The Mountain Heritage Trust – an outdoor body which works to document Britain’s climbing history – has recently been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of more than £40,000 to preserve the papers and writings of mountaineer Joe Tasker.
Made up of correspondence, artefacts, photographs and literary manuscripts from Joe’s life as a climber and mountaineer of the world’s greater ranges, the archive collection has been donated to the trust by Joe’s family in order to share his achievements and inspire the next climbing generation. As a legacy to Joe and fellow mountaineer Peter Boardman, who both lost their lives while climbing on the north-east ridge of Everest in 1982, the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was established. This prize allocates an annual grant of £3000 to original works of mountain literature.
Chair of the Mountain Heritage Trust, Julie Summers, commented: ”We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has recognised the enormous contribution Joe Tasker’s collection will make to mountaineering heritage, and we look forward to being able to celebrate his inspiring achievements widely through exhibitions and education programmes in the future.’’
RELATED LINKS:
www.mountain-heritage.org
Photo Credit: Chris Bonington Picture Library