West Bromwich Mountaineering Club

It has a membership of around 200 and every month runs a coach to a mountainous region in England or Wales, on which seats are available to its members and the general public on a 'first come - first served' basis and also maintains a members-only hut in the Nant Gwynant valley.

[2] The group produces a monthly newsletter and copies of these going back to 1989 have been deposited with Sandwell Community History and Archives Service at Smethwick Library and can be consulted there.

So the monthly coach meet was born, typically setting off from West Bromwich at 6:30 am and picking up at 8 to 12 places en route to north or mid Wales, the Peak District or the Malvern Hills.

In December 1957 West Bromwich (now Sandwell) Education Authority bought Plas Gwynant, one-time home of prime minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, together with its outbuildings for less than £5,000.

[9] Members have recorded ascents of many alpine peaks including Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn and Grossglockner, and further afield have planted the club flag on the summits of Aconcagua, Aneto, Mount Ararat, Mount Elbrus, Jebel Toubkal, Kilimanjaro, Mera Peak and Mt Fuji while Nigel Kettle & John Edwards have climbed virgin summits in Kyrgyzstan and Antarctica respectively.

[22] Every mountaineering club has its share of mishaps as slips and falls can sometimes lead to sprains, broken bones or worse, but WBMC has been fortunate in that it has only had a couple of serious accidents.

On 23 July 1972 Len York reached the summit of the Matterhorn for the second time in 12 months but a fall on the descent led to a spinal injury which left him paraplegic.