A tribute to Dr John Disley CBE, 1928 – 2016

It is with great sadness that we report the death at the age of 87 of John Disley, former President and a close friend and supporter of the Snowdonia Society.

John Disley was born in Corris in 1928. A distinguished athlete and co-founder of the London Marathon  he was President of the Snowdonia Society for 10 years.  He took the bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and is quoted as saying that he took up steeplechasing because his first love was mountaineering and he wasn’t very good at running on the flat!

He became the first chief instructor at the National Mountaineering Centre at Plas-y-Brenin, where he first got to know Esme Kirby founder of the Society. John maintained an interest in climbing all of his life and broke the record for traversing the Welsh 3000 peaks; he was also one of the reserves for the British team that climbed Everest in 1953.

John owned a cottage in his beloved Snowdonia and was a stalwart supporter of the Society and its work for many years becoming  President in 2003. The Society owes John an enormous debt. Our condolences to his wife Sylvia, herself a former Olympic medallist, and their two daughters.

Image: Dr John Disley (2nd right), at the official opening of Esme Kirby’s memorial bench.