< Kate Spencer
The last time I saw her she was in the Marie Curie Hospice at Elswick, where she passed away peacefully on July 7. As always, her main concerns then were Pete, the business, and the Guild, and she wanted to know everything about what was happening. She was determined, as she said,“ to make every day count.” She certainly succeeded in doing that throughout her long and distinguished life.
Kate was perhaps best known for her work with Pete in publishing consumer magazines and annuals for cycling and the outdoors, including tradeandindustry,
Cycling World, Bicycle Times and Footloose. Opposite in so many ways, she and Pete formed a formidable and loving partnership, which was widely respected throughout the outdoor trade.
A proud Mum and grandmother, Kate was not only the lynchpin of the Guild, but also of her growing young family. She will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved her. And they were usually one and the same people.
Rest in peace, Kate, and thanks for everything.
New members
Hanna Lindon started her career on Trail and now freelances across a wide range of newsstand outdoor titles. Her features have appeared in The Great Outdoors, Countryfile, Walk, Adventure Travel, Outdoor Enthusiast and Country Walking. She also writes on walking and scrambling for the BMC and pens general travel pieces for newspapers and airline magazines. She lives in the South East and spends an inordinate amount of time driving to-and-fro between the hills of Snowdonia, Scotland and the Lake District for outdoor adventures. With a second kid on the way she’ ll be scaling back on work for the next year or so, but still hopes to take an active part in Guild life.
www. hannalindon. com
James Deboo. I was brought up in Wiltshire, went to Lancaster University 21 years ago and stayed in the northwest. I have a PhD on the poetry of William Wordsworth, with all its Lake District connections. I was a freelance editor, including for Cicerone Press, for a number of years, but having been recently diagnosed with autism I’ ve decided to pursue my dream and become an outdoor writer. Based in Milnthorpe in southern Cumbria, I’ m so far writing for Lakeland Walker, Cumbria, TGO and Country Walking, as well as working on a book about the Arnside & Silverdale AONB. I’ m married to a GP and I have three children: so home is a busy place.
I have a new blog at www. deboooutdoors. blog
Ash Routen is an adventure writer and exercise and health scientist based in Leicester. Growing up in the New Forest he developed an interest in the outdoors through scouting, which led to walks, climbs and scrambles across the UK, with the odd foray into Europe. A post-doc career in academia chained him to a desk for a while, but in recent years he has taken up arctic sledding expeditions, including leading a 634 km crossing of a frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia. Ash primarily writes about adventure and expedition news, but also covers hillwalking and product reviews. He has written for a selection of leading publications and newspapers in the UK and US.
www. ashrouten. com
Carsten Krieger is a German native and has been living and working in the west of Ireland since 2002. He started out as a landscape photographer but over the years he has spread out to cover a wide range of topics including wildlife, outdoor activities, portraits and food. His clients include Tourism Ireland, The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark( for whom he also produced the flagship book This is the Burren), The National Monuments Service and others.
Writing in both his native as well as the English language has been taken on an important role in his work. Carsten has photographed and written a number of books on Ireland’ s landscape, wildlife and heritage, including the bestselling Ireland’ s Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’ s Ancient East. He just finished The River Shannon, a book on Ireland’ s longest waterway and two photography guides for Ireland, one in English and one in German, which are due for publication in the coming months. www. carstenkrieger. photography
10 Outdoor focus | autumn 2018