A mainstay of the Llangollen Ramblers, who had the distinction of once producing the definite map of an African country just after the Second World War, has died at the age of 99.
Bill Saunders, who joined the very active walking group a decade ago, was also a regular volunteer with the local Tidy Town Team and is recalled by a friend and fellow Ramblers member as a “remarkable citizen”.
Bill originally hailed from the south of England and went to school at the Duke of York's Military academy in Kent.
The Second World War broke out when he was 14, and in due course he went into the army and became a cartographer.
It was when his unit was billeted in Llangollen, at Bryn Howel Hall, that he met Betty, a local girl, who became his wife. They went on to have four daughters, all of whom survive him.
After the war his work took him abroad and he was particularly proud of producing the definitive map of Uganda. Back in the UK the family moved around but eventually returned to Llangollen.
His fried Judy Smith recalls: “Betty had just died when I first met Bill. He had joined the Tidy Town Team and it was at their Christmas dinner that I was introduced to this man who wanted to join the Ramblers.
“It was when he started telling me about his wartime experiences that I did a few quick calculations - he was actually 84! The next week Bill came out for a walk and he was a regular from that moment. At first he was slow and we would wait for him but within a couple of months he was up there with us.
“It got to the point where he was faster than us, and on one memorable occasion on the Offa's Dyke Path he was ahead of us when he took a wrong turn, thus cutting out a section of the designated path. He'd just walked 14 miles, but when we told him what he had done he insisted we took him back to go the right way, adding another three miles to his day. He was 87 years old!”
Judy added: “There were other notable moments in his walking career. At 88 he was up Catbells and Dale Head in the Lake District. On his 90th birthday he climbed Snowdon with his friend Beryl, a mere 81-year-old. Together they took many walking holidays and were always amused to find the HF or Ramblers Holidays leaders disconcerted by their ages. But they could keep up with anyone!
“At 94 Bill was still walking with the Ramblers and had covered the Wales Coast Path from Chester right round to Harlech when Covid struck. The isolation and lack of freedom proved too much for him and he was soon admitted to the Old Vicarage and then to the Llangollen Fechan, where he died.
“Llangollen Ramblers won't forget him. He was something of an icon, an inspiration to all of us, and getting slower and older, we console each other with, 'Well, Bill only just started at 84' .
“With all that he had a fine sense of humour and was truly a gentleman. I don't think we shall see his like again. Llangollen has lost a very remarkable citizen.”
* Bill's funeral will be at St Collen's Church at 1pm on August 15.
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