Information for Sir Ranulph Fiennes - Mad, Bad and Dangerous at Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone (Talk). Sir Ranulph was born in the UK in 1944 and brought up in South Africa before returning to the UK and attending Eton College. He failed his A Levels and joined the SAS, becoming the youngest captain in the British army. In 1970 he married his childhood sweetheart and they launched some record-breaking expeditions, including being the first team to reach both Poles, cross Antarctic and Arctic Ocean, circumnavigate the world along its polar axis and much more. He became the oldest Briton to ever summit Everest in May 2009, when he also raised over £6.2m for Marie Curie.