This weekend Emily and I are staying in Northallerton visiting the family. Another reason for coming South, was to attend Andy Kirkpatrick's lecture in aid of HEAT. The event was being held this evening at Ashville College, so Emily and I spent most of the day doing some Christmas shopping in Harrogate.
On arrival at the school, it was immediately clear that the event was well supported - well over half the hall was full of folk and everyone was going mad for the refreshments, as we waited for the arrival of Andy.
We didn't have long to wait and Andy was soon in full flow; cracking one joke after another. He started by telling us a little about himself and his upbringing in Hull. Moving on, he showed a few slides of his climbing exploits from over the years and around the globe - a very impressive resume. The main focus of the story was on his recent ascent of Troll Wall in Norway.
Unfortunately, Ella was feeling a little under the weather so didn't take to the stage to give her account of climbing El Cap. Instead, Andy showed a couple of slides of the recent trip to Yosemite but we got the sense that he very much felt that it was Ella's story to tell.
A great evening for a good cause. I would encourage everyone to attend one of Andy's shows/lectures, as he is quite a character and extremely entertaining.
We didn't have long to wait and Andy was soon in full flow; cracking one joke after another. He started by telling us a little about himself and his upbringing in Hull. Moving on, he showed a few slides of his climbing exploits from over the years and around the globe - a very impressive resume. The main focus of the story was on his recent ascent of Troll Wall in Norway.
Unfortunately, Ella was feeling a little under the weather so didn't take to the stage to give her account of climbing El Cap. Instead, Andy showed a couple of slides of the recent trip to Yosemite but we got the sense that he very much felt that it was Ella's story to tell.
A great evening for a good cause. I would encourage everyone to attend one of Andy's shows/lectures, as he is quite a character and extremely entertaining.
