Martin Crocker is a long-time British climbing activist and pioneer, a guidebook author, and a local access campaigner.
Spacehunter:
Adventures in
Forsaken Zones
2024, and for me that makes it 54 years of exploring the coasts, mountains, woodlands, and moors of England and Wales in search of new climbing places, crags, and routes. Phew. In doing so whole new climbing areas have been opened up and thousands of trad and sport routes, deep water solos, and boulder problems have been pioneered. Some of these climbs have proved classics, some have yet to be repeated, and some have justifiably fallen into the sea. The rest are crap. Much of this activity is published in a variety of (mostly voluntary) guidebooks, some of which I authored or co-authored. Not all though, and one of the objectives of this website is to make historically correct route descriptions and topos freely available. Many of the climbs are remote, even obscure, but – if like me – you relish the space and freedom to roam, just hit the download button and slap on your walking boots. The sandstones of Mars await.
Afterthought 1: Here are some of my reflections on my top ten new routes selection for 2023 and on some of the characters involved.
Afterthought 2: And, for the record, I’ve compiled The Number Crunch, a geographical breakdown of all the new climbs, boulder problems and deep water solos I’ve established in Britain - over 6200 at the last count. After that lot I feel completely knackered.
Afterthought 3: And here, for information, is the bolt policy relating to the routes of which I made the first ascent.
Right: The first ascent of Spacehunter (E7 6b), Cheddar Gorge in 1983. Pic: Crocker coll (Jon Bassindale)
Welcome, Space Tourists
Upon parting ways with my 25-year local government (Environmental Health) career in 2003, I instigated an ambitious climbing project focused on Cheddar Gorge. It was the first of the three British Mountaineering Council-supported west country projects I founded that used collaboration as the key to unlocking access opportunities in physically or politically exacting climbing sites. Fostering help from local groups of raring-to-go volunteers, these initiatives have improved or maintained access to several major national climbing sites which are visited by thousands of climbers annually.
Left: Space Tourist (F6b+), Sunset Buttress, Cheddar Gorge. Pic: Martin Crocker
Rage Against the Dying of the Light
Nowadays, I’m still out there somewhere – bouldering, deep water soloing, photographing, and note-taking – when family life, a rapidly falling-apart body, and plonking on my piano allows. I remain proud to be one of the growing ranks of scrawny old-timers you might glimpse wandering in the distance, stumbling and cussing under the weight of a bouldering mat or giant sack still in search of the new. Dylan Thomas summed up our stage in life, about the imperative not to grow old gracefully.
Hopefully this website goes a little way towards getting my ‘house in order’ – not only as a snapshot of an exploratory-climbing life but also to reach outwardly to share informed content, tips, pics, and taunts that might otherwise have not seen light of day.
Right: The first ascent in 1999 of Benji (E6 6b), one of a brace of stunning, as-yet-unreported routes on Minehead Bluff, Exmoor Coast. Pic: Crocker coll (Terry Cheek)
Stay Safe, and Support the Regional Mountain Rescue Teams
A key objective of this website is to take the opportunity to help support mountain rescue teams. With thousands of people taking to the hills and crags each day, the rescue teams’ work helps keep climbing sustainable – and climbers safe. Therefore when you download/use any informative content, like the free local guidebooks/topos, please make a suitable donation to a regional mountain search and rescue team – they are all unpaid volunteers. Learn more in the introductions in each guidebook and here.
Corn Ddu from Pen-y-Fan. Pic: Martin Crocker
Copyright Photographs
Unless attributed otherwise all the photographs on this website belong to the copyright owner Martin Crocker. No other party has permission to publish them or to use them for any purpose. Should you wish to consider downloading and publishing a photograph from this website, kindly get in touch with me in order to come to a personalised arrangement.
Contact me
After much faffing about I’ve made this website live – on my 65th birthday. Like ageing, the website is a work in progress, and so I hope you’ll find useful new content added every so often, year by year. If you’ve got any comments relating to the technical content, particularly the topos (which I can correct and reissue), do let me know via the email address below. Considering the constraints over the use of what might or should be intellectual property, I’ve tried to make the topos and other content as accurate as I can. No doubt not all will be correct or up to date.
However preparing all the topos is requiring tons of voluntary work, so don’t be offended if I can’t get around to replying.
In any event I hope some of the content will be of use to somebody. Enjoy your climbing outdoors, don’t give up, and please donate to the search and rescue team where you climb.
Martin Crocker, Bristol, UK