Ken Ogilve

From about the age of three years when he was found (finally) ‘camping’ under his bed, Ken Ogilvie grew up being involved in outdoor activities of one sort or another. In his early ‘teens, for example, he joined the local mountaineering club in Carlisle. Cumbrian born and bred, he has lived and worked all his life in Cumbria. After gaining an Honours degree in History at Durham University, he completed a PE Diploma and his PGCE at Carnegie College, Leeds, and thence to National Service. His first teaching job reflected his pioneering spirit, since he had chosen to apply to a secondary modern school rather than a grammar school, in the belief that he would learn more about teaching. He was appointed Head of Department in a brand new school where he set up the PE Department. From this school in Cockermouth, Ken took groups to Borrowdale and Scotland. In the early 1960s, disaffected by the state system and inspired by R.F.McKenzie’s book, ‘Escape from the Classroom’,!