Seems like a gentleman called John Buckingham started making ropes way back in the sixteenth century mostly for the sailing ships of the time. Fast forward a century or so and a guy called Arthur Beale is at the helm delighted to be one of the only rope makers selected by the Alpine Club to provide rope for the new sport of mountaineering. Mountaineers like Edward Whymper and Arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton were ‘champions’ of Beale’s rope and it seems they also used his ice axes. Shackleton’s personal, Beale, axe is now in the National Maritime Museum.

Arthur Beale didn’t actually make ice axes, instead he imported them from Switzerland and stamped his own logo on them, often on the opposite side of the pick from the Swiss manufacturers own logo. The one we have here in the collection was made by the Andenmatten Brothers of Saas Almagel in Central Switzerland (circa 1920), their logo is barely discernible on the pick, Arthur Beale’s logo is not much better (see above) but tells us he was based in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, at the time.

Beale’s – Swiss – axes are a bit of a rarity, this one arrived with a collection of skis from the Scottish Ski Club some moons ago, unfortunately we don’t have information on the previous owner – thanks anyway.