Geoffrey Marshall Douglas (Doug) was born in Shipley, Yorkshire on 25th May 1944 the second of five children to Lillian Douglas.

The family moved to Colne in Lancashire when Doug was young. The move across the Pennines was like going to a foreign country and Doug often recalled that his parents could not understand the local dialect. In Doug's childhood he loved making things out of wood, have adventures outdoors and play in the woods and fields. The local scout master captured this passion and introduced him to camping and trips away with other boys in the local area. He would walk to Bradford to see his cousin Tony, who introduced him to photography which became a lifetime passion.

His ambition was to get an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker but none were available so he had to become an apprentice in an engineering company. He had difficulty finding a job that would suit him but there were plenty of jobs about and he tried lots of them.

When he was 17 he set off an adventure working on the fishing trawlers, initially from Fleetwood and then from Hull.  He travelled up to the arctic fishing grounds and had wonderful experiences. As a mark of being a fisherman he had a star tattooed on each ear lobe.

Returning to dry land he took many jobs and on one met a work mate whose weekend pastime was climbing. This proved the start of a lifelong love of the rock and mountains.

After work in the early 1960s he met up with other climbers and on a Friday they would hitchhike to the Lake District or North Wales to climb, often sleeping rough in park shelters or old barns. Great friendships were made at that time.  A few years later he relocated to Derbyshire to be close to the exciting climbing areas around Matlock Bath and the Peak District. His climbing achievements in the late 1960s and 1970s were significant but not always recorded.

He worked for local engineering companies at this time and made the most of free time reading voraciously and attending evening classes to learn foreign languages.  He was then well prepared for climbing trips abroad, essential when travelling in old vehicles or an over laden motorbike, often with Pat, his climbing buddy and girl friend on the back. Climbing trips to the Austrian and French Alps and the Italian Dolmites developed into a life long love of alpinism and mountains.

In 1980 he began to settle down with Sue and in spare moments worked hard to refurbish their first home together in South Wingfield.   Sue remained his partner for the last 40 years, sharing and encouraging his many exploits and interests. They were married in 1996.

Working at Summerfield Engineering near Alfreton his wit and intelligence stood out and he became an unofficial mentor to two young apprentices to whom he had a lifelong influence.

Stress at work triggered health problems and he gladly retired without any pension at the age of 48. This gave him time to do lots of climbing but also to get a Rope Access qualification, finish the refurbishment of the house and return to his love of woodwork. In 1992, inspired by a person at Sue's orchestra he joined a violin making evening class in Nottingham run by Wilf Saunders, a professional maker. Doug worked hard between weekly lessons and within two terms had completed his first violin in 1993 and a viola followed in 1994. He applied to the Newark School of Violin Making but was too old to start a vocational course. Age is no longer a barrier.

Not worried by image, he embraced touring caravanning in 1996 which gave freedom for lovely holidays with Sue at home and abroad and a base for mountain bike trips with friends. The drive to go climbing took over from violin making but excessive training caused painful bursitis in both shoulders, so whilst recovering he learned to sail on Lake Windermere, passing with flying colours the RYA level 2 sailing proficiency in 1999 then the Day Skipper theory course in 2000. He had much pleasure refitting a wooden sailing boat called Molly which he sailed on summer days from Ferry Nab. Progressing to a sea faring boat at Holyhead offered possibilities to sail in the Irish Sea but bad weather and engine problems hampered progress and it was a happy day when the boat was sold. He returned to climbing and enjoyed the adrenalin rush of mountain biking. He had his first and only trip to Kalymnos in 2007.

Devastated by the diagnosis of mild and early Parkinsonism in late 2010 he endeavoured to make the best of life whilst he was still fit, climbing as much as he could manage and starting to motor bike again when he was 70. Bad luck hit in 2016 when the motorbike fell onto his foot with injuries requiring surgery. Not deterred he bought a knee crutch to get around during the 6-8 weeks of recovery, non weight bearing and he spent happy days in his workshop making a cello. Another violin was completed in the same year. The foot never completely recovered and a subsequent dislocated ankle severely limited his walking.

When driving became too difficult in 2019 he bought an electric mountain bike to maintain his independence. Sadly it was an accident riding this bike on 18 January 2020 which ultimately cost him his life.

His life time love of photography brought him much pleasure when climbing became too difficult and he has left us with a wonderful archive of beautiful pictures.

Doug is survived by his two brothers, Michael and Stephen, his niece Jan and nephew Mark, his wife Sue, his daughter Kezia and her brother Tom. He was a proud grandfather to Leo and Oscar.  He lost contact with his first child 'little' Geoffrey and only two years ago tracked down a grown up grandson and granddaughter. Getting to know his granddaughter Nikita gave him much pleasure. He will be greatly missed by many.