UKC

If you are in Chamonix at 5pm on 6th July 2024 then perhaps come to the unveiling of the newly refurbished, relocated and now rededicated monument to Charles Mathews in Chamonix.

Over the course of the last four years the monument has been moved from the grounds of the Couttets Hotel to a new prominent location at the entrance to the Couttets Parc in the centre of Chamonix.  It has been completely refurbished and is to be rededicated to celebrate the enduring relationship between Chamonix, the Alpine Club, British Climbers and Chamonix Guides.  

So, if you are in the area, why not come by to share in the celebration.

I must confess my ignorance - who was Charles Mathews?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Edward_Mathews

Thanks! Bit embarrassing actually, I could easily have googled that myself.
Impressive for an Englishman to be remembered by a granite monument in the most famous French mountain village of all, with an inscription in Latin which is read every year by climbers from all over the world.

We used to go to the cemetery and the mountaineering museum on rainy days in Chamonix prior to the evening bar hop, but I’d never seen his monument before. Nice that they’ve moved it!

In reply to David Bowler:

The use of the word 'conquest' does not have the same connotations today as it it did in the 19th Century.  One of the reasons why Mathews is remembered is because he was a leading advocate for a sustainable approach to mountaineering.  He would have been horrified to visit many parts of the Alps today and witness how people are changing the environment to suit their needs when he at the time believed very strongly in leaving no trace.  His history of Mont Blanc (written in a time of 19th Century empires) is definitely worth a read and you will see that the people who are beating the alps into submission may be us and certainly not him.

Mathews would be embarrassed to have had a monument raised in his memory.  He was a very humble man who placed others before himself at all times.  This is one of the subtle references in the inscription.  The inscription was written in Latin by the Bishop of Bristol at the time and his daughter unveiled it the first time around.  She is unavailable on the 6th Jul sadly.

Whilst he was the president of the AC and a driving force behind its foundation (although not a founding member) he was also president of the Climbers Club and represented climbing in England and Scotland too.  

The Couttet Hotel was the go to hotel for visiting climbers at the time when Mathews was active.  Edward Whymper had a favoured room there and an observatory used to stand in the garden.  This has not survived the hotel restoration but the Mayor in Chamonix recognised the historic importance and modern significance of this monument.

I have no idea how they moved it but Claire Burnet and Claude Marin made it happen.  Chamonix paid for the movement and all the new signs and the AC funded the restoration.

Importantly, we all saw that this was an opportunity to recognise the bond between climbers from Britain, the AC, Chamonix Guides, the town and our shared history.

Lourdes?

No, I went of my own free will

To Charles Edward Mathews

To a lover of the mountains, from fellow lovers

To a companion of the Alpine brotherhood, from fellow companions

To a surviving founder*, from his brothers

To the most delightful friend, from his friends

He died, deeply lamented

Died in 1905 aged 72

* of the Alpine Club

For those with Latin, no need to go the full Monty Python! In my translation I've taken the nominatives (amatores, sodales, frates, amici) and translated them as if they were ablatives (amatoribus) because that more easily allows for the datives (amatori, sodali etc.) to be placed at the front of each line in English.

Thanks Kate, I‘d kind of got the gist of it but this is way better!

In reply to David Bowler: better now..

"Mathews played his part in the exploration of the High Alps"

thanks ericoides

You're welcome.

For your starter for ten, which other British mountaineer attended the same school as Mathews in Kidderminster a hundred years later?

Mo?

PS Mail for you Ian, probably landed in Spam

Ah! So it has.

Yes!

Finally got your joke. Very good!

Thanks, that just made my day, it was a bit obscure!

On one level this is a non descript lump of granite next to a road with an impenetrable Latin inscription to a long dead white man.  But it commemorates a very long standing friendship between our 2 countries and Chamonix in particular.  In this time of nationalism here and in the UK I feel that an event like this is very appropriate.  If you are around in Chamonix please come.