The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit on 29 May 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt it was organised and financed by the Joint Hymalayan Committee. News of the expedition's success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on the 2nd of June that year.
Edmund Hillary was a New Zealander and a beekeeper. Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese sherpa guide. He burried sweets and buscuits at the summit as a Buddhist offering to the gods. Hillary took several photographs of the scenery and of Tenzing waving flags representing Britain, Nepal, the UN and India. They looked for signs of George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Invine who had disappeared in 1924 in a similar attempt to conquer Everest but found nothing.
Hillary described the peak, which is 29,028 feet above sea level, as a symetrical, beautiful snow cone summit. Hunt and Edmund Hillary were knighted on their return. Tenzing Norgay was awarded The George Medal.
In 1962, my parents moved us to a pub in Maghull near Liverpool. The brand new build was named The Everest and was in an area where all the street names were based on the 1953 expedition. Hunt Road, Hillary Crescent, Tensing Avenue. I suppose it was one of the very first themed pubs, All over the walls were photographs, plaster made to look like sections of mountain, climbing axes, crampons and flags.
My Dad was a skilled cocktail bartender so he invented drinks to suit the theme. An Everest, (turquoise blue with a foamy top), and a red, white and blue Union Jack, (all the colours in stripes of different specific gravity liqueurs). He was very creative.
The pub became favorite haunt for the Everton Footbal team and on weekdays during school hoiidays, I met most of them. Ray Wilson, Tommy wright, Alex Scot. Alex Young, Brian Harris, Coiln Harvey, Derek Temple, Mike Trebilcock, Brian Labone, Jimmy Gabriel, Gordon West, What a team - FA Cup winners 1966. And that was before Alan Ball joined the side.
I had a serious bicycle accident, was concussed and spent three days in hospital. When I was discharged, several of them came to see me. They even bought me a huge boix of chocolates. Naturally, I have been Evertonian ever since, I can see parallels for the current team with the 1953 Everest expedition as they now languish near the relegation zone of the Premier League. They will have a tough climb to mid-table and out of trouble, I hope that new manager Frank Lampard proves to be an effective sherpa. Win or lose I will l always be true blue.
Thanks for reading. Adele
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