Excitement hits new heights for Freddie

MY hero . . . Freddie Dobbs and Sir Ranulph Fiennes

AN OLDHAM schoolboy was on top of the world after meeting his hero ­- the world's greatest explorer.

Freddie Dobbs (14) met Sir Ranulph Fiennes when the eminent explorer visited The Manchester Grammar School to give a talk.

For the teenager, it was the culmination of years of interest in Sir Ranulph, the only person to have conquered both polar ice caps and Everest.

Freddie was featured in the Chronicle in 2014 when he received a signed book and letter of inspiration from Sir Ranulph as part of a school project.

Inspired

He said: "I have followed Sir Ranulph's career with great interest and couldn't believe it when I heard that he was actually going to visit the school.

"It was wonderful to actually meet him and show him my letter and the book he sent me.

"He really did take a genuine interest in what I've been doing at school since and inspired me even more to explore the world in the way he has."

Sir Ranulph's visit - which was to promote his new book, Fear, allowed him to talk to Freddie and his fellow pupils about never giving up and inspire them in their pursuits.

Sir Ranulph said: "My favourite expedition was the discovery of the Lost City of Ubar.

"We'd visited Arabia for 26 years to unearth this city and, spurred on by the news that Nasa was using satellite technology to also try and locate it, we were determined to complete our mission.

"Safe to say in November 1992 we found the city; now the largest archaeological site in Arabia."

The audience was surprised to learn that Sir Ranulph has a fear of heights ­- but told them not to be deterred by any fears of their own.

He added: "At home I will send my wife up a ladder so I don't have to face it.

Fantastic

"On many of my expeditions I've been worried about getting vertigo, so one of the team advised me on combating it by telling me not to think about things happening below - which helped."

At the end of the talk, MGS' assistant head of events, outreach and charities ­- Viv Horsfield ­- said: "We have established such a fantastic events programme at this school, engaging with globally-renowned business people, sporting figures and eminent cultural leaders.

"We were delighted to host Sir Ranulph and it was an honour for our boys to hear stories from such a world-renowned explorer.

"I would like to thank Sir Ranulph for giving our pupils, students and staff so much motivation with his inspiring words."