drew attention. 'There were a lot of
really smart girls on our course and Alex was always in demand, but he never
made any effort with any of them. I remember going on a weeklong fieldtrip to the
Isle of Man and Alex had the same trousers and shirt on all week. And, of course,
