Ken Turner 1932 - 2003It is with great sadness that I report the death of Ken Turner, who died in the mountains he loved on the evening of 29th May 2003 whilst out with his Thursday evening fell running friends on Ullscarf. Ken was one of the founding fathers of orienteering in England. He organised the first open event at Whitewell near Clitheroe on 24th November 1963 with his friend the late Gerry Charnley and was one of the founder members of our club in 1964, the first orienteering club in England. For 25 years he gave so much of that precious commodity -- his time. He was a very dependable organiser, planner and mapper and held every office in the club with distinction. He was for many years both club secretary and treasurer and whatever he did he was always painstaking and reliable. I worked with Ken on club matters for many years through the seventies and early eighties and know that he gave hundreds of hours of his time to help the club grow strong as it developed from its early beginnings. In 1976 he was in charge of transport arrangements at the World Orienteering Championships in Darnaway Forest in Scotland and was kept on his toes in judging the reliability of the old Highland buses. Ken was also to successfully complete the Bob Graham Round and played a large part in helping many others achieve the same distinction both by his encouragement and his sound navigational skills, especially in bad weather. He was also a tireless worker as part of the organisational team of the Karrimor Mountain Marathon and only a few months ago was responsible for organising a group of friends and relatives of the late Gerry Charnley to a twentieth anniversary commemoration at Charnley Crag Cairn in difficult weather conditions. As well as a loving and devoted family, Ken had many wonderful friends. Climbers, fell runners, orienteers and fell walkers to name but a few. They will all have their own special memories of him throughout his very busy and full life. On a personal note I will treasure one night a few months ago when Ken and I slept in a small tent on Little Narrowcove, high above Eskdale, climbing the rocky slopes of Pen in the evening sunshine and glorious rock scenery. There are few people that we can say are irreplaceable, but Ken was surely one and will be missed by so many. We offer our sincere condolences to Margaret, Anne, Richard, Andrew, Rebecca, Louise and Andy. Last Updated : 09.06.03 |