top of page

Screen Shot 2021-11-01 at 6.28.42 PM.png

Millican Dalton: A Sublime Midlife Crisis

The relevance of a 20th century cave-dweller to environmental aesthetics.

Wednesday, 23 December 2020

borrowdale pic 1.jpg

At the mouth of the cave at Borrowdale, May 2020. Photograph: Lewis Eaton.

On a swelteringly hot day in the North Western Fells of The Lake District, the gaping mouth of a cave offered itself as a refuge and swallowed us mercifully into its cool damp interior. Caves are otherworldly places. This particular cave, set into the hillside of Castle Crag, allows you to peer out at the gently swaying trees and glimmering daylight of the outside world from a viewing point void of light and sound. The daytrip itself had been to seek refuge in The Lakes; an attempt at replacing the stagnancy of a locked-down city summer with a more welcome, less claustrophobic, kind of tranquillity. We spent a few minutes scrambling around on the siltstone, marvelling at the height of the cave walls and exchanging the obligatory comments about feeling small in big spaces. On leaving, I noticed a large, flat stone covered in scrawlings. At the centre in neat, deeply-etched letters read ‘Don’t Waste Words, Jump to Conclusions’ with dozens of smaller sections of writing surrounding this. Each gave names and dates, with many faded with age and dissolving back into the stone’s surface. It was from a frantic Googling during the car ride home that I came to find out we had happened across a sort-of pilgrimage place for hikers: the cave in which a man had lived out his summers for over forty consecutive years.

In 1904, at the age of thirty-six, Millican Dalton gave up his life as an insurance clerk in London in order to dedicate himself to The Great Outdoors. Having spent part of his childhood in Nenthead, the North Pennines, he found life and work in the capital stifling in comparison. From then on Dalton split his year, spending the summer months in the cave under Castle Crag and winters in a canvas hut in Buckinghamshire. Far from your conventional hermit, Dalton was an active and sociable member of the community. He organised camping excursions for the outdoors novice which included teaching hiking, rock climbing, rafting and how to forage for food. What I found extraordinary for the time was that these excursions didn’t exclude women, with one of Dalton’s advertisements for a mountaineering course stating his views bluntly: “Ladies are welcome to the camp. There is nothing new in ladies camping, the custom being at least 10,000 years old.” This rare indiscriminate approach led to Dalton forging a long-lasting friendship with geologist Mabel Barker, who over the years consistently recommended Dalton’s courses to women students and friends.

Millican and Mabel.jpg

Dalton and Barker atop a needle, 1913. The Mable Barker Collection.

ARCHIVE

Take a look...

Find all our of old features and articles below...

Kenwood: A Visit From Beyond the Boardgame

Kenwood: A Visit From Beyond the Boardgame

By Freddie Bond Monopoly, a game we have all laughed, cried, and gotten bored of whilst playing. A game combining ruthless business...

Sargent and Fashion: Trend Alert!

Sargent and Fashion: Trend Alert!

By Mathilda Drukier Sargent and Fashion: Trend Alert! The much-awaited exhibition Sargent and Fashion has finally made its way to the...

Copyright: Artist’s rights and retroactive compensation

Copyright: Artist’s rights and retroactive compensation

By Nicola Dawson In today’s artistic landscape, the concept of copyright has become increasingly complex. Copyright exists to provide...

Inspector Sands

Inspector Sands

By Sofia Genco-Billington Inspector Sands is always there. He is sat behind you now, hidden from your view but for a sickly glow that...

Horoscope predictions—March 2024

Horoscope predictions—March 2024

By Alexis Nanavaty and ‘The Guides’ During the Victorian Era, technology was advancing, and people turned towards the occult and...

The Violence of the Unrequited: Thirst for Love (1950) by Yukio Mishima

The Violence of the Unrequited: Thirst for Love (1950) by Yukio Mishima

By Mariam Pari Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Death and Life (Death and the Maiden) (1893-94), oil on canvas, 128 x 86 cm, Munchmuseet, Oslo....

Jolene: The Story of Dolly Parton’s Breakthrough Hit

Jolene: The Story of Dolly Parton’s Breakthrough Hit

By Katie Gillespie Appearing on The Porter Wagoner Show in 1973, twenty-seven year old Dolly Parton–with her signature big hair and her...

Blue's Blues

Blue's Blues

By Michelle Hui Mark Rothko, No 14 White and Greens in Blue, 1957. Oil Painting on Canvas, 90.2 × 69.9 cm. Photograph taken from...

Ayodhya’s Cultural Crossroads: Ram Mandir’s consecration marks the culmination of a historic cultural land dispute

Ayodhya’s Cultural Crossroads: Ram Mandir’s consecration marks the culmination of a historic cultural land dispute

By Nicola Dawson The 22nd of January this year marked the consecration of the highly contentious Ram Mandir temple in Ayodhya, India. The...

Entangled Pasts, 1768–Now: BAME Figures in Art Have Always Been Here and Are Not Going Anywhere.

Entangled Pasts, 1768–Now: BAME Figures in Art Have Always Been Here and Are Not Going Anywhere.

By Mathilda Drukier On display at the Royal Academy of Art until the 28th of April 2024, Entangled Pasts, 1768–Now looks at Britain’s...

4

5 6

bottom of page