Keen walkers and charity givers invited to join climb
A group honouring the memory of a peace campaigner are inviting people to join them on its anniversary walk.
The Bert Bissell Memorial Society, which was formed in 2014 to honour the peace campaigner, will be taking on its 10th annual climb of Ben Nevis in August.
The climb started in 2014 after a conversation between Ian Austin and former Dudley mayors Steve Waltho and Dave Tyler about ways to remember Bert, who passed away in 1998.
He had climbed the mountain, the highest in Britain, 107 times, as well as building a peace cairn on the summit which bears the name of Dudley.
Since the society formed, 76 individuals have completed 129 ascents of the mountain at Fort William in Scotland and society chair, Alderman Steve Waltho, said the climb was a vital way of keeping Bert's legacy alive.
He said: "Bert was an extraordinary individual who climbed the Ben 107 times taking hundreds of people to its summit.
"He ran a Bible Class in Vicar Street Dudley from the mid 1920's and, in 1945, he was in Fort William on August 15th VJ Day with a group of youngsters and decided to commence building a peace cairn on the summit which is still there today proudly bearing Dudley on a stone tablet.
"He was internationally known and was honoured by HM the Queen for his unstinting efforts to promote world peace.
"He had peace messages placed on principle mountains on every continent and even managed to get one aboard the Apollo mission to the moon."
Mr Waltho said the annual pilgrimage to Scotland gave the group the opportunity to pay their respects to Bert and help raise money for charity.
He said: "When we're in Fort William, we show people a set of stained-glass windows from Dudley installed in Duncansburgh Parish Church, as well as a corner dedicated to Bert in the local museum.
"People have climbed with us for a variety of reasons, whether simply to achieve the tough ascent of Britain's highest peak, to raise money for charity which to date has exceeded £25,000 or even to scatter loved one's ashes.
"Anyone is welcome to join us".
Organisers will leave Dudley for Fort William by car on Thursday, August 17 with a view to climbing Ben Nevis on Friday, August 18 and a return back to Dudley on Sunday, August 20.
To find out more and to express an interest, contact Steve Waltho by email at stevewaltho@hotmail.co.uk or by phone 07703308463 by Saturday, March 4.
