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- Stuart was born in Lewisham Hospital in South East London on 5th April 1964, the eldest son of Peter Jefferies & Gillian Jefferies née Walkley. He was soon joined by two younger brothers, Ian and Andrew.
He and his brothers grew up in Coulsdon in Surrey, attending Chipstead Valley primary school and then Purley High School for Boys. This High School had a certain notoriety since, before corporal punishment was banned in UK schools, it had one of the highest rates in the country of using the cane. Obviously being a well-behaved young man he never experienced that side of school! It was, however, during school trips to North Wales that Stuart first discovered his love of the mountains, a love that continues to this day.
At age 16, Stuart joined the London Electricity Board as an apprentice engineer. Although the company has since changed hands several times and is now French-owned, Stuart has remained with them as an electrical supply engineer and now works on High Voltage cable faults in the City of London and surrounding area. If the power cuts out in London, it is Stuart?s responsibility to locate the fault, dig up the road and fix the problem, across a large area including some of the famous landmarks such as the Tower of London, Canary Wharf and the new Tate Modern Gallery (which is actually a large electricity sub-station). Also it has meant being involved in the unfortunate task of clearing the site after the devastating bombing of Bishopsgate as well as other more recent bombings in the City.
Throughout this time Stuart has continued climbing, walking and skiing, both in UK and abroad. Highlights have included trekking in Nepal and climbing Killimanjaro. Less successful, though still enjoyable, have been attempts at Mont Blanc and Aconcagua in Argentina at 22,841feet (6962m), the highest peak in South America, which he managed up to about 21,500 feet. At home he has climbed the Munro?s, hills above 3,000 feet (910m) in Scotland, over a period of about 20 years, which might sound a long time until you find out there are 538 hills! He is making good progress and has so far achieved about ¾ of them. In 2009 he will take on the Caledonian Challenge, a 54-mile walk over a 24 hour period in Scotland to raise money for projects in the Scottish Highlands (http://www.caledonianchallenge.com/teams/BanklineStrollers - all sponsors welcomed!) and he enjoys walking in the beautiful countryside around his home in Surrey.
Through mutual friends, Stuart met Hannah on a skiing holiday. Both sharing a love of the outdoor life, they have been together for 5 years. Coincidentally Hannah was born in Lewisham Hospital, as was Stuart, and her parents had met through working for the Electricity Council in the 1960?s. It was obviously meant to be that Stuart and Hannah?s paths should cross! Hannah is a manager in the Probation Service in London and, also like Stuart?s family being involved in Scouting and Guiding, Hannah is a Guide Leader. Whilst Hannah does not share quite the same passion for mountaineering as Stuart, together they have travelled widely and Stuart has enjoyed showing Hannah some of his favourite sights, which has included trekking down and camping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the Milford Trek and spending a night at the original Ice Hotel in Sweden.
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1964 - (61 years)