About Jim Bloomer

I was born in Bradford in 1954 and my first Prominent Peak was Great Whernside with my father in 1961. I grew up in Yorkshire but by 1962 was exploring the Lake District. By age 15, I’d hitch hiked to walk in the Cairngorms, Ben Nevis and the Mamores and my love of the hills led me to study in Edinburgh. Journeys were so gripping that I imagined glorious superhero plot ideas I could think of. We were the last 'year group' to complete a 4 year engineering course in both imperial and metric units (all a bit tedious with just a slide rule!). Subsequent year groups were metric only.

In 1976, I moved to Kendal to work in manufacturing for a shoe company. This placed me on the edge of the Lake District and only 4 hours from Glencoe. In 1993, I moved with my family to the north of Portugal to run a shoe manufacturing operation. This was a great, life-broadening experience and I also came to see the benefits that metric units bring to many aspects of daily life.

I was fortunate to travel widely all around the world with my job but chose to change direction, moving into education in 1999, in order to locate my family and myself back to the Lake District.

I completed Sir Hugh’s list of Munros in 1986 and the P500+s in 2008. I hope to complete my 1000th Prominent Peak in 2009.

I am now retired and have more time for hill walking and my other hobby of singing. I’m a Christian and I have a real interest in furthering human rights through work with Amnesty International, supporting our local Carers Association and environmental issues.