Terry Tullis: A Climbing Perspective

He was also one of the earliest, if not the first, climber in the Country to take custody of a crag, Harrison’s Rocks, and personally brought about a positive change in attitude towards caring for the rock and the environment well before such a thing was a national agenda. Having been an unofficial warden for Harrison’s for some time, he would later become the official Warden under the remit of first the CCPR and finally the BMC, a job that he carried out with passion albeit in a certain, but very effective style – he wasn’t afraid to call offending climbers to account, and earned considerable respect as a result.

Much of Terry’s early climbing life was in fact spent at High Rocks and Bowles Rocks (before it became an outdoor centre) where he was part of an extremely talented band of climbers who in the late fifties were pushing technical grades way beyond those of the rest of the Country. Although top-roped initially, many of these climbs were subsequently soloed, including some bold 6As. His climbing friends at this time included Martin Boysen and Chris Bonington, and a young girl called Julie, later of course to become Terry’s wife. Probably Terry’s finest achievement was soloing the route “Inspiration” at Bowles – just about as bold and serious as it gets on Sandstone. Later his climbing would be hampered by an argument with a farm implement resulting in a serious leg injury from which he wouldn’t fully recover.

Once Bowles Rocks became part of an outdoor centre in 1961, Terry took a job there as an instructor, which apart from his spell in the army completing National Service, was probably the only regular employment he had, Terry much preferring to sustain his income himself in a variety of ways through climbing. This led to Terry and Julie buying a general store in the village of Groombridge which subsequently morphed in to their café named “Terry’s Festerhaunt”. It was a place of tea, tales of the past, and plans for the future. It had a little shop from which Terry would sell the latest climbing gear, and was also a place where Terry could exhibit his considerable skill as a photographer. Notably, these photographs would tend to be of the climbers rather than the climb, many being portraits illustrating Terry’s interest in people themselves. Most climbing on sandstone, including the Country’s famous and elite, would visit the Festerhaunt at some point during the climbing day to become part of the “scene” and as a result it became well known and the place for many visiting professional foreign climbers to start their UK travels, notably the American “Hot” Henry Barber who was probably the best technical climber in the World at the time. “Hot” Henry got on famously with Terry, and proceeded to solo aplomb many sandstone classics for Terry’s camera. Thus, the Festerhaunt became an institution, but life for the Tullis family which included by then their two children Chris and Lindsay was moving on, with Julie in particular finding her own way in the climbing world. The Festerhaunt business was sold, and Terry concentrated more on supporting Julie in her ambitions and the roles she took on, and it was about this time that Terry acquired a VW Beach Buggy to amuse himself with - it suited his relaxed and casual style!

Through Julie, Terry also got involved in martial arts in the form of Budokan. It was another dimension to his life that suited the combination of his physique and his calm nature. It was also a social pastime that involved a beer afterwards, and that suited Terry too!

Initially Julie and Terry worked with disabled children introducing them to the outdoors which included “wheelchair abseiling”. This led to them being contacted by the renowned disabled climber Norman Croucher, and to then going on an expedition with Norman to climb Huascaran in South America. By then Julie’s appetite for climbing further afield had been ignited, leading to a successful trip to Yosemite. Julie was now mixing with the climbing elite and Terry fitted in very easily with the socialising that involved, also capitalising on his skills with the camera. He also built up an association with the equipment manufacturer DMM leading to a close friendship with its owner Denny Moorhouse and Terry kept in touch with sandstone climbing by running a café out of a trailer in Harrison’s car park. Of course, notably Julie would subsequently go on to Everest and Nanga Parbat, and to summit Broad Peak and K2 with their friend Kurt Diemberger. During this time Terry supported Julie unfailingly in her quests, staying in the UK and looking after the children, and generally enthusing about Julie’s ground breaking accomplishments. The tragedy on K2 though led to Terry losing the love of his life, and inevitably his life would change too.

Whilst mourning the loss of Julie, Terry also needed to support Chris and Lindsay who had lost their mother. Life would become a little more conventional as Chris and Lindsay started to pursue their own careers. Eventually though, climbing would again become part of Terry’s life when he set up Soft Rock as a partnership with Chris in 1989 and, later, when Chris founded and opened a climbing wall. “Evolution Climbing” as it was called, would allow Terry to pursue his instructing skills and his connection with climbers until well in to his seventies.

During this time Terry had met Sarah and they later married. Sadly, Terry’s health started to deteriorate brought on by diabetes, and Sarah cared for Terry in his later years at their unique and comfortable home “The Bothy” which Terry had lived at for the best part of his life, and where the children had grown up. Ever popular, Terry’s charm and warmth will be missed by those who were privileged to know him, and he will be remembered by so many for the significant and personalised contribution he made to the climbing world.