Bob Leakey - Craven Herald Obituary

FAREWELL TO AN ADVENTURER, WAR HERO AND ECONOMIST 2:23pm Thursday 2nd May 2013 in Craven History ￼ For heroic daring-do, it would be hard to find another character outside the pages of fiction like the late Bob Leakey. Robert Dove Leakey, to give him his formal moniker, died last week at the age of 98 – having led the life of ten men. He was war hero, caving daredevil, pioneering environmentalist, inventor, economic philosopher and would-be MP. Here, as a tribute to the remarkable man, reporter Clive White looks back on his caving exploits. Bob Leakey was known by just about everyone in the area. He was a regular caller at the Craven Herald throughout his life, often in connection with his theories on the economy and money – most of which baffled your average hack. He was also a fiery environmental campaigner, facing up to inspectors at inquiries over the past 40 years. I recall his unstoppable persistence many times at the Aire Valley Road inquiry in Saltaire in the 1970s when Bob was sure to liven up the day and leave the officials quaking. And he was still championing his ideas when three years ago he fought a General Election for a second time for his own Virtue Currency and Cognitive Appraisal Party. His wartime career involved action on the front line when he was hit by five bullets, ambushed in Burma by Japanese and spent 13 days of hell at the siege of Kohima – a period of his life which prompted him to become a pacifist. But he won his iron-man reputation among a group of individuals who themselves go into places where most people tremble at the thought of entering. Bob Leakey’s reputation is matchless in the world of speleology where his seemingly fearless subterranean adventures are legendary.

It was said of him that few people would like to go caving with him but they would like to know he was in the rescue team if they became stuck. Incredible though it may seem, Bob took up potholing to cure his fear of claustrophobia just as he had tackled chronic aquaphobia by taking up diving – a skill which he would call upon when he needed to dive and submerge in his exploration of cave systems in the Yorkshire Dales. He is remembered with affection and respect by Steve Warren, of Skipton, himself a caver for 60 years and an expert on the geology and limestone of the Yorkshire fells. Steve first met Bob in the early 1950s at the Wheatsheaf in Settle where young cavers would gather to arrange trips and swap stories. “He would turn up and listen to us talking – he had given up caving by then – but he would try to encourage us to do things. “He would talk about taking a candle, sticking it in your helmet and encourage us to get information he may have been unable to get in the 1930s,” said Steve. “Those were the times when caving was really tough and people went down in layers of woolies under raincoats or boilers suits and carrying rope ladders. “He was fearless, going out on his own, shuffling through freezing water to get to places where no human being had been before.” Bob, however, was not averse to tackling a pothole naked if the circumstances dictated. In mid winter 1944, Bob was the first to break through a black water blockage in Disappointment Pot, opening it up for further exploration. Carrying a headlamp connected to a battery which he gripped between his teeth, he went feet first into the gaspingly cold water. Under water he shuffled through an air space and eventually was able to stand up, later removing more rock to duck under water coming into an open passage. His work was later carried on by other cavers who eventually opened up the route into Gaping Gill. Perhaps his most memorable campaign was the exploration of the tortuously tight Mossdale Caverns labyrinth where 25 years later the system would become the tomb of six young cavers, who drowned in June 1967 when the system flooded. It is still the worse caving disaster ever. There to help with the rescue was Bob who, aged 53, led a team into the flooded system reaching where he thought there might be a survivor, going further than other rescuers but having to retreat for his own safety. The tragic deaths had a profound impact on Bob who made it his last caving venture. He had first came across Mossdale in 1941 and from then on it developed a fearsome reputation. With most young men in the forces, Bob (who, as an aircraft designer, was in a reserved occupation) recruited as his aides some unsuspecting aircraft factory girls. Few bothered assisting him for a second time. It left Bob to explore the system himself – a task demanding unbelievable courage, endurance and strength, his primitive equipment comprising candles and bike lamps and a boiler suit. He often stayed down there for hours, sleeping caked in mud in tight flat passages through which he sneaked and squeezed. If things had gone wrong, he had nobody to help him. Equally staggering is his fearless exploration of Hull Pot in the late 1940s during which he was described as being like a “bloodhound” once on a trail, diving and plunging onwards, disappearing beneath the water with one aim, to find new passages. His actions were similar in Simpson Pot, also in the late 1940s, when his tenacity resulted in the team he was with expanding the system. Few people could match Bob Leakey for his physical endurance which he also used to good effect in the Himalayas where he made two attempts – one solo – on Bandarpunch, a peak unclimbed at the time. “He was unique – there was nobody else like him and he was thought of with awe in the world of caving because of his achievements. He led a remarkable life,” said Mr Warren.

Copied with permission from The Craven Herald, '06'05'2013.;

Hi Matt,

The caving fraternity are very impressed with the obituary for the caving legend Bob Leakey, published in your paper, would there be any objections to copying it to the UKcaving "Wiki" web site?, we are trying to set up a "Who's Who of British Caving ", but we are all very aware of copyright matters and need to get it right.

Hi ******,

That’s fine as long as the source (Craven Herald) is credited. Do you need the pictures we used as well? He was a fascinating chap, he used to pop into the office a bit. Was genuinely sad to hear of his death.

Matt