Remembering friends of Mulanje

John Killick

On 12^th May John Killick a true Mulanje enthusiast passed away at Newlands home at the age of 91. John arrived in Malawi (a long journey by boat and train) in 1952 for a post as an agricultural officer in the colonial service. His wife to be, Anne, made the same journey a year later and they were married in Cape Town before continuing on to Blantyre. John was posted at various times to Thuchila, Mikolongwe, Fort Lister and the Chiromo Valley. With the exception of the latter all locations gave him and Anne easy access to Mulanje Mountain which they utilised fully during endless explorations and enjoyed enormously, introducing many others to mountain hiking. John and Anne were some of the founding members of the Mountain Club (which was established in 1952) and both served on the committee in various roles over those early years. John had a short stint working in Blantyre – a 5 days a week job! – which he was delighted to report allowed him to spend 89 days on Mulanje that year!

Martin Horrocks

Martin Horrocks, the previous chairperson of MCM (1996-2006), died suddenly from a heart attack whilst out hiking in Cape Town, on 30^th June at the age of 76. Martin was head of science at SAINTS for 18 years before his retirement in 2011. His wife Miriam was head of English during the same period. Martin was a keen hiker long before he arrived in Malawi. His love of mountains and nature and passion for introducing others to these pleasures made him a great choice to become Chairperson of the Mountain Club of Malawi in 1996. He served in this role for 10 years organising numerous day and weekend hikes, extending his repertoire of stories that he generously shared round hut fires and during the ‘Chair’s report’ at AGMs, and introduced and enthused many newcomers to mountain hiking. In 1996 Martin initiated a project that was to consume him, his family and many other professional builders, architects, craftsmen and labourers for the best part of two years – the rebuilding of Lichenya Hut (the original having burnt down in 1995). Martin was, and rightly so, immensely proud of the end result which hikers now enjoy. Martin served on the WESM committee for most of the time he lived in Blantyre.