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Recall of the Rock

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BBC Radio 4 - Recall of the Rock

The poet Helen Mort imagines what mountains might remember of the women who climb them.

Inspired by the rock-climbing adventures of the all-female Pinnacle Club, poet Helen Mort imagines what mountains might remember of the women who climb them.

To mark its centenary, mountaineering members of the all-female Pinnacle Club have recorded their memories for the British Library Sound Archive. Climber and poet Helen Mort responds to these recordings in a poetic interview with a constant witness - the rock itself.

Interwoven with Helen’s new poem, we hear voices from the new archive - women sharing stories and thoughts about challenge, fear, independence, identity and risk.

The club's oral history project has recorded the distinct ways in which women plan together, adventure together, and remember together. Recollections range from the private ambitions that propelled a girl up her local cliff for the first time, to dramatic expeditions in far flung mountain ranges.

Social expectations in the early 20th century placed barriers between women and climbing. Among the determined pioneers were those who founded the Pinnacle Club in 1921. One hundred years later, the club thrives, with members including renowned mountaineers and relative novices; it is one of several groups that exist to support women in scaling rock on their own terms.
 
Helen Mort's poem personifies and ‘interviews’ the rock - millstone grit of Derbyshire, limestone of Kalymnos, rhyolite of Snowdonia, gabbro of Skye, granite of Yosemite - being as it is the great and ancient witness, the inspiration, the opportunity and the obstacle that attracts adventurers with a promise of personal achievement, which can also be a dasher of dreams and sometimes bodies.

Written and read by Helen Mort
Produced by Jon Lewis
Music by Diagrams (Sam Genders)
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4

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