Hinde, John, 1927-2002 (mountaineer, and mountain rescue team leader)
Biography
John Hinde was born on 21 December 1927 in Staveley, Chesterfield. His father was a lorry driver and his mother worked in a local factory. Widowed when John was only five years old, his mother was left to bring up John, his elder brother Frank (d.1950), and his sister Beth.
John was a pupil at Netherthorpe Grammar School between 1938-1943. At 15 he followed his brother Frank into the RAF as a boy entrant and for a while he was its youngest recruit.
Trained as an aircraft engineer, John worked on engines for the first 18 years of his RAF career. He was posted to Kinloss in 1948, the first of three postings, and it was there that his association with RAF Mountain Rescue began.
His passion for climbing and the outdoors had, however, been apparent from an early age. He began climbing at the age of 11 and was was an early member of the Youth Hostel Association. He kept a detailed diary from his early teens until his death, detailing his life, expeditions, and outdoor career.
At age 33, John’s mountaineering experience was recognised and most of the remainder of his 30 years’ service career was spent as leader of RAF mountain rescue teams. Following a few years with the Leuchars team, in 1961 he took over as leader at Kinloss, the team responsible at that time for the north of Scotland and most of the islands. John remained at Kinloss throughout the 1960s. During this time he was awarded the BEM for services to mountain rescue. A joint services expedition took him to Mt. McKinlay in 1962, and another to the Himalayas to climb one of the Dualagiris in 1965.
A posting to lead the team at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in 1969 gave John the opportunity for further travel. He visited Alum Kuh and Demavend in the Elburz, Kuh-i-Dinar in the Zagros mountains in 1972, Mt. Kenya, and enjoyed a holiday trip to Mt. Etna. He also undertook a trans-Iceland trip in 1972.
During his time with the RAF, John gained the Mountaineering Instructors Certificate, a civilian qualification. Posted back to Kinloss and back to his trade as aircraft fitter in 1972, he responded to an advert for Chief Expeditions Officer on the schooner, “Captain Scott”, built in Buckie at the Herd and MacKenzie shipyard. Buckie was the family home of his wife, Betty. The schooner was to operate between the Outward Bound establishments of the Moray Sea School at Burghead, and the Loch Eil Centre near Fort William. Upon appointment, John resigned from the RAF after 30 years’ service and began his new role facilitating and leading month-long sails upon the schooner for young people in which they sailed the ship around the west and north of the Highlands and Islands, with three land-based expeditions also included.
With the decommissioning of the schooner as a training vessel, John became an instructor at the Outward Bound Centre, Loch Eil, teaching sailing, rock and ice climbing, canoeing, general mountaineering and organising the Skye Treks. He worked with Outward Bound for 20 years.
John also served as a member and past President of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland, and became the Committee's representative in compiling and supplying rescue staitics to the Scottish Mountain Club between 1981-2002.
John Hinde died on 28 June 2002 at his home in Findochty.
[Source: https://diariesofjohnhinde.wordpress.com/]
Found in 98 Collections and/or Records:
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1986.
Unbound diary dates between 5 January-23 December 1986, and features photographs, typescript and manuscript entries, maps, letters, and items of ephemera. Also contains details on the Moray Mountaineering Club.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1987.
Unbound diary dates between 6 January-22 December 1987, and features photographs, typescript and manuscript entries, maps, letters, items of ephemera, printed sources, and statistical reports.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1988.
Unbound diary dates between 7 January-22 December 1988, and features photographs, typescript and manuscript entries, maps, letters, items of ephemera, printed sources, and illustrations.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1989.
Unbound diary dates between 2 January-30 December 1989, and features photographs, typescript and manuscript entries, reports, letters, items of ephemera, and copied press cuttings.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1990.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-30 December 1990, and features photographs, drawings, reports, letters, items of ephemera, and copied press cuttings.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1992.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-31 December 1992, and features photographs, letters, and illustrated maps. Also contains details on the Moray Mountaineering Club.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1993.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-28 December 1993, and features photographs, letters, maps, illustrations, and some ephemera.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1994.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-30 December 1994, and features photographs, some letters, maps, and typescript documents.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1995.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January 1995-2 January 1996 and features photographs, ephemera, certificates, some letters, typescript documents, and cuttings.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1996.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January 1996-31 December 1996 and features photographs, ephemera, printed sources, and some letters.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1997.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-31 December 1997 and features photographs, ephemera, printed sources, some letters, and a poem by John Hinde's [grandson] Finlay Wild.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1998.
Unbound diary dates between 5 January-31 December 1998 and features photographs, ephemera, printed sources, some letters, and illustrated maps.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 1999.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-31 December 1999 and features a small number of photographs and letters, brief press cuttings, and printed sources.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 2000.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-31 December 2000 and features photographs, some illustrated maps, items of ephemera, and printed sources.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 2001.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-31 December 2001 and features a small number of photographs, items of ephemera, some letters, certificates, cuttings, and printed sources.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde., 2002.
Unbound diary dates between 1 January-27 June 2002 and features press cuttings, items of ephemera, some letters, illustrated maps, and printed sources. No photographs present.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled '1991 Log'., 1991.
Bound diary dates from 31 December 1990- 1 January 1992, and includes photographs, illustrations, cuttings, ephemera, and some letters.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'Himalayan Diary Part I, Dhaulagiri'., 1965.
File contains a bound diary volume dating between September-October 1965, detailing the expedition, and accompanied by two reproduced images of a mountain range, Dhaulagiri IV. File also includes an unused RAF pocket diary for 1965.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'Himalayan Diary Part II, Dhaulagiri'., 1965.
File contains a partly-used bound diary volume dating between November-December 1965, detailing the expedition, and accompanied by a promotional flyer issued by the RAF Mountaineering Association for the event.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'N.E.A.F. Expedition to Alam Kuh'., 1970.
Bound diary/report contains typescript diary entries; maps; and original photographs.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'The Peak District, Volume I'. , 1941-1943.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'The Peak District, Volume II'., 1942-1943.
Diary begins on 22 December 1942 and ends on 17 July 1943. Volume includes inserted postcards; press cuttings depicting youth hostels and landscapes; and original drawings and illustrations. Diary also features the 'Grammar School, Staveley, Chesterfield' branding on its cover.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'The Peak District, Volume III'., 1943-1944.
Diary begins on 18 July 1943 and ends on 2 June 1944. Diary features a brief original drawing and map, alongside a list of youth hostels visited, and includes the 'Grammar School, Staveley, Chesterfield' branding on its cover.
Mountaineering Diary of John Hinde, labelled 'Walking and Climbing'., 1942-1959.
Diary begins on 29 March 1942 and ends on 18 January 1959. Also included are two inserted group photographs, which have been labelled with names.
Outward Bound annotated photograph album, labelled 'Some photographs, mostly 1990, mostly by John Hinde'., 1990.
Additional filters:
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- Archival Object 97
- Browse Resources 1
- Subject
- Diaries. 1
- Letters. Correspondence. 1
- Photograph albums. 1
- Press cuttings. Information artifacts. 1
- Scrapbooks. 1