by Brian J » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:00 am
On Monday there was a report on BBC North West of the discovery of a fell walker’s body in a peat bog on Saddle Fell in the Bowland Fells near Preston. Police thought that the walker was in his 70s, from the Liverpool area and that he had travelled by public transport 3 weeks earlier. It appears that the walker whose life had ended in these tragic circumstances was Bill Smith, a member of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers and the author of Studmarks on the Summits which is the definitive book on the history of fell running. Bill must have met his end on or very close to the original route of the Fiendsale Race which I used to organise. Bill was always a great supporter of the race, competing in it in the early days and often turning up to spectate and give encouragement to the runners. Bill was a shy and gentle man and kept out of the limelight despite the fame that his writing brought to him within the fell running community. I remember that I once tried to get him to present the prizes but he politely declined. However, his magnus opus together with the many articles he wrote for the fell runner and the gentle encouragement he gave to race organisers and fell runners will be remembered for many years to come.