Arthur Beale wasn’t always a Yacht Chandler! 01

We supplied many prestigious explorers and mountaineers. Our next few posts will cover just a few of our surprising clients.

Major Harold William "Bill" Tilman, CBE, DSO, MC and Bar (1898 – 1977) was an English War Hero, Mountaineer and Sailor. He was born in Cheshire and fought in the Battle of the Somme where his bravery was recognised with two Military Crosses.

His passion for climbing began with Eric Shipton in Kenya.
Tilman was involved in two of the early attempts on Everest during the 1930’s reaching 27,200 feet without oxygen. Arthur Beale was experienced in supplying climbing rope for the earlier Everest attempts in the 1920’s so we were the obvious choice to supply their ropes for the 1935/60 expedition. The letter below, signed by his climbing partner Eric Shipton, is from the Arthur Beale archive.


During World War 11 his daring feats included being dropped by parachute behind enemy lines in Albania. He was awarded the Distinguished Services Order for his achievements.

Sea Breeze in the Ice - Photo by Iain Dillon
Perhaps Bill Tilman is best known for his climbing adventures involving sailing his series of Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters to far away places. The joy of owning a seaworthy boat was that he could venture to parts of the world that were normally difficult to access. Luckily for us, Tilman was a very talented travel writer and so his adventures can still be enjoyed from the comfort of your armchair.

Arthur Beale has always been a Tilman fan and we stock a large range of Tilman books including the newly published series by Lodestar. To encourage you enjoy Tilman's antics we are offering all the Tilman books at a special Lockdown price so why not buy a few and go on a grand adventure. They are featured in Alex's Self Isolation Selection on our online shop.
You could learn one of his many great tips like "No ship should be without a bottle of Tabasco Sauce"

In fact we admire Tilman's achievements so much that the shops dog is called Tilman.
This is Tilman the Dog's first Ascent. He enjoys climbing, when the Lockdown is over we will see if he likes sailing!