Catherine Moorehead

Catherine Moorehead started life in Nairn, 'the Brighton of the North'. She was educated there, then as MacRobert Scholar at Gordonstoun and Exchange Scholar at Schloss Salem in Germany. She graduated Honours MA in English Language and Literature at Edinburgh University followed by PGCEs in English and in French from Moray House, Edinburgh, and a Diploma in Education from Edinburgh University. After a couple of years teaching in France, she went on to teach English for thirty-five years at a succession of state then private schools, finishing with the humorous but serious title of 'Mistress of Scholars' at the the alma mater of her first biography subject, Haversham Godwin-Austen, the Royal Grammar School Guildford; here, she founded the RumDoodle Society, dedicated to hill-walking and conviviality.

Catherine now lives in happy retirement in the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland, still the most beautiful of the thirty-seven countries she has visited. Her main outside interest is mountaineering, having led six expeditions to unexplored parts of Central Asia. She compleated (sic) her Munros in 1996. Otherwise, she enjoys reading, gastronomy, astronomy, chess and expanding her wine and whisky collections. Much of her 'retirement' has been taken up with editing Doug Scott's 'The Ogre' and his final book, 'Kangchenjunga', before completing his biography, 'Mountain Guru', in 2023.

Catherine is an Associate Member of the Alpine Club and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.