Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Exhibition will celebrate ‘Munro legacy’
AN innovative exhibition will be held in Perth next year to celebrate the life of one of the country’s greatest mountaineers.
The display will mark the 100th anniversary of Sir Hugh Munro’s death. The creator of the “Munros” list of Scottish mountains more than 3,000ft died in March 1919.
There are 282 Munros in Scotland – attracting thousands of “Munro baggers” every year. They were first listed by Sir Hugh in his Munros Tables, published in the Journal of the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) in 1891. It caused quite a stir, as it had been thought there were only about 30 mountains more than 3,000ft.
Sir Hugh never managed to complete the ascent of all the summits and it was left to the Rev AE Robertson to complete the first round of the Munros in 1901.
Sir Hugh had been planning to revise his list and after his death the SMC took over the job of keeping the list up to date.
The first revised edition was published in 1921 and several further changes have been made, the most recent in 2012.
Now the AK Bell Library in Perth has invited the Munro Society to mount an exhibition about Sir Hugh.
The society has broadened the theme to “the Munro legacy” by tracking what has happened from the birth of “the tables” and the pioneers through the ensuing decades up to current times. The exhibition is planned to run from March-May.
David Batty, of the Munro Society, said: “We need to gather appropriate archive material such as photographs and artefacts and are seeking help.
“The birth and growth of hillwalking and climbing clubs is an important part of the story. If anyone has or knows of old photographs or artefacts we would appreciate being able to tap into them.”
Anyone who can help is asked to contact David at dsbatty@btinternet.com.