The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
024.2007.1
Altimeter
22/11/2007
Maxine Willett
22/11/2007
Altimeter, metal, glass, leather, face has gold background inscribed with black numerics depicting height in thousands of feet, black needle points to correct height, metal outer, housed in a bespoke leather case which holds altimeter in case by two screws at the base, hinged lid with strap and press stud fastening, visible stitching around case circumference, black text on face "THOUSANDS OF FEET, Compensated for Temperature, made by Short & Mason London for H.A.Raeburn Esq.", brown, silver, gold, black.
metal, glass, leather
9.3 (w) x 23.4 (l) (fully extended) x 4.9 (d) cm
2
"THOUSANDS OF FEET, Compensated for Temperature, made by Short & Mason London for H.A.Raeburn Esq"
brown, silver, gold, black
Short & Mason
London
Often referred to as the 'Father of Scottish mountaineering', Harold Raeburn certainly had a pedigree second to none in the early days of mountain exploration in Scotland and further afield.
Born in 1865 and having studied chemistry at the Watt Institute in Edinburgh, he joined the family firm as a brewer. Raeburn left a legacy of high quality climbs on the Scottish mountains, many of which were way ahead of their time in technical difficulty, one of the most remarkable being a winter ascent of Green Gully on Ben Nevis in 1906, a formidable and much sought after ice climb a hundred years later.
Well travelled in the Alps, Norway and the Caucusus, he was appointed as mountaineering leader in the 1921 British reconnaisance expedition to Mount Everest and it must have been for one or all of these trips that he acquired the altimeter that we have, as one of our most treasured possessions, here in the collection.
One time stalwart of the Ladies Scottish Climbing Club, Reverend Anne Whinning, kindly donated the altimeter to our collection, having bought it for a few pounds in a sale, some research may discover the altimeter's journey, but for now that's all we have.
We do know that Harold produced a book called Mountaineering Art in 1920, and sadly died in a sanitorium for the mentally ill in December 1926, aged 61 - a sad end to a glittering mountaineering career.
Donated by Rev. Anne Whinning
22/11/2007
Good, some staining on top of cover
22/11/2007
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007
28/04/2009