Radios

Selections from the Collection

Ben Nevis Telephone + Phone Cable Plaque

C.I.C. hut below North face of Ben Nevis, with old radio shack to the right

Ben Nevis Cable Plaque

Ben Nevis Telephone and Cable Plaque

Ben Nevis telephone in tin box plus cable plaque

We are fairly sure that Ben Nevis is the only mountain in Great Britain to have a permanent emergency radio in situ. Located beside the C.I.C. Hut below the North Face of the mountain, it has been much used over the years, reducing the ‘call out’ time for the local rescue team by as much as two hours, though mobile phones have reduced that time even further, rendering the radio link ‘almost’ redundant. The link between the hut and the Police Station in Fort William was originally a telephone line put in by the 51st (H) Signal Regiment (TA) in 1966 under the guidance of John Berkeley who was a member of the local rescue team at the time. The telephone was not a success, mainly because of breakages in the cable and so was soon replaced by the radio. The original cable had marker posts at the various joints, with a little lead plaque attached, one of which we have here in the collection ( there must be more if you fancy ‘rootin about in the heather’ We’ve included an old field telephone which is not the actual one used at the C.I.C. Hut but is very similar.

Motorola HT 800 Radio & Charger

Close up of logo

Motorola Radio, charger and spare battery.

Founder of the Heritage Collection, Mick Tighe, was a member of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team for around thirty years (1978-2006) and for many of these years he, and other team members, carried one of these radios around with them. The radios worked well when they were dry but didn’t like the wet very much, so a plastic cover – nicknamed ‘ the condom’ -became the norm for a while. Newer radios eventually took over, though unfortunately, not much more waterproof, rendering the HT 800 to the history books, or in this case our collection.

Pye Radio

Our radios don’t go back quite as far as the 1953 Everest Expedition but they have the pedigree.

Inscription on radio

White metal base Pye radio with microphone on top. Crocodile clips attached. Blue microphone attached with looped cable.

Sadly, Ian Ruscoe died on Ben Nevis on April 20th 1977. He and his climbing partner had just completed Point Five Gully and having moved back from the edge to what they considered a safe distance, they un-roped. Unfortunately for Ian, the unusually large cornice then collapsed with him on the wrong side and he fell back down the gully – his partner was unharmed. Ian’s pals in the Inverness Mountaineering Club subsequently raised the money to buy this radio and donate it to Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team in Ian’s memory. The radio was used in the rescue team’s ‘mobile’ vehicle for many years until new technology rendered it obsolete. Founder of the Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection, Mick Tighe, was a member of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team in those days and salvaged the radio as it was heading for the skip. So, thanks to Inverness Mountaineering CLub; in particular, Marion Moffatt, who was a friend of Ian’s and gave us the background information.

Pye Westminster Radio (transportable)

Our radios don’t go back quite as far as the 1953 Everest Expedition but they have the pedigree.

Inscriptions on radio

Radio in grey portable padded canvas case. Removable aerial and green plastic hand microphone. Case has one canvas webbed carrying strap with metal buckle.

Pye Westminster radios first appeared in 1967 and were popular with police forces. The Scottish Northern Constabulary (as it was called then) provided radios for the Mountain Rescue teams in their area in those days, so it was logical to give the teams a radio similar to the ones they were using, albeit on a different frequency to theirs. This particular radio was used as a base set by Torridon Mountain Rescue Team in the 1970/80’s until new technology took over and rendered it obsolete and the team kindly donated it to our collection. You’ll find a Pye Portable radio which was used in conjunction with this radio elsewhere in the collection.

Portable radio

Our radios don’t go back quite as far as the 1953 Everest Expedition but they have the pedigree.

‘Pye’ portable radio in black leather carrying case with shoulder strap and metal buckle. Plastic covered aerial and microphone attached to top. Belt loop at back.

Portable radio

Our radios don’t go back quite as far as the 1953 Everest Expedition but they have the pedigree.

Black ‘Pye’ portable radio. Black nylon carrying loop. Speaker and aerial attached with braided nylon rope. Microphone has blue waterproof cover. Black plastic volume knob on side.