Wild Moment: David Smith
David Smith pays tribute to his late father, early Member of the John Muir Trust GA (Tony) Smith, and shares a poem he wrote in 2006 inspired by one of their mountain walks.
John Muir Trust Life Member George Anthony (Tony) Smith was born in 1935 and had a long, fulfilled, and happy life. Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, he went to St George’s college in Weybridge and then forestry school in the Forest of Dean, before settling in the West Country.
Through his love of mountains, hill walking, and wild places, he grew a deep connection with and passion for the Scottish Highlands and the culture, nature, and immense wildness.
One of the earliest Members of the John Muir Trust, Tony joined just after it was formed with the aim of protecting the wild places he so loved. He was particularly fond of the remote and wild area of Knoydart and supported the fundraising appeal for Lì and Coire Dhorrcail in the 1980s.
He wasn’t a ‘Munro bagger’, although over the time of his many visits to the Highlands he climbed over 160 of them, and many more mountains and tops. Tony climbed his final Munro, Ben More on Mull, on his 80th birthday.
I fondly remember many happy days exploring wild places with Tony and recently found a poem I was inspired to write after one of our mountain walks – my first and, as yet, only poem!
I hope it captures the joy and passion we both shared for being in the wild…
Lost in Wild: A Poem to Tom Buidhe
Marching across heather, peat and bog, while above
The mountain looms high, in its own misty world
Climbing higher and higher, hare dart across the path in front; ptarmigan hide
Out of the mist, the summit appears, the wind so strong
I can’t catch a breath, hail stings my face
Then the clouds part, sunbeams light lochans far below
And mountains all around – nature’s wild tapestry
I feel on top of the world; lost in nature’s wild heaven.
© David Smith, 21 June 2006
