Just picked this up & noticed under the entry for the Backpackers Club it states the club was founded in 1972 by Eric Gurney. This is wrong.
As the club is approaching it's 40th anniversay I think it's important to credit the 2 individuals who actually started the club - Peter Lumley & Mike Marriott backed by the magazine Practical Camper where Peter was editor & Mike a lead contributor.
As a member since 1979 I take my hat off to them.
Eric Gurney was the second National Organiser of the club, after Denis Noble - not a founder member.
The copy of the encylopaedia I have here is a first edition from 1991, Hopefully this was corrected in later editions (if any?)
It's twenty years since my book was published and I cannot now recall all the circumstances surrounding its compilation. I remember that I circulated all the clubs and societies requesting information so I may have been misinformed or misinterpreted the facts. I knew both Eric Gurney and Peter Lumley and I'm surprised that they did not protest at the time.
Much as I should like to revise the book, I fear that time is against me. It would be a major task because much of the information about subjects such as gear and Ordnance Survey maps is now out of date.
The first book I ever wrote, my publisher warned me that if I was just one foot out when quoting the height of a hill, the readership would come down on me like a ton of bricks.
This is very true!
I recall one publisher said... "To err is human. To be told of our errors so that we can correct them in a future edition would be divine!"
