Phil Hawes FRGS was our speaker on this occasion.
Educated at Gresham’s School, Wyn (who disliked the name Percy) went on to Cambridge University where he studied Natural Sciences but spent a lot of his spare time climbing university buildings – at night! During the university vacations he went mountaineering not only in Britain but also in the Alps. He graduated in 1925 and joined the Colonial Service.
Even while pursuing his career, he undertook various mountaineering expeditions and Phil showed us many slides depicting first Mt Kenya and then Mount Everest and the dangerous expeditions in which Wyn had taken part.
Wyn served in Kenya until 1947; after receiving the MBE for this he was appointed to Cameroon and then became Governor of The Gambia, until 1958. In retirement he spent much of his time sailing around the world. He eventually moved to Petersfield and died there in 1975.
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