Hamish Hamilton

Hamish, a true and generous friend who always welcomed us with open arms and when asked how he was, replied, in his soft Scottish accent, “Reasonable”. We have so many other memories of him and, of course, Trudi to whom he addressed his letters “Lady Hamilton, Wentworth Castle”, during their early days together.

We have known H and T for about fifty-six years, since the sixties in which they thoroughly took part, Afghan coats, mopeds, parties, long hair, guitar playing, singing “A froggy would a wooing-go”, etc, and fur fabric gloves, essential for when H was moped commuting to and from Bachelors Peas in Sheffield, where, as he put it, he was shovelling peas!

Peas were not, of course, his only occupation. I think he liked to be called a designer and a developer who used his special lateral thinking to break the mould in designing outdoor equipment. His notable achievements include the Vango Force Ten tent a few of which featured in a photograph of a Himalayan base camp. He was rightly very proud of that. His design idea continues to be used albeit with various modifications, one of his being the Gothic Arch (GA) tent. I was very honoured to be invited to help making the poles for this in his garage. A further development, in conjunction with a fabric manufacturer, was Pertex, a semi-permeable material for tents and clothing which was tested in his garden in a GA tent, using a boiling kettle to establish the amount of condensation in this sauna like atmosphere. Like the Force Ten and the GA designs, Pertex lives on. This was all serious stuff but the Pertex award brought H’s typical light hearted touch to the material. H managed to get hold of a Queen’s Award trophy (I never knew whether it was for H’s work?) and presented it for “Total Incompetence on the Mountains”. Of course, in his modesty, he was the first to receive the Award for navigating at night using a candle in a jam-jar to get off the mountain in the Lakes. The award continues to be awarded annually by the Dark Peak Fell Runners, e.g. accidently drinking meths, going on search for a missing fell runner only to find he was looking for himself! There are. many more!

This is not the end of H’s prowess. Combining the properties of Pertex with pile fabric, H developed and produced the Buffalo range of Mountain Shirts in Sheffield, which have been used for a range of activities, mountaineering, sailing, walking, running. As the Buffalo wear became more popular, he had to expand his business on Meersbrook Road. This involved moving a very long cutting table, up one flight of a fire escape stairs. The first sight of these and the table length, prompted many comments of “impossible” amongst the twenty or so volunteers willing to help. H assured everyone that he’d measured everything, so it was possible. And it was! This was typical of H’s determination and patience. In time, the Buffalo factory moved to the old dairy on Broadfield Road, which is remembered by many older Sheffielders for the full-size model of a cow in the window. So, the Vango Force Ten and the GA tents, Pertex and Buffalo shirts (and sleeping bags tested by soaking them and measuring H’s temperature within), are all iconic developments which are widely used today.

All these designs were probably inspired by his love of the outdoors and his climbing experiences which included his involvement in organising a lecture tour for the French climber Gaston Rebuffat. This was all before before he had introduced most of his distinctive products.

H and T were generous friends who would not hesitate to help friends, including moving house, a couple of times, fixing the electrics, sorting out drains lifting heavy pieces, coming to our helps when the car broke down, assisting the making of a Wendy house (measure twice, cut once), loft conversion (we still have his chair and ash tray there), and many other jobs. H was also a very good listener and sounding board when wanting to share problems. For all of which we are very, very grateful. 

Thankyou Hamish, we will miss you.

Graham