Tom Proctor

Also known as: Clark and The Hydraulic Man

Quick Info

From: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Date of birth: 1st September 1947
Age: 54 years old
Date of death: 9th September 2001
Gender: Male
Hardest Boulder (Worked): 7A
Hardest Sport (Worked): 7a+
Hardest Trad (Worked): E5
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E5
Notable Partnerships
Geoff Birtles
John Kirk

An influential climber in the UKs Peak District throughout the 1960s and 70s.

I climbed solo for the first year because I had no one to climb with, I didn't know anybody. I treated it like a job, I'd go out at 8 O’clock in the morning and take my sandwiches, climb to about 12, eat my lunch and then climb to about 4 O'clock and then go home. I did about 4,000 foot of solo in a day and that was every week. 1 went about 38-39 weeks on the trot around Birchens, finding new bits to do and treating it as a bit like a workout. [4]

Tom once climbed "157 routes, mostly hard" [3] in a day on Stanage.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2001/09/tom_proctor_dies-1249

[2] On The Edge, Issue 112 page 12

[3] Alan Rouse in Two's a Crowd, Mountain issue 21, page 28

[4] The Power of Climbing (1991), page 35

Contributors
60 contributions since 25th October 2021.
TdG
23 contributions since 8th September 2025.

Quick Info

From: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Date of birth: 1st September 1947
Date of death: 9th September 2001
Age: 54 years old
Gender: Male
Hardest Boulder (Worked): 7A
Hardest Sport (Worked): 7a+
Hardest Trad (Worked): E5
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E5
Notable Partnerships
Geoff Birtles
John Kirk

An influential climber in the UKs Peak District throughout the 1960s and 70s.

I climbed solo for the first year because I had no one to climb with, I didn't know anybody. I treated it like a job, I'd go out at 8 O’clock in the morning and take my sandwiches, climb to about 12, eat my lunch and then climb to about 4 O'clock and then go home. I did about 4,000 foot of solo in a day and that was every week. 1 went about 38-39 weeks on the trot around Birchens, finding new bits to do and treating it as a bit like a workout. [4]

Tom once climbed "157 routes, mostly hard" [3] in a day on Stanage.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2001/09/tom_proctor_dies-1249

[2] On The Edge, Issue 112 page 12

[3] Alan Rouse in Two's a Crowd, Mountain issue 21, page 28

[4] The Power of Climbing (1991), page 35

Contributors
60 contributions since 25th October 2021.
TdG
23 contributions since 8th September 2025.

Library

Pics + Vids

No pics or vids yet.

Ascents

28 recorded ascents.

This timeline is missing some ascents where the date of the ascent is unknown.
Sort
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
A Little Extra First ascent. 7a+ Lead | worked 1979

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Tom's Original First ascent. 7A Boulder | worked 1960s
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Scarab First ascent. E6 Lead 1979

The peg was originally very poor. Proctor had failed to top rope the line, so went ground-up, slowly making progress over the course of a day.

He returned to repeat the climb for a BBC programme in 1974.

The route went unrepeated by others until the mid-70s, when Proctor drilled out the peg placement and cemented it in.

You did GREEN DEATH E5, was that an epic?

That was a turning point. I realised then that I could climb blank rock, because when you get to it, it's not blank. From below you just look up and don't see the holds, but you've got to literally, get a rope, and go down and have a look. [1]

[1] The Power of Climbing (1991), David Jones, page 38

Tom also nabbed the first winter ascent of this very fickle line in the early 1970s.
Jermyn Street First ascent. E5 Lead 1971

Birtles penduled out of Green Death for p1, before handing over the lead to Tom.

Tom 'put his hard hat on for the first time in years'.
Hard Cheddar First ascent. E5 Lead 1977

With some aid.

Aid considerably reduced by 1968, probably by Tom Proctor. [1]

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf
Traffic Jam First ascent. E5 Lead Mar 1979

Tom stopped climbing after he sustained a tendon injury while attempting to make the first free ascent. He went on to become a caver.

Some aid.
Oedipus! Ring Your Mother First ascent. E4 Solo | worked 1968

At the time one of the hardest routes in the country. Tom led the line with only 3 pieces of protection, a worrying thought for the modern climbers! [3]

References

[1] http://smhccg.org/rock-climbing/mick-ward/

[2] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf

[3] On The Edge, Issue 112 page 12

Tom originally started up an adjacent route but later added the current and more direct start.
Mortlock's Arete First ascent. E4 Lead 1976
Cabbage Crack First ascent. E4 Lead 1979

References

[1] Mountain 28 (1973), page 16 /library/9632/mountain-28

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf

First re-ascent after a big flake came off.
Great Slab E3 Solo
Scoop Wall First ascent. E2 Lead 1967
Dies Irae First ascent. E2 Lead 1968
Tom Thumb First ascent. E2 Lead 1971
Knightsbridge First ascent. E2 Lead
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade

Tom quit climbing after this ascent, focusing on caving instead.

References

[1] https://pataclimb.com/climbingareas/chalten/torregroup/torre/english.html