Sad news - John Beck

nickwilliams

Well-known member
Bill Whitehouse has asked me to post the following:

I am sorry to have to tell you that John Beck passed away early this morning after a long battle with cancer.

Many of you will have known John and those who didn't will certainly know of him.

Please spread the word. Thank you.

I will send out another e-mail when funeral arrangements are known.

Best wishes

Bill
 

bograt

Active member
Oh, FFS, another one  :( :( . Although half expected, its still a hard shock when it happens. RIP John.
 

Moose

New member
There will never be another person who will be as dedicated to caving and cave exploration as John Beck. He was an inspiration to me and I'm sure many others for so long.

Rest in peace old friend.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Moose said:
There will never be another person who will be as dedicated to caving and cave exploration as John Beck. He was an inspiration to me and I'm sure many others for so long.

Rest in peace old friend.

I could not have put it any better. John was an immensely influential caver, a lovely bloke and a good friend. This is extremely sad news indeed.
 

SamT

Moderator
So sorry to hear this.  John was lovely guy, always welcoming. It didn't matter if you were new to the area, new to caving,  if you turned up in the Miners, showed interest, he'd be happy to let you sit with him and Doug always willing to share any knowledge.

Its a sad day for Peak caving  :(

Rest in Peace John.

 

mch

Member
Oh dear, he was such an inspirational guy, and always prepared to help with information and advice. Another Derbyshire caver that will be sadly missed.
 
Truly saddened to hear this. John was a wealth of information and inspiration.

I will remember forever being on a survey trip in Peak with John, I'd invited him to come and see some new stuff we'd found and asked him if he'd mind surveying it with my help. Things were so disgustingly muddy the only way to get readings was to lick the tape and instruments clean. How John wrote the survey notes was beyond me.

Sad news indeed.

Dan.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Equally - it's very sad news. I met John shortly after I started underground work, and he immediately started offering me leads, data, any info I wanted - especially gratifying when much of it was totally off the radar, and no-one else knew anything, or were trustworthy enough to believe. I remember both he and Doug ferrying me books and maps through from the library into the kitchen, just so I could check two specific facts, neither of which were particularly important to them, but they were to me, and I was very impressed with their commitment to sharing their knowledge.

A few years ago we managed to pass the Carlswark Resurgence both ways on a gorgeous sunny day, and we immediately dashed up the hill to tell John first - it felt like our duty to report it to him. He was beaming, and made us all a cup of tea for our efforts. It was very pleasant to accompany him on a trip back into Moorfurlong last year, and go to the Eldon extensions, which he'd never seen. Ironically, he had to dash off home straight afterwards in order to prevent Doug setting off for the pub on his own - that was when I realised beyond doubt what a decent, committed and professional guy he was. I'll miss him.
 

martinm

New member
danthecavingman said:
Truly saddened to hear this. John was a wealth of information and inspiration.

I will remember forever being on a survey trip in Peak with John, I'd invited him to come and see some new stuff we'd found and asked him if he'd mind surveying it with my help. Things were so disgustingly muddy the only way to get readings was to lick the tape and instruments clean. How John wrote the survey notes was beyond me.

Sad news indeed.

Dan.

Ditto. Am quite upset by this news.  :cautious: re:-  licking tape and instruments clean  while surveying, been there, done that myself. John and Mike Sutton were surveying Critchlow Cave while Pete Mellors and I were pushing it ahead of them in the mid-1980s. John was always very helpful and informative, esp. with anything Stoney related. He was also heavily instrumental in helping produce the Stoney Conservation Audit in recent years. I am gutted, TBH.  :cry:
 

AR

Well-known member
Really saddened to hear this, apart from being a great caver and geologist John was a thoroughly decent bloke and will be sorely missed in the Peak.
 

Goydenman

Well-known member
Sad news. He was such a positive driver for caving and his surveys we're amazing pieces of work but most of all I Will remember our chats about digging in this he was an inspiration and a legend. Miss you John.
 

Mark Wright

Active member
I first met John when I went on my first Peak Cavern trip back in 1980 and, as most have already said, he was a real inspiration, particularly to a young and eager caver. John certainly played an encouraging role during the Windtunnel exploration in 1984 and wrote an excellent article on the previous exploration of the site in a TSG journal from 1985. I can't find my copy so can't give you a reference. John, or course, would have known it by heart. 

My fondest memories of him are from when I lived in Eyam in 2000. Every night at 10 o'clock on the dot, John and Doug would walk into The Miners, sit themselves in the corner and proceed to do the Times? crossword in record time, top left corner first?.

Wednesday nights stand out the most. Before last orders, streams of muddy faced cave diggers would come into the pub and wait their turn to tell John of their latest discoveries. But who else would you tell, John has compiled the Derbyshire guide book since 1991 and played a major role in compiling a good few of the guidebooks before then.

John will be greatly missed.

My thoughts now are with Doug who has lost the closest of friends.

Mark
 

Paul Dyson

New member
Very sad news about John Beck, He was a true legend, and his knowledge and his enthusiasm for the explorations of the peak will be sadly missed, and my thoughts go out to his family, RIP
 

Mark

Well-known member
It has been a very sad time indeed.

I don't think anyone really new how seriously ill he was, he managed to care for Doug very well, until a couple of weeks ago.

Doug is currently in hospital, as he became unwell shortly after John was taken in, a group of us are seeing him every day and trying to sort it, so he can come back to Glebe Cottage very soon, where he well be cared for.

Hopefully we will get him ensconsed back in the corner, in the Miners before too long, and it would be good to see a few old faces to cheer him up.

The legend that was John Beck will always be in my thoughts as there are memories of him everywhere I go.
 

Mark Wright

Active member
The Windtunnel article I mentioned earlier is in TSG 11, 1985 and titled Windtunnel, Peak Cavern. Part 1, Brief history prior to 1983, page 16 and Part 2, The breakthrough, page 17 & 18.

The article is credited to M.A. Wright but John wrote Part 1. Thanks to Pitlamp for the reminder.

Angela and me will definitely be over to The Miners to help cheer Doug up when he's up and well and thanks Mark and Wendy for all your efforts during this difficult time.

Mark
 
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