https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/home daily 1.0 2024-06-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606150764189-G0SO3UE24BKCRM1Q90HR/Space%2BTourist.jpg Home - 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 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605733103647-KFHO2HFNSY98V86ZJCHW/First+Ascent+of+Spacehunter+%28E7+6b%29%2C+Cheddar+Gorge.+1983 Home - Spacehunter: Adventures in Forsaken Zones First ascent of Spacehunter (E7 6b), Cheddar Gorge; in 1983 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606774651095-JJROMG6CLVC3C1L82H83/img592.jpg Home - 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) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605737638956-FPSCITRCO1QW93RUTBD7/img205.jpg Home Stay Safe, 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, their work helps keep climbing sustainable – and climbers safe. Therefore when you download any informative content, like the free local guidebooks, 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. https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/donate daily 0.75 2021-06-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605993656557-M9JD9R1KYAUW1V476GYJ/Avon+%26Somerset+rescue+team+c.jpg Donate Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue team (ASSAR) Pic: Tony McNicol https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/places daily 0.75 2025-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605789898064-0LBEH97NTWU8TSVWO1SS/The+Lich+%28HVS%29%2C+Main+Wall%2C+Avon+Gorge Places - The West Country The Lich (HVS), Main Wall, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605881905495-5O6QFCPTFZ60CXCMFJNL/Legacy+%28E6%29%2C+Craig+Cau.+First+Ascent%3B+2014+Pic%3A+Don+Sargeant Places - South (and mid) Wales Legacy (E6), Craig Cau, Cadair Idris. The first ascent; 2014. Pic: Don Sargeant https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605882212466-I2KIWYRDTXYHYW7E9AGY/img611.jpg Places - The Exmoor Coast England’s highest sea-cliffs, and its most mysterious coast? Right: Terry Cheek following on the first ascent of Severance (E1) in 2003. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605877875335-DHNSMTXZXHG3IZZI5ZHK/Menorca+2012+310.jpg Places - Deep Water Soloing Menorca, 2012 Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1631218243439-0EYOUI2UOS1KG6NF6ZH8/Just+Revenge.jpg Places - South Devon Menorca, 2012 Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f1106d16-36e5-45ca-8d61-a872b833f9f6/LFT10.jpg Places - Dartmoor Menorca, 2012 Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605895682220-NK3DNTIV2M9QCDZRQC52/DSCF9651.jpg Places - Northwest France Thanks to 30 years of holidaying en famille in northwest France, the crags here have become maison de la maison. In the early years the lack of information and guidebooks only added to the challenge and the pleasure of finding obscure places that got just a line or two on COSIROC. Riverbank outcrops, boulders on sandy beaches, bucolic woodland quartzites, and Côte Sauvage: so much space for discovery! It may take a few years but I’ll endeavour to populate this section with a few of my favourite places, if I can read my old notes. Meantime here are a couple of articles I wrote that might provide a heads up: first, Alternative France for the Family published in High magazine in 2002, and, second, Armorica, published in Climb in 2012. I also produced a very minor topo to Pointe de Squewel (Ploumanac’h), a deep water solo spot I developed way back when (translated by my wife, Beverley). I made it available on an informative French website: krimpadenn.fr Left: A f5 at Neiz Vran, Kerlouan, Bretagne. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1605907208071-V686JMG9H1QPQ8YO2BR1/Scandinavia+pics+108b.jpg Places - ‘Crag X’ Who knows what might go in here? https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/south-and-mid-wales daily 0.75 2024-06-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606310618106-94BFKD2EKBXSCCLIIT1R/Arete.jpg South (and mid) Wales - Brecon Beacons National Park Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go! From The Explorer, by Rudyard Kipling Why jostle for room to breathe on Pen-y-Fan? Instead throw some rock shoes in your sack and head west from Craig-y-Nos deep into the soul of Twrch Sandstonelands, nose to the gritstone. There you’ll find rolling moorlands pitted with sinkholes and craggy tops peppered with boulders. An escape room of wilderness bouldering, among healing hills. The rock-climbing history of the BBNP is space dust for the imagination. A few have rebound from the traditional limestone quarries on routes travelled by less, gripped by wanderlust. Purring and plundering they have now charted all the bluffs and boulders, their findings represented in a series of modest guidebook topos which you can download here. The National Park boundary binds the climbs, if loosely wrapped; a Christmas stocking of quartz jewels delivered under Dark Skies. OK, there’s little that’s very hard here and ‘bouldering machines’ may bore readily if legs do not fold first. But surely climbing is but a vehicle to discover the heart of a place. Right: The Arête (V1), Herbert’s Quarry. Jonathan Crocker climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606341080060-GWLX8YG4W2LJP3F684HR/Cruglwyn+edit.jpg South (and mid) Wales - Some other Sites in South East Wales Expect little and you won’t be disappointed, knowing that ‘The least obtrusive pleases most’ (Hannah Moore). I’ve put together a few topos of ‘b-side’ crags that are off the beaten track; for that reason alone, they’re probably worth visiting. The topos were prepared some years ago, so maybe the crags are now bursting with visitors. Back to the Black is a short article in Climb in 2008 which reflects upon developments in the 2000s on the Abergavenny escarpment (yes, also in the BBNP) including on various new walls and Gilwern East (long before the bolts arrived there). Set to Stun is a report on spectacular additions to the grossly overhanging Phaser Wall, Ogmore published in Climb in 2008 (pics by Carl Ryan and Martin Crocker). It includes a rudimentary topo of the wall (which I might improve upon as a download some time). At some stage I’ll run off a feature on the deep water soloing at Ogmore, including tips and topos. Left: Leia (E1 5b), Darren Cruglwyn, the first ascent (2016). Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4504cf0d-9d63-4437-bbbf-205dab50524a/99.jpg South (and mid) Wales - Bolting policies: Gower & South East Wales For 40 years the role of bolts in Gower and South East Wales climbing has proved a hot topic. After serious bolting conflicts (mostly elsewhere in Britain), the BMC in the 90s set about facilitating local democratic processes to enable climbers to agree policies defining where bolts could be placed and where they should not be placed. Area bolt policies for Gower & South East Wales were thus formulated, and have been repeatedly tweaked and ultimately moulded ad hoc to suit contemporary local tastes. Initially the policies did a reasonable job of striking a fair balance between preserving opportunities for both trad climbing and for increasingly popular sport climbing – and people tended to stick with what was agreed. Since around 2003/4, subtle and unsubtle forces conspired to change all that, and more and more contraventions of the bolt policy took place including the extensive retrobolting of existing trad routes while failing to consult with the first ascensionists of the routes in question. In default of the BMC Area, individual first ascensionists were left to repair the damage to the affected routes as best they could. Unbelievably it’s still happening – evidencing the blind eye being given to the skewing of the processes the BMC initiated in good faith and with a principled agenda many years ago. Currently there is a new round of bolt policy development for the Area – an absolute golden opportunity to regroup – if not with hugs all round. On the face of it this is a big opportunity to reconcile major differences, to rectify past policy contraventions and to prevent further divisive retrobolting incidents; and to create a sensible outlook for all styles of climbing to co-exist without one threatening the other – and then to stick with what is agreed. Localism is indeed important, but these climbs are national assets too. At the request of a climbing partner, I made comments on the draft bolt policy and forwarded them to the BMC for onward transmission ‘to whom it may concern’. I’ve attached that commentary here; it’s already public anyway. I’ve done this to help foster access to a broader register of positions being taken on ethics in relation to Gower and South East Wales climbing. Reading my commentary will have greater meaning if considered alongside the draft I commented upon, so here it is. Right: ‘Father’ of the house of trad John Harwood on Rams Grove Crag, Gower where a ‘no bolting’ policy applies. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1633704780927-JT4G5PMIBH89ZW0ZSX6J/Ogmore+Topo+1.jpg South (and mid) Wales - Ogmore ‘Deep’ Aptly described as Little Big Crag (or is it a ‘Big Little Crag’?) by Pat Littlejohn and Chris Howes in their Mountain mag exposé of 1983, Ogmore presents a taunting reminder of the diversity of SE Wales climbing and how extraordinary it can be. As steep as they come, Ogmore’s impending walls, roofs, and crisp-like Liassic banding blow minds as well as arms. Such is the physicality of the routes, ‘give-it-a-goers’ exhaust themselves as they adjust to all the dead-hanging out in space, their payload of cams aiding gravity. All the while a sense of urgency, if not panic, is unsettled further by the crescendo of manic Bristol Channel tides rumbling and racing in towards them. Today, Ogmore stays relevant, spiritually intact, and accessible. It is the spell-binding monster behind the door you dare not open. I’ve started preparing a deep water soloing topo for Ogmore, unfortunately missing this 2021 season, though it will be ready for the next. Its focus is the two main DWS zones: Tiger Bay and Dave Jones’ Locker cave. But soloing here isn’t for everyone, and neither is there any expectation that it could ever be. It’s super-serious notwithstanding all the science of the tides, depth calculations, and low water walk-pasts – and the sorcery of happy waterwings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608414853057-TA2CVLWH9IUU01GYKJPX/SciFi.jpg South (and mid) Wales - Meirionnydd John Sumner’s inspiration, an ancient county, quiet in tall shadows cast by Snowdonia and its luminaries. A vast craggy sometimes forgotten land, ‘mid-Wales’ to invading English prospectors, brought into relief by its isolated mountains of character. The Arennigs, the Aran, the Berwynion, the Rhinogau, the Moelwynion, and that perfect British mountain – Cadair Idris: all give in their own way. Today the echoes of past gold rushes are adsorbed in mossy walls offering little hint of human flair or industry. Yet the big ‘mountaineering’ routes endure, and the art of the small, or smaller, has emerged here too with the beauty of Rhinogs grit. Changing textures at the rockface have frustrated guidebooks in recent years and as yet no full replacement for The Climbers’ Club guidebook of 2002 is at hand. But, hey, the crags and routes aren’t going anywhere, at least not in the humankind term. I penned a snapshot of my 90s bonanza on Cadair Idris: Craig Cau, Cader Idris, published in High magazine in 1997 (pics by John Sumner and Don Sargeant). And of Meirionnydd? If you’re into whizz bang action, forget it; just being there is enough. Many years ago I put together a simple, if lengthy, list of descriptions of some routes climbed after guidebook publication. They are not fully coordinated with what others may have done before or since. Anyway, accepting that proviso, you can download it if you want: Meirionnydd 2002 - 2014. Right: Sci-Fi (E7 6b), Craig Cywarch; the first ascent (in 1995). Pic: John Sumner . https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/downloads daily 0.75 2026-01-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606773437870-NU4163GEDAF7G9FYKNFH/Twrch%2Bcaps.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606686906358-BAPRWAWJMOJPHSDUR6M8/Part%2B1%2Bcover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606687325450-3P2FY3LWYZ91491A2NWA/Sinkhole%2Bcaps.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606687513552-ADV7RS1MPE72FKWJR5KQ/OFD+Arete+cap.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606687074069-OR4TZUHXU4PP7LO2QE47/No+Mercy+caps.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606845982054-KJ69F4K31J6V2TSVHE0Y/Part%2B6%2Bcover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9d46fcf8-b89b-4ac6-9abe-325d24bae00a/Afon+Clydach+boulders.jpg Free Downloads - Topo by Harry Adshead https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612987962483-2ZT61JEPSHA893PBG39N/Part+7+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612988301436-TR53KHW0CSBLIXV60U5K/Buckland+Hill+climbs%2C+Bwlch-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1613492780778-OLYWWBHTKTXSY4D1ECY3/New+Tredegar+climbs+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1615388863043-RCCR6NV0O0YJA5781MWI/Front+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607865681229-XHV29NBCTPMP5Y07HMFD/Fifty-five+Club4.jpg Free Downloads - The first ascent of Fifty-five Club (E5 6a), Llangattock, in 2011. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607179119070-AVIGL1YKSQ5TTTVMWDCX/Coverfinal.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607117849945-VB6LO82GSQDUYM712ZD6/cover%2BCharlcombe.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606845868020-VCMNG8WA400PVMZ9HMS4/topo%2B2.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607185554128-S2MNBZ7AWCHZ9YNUOKC1/PB%2Bpage%2Btruly%2B1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607179547839-LT4LSPAIA23PRERD77Y4/Racing%2BBoat%2Bcover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607183622855-KQ8656SPEKCJAADDZ12N/Sand%2BPt%2Bcover%2B.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607180915803-KK7YSWPJCFEB7TIP7ZU1/front+cover+with+title.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607184575429-TDRDR0NFU4RBT6TDZEWH/Cover+pic+3.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607184083948-QVGJJ1RK7VYDJJD8QDRC/Poets%27+Walk+2+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c58f607b-6eb7-4c05-ab0a-0c11e611700a/Zany+3.jpg Free Downloads - Zany (V3+), Great Corner Cove, Brean Down. Pic: Beverley Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1619107071493-2GXYWYM1614OHTVI9NQ4/CK4.jpg Free Downloads - West Country topos: The Climbs of Goblin Combe Having spent so much time in Goblin Combe over the decades I thought I’d convert that association into a (free) guidebook. It was written in 2018 (yes, hands up, I’m slow to release stuff). My special thanks go to Keith Williams whom, together with other ‘EGONS’, introduced me to the Combe way back in ‘72. We met up again in Goblin Combe in 2012 and shared a splendid picnic under Toot Rock, talking about guidebooks and his early explorations in North Somerset. Later, when we passed under a small unclimbed crag, Keith chuckled: ‘There are some routes to be done up there.’ It was still in his blood. Pic: Saruman (HVS), Orthanc. Colin Knowles climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1614013609335-AFJG82HQOADFG3F6643N/AR.jpg Free Downloads - No Time to Lose (F6b). Steve Wright climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1614013373264-EJ2TO49BK0N66NBNF1BE/HBB+cover.jpg Free Downloads - Partners in Crime (F6c+). Alex Jacubowski climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1614013526339-9F8BLMOXKAU5L2G25FK0/Copy+of+Like+Father..jpg Free Downloads - Like Father Like Son (F5). Mariusz Wajda climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608990873674-ZN2E7ZGUFUCL2JMAIPPR/Viva+Suarez%21+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609246693574-3ZVRQ38RXXOSIJWSEK2C/Petit+Zawn+Traverse%2C+John+McShea+climbing++Pic+Simon+Wooster.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608991140491-XTACQ9AH1RFQP8DEUO0C/Guernsey%2BNot-so-New%2BClimbs%2Bby%2BMartin%2BCrocker-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608760685665-38B6SBPZX5V0T3LF66OD/Culver+Cliff-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608723321559-ODFJ1S0RP0UXA32D4VBM/Pointe+de+Squewel-2.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1610811260130-N9DRB57KY03I7L20PN3R/Frome+Valley%2C+cover+pic.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1622579395564-IY32T47A0KU4WV2U1540/New+Quarry+Update+Martin+Crocker-1.jpg Free Downloads - I originally built this topo for the ClimbBristol website, so punters didn’t have to wait for the Avon Gorge guidebook in 2017. The majority of routes are described, though there has been some limited further bolting since. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1610811612577-8NJUPF8O1687NJIXJIJI/Giantslayer+first+ascent Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ddf881de-0d49-4acd-9a46-bef15416a1f4/tk2.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/aa73bcc8-4033-480d-bb35-1aebf2ae8e19/Black+Rock+quarry+final-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1628523084612-JO5OETEAZPPEECSBDV11/Mel+Tor+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8862340c-9e5d-46d8-a376-ab402a785c47/website+action+6a+without+cuhsion.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d3b3341d-833a-4199-be70-67fee326d1e2/Kilkenny+Nore+%28and+onwards+to+Sugarloaf+Bay%29-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/544fc956-c4d6-4a27-bc02-19b877b65fa9/Leighton+Tor+front+cover.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f745d82b-b62f-452d-a064-6e33509f7546/DSCF5167.JPG Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5ec7143b-62c4-4d6e-937e-668e5e5c96e8/Pil+Tor+copy+Portrait.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f13f1c95-f723-46a2-81b7-57329abeb244/The+Trowlesworthy+Tors+and+Hen+Tor.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/745368e8-3e3b-4297-abbb-018a1efc07c8/Cl%C3%A9der+bouldering+topos+%28v.2%29+Martin+Crocker.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/af552899-680d-4903-8112-1ebf9f4dec36/Ashton+Hill+bouldering+topo-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0fc75e82-6331-44c2-a3bc-58b59e549d4e/Yar+Tor%2C+Corndon+Tor%2C+Vag+Hill-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/40a4c4ce-8645-481c-93af-dae6c2502caf/Brignogan-Plages+Topo-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5394fab5-7562-419a-901d-2c43ca53b0d7/Longaford+Tor%2C+Littaford+Tor+Bouldering%2C+Dartmoor-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/19e6aa7f-3384-4465-b746-50d2c0bd5380/Dartmoor+miscellany-1.jpg Free Downloads https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ec4bc80e-5bd8-4a33-a984-a741b02bc5b7/Sharkham+Point+Climbs-1.jpg Free Downloads https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/videos daily 0.75 2024-06-04 https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/projects daily 0.75 2021-01-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609513104493-CAXEGNVRDABVY2JO2UJ4/Cheddar+Gorge+Bird+of+Prey Projects - The Cheddar Gorge Climbing Project Pending some content here, you can read the following article about the Project, published in Climb in 2006. Left: Pinnacle Bay phoenix awakens. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609523501092-Q92QQBYJFUJSHSY5242K/The+Perfumed+Garden+%28E1%29.+Climber%3A+Nick+Gillett Projects - The G.O Wall (Wintour’s Leap) Climbing Project Pending some content here, you can read the following article about the Project, published in Climb in 2006. Left: The Perfumed Garden (E1), G.O.Wall, Wintour’s Leap. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609532558298-57HZ274VO8O9RD5T83XO/St.%2BVincent%2527s%2BRocks%253B%2Bc.jpg Projects - The ClimbBristol Avon Gorge Restoration Project No mag article about the Project as such, but here is a leaflet prepared by the multi-talented ClimbBristol group, a keener and harder-working crew of volunteers you could not possibly meet. Left: Round Point to St Vincent’s Rocks c.1970. Pic: Martin Crocker https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/legacy daily 0.75 2024-06-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606681739589-6MY7T63NKCHL8TC37GDC/img412.jpg Legacy Martin Crocker climbing Troillus (E3 5c), Main Wall, Avon Gorge in 1972. Pic: Dave Ford https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/cheddar-gorge daily 0.75 2024-05-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606761069946-CCOY16ZBOMFSVSGN5ZL9/Jon+Bentley+on+Cheddar+Death++Knell%3B+Martin+Crocker.JPG Cheddar Gorge Jon Bentley on Cheddar Death Knell (F7b+), Lion Rock. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609505580778-REOTD095OEJZP6DMIRBC/Chilli+Cheesedog+%28F6a%29.+Tasha+Smith+climbing. Cheddar Gorge Chilli Cheesedog (F6a). Tasha Smith climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612370718475-N3B2RSGCW1LSEXBQC4TE/Rave+Party+2.jpg Cheddar Gorge Rave Party (F7a+), Heart Leaf Bluff. Rosea Day climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612451912075-PG7NCIUKGXBTWW1AYD5R/img754.jpg Cheddar Gorge Ambiguously Straightforward (F6b), Yew Tree Wall. Yvonne Jones climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612455585800-5B26NZ5ECC8U4LZOG63E/Siouxie.jpg Cheddar Gorge Siouxie (E5 6b/c), (see Avon & Cheddar guide 2004). Martin Crocker climbing. Pic: Matt Ward https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612459240130-VJJ96ELXPKKMQ8HC1ODJ/HBB.jpg Cheddar Gorge Crème de la Phlegm (F6c). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612541180246-KKPL7G4Z1L46NFB817E4/SB.jpg Cheddar Gorge The Midnight Run (F7c). Martin Crocker climbing (on the first ascent, 1989). Pic: Don Sargeant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612614217543-9RHUP2BI7FAYZJ3WPC6K/The+Empire+2+Alan+Sarhan.jpg Cheddar Gorge The Empire (E5 6a), The Amphitheatre. Alan Sarhan climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612632585446-Q6PHN30J1EDD6EE0YLCT/2006_0128cheddarphotoshoot0004.jpg Cheddar Gorge Shock of the New (F7b+), Freaky Wall. Paul Robertson climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0413e8aa-34e7-45c9-a7e2-4f825bd884a1/Johnny+Woods+engaging+turbo+through+the+crux+of+%27The+Harder+They+Fall%27+E6+6b%2C+at+Cheddar+Gorge.jpg Cheddar Gorge The Harder They Fall (E6 6b/F7b+). Johnny Woods climbing. Pic: Dave Pickford, www.davidpickford.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612370805410-Q1TS2YEMH1586IQIY5YE/Buffy+Furness-Smith.jpg Cheddar Gorge Hug the Jug (F5/5+), Arch Rock. Buffy Furness-Smith climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612452131200-ADY3NIJUFRUY6ZQEFYJJ/img956+CH.jpg Cheddar Gorge The Ides (E4 6a), Long Wall. Martin Crocker climbing. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612455659404-RFSDBLBDIQBNQJ9NVHYK/Castles+Made+of+Sand.jpg Cheddar Gorge Castles Made of Sand (F6b/6c), pitch 3. Gordon Jenkin climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612459335948-5VQXW2NT987NPJL3W1WZ/HBB1.jpg Cheddar Gorge Partners in Crime (F6c+). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612541240018-CO28K6T7BF89AKS7R18H/Bird+of+Paradise+%28F7b%2B%29.jpg Cheddar Gorge Bird of Paradise (F7b+). Martyn Richards (and Andy Sharp) climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612614474085-GW4G711WX1FD7KWUYCGE/west+route.jpg Cheddar Gorge West Route (E6 6a) (see Avon & Cheddar guide 2004). Gordon Jenkin climbing (1985 ascent). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612632658528-HTXL2CMLN56773S5EAR7/Sunnyside+Terrace+2.jpg Cheddar Gorge Neural Network (F6b), Sunnyside Terrace. Julian Walker climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612370876896-9ATBG9OY5LXMXBST3HUS/Lion+Rock+2+Adam+Cooper.jpg Cheddar Gorge Valley of the Blind (F7b+/7c), Lion Rock. Adam Cooper climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612452267185-EY4OGAKOT74SF6FB36B0/Ian+Parsons+on+Brainbiter.jpg Cheddar Gorge Brainbiter (E3 5c/E4 6b), Warlord Wall. Ian Parsons climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612455720287-B03F1HPIJNA6OFQ18PSK/Spacehunter+2+%28Ally+Smith%29+Skyscrape.jpg Cheddar Gorge SkyScrape (F7b+). Ally Smith climbing. Pic: Dave Pickford, www.davidpickford.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612541318341-48QIKZ0XYIUTCS4DDPBC/Space+Tourist.jpg Cheddar Gorge Space Tourist (F6b+). Ian Parsons climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612614555256-1HNTHGQ77QH96I9YHQG3/Dig+this.jpg Cheddar Gorge Dig This, People (E4 6a). Martin Crocker climbing. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612370948139-TSDXPVXVIFGMW47X4MEZ/Simba.jpg Cheddar Gorge Simba (E1 5b), Lion Rock. Alexis Perry climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612452357712-IIHS09V6AW9IK5KOOTWR/Doc+Martin%27s+1+edit.jpg Cheddar Gorge Doc Martin's (F7c), Warlord Wall. Dave Pickford (and Johnny Woods) climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612455789538-KD3BUB1RHS9VDQTQXNO5/Copy+of+Tombstone+1+Luke+Hutcheson.jpg Cheddar Gorge Tombstone (V9), Wallflower Shelter. Luke Hutcheson climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1612541383277-PJAOJ640MVF3N4QNZPQD/Pirates+of+Lamb+Leer+1.jpg Cheddar Gorge Pirates of Lamb Leer (F7a), Burmese Wall. Matt Ward (2nd) climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/88c97917-a3e7-4abd-b0ab-768caa56c823/Still+Waters+sub.jpg Cheddar Gorge Still Waters Run Deep (F7b). Tom Harrison climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1619123221293-SYDGF4AFAYNN9S6BKSDA/sorc%2Bbig.jpg Cheddar Gorge Sorceress (E6 6b), Martin Crocker leading the first ascent, in 1985. Pic: Crocker coll. (Gordon Jenkin) https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/exmoor-coast daily 0.75 2024-05-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606923569229-70SZDIR6YHU8LMU1XMTQ/img964+copy.jpg Exmoor Coast He Sang Like the Chains in the Sea (E6 6b), Little Hangman; the first ascent in 2000. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1606923148015-R23O9MZKL1GZ00T8XI9F/Archer%2C+Exmoor+Coast+copy.jpg Exmoor Coast Archer (E6 6b), Wringapeak; the first ascent in 1999. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a74ba1f3-c056-4512-a26e-b06ca0844f69/Terry+bouldering.jpg Exmoor Coast Terry Cheek bouldering at Hurlstone Point. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1635787988739-Q3JBOBU1SXBNF5F4TJJZ/MB+2.jpg Exmoor Coast Benji (E6), Minehead Bluff. Pic: Crocker coll. (Terry Cheek) Pic at top: Terry Cheek climbing Terigrine (VS). Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9bd8730a-6ef4-45f7-9c69-1c317d08e3db/Miracle+Dog.jpg Exmoor Coast Ballad of Miracle Dog (E2), Coastguard Wall; Terry Cheek following on the first ascent in 2003. Pic: Martin Crocker Pic at top: Family Business (VS) Fledgling Slab. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/64dec0c2-04d0-41e0-80ea-3751a0058ad9/HP+bouldering.jpg Exmoor Coast Grip it and Rip it (V6), Bossington Beach. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/11653ba0-fbc7-440e-863d-93a2319faf9c/St+B+port.jpg Exmoor Coast Benji’s Last Stand (HVS); Becky Padgett climbing. Pic: Terry Cheek (exmoorwalker) coll. Section header: Topping out on Kitnor (VS) The Ivy Stone; Mark Padgett climbing. Pic: Terry Cheek (exmoorwalker) coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/047add5a-be53-4cff-8a74-23003ddceb28/GJ2.jpg Exmoor Coast Ghost Job (E4), Sir Robert’s Chair. Pic: Crocker coll. (Terry Cheek) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1635783958011-9I8FZFDKCY2WDOPCE54G/Amph.jpg Exmoor Coast https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e82b920c-9261-48cf-a140-19813fb976ec/Foreland+2+011.jpg Exmoor Coast The Crustacea Fin with Landslip Stack behind, Foreland Point. Lynmouth and Valley of Rocks make up the background. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4dc3f2ef-19eb-43ce-84dc-8be18a970cfe/Seagull+Salad+EDIT.jpg Exmoor Coast Seagull Salad (E1), Yellow Stone. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/48834cd7-adb2-4268-8cce-e605deef5f09/_DS_5848+copy.jpg Exmoor Coast Terry (E5), Lee Cliff; first ascent. Pic: Don Sargeant Pic at top: Ian Parsons starting up the first ascent of Under the Weather on a Lee Shore (E2). Pic: Martin Crocker Pic below: Ian Parsons topping out on Terry (E5), during the first ascent. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f6cc52b2-3ae3-4ad9-aef5-606863e11d84/Exmoor+traverse.jpg Exmoor Coast Terry Cheek somewhere in The Inner Sanctuary in 1998, on The Exmoor Traverse. Pic: Martin Crocker Pic at top: The first ascent of Archer (E6 6b) on the A Cave. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/fdf3fb15-9376-40c0-8dc3-59b783a9210d/Spot+on%2C+HM.jpg Exmoor Coast Spot on (S), Heddon’s Mouth. Jonathan Crocker climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/50f9fc1b-c10f-4b69-8a5e-dcd00441059c/Lucretia+MacEvil%2C+NC+Gut.jpg Exmoor Coast Lucretia MacEvil (E5), North Cleave Gut. Terry Cheek on the first ascent in 2003. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1635785431021-VLRFMRAAEDU09YFH06RO/LHA1.jpg Exmoor Coast Little Hangman Arête (E1), John Harwood seconding. Pic: Carl Ryan Pic at top: Blindman’s Bluff (E4); first ascent. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/90aa4c52-01b8-4638-bb78-70488f573227/Foreland+2+037.jpg Exmoor Coast Jumaring home, 150m above the Landslip Stack https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8f3faef1-469b-4ebe-97aa-fdf4c546d8ba/Overlaps+Wall+2.jpg Exmoor Coast The 1997 access route: John Harwood abbing over the 60m high Crazy Wall of Overlaps. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/876080fd-c527-4ad0-8215-41bde9e0a0e3/Jim+W.jpg Exmoor Coast Jim Woolmington following on the first ascent of Third Parallel (E3), Landward Stack. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b532a476-95df-40e9-8ca9-fa7becd94e4a/Overlaps+Wall+1.jpg Exmoor Coast Perchance to Dream (E6), Crazy Wall of Overlaps; first ascent. Pic: Crocker coll. (John Harwood) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7fef79ad-f2ca-42c7-920a-3eb77d07f92f/Big+Slab+Left.jpg Exmoor Coast Big Slab Left HVS 4b Foreland Point in the background https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/96c24348-29ed-4cb8-bd86-baa8be5fdfcd/Anarchy+Arete+1.jpg Exmoor Coast Anarchy Arête (E3 5b V1) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8e709837-95c2-49f9-b8ee-67f048907476/FEAR.jpg Exmoor Coast F.E.A.R. (E2 5a/b V0+) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/48a5af0f-b417-45e3-add5-a7543dd9098b/Tutan+Come+On.jpg Exmoor Coast Tutan Come On (V2) https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/avon-gorge-1 daily 0.75 2025-06-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1610985609330-HG6Q9ZOY6GEW7SK7U4RB/Unknown+Area+context+1.jpg Avon Gorge The Unknown Area, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611054749167-3QYNRYNLIM3I6QB33NBA/Sea+Walls+context+2.jpg Avon Gorge Sea Walls, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611063932796-IJ2GYWPGRX0KK75R0I9H/New+Quarry+left.jpg Avon Gorge The New Quarry, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611068687134-RKO082Y7576BOHQKUWLD/Main+Wall+only.jpg Avon Gorge Main Wall, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611093443502-707SESFKQU9CZQUF5MWQ/Main+Area.jpg Avon Gorge Main Area, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611174034565-KJPO5Q9107IBBMRJDVS7/Amph+DPS.jpg Avon Gorge The Amphitheatre, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611175196297-W0D6QVTBSL30V6GZPXTA/Herbsman+Shotgun+2.jpg Avon Gorge Herbsman Shotgun (E3 5c). Dean Russell climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611232236434-JEGADTDPMTIG9IMBRU7T/SBB+complete+2a.jpg Avon Gorge Suspension Bridge Buttress, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611263095911-UU86S6GDTDACZJV6ATQI/DSCF1505.JPG Avon Gorge Leigh Woods, Avon Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611004261174-C43RH0T0SVAFNCBWIIKR/Blik+1.jpg Avon Gorge The Blik (E3 5b). Henry Castle climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611005622001-6R2EQ0CEROJADCF0PUBX/Mirage+1A.jpg Avon Gorge Mirage (E3 6a/b). Hazel Findlay climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611057783725-1ZD2KKFM5PAPE6B4BRV9/Jumping+Carrots+1.jpg Avon Gorge Jumping Carrots (VS 5a). Simon Fletcher climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611058660895-8NJ1GBMXVH7IM4FITFBY/Morpheus+2.jpg Avon Gorge Morpheus (VD). Thomas Pickersgill climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611065074968-EZGH7UZ7F0U9LZ9GRIMG/Brutal+Dub+2.jpg Avon Gorge Brutal Dub (F6c+). John Baker climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611069169689-K4NZCGJ8XGFC8WJMZ90Q/Lich+2.jpg Avon Gorge The Lich (HVS 5a). Dave Talbot climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611145521322-P9TBQM6MEFJQT2XRZU60/Mediator+Matt+Cox2.jpg Avon Gorge Mediator (E1 5b). Matt Cox climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611146628936-9SYUJPX6F8X3JIPR7CLQ/Central+Buttress+Best+Paul+Davis.jpg Avon Gorge Central Buttress (E1 5a). Paul Davis climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611175715398-ZUT4RJVZRNNST6947AHM/Spiny+P+N+4+cover.jpg Avon Gorge Spiny Proboscis Nematodes (E1 5c). Sam Wheadon climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611233291229-99YNX3PC3XA5WUOZFLG9/Suspension+Bridge+Arete+3.jpg Avon Gorge Suspension Bridge Arête (HVS 5a). Donna Kwok climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611344320432-62N8E0Q3FIBCSQTL0VPC/Big+Girl%27s+Blouse+1.jpg Avon Gorge Big Girl's Blouse (F6b+). Gordon Jenkin climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611004431710-7OA0LRGK185F70XX36VC/Unknown+Slab+3.jpg Avon Gorge Unknown Slab (E2 5c). Henry Castle climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611005723502-TLQ35UWV83R2BZQC7301/Rancho+Cucamonga+2.jpg Avon Gorge Rancho Cucamonga (E3 5c) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611057848660-BCPH937VH41MDVB3HLE2/Ffoeg%27s+Folly+1.jpg Avon Gorge Ffoeg's Folly (E2 5c). Ross Davidson climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611058733952-H5ELAPO4ZZSE3L1C0ZC1/Academic+1.jpg Avon Gorge Academic (F8a). Dan Jenkin climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611065240125-2UI081XRFSFUG3ZPIFNE/En+Trend+5+Ondrey+Rygel.jpg Avon Gorge En Trend (F6b). Ondrey Rygel climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611069931838-O0L7GLDOKMK5HZVAN88V/Pink+Wall+Traverse+2+Andy+Holden%2C+Tom+Rogers.jpg Avon Gorge Pink Wall Traverse (HVS 5a). Andy Holden and Tom Rogers climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611145608306-3DL0K28VJ1IQBAVCLXY5/The+Arete+2.jpg Avon Gorge The Arête (S). Charlotte Leslie climbing. Pic: Simon Fletcher/ClimbBristol. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611146316877-189C1F1QGBWWDHTOESJX/Piton+Route+1.jpg Avon Gorge Piton Route (VS 4c). Paul Ross climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611175877324-GK4X66ZZYFR1OLX7VYL5/Mynewt+4a.jpg Avon Gorge Mynewt (E5 6a). Dick Hall climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611233358166-0KKD2PHEMPJJI5A90LCB/Clan+Union+2.jpg Avon Gorge Clan Union (E1 5b). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611344459129-SV0GEQII2OXA3Z94RJLH/Evil+Edna+5.jpg Avon Gorge Evil Edna (E4 5c). Holly Heath climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611004632274-W4I4TF1BLH7CP5UKFL1X/Blik+4.jpg Avon Gorge The Blik (E3 5b). Dan Donovan climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611005799385-FX2GXHJC950U2O4466WJ/Solar+Power+2.jpg Avon Gorge Solar Power (E5 6b). Alexis Perry climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611057935655-F6NI0GB7DXL6YMQ93B8I/Shiner+1+Philip+Wilson.jpg Avon Gorge Shiner (F6b+). Philip Wilson climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611058820058-3D9ZS2SLEFUNY5UVJ63B/One+Scream%27s+Enough+2.jpg Avon Gorge One Scream's Enough (F7c). Gaz Hughes climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611065410150-LNAD4JC9ZQ3MDXNYZIPW/No+Crag+for+Old+Men+1.jpg Avon Gorge No Crag for Old Men (F6b). Trisha Murphy climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611069470828-2KBKP8YOGBBEV8E0G3XX/Main+Wall+Eliminate+1.jpg Avon Gorge Main Wall Eliminate (E4 6a). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611145943487-UIPH7PBMAAI68NO728AG/Reveille+2.jpg Avon Gorge Reveille (HVS 4c). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611146557440-PUTJ0DXNMPFLIGQCWAGV/Piton+Route+2.jpg Avon Gorge Piton Route (VS 4c). Paul Ross climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611175977136-X0ZQNJUHYLNV0EE1JD8Y/Giant%27s+Cave+Buttress+2.jpg Avon Gorge Giant's Cave Buttress (VS 4c). Ben Richards climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611233713904-T3FZV4JC15XB6JVSIE6B/Snobbler%2B3b.jpg Avon Gorge The Snobbler (E3 5c), Dan Donovan climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611344547696-KH6O1MVO0A7KDFA13CN1/Set+your+Controls+3.jpg Avon Gorge Set Your Controls (E1 5b/HVS 5a). Matt Goater climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611004747820-JFRHQXS11NPL18LE71GM/Yellow+Edge+1A+Mike+Coles.jpg Avon Gorge Yellow Edge (E3 5b). Mike Coles climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611005896935-SKFY5ARQZ7WJOZ4O7IF4/New+Horizons+11+1.jpg Avon Gorge New Horizons (E2 5c) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611058028469-M2JC6P5VH80FDVGEIRXZ/Sleepwalk+1.jpg Avon Gorge Sleepwalk (S). Steve Findlay and Magda Cepkova climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611058900460-3X1MYXSGULOH67LQ9UVA/Operational+Reasons.jpg Avon Gorge Operational Reasons (E2 5b). Martin Crocker climbing. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611065485578-NLFAKYO52811JZNLOH48/Private+and+Confidential+3.jpg Avon Gorge Private and Confidential (E2 5b). Dave Talbot climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611069390507-HIMGBYETCL5V5ONAJCXU/Pink+Wall+Traverse+1+Tom+Rogers.jpg Avon Gorge Pink Wall Traverse (HVS 5a). Tom Rogers climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611146060829-EXQGWL5FLTWWY6SZ0KS3/Mike%27s+Mistake+6.jpg Avon Gorge Mike's Mistake (E2 5b). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611146711179-LLT35NH3GTJYMH7BSZRT/Inf+rb.jpg Avon Gorge Inferior Rubbers (HVS 4c). Dan Donovan climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611175795656-ZQC84VHSG5G1FJ0VTO1K/Hodge%27s+Pin+1a.jpg Avon Gorge Hodge's Pin (VS 4c). Simon Fletcher climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611233515359-ZD1C07KQKFFJ3WEF0A03/Francis+and+Donna+014.jpg Avon Gorge Baby Duck (E1 5b). Francis Haden climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1611344620026-XT0ROJ2R4EL2XIYV6LN2/Quarry+3+043.jpg Avon Gorge Thirty-nine Year War (F6c). Martin Crocker climbing. Pic: Simon Fletcher https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/west-country-climbing-sites daily 0.75 2022-05-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607278180441-TCV7O8T6MU00SP75LDL5/DSCF2343.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Esgaroth (HS), The Arkenstone. Simon Fletcher climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607017459301-G7EBD5XX5BO9UHOY506B/DSCF1434%2Bcopy.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Beverley’s Wall (F6b+), Spacehunter Wall. Mandy Perry climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607013958904-6NBF0PI41T30FIIDFN6L/Francis%252Band%252BDonna%252B047%252Bcopy.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Suspension Bridge Arête (HVS), a seminal Avon route from 1956. Donna Kwok climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607378072006-SM52MUPUTZF14SEANYIB/Highway+1.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Highway One (E4 6a/F6c+). Matt Woodford climbing. Pic: Don Sargeant https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607291196356-A7KR5FVDO7A7UATA33EW/Frome%2B2015%2B041.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Bouldering on Black Rocks (a.k.a. Riverside). Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607375607037-Y1I23Z5CYGWDPEMONR0I/img633a.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Terrorist (F7b+), Armistice Wall. Guy Percival climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607528045396-9SUK3SJT3CXHZBFLF1O6/Jack+Bradbrook.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Enter the Kettlebell (F7c+), Culver Cliff. Jack Bradbrook climbing. Pic: David Bradbrook https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607535376883-ZTXKVSSJ07A4MIEJG6HD/simon+2.jpg West Country Climbing Sites All Quiet on the Weston Front (V2). Simon Fletcher climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607533093421-4PN6HD0HP29LTYTH3PYA/Prow+James+Squire+.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Prow (f7c+), Middle Hope. James Squire climbing. Pic: Ian Squire https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607635582420-XEQODVVCLAY4LJ5CL38H/img434b.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Crack o’ Diamonds (E3), Ocean Wall. Matt Ward (the first) climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608729706074-S7Y35KAONWYKHGH0MW9V/North+Quarry.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Shoot to Thrill (E4). Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607893720358-C6XSJU6TO51NB1DCDR8P/2008_0210uphill0003.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Judgement Day (E1). John Harwood on the first ascent in 2008. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1607956352658-SG1D69NHGWMK6XVA8F7Y/Tricky+Dicky.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Tricky Dicky (E4). Pic: Beverley Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1610280660198-7BJ0H9ASTRG0J1LWEU15/DS3.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Draycott Sleights. Pic: Beverley Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608238636202-2I9IVYLPZK1WXMV90GS0/Volume+Eleven.jpg West Country Climbing Sites Volume Eleven (E3). Ian Butterworth climbing. Pic: Mike Raine https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/deep-water-soloing daily 0.75 2021-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608054294506-V3WFYHIJCVJS7B1E1MKW/Costa+Blanca+solo.jpg Deep Water Soloing - Don’t solo too high Practise what you preach: hmmm. On-sight soloing the 60-metre high arête of Missing Link (F6b), Costa Blanca in 1995 is not a good advert for this advice. In my defence, wanting to keep on climbing safely has always been about probabilities and managing risk. If you’re climbing well within your standard – the chances of falling should be close to zilch and therefore the risk of harm equally close to zilch. The whole point of DWS is to use the sea as a safety net. So, an in-control fall from a low height shouldn’t be too traumatic, assuming good conditions. By contrast, falling from 45 metres is unlikely to see you swimming away safely. So, the pic isn’t DWS; it’s SOLOING. Assuming good water, deep water soloing anything up to 8 metres should feel comfortable and exhilarating. You can showboat ‘til the sun goes down. Now, between 10 metres and 12 metres it’s beginning to feel high, as rising concentration levels testify. In my experience it’s very rare to feel frightened while DWS, but when above 12 metres or so let’s say I’ll be doing my utmost to avoid a splashdown! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608053032437-01CQCZVYZYLF3ARU1W51/Buzzarena%252C%2BOgmore%2Bcopy.jpg Deep Water Soloing - Never go deep water soloing alone I’m a fine one to talk. For me deep water soloing is about self-reliance, and problem solving to stay safe. But going it alone is also about learning to understand and respect your tenuous place in the sea-cliff environment. For most people, DWS is not about dealing with danger like when soloing above the ground. It’s about fun with friends, and pushing yourself in safety – and I can happily sign up to that ethos too. In effect DWS is bouldering above water. Buddying up with fiends means potentially there is someone to help you out if things go awry, reducing the likelihood of your recreation impacting upon the rescue services. A self-sufficient community will help portray a sense of responsibility and preparedness (especially when compared to tombstoners!). But, as an aside, don’t be afraid to resist being egged on to do things your gut tells you not to do. A snapshot of my Portland days, and my outlook on DWS, can be found in Head above Water – it’s an article published in Climber in 2001. (Portland & Ogmore pics by Carl Ryan.) Left: The deep water solo first ascent of Buzzarena (F7b+), Ogmore, in 1999. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608137997487-WNZC05IOTR6BNLFWP9NK/Freddie%2Bthe%2BFrog.jpg Deep Water Soloing - Plan for cold water shock I detest cold water. It is this factor more than any other that motivates me not to fall. That’s why I wear water wings. No, infamous Freddie the Frog wasn’t an attempt at a personalised branding, though the encouragement from two inane amphibians smiling up at me is immeasurable. So, wearing buoyancy aids isn’t to be sneered at: if cold water shock knocks your breathing out of sync, they’ll help keep you afloat enabling you to relax and recover your breathing method. Ideally, you won’t be DWS until UK seas hit their peak temperature, in July/August – a still bracing 16°C. Impatiently I used to start the DWS season in May when the sea is still cold (about 12°C), and even made the first complete free solo of The Watchtower in Torquay at the end of March, which at 9°C might look a bit crazy. The sun may beat down in spring but the sea has yet to warm up. August to October is best, and a lot more inviting than May or even June. And, you could choose to lengthen your season a little by wearing a wet suit: lightweight short-sleeved shorties or a sleeveless vest are fairly unrestrictive. They’ll also mitigate water-slap. In response to a slightly different risk: don’t entertain falling into the sea if you’ve got cold. I’ve axed many a project because the sun had slipped around the corner, or the easterlies had picked up, or it had started raining (!). Get cold and your core will only get colder quicker when you dunk. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608063670930-IR60A1CPMNOI55R8OLWF/Twenty+First+Century.jpg Deep Water Soloing - Mind any Loose Rock A lot of DWSs I’ve established have been on cliffs with crappy top-outs. (Twenty First Century opposite required removal of some very loose rock from the fragile cliff-edge bands.) The primary risk here is that of rockfall. Imagine you’re say 10 metres up; you’re about to top out; you pull on a big hold; it moves outwards and loosens your grip so you fall into the sea – harmlessly so far. Trouble is you’ve pulled on a block which you’ve destabilised and which has been slowly easing out above you. Your false security is soon shattered when one or two seconds later the block is on its way down – to you! Forgive the doom mongering, but If you’re prospecting on a cliff with loose rock at the cliff-edge, no one will criticise you for binning the idea completely or checking and cleaning the top first, even on an ab rope. Don’t feel gaslighted by an unconditional on-sight ethic propounded by ‘purists’ (who sometimes have more skeletons in their cupboard than Dr Crippen). It’s perfectly reasonable for people to make rational judgements in order to look after and enjoy their climbing lives. It won’t neutralise the adventure. Left: Twenty-first Century (F6c+). Dave Pickford climbing. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608067649441-T5QNIIHI9GLIAFUP0PHM/Extreme+Lives%2C+Portland+copy.jpg Deep Water Soloing - Don’t solo above shallow water Whoops: do as I say, not as I do. There’s something about tombstoners. It’s easy to look down your nose at these party-prone kids. But while soloing at Babbacombe just recently, I was bowled over by the apparent skill and expertise of children as young as 12: they knew exactly where to jump and the margins for error. They had even rated jumps according to those margins (‘nutters 1, 2, and 3’ etc.). So I had no qualms when they started jumping over me while climbing 8 metres below. Most established, popular DWS cliffs are accompanied by reliable beta on water depth for all tidal states, all proved by local expertise. But if you’re into experimenting elsewhere, where there is no reliable data, take time to do your research first. British waters can be very tidal i.e. the difference between low and high waters can be as much as 10 metres (Bristol Channel). It’s really difficult to gauge water depth from above: seawater has the deceptive capacity to appear deeper than it is, and even the colour of any boulders beneath will make a difference. So scout/swim the cliff base at low tide, look out for any boulders/reefs under your line, and maximise water depth by waiting for a high spring tide. On Portland in the 90s I’d occasionally use my kids’ six-foot fishing-net cane as a dipstick. One batch of hard routes was so serious I headpointed them first, so from a top-rope I was able to poke around with the cane to check that I had at least 2 metres of water before committing. But do remind yourself if you’re going to solo above a metre or two of water: that is not DWS, that’s SOLOING! Left: Extreme Lives (E7 6b), Portland; the first ascent, in 2001. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608069236480-Q3ZHY6C8TEL5APJVGPTP/Tentac%2Bfall%2Bcopy.jpg Deep Water Soloing - Know how and where to get out of the sea We’ve all done it. Left it until arms begin to wilt and think: ‘umm, now how do I get out of the sea if I fall in?’ So, you’d best suss the way to get out before you start, the distance you’d have to swim, how difficult it looks, whether the escape point is being hit by waves, and so on. Any modern guidebook to a popular area should have the escape points marked and described, and sometimes there’s an in-situ line to assist. But beware of getting cut to ribbons as you clamber out; limestone in particular is prone to raggedness in the wave-splash zone. If you’re operating on a less well known crag or one where there is no immediate obvious escape; then you could always drape the end of a semi-static rope into the sea, perhaps even leaving ascendeurs attached to the rope, within reach. I would often do this on my Ogmore solos where it can be about half a mile to swim to the nearest scramble-out. Sure the setting-up is a faff, but it could save the day and avoid an incident which impacts upon innocent third parties who’ve got more worthy people to save. Right: Taking the plunge from Tentacle Master (F7a+), Portland, at lowish tide. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608155831343-7MPHQBYECGDRAAHKO18Y/Tombstoner.jpg Deep Water Soloing https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/magazine-articles daily 0.75 2021-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1608325488832-BMLZASOVG1LGSZEBZNS0/Gaadevarre+3.jpg Magazine Articles Gardevarre, Finnmark, Arctic Norway, from Mystic Tor https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/crag-x-climbing-sites daily 0.75 2022-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609610279142-KK8T6XOBLXZJ2L2FYNZI/img490.jpg Crag X Climbing Sites The only public transport on La Digue; after all no one’s in a rush. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609609900416-IERU1LI3BE8GZL394UB5/Monsieur+Renee+%28E5+5c%29 Crag X Climbing Sites Monsieur Renee (E5 5c). Pic: Beverley Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609610986443-ILHYCMR1G7G0DXXH5PT2/Seychelles%2Barete.jpg Crag X Climbing Sites The E3 5b arete of The Jungle has Ears. The immaculate face to the right is indeed Face, an E7 6b solo. Pic: Beverley Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1609678473981-0YF08ST1VHICOK9H25V3/Coco+de+Mer+%28E5+6a%29++Pic%3A+Beverley+Crocker Crag X Climbing Sites Coco de Mer (E5 6a) Pic: Beverley Crocker https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/northwest-france daily 0.75 2021-01-12 https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/big-bars-and-jacks daily 0.75 2021-07-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/04beefe8-9c81-4fb4-8b44-efed2654fea5/1.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. High Slab prior to the work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e98ef023-952b-4ad7-9bcb-2327e8f47cee/2.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Remember this? The undeniably unstable monster-block, from below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/db9731c3-fd35-408f-b061-6de1302b569d/3.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. ....which doesn't look any more attached to Mother Earth, from above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/853115a8-c29d-4bf5-b01a-b742286af483/4.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. AWT fell the ash trees below the slab, which would have otherwise been destroyed by rockfall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ccbba6f6-c5bf-4664-9a72-95328be6a9d1/5.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. The exclusion zone is set up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/de4a4115-9a9b-4ab4-a8f5-143ac4156b3a/5a.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. .....but then immediately wrecked by motorbike scramblers; I had to get used to remaking it each morning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f5f7f480-7825-4b41-8864-209d744e3f38/6.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. I needed a hand from time to time! Here, Ian Parsons is taking the traditional approach to rock removal - the 'big bar'! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/255e371a-8c72-4277-91ee-3a58883dccee/7.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. First strike https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/52005f4d-38fd-434c-951f-014e4faed5bf/8.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. ....which leaves a mess, yet we'd hardly started. Clutching to hopes that the slab would fully recover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3895de3d-072c-4aea-b401-3baa37ec5f1d/9.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. The monster-block would need more than two blokes levering big bars; so some hydraulic jacks were hired in. Suffice to say, we gave them a hard time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0834b2af-8cc1-4b03-bbb7-37425b52443e/10.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. So get pumping! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/51b17b39-e1ce-4baf-88d0-2cc60c6abecb/11.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Creaking and cracking, the block is pushed out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8cc7fda9-31a1-433c-973b-5f076d122934/12.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Jack positions need to be improvised as gaps widen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f5e50615-fd38-4cce-b75b-49b4fd510a78/13.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. That's the capping stone liberated, and off it shoots down (my pride and joy) Brink of Solarity! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d94884ee-e441-4d5b-9dbd-4fd7bf2158c0/13b.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. The AWT site manager has come to check progress just at the right moment. (Pic: AWT.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/152609b0-a750-46dc-8849-3c78c6f27c48/14.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Next day it's back to the main event: the monster-block! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a6f644c1-879d-4b47-93bf-1b2922f6724e/15.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Farewell 'monster', as the landscape changes irrevocably. Unfortunately local residents thought someone was setting off a bomb in the quarry, and the police were called out.... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7d6a9450-b1e5-4767-b6de-331a2e68cc9e/16.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. High Slab post rock-scaling phase. A 'Second Rainy Wish' perhaps; but heavy rain is rarely absent from the west country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/db9084a4-beb5-4f9f-a617-908361c1eec4/22.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Wrecking my car with rolls of Maccaferri wire netting! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/92524a65-d82e-4d87-a019-b73c7cc7e0a6/23.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Skinny bloke on his own pulleys the rolls of netting up High Slab - phew! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c8a08181-2d86-4c36-9685-85f4d0b56318/19.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Substantial anchors for the rock-catch fence are drilled and set in resin. (A load of planning went into the fence design and positioning.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9c017a3c-a3b0-4375-ada1-255f206360fb/20.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Support cables for the fence are installed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e0b205bc-3258-4369-854f-04931c21800f/24.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Netting is attached to the cabling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ba96a02a-2e43-42df-a226-0402586cea19/21.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. The idea being used to exploit the topography and protect against rockfall from the highly fractured headwall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/00ebcdae-b9a9-4382-9fa1-9f9d135b29a3/25.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Bolt belays are drilled for climbers in order to obviate use of the rock-catch fence infrastructure. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6abe6afd-6339-4e92-ae1d-ee9deabec128/17.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Lots of muck grouting on the jigsaw of smaller blocks above Pickpocket. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4e12d147-cac7-4687-a201-05f7724afc5c/18.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Rockfall soil all over the slab has to be brushed down. But it proves useful in landscaping the base in order to infill jagged terrain (given the slab's poorly protected starts). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ac60359c-5ea6-454b-a08e-0b166fd03077/26.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Must aim to improve the boulder-strewn base of the slab. Here's one approach; a New Deal team of apprentices have a go at tugging a few of the boulders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/428904b5-474b-4ec7-826a-d301c9f63210/27.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. A more effective, mechanical solution: using a Tirfor winch to achieve much greater pulling power. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/80d6db1c-ae02-42b8-86f3-2473e05d0a4c/28.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. Immense forces are required to overcome inertia. The main problem was that fixing points for the winch were few in the quarry floor, and instead of pulling the boulders.... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a2df50a6-a0b7-487d-9820-b7bef511848b/29.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. we would sometimes uproot the buddleia! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/09148802-deb5-4613-b9cd-9d788bcc357f/30.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. On walks with my family on Cadbury Camp, in the following few years, I'd guiltily look across at the quarry, still scarred and angry. But then seemingly all of a sudden, when weathering had done its thing, the slab returned to former times; its texture and colour back, and with minimal damage to the climbs. Not the prophetic Fallen Pillar Chimney, mind you, now a caving scramble amongst the boulders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1615552008992-J78ORAU94AHH0P39N8RC/DSCF3243.jpg Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. High Slab, current day https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/832e65d0-3aa3-40f6-b387-41cd9d69cb68/31.JPG Big Bars and Jacks: a pictorial record of the 2007 works to Portishead Quarry. You may some day come across this 'date stamp' in the grout. https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/the-bridge daily 0.75 2021-07-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8ffa7422-0ddf-4470-8506-047f252bb899/0a.jpg The Bridge Pre-me, my parents lived in Burryport where my dad (working at its power station) fostered a love for the Welsh hills. Back in Bristol he would take the family to the Brecon Beacons; and I - for one - got hooked. B&W pics: left Pen-y-Fan, late-60s [Raymond Crocker]; right: Skirrid Fawr, 1969/70, on a school YHA trip. Unfortunately our Geography teacher, whom you'd expect to imbue others with the joy of the hills, didn't take kindly to our being 2hrs late - the lugubrious grouch nonetheless providing an early life lesson that to get inspired you must go your own way [Crocker coll./Guy Glanville]. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0b95518d-b50c-43b2-8bff-2c143d416d63/1.jpg The Bridge Soloing above the sea at high tide in the Giant's Cave Area, Gower, 1972 [Dave Ford]. I remember this day well, as with all the trips our club (EGONS) would frequently make to South Wales: to Llangattock, Taf Fechan, and - especially - to Gower. Twas an early taste of what would much later become known as 'deep water soloing' (though maybe not so deep that day). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/26c4c206-1a36-4dad-a220-7f6941c93e7d/1a.jpg The Bridge Aid climbing was still respectable in those days. Our plan was to peg under the entire length of the Giant's Cave roof. Ambitious? I only got 6 metres across before running out of pegs. So, after a soaking, we escaped up Tablette (free at E5 as Madame Butterfly). We would use Jeremy Talbot's fabulous 'red guide' of 1970. Inside was 'Gold Kappel' - the name as seductive as its description - and V1+ (the top grade in the book): 'go up direct on holdless rock to tiny pinch holds...' It showed how guidebooks and the constructs of climbers could help make an inert lump of rock irresistible. [Dave Ford] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d58317e7-7153-4ead-a241-7fba12b4d7bd/1b.jpg The Bridge I studied geology at Cardiff University 1974 - 1977. Here is a pic of a well attended university club 'freshers' outing to Morlais, during which I scared myself silly on the testpiece of the day, Pullover. Or maybe I couldn't handle the audience and peer pressure? You see, when applying for membership you had to state the grade you climb. On the bus there I couldn't but help overhear the mutterings of disapproval as the club's elite rustled through the application forms. It was unthinkable for a club member to lead extreme and, my word, it is we who show you how you do it, not the other way round. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3c483031-f823-4dd2-9dee-6c3b49c295f1/1c.jpg The Bridge Fellow geology student and university club member Nigel Watts with wife-to-be Barbara in Talybont student flats in 1976. Barbara is reading my thesis! Nigel was a staunch member of the local mountain rescue team, but increasingly he turned to technical climbing for himself. Hailing from Aberdare he proved a font of knowledge about the local crags - both climbed and unclimbed. That struck a chord with me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b798ad14-4cc5-48ad-8d7d-ec94ce29aae3/1d.jpg The Bridge This is Gwaun Cefynygarreg, which was explored in the late-60s by Nigel's Aberdare-based Snoopy Climbing Club. It is one of many Twrch Sandstone crags in the Brecon Beacons National Park, and perhaps the most prominent. However, access problems with the farmer meant that Nigel's team had to snoop in (and then run off when they got caught!). During the 80s I would often look up at this while walking in the Ystradfellte area with my wife. Only many years later did I check out hazy recollections and proceed to scour the BBNP for Twrch treasure, the CRoW Act assisting unfettered access. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c2796355-403e-4e7a-8e13-e601e5c5e889/1f.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Free World (E1) at Penallta in 1975 [Nigel Watts]. Penallta was the first local crag I got introduced to by the university club: my first encounter with Pennant rock, which seeded my life-long preference for sandstone. On most free Wednesday afternoons, I would take the train from Queen Street and spend a few hours soloing at the crag. Inevitably I noticed the possibility of a free climb through the top overhangs, which sported some old pegs and bolts - presumably from an aided ascent. So, Free World followed; as did the euphoria of doing a new route on sandstone! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/2c0a87ab-061b-4c86-83cf-dff46e8988cd/1g.jpg The Bridge Penallta in 1975/76; actually not so different from the current day, save the cliff-base trees. The name Free World was also a nod to 'Free Wales', the painted slogan at the foot of the crag replenished in perpetuity in the 70s. I guess the other thing missing from the pic is the fixture of local kids, now seemingly ready to jeer and chuck beer cans at you as you try to keep your head together and your balance intact while soloing Free Wall Direct. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/eb08f69a-da03-482f-9327-7a0bc4047fc4/2.jpg The Bridge Sennapod Corner (HVS), 1975 [Nigel Watts]. With valley-dweller Nigel pointing the way, a small group of university mates investigated Mountain Ash Quarry. We thought ours was the first ascent of this great corner, but later learned that Phil Thomas, one of the tough yet modest climbers from the South Wales Mountaineering Club, had beaten us to it by a few years. We were disappointed; but the route wasn't any the less just because someone else had got there first. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f987e9a5-9c91-4510-a32a-238666e99a80/3.jpg The Bridge While at the quarry, I thought I'd have a go at the cracks in the right wall of the corner. It didn't quite work out this time and I got beaten back by dirt, dust, and wilting arms. (In the mid-80s the line became 'A Load of Rubbish' - a somewhat unfair title.) But I did return for the bare wall to its left, and others, 13 years later. Whiter than White Wall (F7b) was one of the vanguard of a new quarried sandstone era, though with bolts the vexed solution to blankness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8f33f873-e185-4c70-8096-d0537ea23e74/5.jpg The Bridge Bouldering on the apocalyptic sandstone sprawl above Pontypridd in 1976 - you know, the one you can see from the A470 as you head for the clip-ups further north. [Nigel Watts] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7134a925-d687-4112-a24b-c90b300deed6/6b.jpg The Bridge George Traish at Wyndcliffe in 1975. An outlier, George, was one of those climbers who was oblivious to his own talent. He had struck up an unlikely partnership with northern star Jim Moran while training as a teacher in Cardiff. His immunity to situations that would frighten the living daylights out of anyone else never failed to amaze me, as did those elaborate silver foil pipes he'd construct whenever he needed a bhang. We did lots of climbing throughout Britain in the late-70s and early-80s, and he was always happy to experiment at esoteric new pastures. One time he said I had beautiful legs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/990e13c8-4666-4213-a4d3-ad880eda5793/6c.jpg The Bridge Don't talk to strange men! A geology field trip caused us to examine the Lias strata somewhere or other near Cardiff (Ely valley?). Naturally we returned with some kit, enjoying top-roping as far as the ivy cornice, and showing off to the girly cheer-leaders who provided a round of applause. I expect the crag is now plastered with ivy, or bolts, or both. Amongst the group was 1975 flat-mate Rob Illingworth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9f16efa8-9c8c-43c5-9227-502203fbdce2/6d.jpg The Bridge Rob Illingworth near the Gabalfa roundabout, asserting his charm to cadge a lift to Taff's Well. It didn't work, so we took the bus instead. Rob occupied the top floor room in a shared flat in Cathedral Road. I had the room below from which I could hear the incisive discussions he'd have with himself in the early hours. His was a great mind; sometimes I'd have to join in. Our landlady, Mrs Morris, was a rough diamond: she disliked the smoke I'd create cooking bacon and fried bread each morning yet was happy that I let rip on my drum kit, weaponizing it perhaps against her neighbours (or maybe her husband). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/76cc383a-fe67-49e2-897c-e84538e03658/6e.jpg The Bridge Taff's Well was a regular destination, my first encounter being Catwalk which seemed adorned with wonderful crystalline finger-jugs. Not knowing any better I pulled on one, but went flying in a humungous swing as it disintegrated to dust. At least the leader had his laugh and I wised up. From Cardiff I'd some times pop up there on a spring evening to solo up Sub Wall and down Pine Tree. It was a favoured excursion for bubbly Judith of the Rhymney Valley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c0e3385d-c939-475c-997e-d5f6f602a68b/6f.jpg The Bridge The Fang (E1), Cefn Coed, in 1975/6. [Nigel Watts]. Cefn Coed was one of my favourite SE Wales crags: the climbing style agreed with me, and the lines were good. It was always quiet, even into then 80s and 90s; and you invariably had to deal with some vegetation and loose rock. But so what. Decades later, like many others I was dismayed to learn that some individuals had - without consultation - tried to terraform the site, a nature reserve, which led to climbing being banned. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6be5afe8-df5b-4c3f-a74d-eb956020b449/7.jpg The Bridge In 1983 I met my wife-to-be Beverley, care of a blind date from our respective school/university friends. Her late parents, Brian & Betty, lived in Newbridge, Gwent, which effectively became a second home, especially when our children arrived on the scene. Their support and tolerance was inestimable, nurtured by traditional Welsh family values. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ec3944b4-639f-4db6-a1c3-b73f1face1c4/8.jpg The Bridge And a mere 4 miles away was an old haunt: Penallta, still with routes I hadn't done. Above, in 1984, soloing Scabs (E3) after a finger-nail session on the leaning wall right of Y-Fronts ( I expect the problems here have been claimed scores of times since; and I can't imagine Rhondda wonderboy Andy Sharp would not have clawed up them too). [Beverley Crocker] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/970b3bb6-f43b-460a-8c9b-ec5317e2bd52/9.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Have Mercy (E4 6a), Ogmore, in 1985. [Matt Ward]. My first fling at Ogmore, in 1975, was an inauspicious affair. I was pathetically weak from too much slabby Avon, and super-steep Pinocchio melted my arms. But in the early-80s, after 5 years of reorganising my body on Sussex & Kent sandstone, I worked through many of the existing extremes, first with Damo Carroll and then with Matt Ward ('the first'). I grew to love the exhilaration of deadpointing jug-lines on overhanging rock, and swinging about more-or-less care free. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/2f0e661d-1d09-4ee9-aefa-dbb3ef409bf0/9b.jpg The Bridge Matt Ward at Ogmore in 1985. A more perfect climbing partner you could not ask for: reliable, good company, and motivated by local climbing exploration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/575ffcfd-ba25-4c70-be5d-20cfcf0558e1/10a.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Mantra (E5), Ogmore, in 1985. [Matt Ward]. This was the first of my routes in Tiger Bay, which illuminated its remaining high-end potential. Incidentally Mantra provides a relatively amenable deep water solo, with easy access down the chimney to its left. The Uncanny (E6), just to the right, was climbed a few weeks later. Somebody has since drilled two stainless steel pegs into The Uncanny, the rationale presumably to replace the long-rotten two pegs I had placed. I wonder how that action will be reconciled against the imperative that Ogmore is strictly a no-drilled-gear cliff. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a6ec59f2-a5cd-4c4e-9e12-94b033a6547b/11.jpg The Bridge And here's another first ascent in Tiger Bay in 1985: Matt Ward following Daughter of Regals (E5) - he hated that name! Though mild-mannered and inhumanly tolerant it wasn't rare for Matt to speak his mind and put his foot down. It was a necessary skill both in relation to climbing with me and his other main climbing partner of the time, this man.... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/54b97094-46e7-4859-9609-d210b81b92ba/11a.JPG The Bridge Gary Gibson, and canine friend, in Cheddar Gorge for CragAttak, in 2008. [Carl Ryan]. Even by 1985, Gary's mission to rule the world of new routing was well underway, his scattergun incursions leaving few parts of Britain without at least one or two (or hundreds) of new GG routes. He'd already sent out feelers into the South Wales quarries, and had spotted Pembroke. If I recall correctly he sent me a letter seeking an opportunity to do a new climb at Ogmore. The result was... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3d8d08ad-ad8a-44cd-bc51-7893a72b8498/11c.jpg The Bridge Tiger Sanction (E5 6a), Gary Gibson in his distinctive stripes following the first pitch. [Matt Ward] A photo from this strip made the cover of New Climbs 1986, a brilliant though short-lived guidebook series supported by the BMC. The guides, compiled by Gary, were a perfect platform for those, including Gary, wanting to unveil their routes in the public domain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b17266f9-40a4-43d5-92f0-6e4aecc19829/11d.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of White Witch (E5), Witches Point. [Crocker coll. /Roy Thomas]. With Matt and I engaged in Ogmore it was inevitable that we'd cross paths with Roy Thomas, an activist from Bridgend. Roy had a fetish for home-made pegs he called 'specials', which we liberally 'welded' into the crag. Lots of wild routes resulted, especially in 1986, including E5s at Witches Point that Roy was keen to explore. Ten years later, under the influence of Gary Gibson, Witches Point became a leading sport climbing site, a laudable concept though sadly at the expense of the unapproved retrobolting of the 80s trad routes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/265b8304-eec2-4312-8d95-21ba98e273b7/12.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Yellow Regeneration (E5), Yellow Wall, Gower, in 1986. [Matt Ward]. Matt and I had ticked off the existing routes on Yellow Wall the previous year, and noticed this pearl - one of my top ten S Wales first ascents. (Skyhedral Wall, E6, climbed five years later - with my wife belaying - proved almost as good.) For the sharp-eyed, no I hadn't dropped my glasses, but was trying out contact lenses instead. Unfortunately brushing dust off ledges at Cheddar didn't agree with them, the dust getting under the lenses, and causing eyes like Dracula. Hence the route names opposite. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7fe39fd5-4a8c-40ee-a177-d48265f2a3f3/13.jpg The Bridge Matt Ward following on the second ascent of Earthly Powers (E5), Thurba Head, Gower in 1985. Yellow Wall is one of two powerful trad cliffs on Gower, Thurba Head is the other. I'd long acquired a wandering eye. While climbing, it had become instinctive to look around for other possibilities, to tuck those ideas away, and resurrect them in - say - five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years time. They were amongst the reasons to come back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c0911ae2-155b-435b-84e8-52905e512fd1/14.jpg The Bridge Masterpiece (E6), Gower, second ascent? So it's back to Giant's Cave, but this time for a beautiful arete, which I'd failed on before. I haven't mentioned Pat Littlejohn yet, but Masterpiece is one of Pat's, so now is timely. While drafting a guidebook script in 2003, Dave Pickford suggested I lose the psycho-analysis. Fair point; actions define people, not words: and you can get to know a climber by repeating their routes. For Masterpiece that's: drive, stamina, boldness, and (according to my diary) a dogged resistance to pain. No one, whoever they are, gets things right all the time, but 99% of the time is fine by me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1622545325081-Q3PKES8UROYOY2BZ7E7G/14b.jpg The Bridge The second ascent (first on-sight) of Rogues' Gallery (E5), Morlais, in 1985. [John Harwood]. Developments on inland quarries have always been key to the history and culture of SE Wales climbing. Extraordinarily so, sometimes. This blank wall (justifiably dubbed the Great Wall) came under the radar of Gary Gibson, but - importing his own method - he only climbed it after placing a bolt runner. Various locals were apoplectic about the action (though too civilised to show it); and the route was not climbed bolt free until 2010. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/fe9ed622-4c99-4bfd-b004-777b7b5b53a3/14c.jpg The Bridge One such traditionalist unamused by the bolting of Great Wall was Tony Penning, here pictured on Wintour's Leap in 2007. Tony relished the trad esoteria of SE Wales - dust, loose rock, warts'n all. He appeared to share the viewpoint that: 'You should take the rock as it comes: it's your responsibility to adapt to the rock, not adapt the rock to you'. We'd often meet at the crag, and I'd hear animated tales of his prospecting at Morlais, Cefn Coed, and Llangattock during the late-70s and in the 80s. His resolve to keep Llangattock bolt free, even if cowed elsewhere, endures to this very day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e9bce67a-6189-4f19-8e0e-2d92e7ce6a4c/15a.jpg The Bridge And this is Llangattock: Bristol climber, and sport convert, Gordon Jenkin making a rare visit there (after much persuasion), following on the first ascent of Funky Flowstone Route (E3), in 1985. I'd previously traipsed along the entire escarpment and was staggered by the remaining potential, my 70s visits being policed by the EGONS predilection for the pub. OK, there are rubble slopes, mud-streaks, and midges - but there are also wonderful views across to the Black Mountains and, then, acres of unclimbed flowstone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/69822ce2-baca-4607-87f4-c544c69de794/16.jpg The Bridge When actively climbing together I even managed to get Roy Thomas to Llangattock. Here, Roy is following on the first ascent of The Roaring 80s (graded E5 6a, but significantly harder than Lord of the Flies - but there again most routes are harder than Lord of the Flies!). Funny, I've heard various people (including a mis-educated BMC officer) lambasting the 80s; but - like its music - there was much that was diverse, challenging, and vibrant about the decade, notwithstanding (or perhaps because of) the flux of ideas and technologies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6bc8fb9c-3507-4f91-9caf-260eef45c462/17.jpg The Bridge It takes a lot to keep this man down: here is Roy Thomas nursing a broken leg, having driven to and climbed at Taff's Well in leg plaster. Credit. About that time I repeated Crowman. Under-rated by first ascensionist Pat, I was well-impressed by its sustained, nervy climbing, often only marginally protected. It amounted to a milestone of SE Wales's climbing legacy: its first inland E6. So, it seemed utterly baffling that Crowman, along with a new E5 to its left I led without any fixed gear, should be retrobolted 15 years later. The bolts were subsequently removed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9eb0e3a3-8ad9-4576-8d12-afe2846be398/17a.jpg The Bridge In the productive late-80s respect was generally shown to new bolted routes living alongside new and existing trad routes, without conflating the value of either. Development shifted from Taff's Well east to Taff's Well west, where the earlier bolted inroads of Andy Sharp were followed up with a fine set of sport routes. Above: the first ascent of Streaming Neutrinos (F7b+), in 1987. Looks like a big reach. 'Telescopic' was the adjective Gary would use. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0ab56bd1-4867-45ea-ab89-c575a5bebd37/18a.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Spore Wars (E6/F7b+; I pt aid), Dinas Rock, in 1988. [Crocker coll./Roy Thomas]. The largely unquarried Dinas Rock is SE Wales's finest outcrop, and it still presented many challenges in the 80s. This drew many movers and shakers to its sheer walls, and - pre-area bolting policies - with each feeling free to apply their own ethics. At a similar time I climbed the 'holdless' groove right of Spore Wars, which became Subversive Body Pumping. An obtuse stemming problem, I got carried away and graded it UK tech 7a. It wasn't of course; after all, how could a southern softie possibly climb 7a!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b6b5d7fe-07d6-49a9-b891-c315303ed164/18.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Powers that Be (E6 6c/F7c), Dinas Rock. [Crocker coll./Roy Thomas]. I'd first climbed at Dinas Rock in 1975, sampling the quality of Strider with university chums. The ivy and dusty slick rock reminded me of Cheddar; and aid routes predominated (featuring the odd bolt here and there). Ten to 15 years later the site had become a melting pot of ethics, the old aid bolts had become protection bolts, and sport climbing had won out, though sadly with the loss of characterful trad routes like Dream Academy. Yet the trad stalwarts ultimately let it go, such was the swell of opinion in favour of sport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6a34dc42-c035-42f9-85ee-69f867621270/19.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Calling the Shots (E4), Llwynypia, in 1989. [Crocker coll./Roy Thomas]. A trademark of SE Wales climbing is its diverse venues. Tucked away in the valleys are countless sandstone quarries, a remnant of the area's early C20th coal mining industry, which shaped the landscape. In the late 80s we would often study maps and make drivepasts to check out new sites and the old ones that got a line or two in the SWMC's 1973 guidebook. Llwynypia was hardly our discovery, but I recall the satisfaction of finding seven new trad' routes there on a lovely spring day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5f2c2942-3747-4fad-8862-5b5ee8f63a9d/19a.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of The Caerphilly Contract (E6/F7b+), Llanbradach, in 1988. [Matt Ward]. The vast Llanbradach quarry was hardly invisible; I'd catch a glimpse of it from the train on my way to Penallta in the 70s. Pat had made a foray of perceived insanity with The Expansionist, up a tottering flake. He also placed a bolt runner here, which (considering his stance on bolts) others found to be surprising. It was a disclosure that proved highly influential locally. Gary Gibson eventually turned up, concluding the quarry's evolution into an outstanding sport climbing venue (outside the midge season). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/15a3ea88-8e85-46d2-bbe0-f4f1f1a2a566/20.jpg The Bridge No holds? No problem! Andy Sharp joking around for the camera while preparing what would become La Rage during his and Pete Lewis's blitz of superb face climbs at Cwmaman, in 1988. I first met Andy in the mid-70s when he worked in the YHA shop in Cardiff; he'd blag selling me the odd sling or nut, and tell me climbing in North Wales was much better than Taff's Well. Enduringly he has remained Gower & SE Wales's 'golden boy' embracing, and sometimes spearheading, change - all the while retaining an enviable ability to seer up the smallest crimps imaginable. He's the man with magic fingers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/05b04c51-ea10-4a71-9bba-b341b0afaf9a/21a.jpg The Bridge Very rarely would the seepage lines of the Pennant sandstone outcrops and quarries freeze up: here's Roy Thomas jangling his ice gear above Treorchy, in 1988. It was the first ice climbing I'd done since 1975 - once I'd exhumed my rusty crampons and Chouinard ice hammer from the attic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/fb7e5f1d-6ad2-4dd2-8497-d69e7f5975a7/22.jpg The Bridge It was in humble tones that the name 'John Harwood' would be whispered in university climbing club circles in the mid-70s. He was a Biochemistry lecturer at Cardiff uni, and had the reputation as a N Wales hardman - a stratosphere above our numpty undergraduate status. Ironically I never met John while at Cardiff, but eventually we did coincide, at Shorn Cliff in 1992. Finding we shared most climbing values, including the love of wild unexplored cliffs, we hit it off and remained climbing partners ever since. If there were any sliver of sunshine at a crag, he'd be sitting in it, like being in a spotlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4b0e6861-2f32-471d-a955-6f7ab7d43b73/23.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Cointreau (F7b), Mountain Ash, in 1994. [John Harwood]. Yet another return to Mountain Ash, with Cointreau representing a fine complement to my Pastis on Ice from 1988. But by the mid-90s I was rounding off my interest in new sport routes; besides which John had a pathological hatred for bolts and their spread in South Wales (in which, ironically, I and other mates of his participated!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/af173668-30dd-48e7-b16c-d8eab71b6249/23a.jpg The Bridge Here's another obscure sandstone quarry find: the first ascent of High Force (F6c+), Deri Park, in 1994. [John Harwood]. Good belaying is required to prevent getting dropped into the pond below the climbs. When gearing the routes, I was visited by the local constabulary. Apparently a resident on the hillside had trained their binoculars on me thinking I was nicking heron eggs (what heron!?). Not my greatest crag find: Sirhowy and Treherbert were better. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3f3a0366-e3e4-4455-aced-4c10411f28a5/23b.jpg The Bridge John much preferred classic climbing, as here following on the first ascent of Error's Corner (E1), Rhossili, Gower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/867e88ee-f986-44c3-a5ff-fe3c873925ca/23c.jpg The Bridge Cashing in one of those 'notes to future self': the first ascent of Cool Brittania (E6), Thurba Head, Gower, in 1998. [John Harwood coll./Pete Kille]. High magazine described it as 'the perfect arete'; can't disagree with that. Heavy on the 'gggrrrr' factor, the ascent required a few flyers motivated by some timely 'come on you old git!'. We got out just as the breakers took command. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/56c6f142-c00c-42d9-b02f-e90f6ac35d58/24a.jpg The Bridge Around the turn of the century Gower still offered many opportunities for exploration in its hidden coves, gullies, and neglected tiers. One such was Devil's Cwm in which lurks The Freaks Come Out (E4); the first ascent, in 1999. [Carl Ryan]. It was another fruitful trip out for climbing's Guy Bourdin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5bcdab5f-7a80-4d90-917d-3c980be0517f/24b.jpg The Bridge Wales's nuclear power plant, Carl Ryan in action in 2003. A day out with Carl was like no other. Not only did you have to climb the route, but you had to obey a rain of instructions mid-crux as the sun disappeared behind a cloud: 'Hold it there Mart, just a little longer'. Originally we'd got together, with John, in 1995 to shoot Pembroke's epic E7, Suzie's Plot. That left Carl 'foaming at the gusset' for more 'coconuts' and the chance of a front cover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e4e45e6a-5d68-4af5-bdda-3fc98baa7896/24c+Martin+Crocker+1st+asc++Jeff+clapham+PwllDu+Head+Best+Web+3.jpg The Bridge Gower shoots were easy to arrange since Carl lived near Swansea; e.g. the first ascent of A Grave End (E5), in 2000, with Jim Clapham.[Carl Ryan]. He would arrive loaded like a sherpa, with more gear than John and I combined: cameras, tripods, lenses, static lines, plus his climbing kit. In Carl's company there was never a dull or downbeat moment. On one walk-out, deep in conversation, but not looking where he was going, Carl tripped fully laden, and performed a perfect somersault only to land upright without flinching or stopping talking. (Hence the route: Ass over Tit.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5a7724d2-68a2-4caa-96c2-7d3a57643238/26.jpg The Bridge John and I investigated all manner of Gower cliffs, often with Carl 'locked and loaded'. Above, John is following on the first ascent of a route at Rams Tor, I think. [Carl Ryan]. It's difficult remembering every single one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/16dc2363-0fa7-410f-b580-4b56bdc3b311/28.jpg The Bridge A first ascent on Gower. Looks gnarly (do people say 'gnarly' any more?). [Carl Ryan] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6c0f3bb0-f408-46c9-bff9-5dcd8d175a05/28a.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Total Eclipse of the Sun, Ogmore [E8 6b], in 1999. [Carl Ryan]. Pat had lit the runway with solos of A Bigger Splash, but I was looking for a lower route, and one which dared enter the cave of Tiger Bay. Jagged rocks lay a few feet below the surface; any comfort was illusory. Carl lapped it up and subsequently got approached by a South African publisher. Thus the route, to my surprise, entered a compilation of the world's great climbs, but not without a couple of Sheffield-based magazine blokes moaning about it in the press. As Ian Parnell aptly put it - forget them, it's 'just sour grapes'. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ddd85f62-5cdf-400e-bc8d-f27d6a3bd472/28b.jpg The Bridge The first deep water solo ascent of Delirious (E6/F7a+), Ogmore. [Carl Ryan], in 2000. Strange how soloing a route at Ogmore can be much safer than leading it. Delirious, led with Matt Ward in 1986, proved Ogmore's most terrifying lead for me. I'd underestimated the headwall, and arrived at it pumped out of my skull. Fiddling around for hours, the gear looked dire, with nothing to stop a groundfall. As forearms cried out from the brink of failure, babbling escalated to shouting and screaming. Afterwards we learned that someone at the cliff-top had heard my wailing and called the emergency services. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1fc246a4-430d-45f9-9937-e1fafc70e835/29+Sorcery%2C+Ogmore+copy.jpg The Bridge You've got to hand it to him, with routes like Sorcery (E6, SE Wales's first) at Ogmore, Pat Littlejohn's legacy is legend. Above is my deep water solo ascent, in 2000. [Carl Ryan]. In the late-70s to-mid 80s I expended much effort in repeating Pat's routes far and wide. Sorcery wasn't plain sailing. On my first attempt in 1984, I couldn't commit to the break, choosing to hit the air, a twisted Rock 2 in a square pocket pulling through just a little bit more each fall. Two years later, with Matt Ward, I had more success, uprating it to E6. The solo ascent again felt much safer, but I can't guarantee that I wasn't fooling myself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/95c3c4a1-6058-45bd-aceb-b26fce5dcf0a/31.jpg The Bridge The deep water solo first ascent of No Fakin' It (F7b], Ogmore in 2003. [Carl Ryan]. Pretentious or what. The name was a deliberate ruse and the ascent ornamented with a score of false grunts. I had top-roped the upper wall first, because of some wafer-thin flakes-holds that I didn't want to risk breaking off and knocking me out. Multi-talented Carl filmed the ascent too, the Hang Loose film crew originally planning to release an Ogmore soloing film. But I wasn't a babe-hunk with biceps and couldn't imagine for one moment anyone wanting to buy such a thing. We focused on a film about Pembroke instead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/aa6935cb-ebed-4f6c-8773-5191401d95e5/32a+Ian+Parsons+on+Flipside+Genocide.+Martin+Crocker.JPG The Bridge Ian Parsons, cam-clad and bat-like, on Flipside Genocide, Ogmore, in 2008. Well into the noughties, there were still lots to go for at Ogmore in lead mode. In particular the stunning wall hosting Phaser seemed worth a fresh look. John didn't get on with overhangs, but Ian (who had helped with the Cheddar project), was game. With a rope access background, Ian excelled with gear, but normally he'd bring too much (out of his bottomless sack would pop at least five pairs of rock-shoes, the choice of which depended on the prevailing state of his bunions). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0e9c59b7-90ea-44d5-8a83-16d997c4395e/32bA.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Prawn Brain (E4), Phaser Wall, Ogmore, in 2008. [Carl Ryan]. Climbing these 'layered' routes is very, very strenuous. Problem is you can't see the diameter of the breaks and which nuts/cams go in, until you pull up to them. Deadpoint training and multiple welsh cakes recommended. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/902a7a4c-5b20-4b03-acd2-fc1a7d18f268/32c.jpg The Bridge The first ascent of Lysistrata (E5), Witches Tip, Ogmore, in 2004. [Jonathan Crocker]. A nice place to hang-out with my son; there's lots of cool bouldering and highballing on the low walls west of Dunraven Bay too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c8a168c7-b830-442a-a6b5-1f4b6365d9d9/33.JPG The Bridge In the late noughties I was increasingly getting back into bouldering and soloing, often choosing places that made a good family day out too. Above: the first ascent of En Guarde , (E1 5b), Llangattock. [Jonathan Crocker]. This obscure pit, had been filled with rolls of jagged wire netting, providing an interesting landing-site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7bbd1688-b42c-4ffe-baf5-03e86c13fee7/34.JPG The Bridge Ian Parsons on Box Jelly Fish, ( E3/V0+), on a roadside quarry south of Llangattock. Fun titbits and flowstone tweaks in grand surroundings a mere 6 metres from your car. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e868a044-0ed5-482c-b38c-5bed21ab3f37/34a.JPG The Bridge Green Mind, Atomic Heart (E2/V5), in the same quarry. [Crocker coll./Ian Parsons]. Don't be fooled, the camera doesn't always tell the truth: there is a stack of mats out of shot below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/278f038e-2fd4-4d00-aeda-00b5a5cd28c3/35.JPG The Bridge Bouldering on the Lonely Shepherd, Llangattock. [Jonathan Crocker]. One of the quarries you can see behind the pinnacle is Gilwern. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d6eacaf6-35ae-4ea9-a963-784326f065c7/36.JPG The Bridge Flow Job, one of the F6a/b sport routes at Gilwern, in 2007. A delightful flowstone wall teeming with bolt-lines. Quite the contrast to Llangattock, complementing it nicely, and keeping everyone happy, more-or-less. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1883883d-ad14-443f-8963-c3557c34bb3e/37.JPG The Bridge John Harwood following on the first ascent of Wall of Balls (E4/5 6a), Gilwern East (Pen-y-Galchen), in 2007. A beautiful compact wall which reminded me of Wall of Straws in Dovedale, but this one requiring even bigger balls. We did other routes on the cliff, but - unfortunately - they were all retrobolted about eight years later. Initially the guy who retroed the routes volunteered to remove the bolts, but inexplicably he then changed his mind. It was left to John and me to restore the best two, as best we could. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7f0590e8-ca9b-48be-a16d-b952961622eb/39.JPG The Bridge John Harwood in sex bomb red following on the first ascent of All Dumbed Down (E6), Llangattock, in 2007. Just one example of the huge trad challenges that remained; none are routes to forget in a hurry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/60d2b23a-abef-4187-8ecb-651848f6cc86/38.jpg The Bridge Yet another Llangattock revival! (Cue: yawn, or huzzah!) The first ascent of Greetings from the Unemployed (E2), in 2011. [Jonathan Crocker]. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/31932b62-4683-4506-8dd4-50a1f0a39d8b/40+Fifty-five+Club+1.jpg The Bridge Here's another: Fifty-five Club (E5), commemorating another year passing at Llangattock, in 2011. [Jonathan Crocker]. A giant roof-stack looms overhead, introducing some shaky ironstone and shale bands. But either side are immaculate grey walls featuring sustained tech 6a climbing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f71f4ef5-0752-4607-9290-cfeb465eeb2c/40a.jpg The Bridge There are still a handful of old bolts at Llangattock; either aid relics or those placed on free routes before area bolt policies outlawed bolts here. Above: climbing Hitman (E5) without its bolt runner, in 2011. [Jonathan Crocker]. We had to place a few peg runners instead; not an ideal solution, agreed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a261012a-90e7-47d0-8824-5340c1a4d793/41.JPG The Bridge Posing after the first bolt-free lead of No Mercy (now E7 6c), Morlais, in 2010. [John Harwood]. On an earlier occasion I'd returned to Rogues' Gallery to eliminate its bolt runner (E6). These actions had the benefit of 'cleaning-up' the crag of its anomalies and bringing it in line with its 'no-bolting' trad ethic. But No Mercy is not a route to be politicised any more than any other that once had a bolt; it's a stunning and mercilessly thin face route of national appeal. But what a shame the pegs on the wall (which is used for abseiling) get stolen so readily; we would have otherwise left the two we used in place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/2145441b-5de8-45eb-a9f2-f5584a352dd9/41a.JPG The Bridge The alter ego of SE Wales: Pennant sandstone. Trad developments on limestone were becoming out-run, even marginalised, by the sport development of the sandstone quarries. Pic: one of my favourites: Cilfynydd, in 2007. [Jonathan Crocker]. With the splendour of a sun-centric mountain crag, Cilfynydd isn't your average dank dusty hole. Twenty-five metre high trad routes from the early 80s rise cheek by jowl with quality sport. It's curious it had been missed in the 70s. But back then sandstone was considered a second-class citizen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/986b5bc2-468e-491e-8d11-fbf931273414/42.jpg The Bridge Matt Goater climbing at Treherbert (Rhondda Pillar) Quarry, in 2015. I would try to keep up with sandstone developments; and - like most others - appreciated the efforts that go into cleaning and equipping new routes in the quarries. It's generally a selfless task where a minority enable the majority to recreate in sites of otherwise limited social value. And the pressure had been mounting, including from the BMC, to accommodate guys fresh from the climbing walls. I'd heard about the new developments at Treherbert, a crag I'd first spotted and established routes on, back in 1988. It would be good to return. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/90837cf8-8d35-4b4c-9a91-1b4d3a4321bd/42b.jpg The Bridge Many of the climbs at Treherbert, including a couple of striking finger-cracks, were climbed trad: the rock was amazingly sound and protection was obvious - straight in front of your face. One such was a pristine jazz-drumstick-wide crack for thin fingers (and wires), hidden just around the corner from the main wall. I climbed it with Roy Thomas, in 1989, and we called it Little Big Ego - a somewhat childish dig (but route names have always been a platform for creative free speech - factual, libellous, or otherwise). I thought I'd climb it again, but was saddened to discover.... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7bab2a0f-28fb-4cfb-b34b-5834af6d1338/42a.jpg The Bridge Not only had the route been bolted but great chunks of the impeccable crack had been drilled and hacked out, presumably to create bigger holds. It seemed as though SE Wales ethics had slumped to an all-time low when sport climbing campaigns appeared to embrace the heinous damaging of existing, published routes. I couldn't understand, and I still can't understand why anyone should do such a thing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5a10dc19-d7bb-44e3-b90d-5ea829d589b5/42d.jpg The Bridge And so to recapture spacious 70s soloing days at Twynau Gwynion; this pic 2015. [Jonathan Crocker]. Under-valued but just over there, Twynau offers classic soloing and bouldering on great rock, a highlight being the rippled pillar of Corrugation (E1/3). In the 80s Matt Ward and I investigated the scarp all the way north to Baltic Quarry. One route, 'Appear, Smear, Disappear, then Reappear' was an attempt to take the mick out of GG. I don't normally win anything but that one earned me the High Magazine award for 'silliest route name of the year'. Clearly Neil Foster had nothing better to write about. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/bcd1f6ea-a1a1-4bd7-9f9e-39c3d4031d7f/44.jpg The Bridge Hear you Smile (V0), on the slopes of Disgwylfa, in 2015. I adore sandstone, any form of sandstone: Pennant, quartzite, grit, and even the Permian and Triassic stuff that turns to fire at sunset. Pebbles are a bonus. Gwaun Cefnygarreg had switched me on to Twrch Sandstone, wanderlust following fast in its footsteps. Limitless moorlands, room to roam, mountain air to breathe; and no one around save a hiker singing at full voice thinking she's alone too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e6aee10a-e9d4-49ce-b02f-214fb3094d17/44a.jpg The Bridge The V3 lip traverse Hook, Line, and Sinkhole near Sinc y Giedd, deep in the moors west of Glyntawe, in 2015. At the time I was helping to look after my father in-law, Brian who had pancreatic cancer. Inbetween care shifts and, later, hospital visits, I'd blast across to Craig-y-Nos, the starting point for my travels aloft. It held a special meaning since Brian was a lifelong opera buff. I would bring back images of the Tawe valley and vignettes about Adelina Patti, the C19 opera prima donna who owned Craig-y-Nos Castle. It helped prompt precious memories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8cd5f6e6-f4ca-4c55-810e-71049a5c4ee6/45.jpg The Bridge Release the Gecko (V0-), Point 345. [Jonathan Crocker]. When, in the winter of 2014/15, I first stumbled across Point 345, west of Ystradfellte, I was surprised not to find it plastered in chalk. It looked like the Swansea bouldering lads had yet to find it. The crag is limited in size for sure but comprises sublime Twrch quartz conglomerate. A few years later, on a walk with my son, I spotted the inevitable chalk: the next gen had arrived and torqued up the too-hard-for-me prow (Sansa). About time; good for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f21fcb7c-f63b-4214-b160-01d4618ebf94/47.jpg The Bridge You can truly lose yourself on the moors of the Carmarthen Fan e.g. Budget Travel (V1/2), Tyle Garw. There are hundreds of problems and even a few lead routes from the mid-2010s, and they're not so elite or rock-strewn that you need to haul a mat the 3 to 5 mile walk-in. Beneath, lies the paradise of The Twrchish Jumble, a serene set of boulders with the Afon Twrch lapping at their feet beckoning a summer's splash. Your very own private mountain spa; too perfect to be other than your imagination. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/bb97d142-dec7-479e-9bcd-3ff7928b244d/46.jpg The Bridge I wasn't the first person to climb on Tyle Garw. Hardly surprising, its existence had long been documented in the climbing world. One who had been there before is Joe Squire. A true boulderer-explorer, Joe loves the mountains and isn't afraid of a long hike: above, on Fatboy (V2), in The Badlands, Garreg Las, in 2014. [Selfie]. He'd also set problems on Twrch Sandstone crags like Carreg Y Truman, to the west, and on the fantastic Pen-y-Foel below the SWCC HQ, Penwyllt. The odd YouTube film would spark interest but, mischievously perhaps, Joe would economise on the detail to leave people guessing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/acd9781c-673d-407c-9d89-cada5b15d552/48.jpg The Bridge Obscure limestone too: the first ascent (or quite possibly not) of Dyn Ogof (E2), Carnau Gwynion, Ystradfellte, in 2015. [Jonathan Crocker]. This route is sited above the deep cave of Ogof Gwynion. In the near distance the path of the Roman Road, Sarn Helen, strikes into and over the central Brecon Beacons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/99cab505-cff4-4784-89f3-d433a2786d81/49.jpg The Bridge Jonathan Crocker on The Arête (V1) at Herbert's Quarry. Much potential remains on adjacent limestone quarries, following on from mid-2010s probing and the intense 1994 (F7b), brushed up that year, but only climbed in 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5df5342e-e188-4609-be65-3bc6235efe91/50a.jpg The Bridge Present day, take 4 or 5 years. A V3/4 roof at the panoramic Craig Bedw. Just one tiny, yet valuable, sandstone outcrop amongst hundreds still to be climbed upon. The chalk suggested others think so too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b51eb656-93b3-4fa4-9430-9ddb53de9d5b/50ba.jpg The Bridge A V3 at Buckland Hill, Bwlch, in 2017. Old Red Sandstone this time, with its welcoming rough texture, vibrant oranges and reds, contextualised by the surrounding mountains. It's just one grainy morsel in the expanse of eclectic climbing sites in Gower & SE Wales - more than enough to last any lifetime. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/2cc74cdf-bd69-4ef9-bbdc-deb001aa272e/Topo+8.jpg The Bridge Flashback to 1991. A wintry Boxing Day's drive with my wife and inlaws. I couldn't resist throwing some gear and rock slippers into the car boot, just in case. An impromptu stop at Troedyrhiw, kind of, having noticed a cool looking slab on the hillside. Quick dash, brush up, and headpoint: Solo Para Tus Zapatos - 12 metres tripping the light fantastic, a Boxing Day bonus. Then it's back to the car and on with the tour. Thirty years later fellow pluralist Guy Percival tells me: 'it's one of the best micro-routes on South Wales sandstone. Perfect slab.' So, why not get your kicks, on Route number 6. (And 3.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0dff5df7-13f2-4dae-847c-092b4d2835fc/tsunami+1.jpg The Bridge A tsunami of mist cascading over Craig Gwaun Taf. https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/climbing-partners daily 0.75 2021-12-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5a18f194-6fa7-43c6-adf9-74dd815f262d/Macavity.jpg Climbing Partners Dave leading Macavity (E2), Main Wall, Avon Gorge in 1972/3 Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/25350252-f0d6-4393-a92d-aa94e433717f/img409.jpg Climbing Partners Dave on the A3 pitch of The Umbrella Girdle, Wintour’s Leap in 1972 Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0565954d-e408-4326-8707-98fb6b94e9e7/Matterhorn+summit.jpg Climbing Partners Dave Ford (right) on the summit of the Matterhorn, July 1972. Pic: Jenny Ford coll. https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/brean-reel daily 0.75 2022-05-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/2172a41c-2b39-4cb8-b64f-13d42da9c2cb/Brean+A.jpg Brean Down Reel A gun emplacement at the Napoleonic fort on the tip of Brean Down. During the late 1950s and early 1960s many small cliffs were explored in the immediate vicinity of the fort by this man… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/e371d79e-9531-47df-a93b-36de9ef497aa/Brean+B.jpg Brean Down Reel John Hone was a Cotham Grammar School teacher, climbing instructor, and scoutmaster who was drawn to explore beyond Avon and Cheddar. Amongst his finds the short sound sea-washed cliffs at the western end of the Down proved a perfect environment for passing on his love of climbing to younger generations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/46e2ac3b-7320-4ea8-963a-201e88a9f832/Brean+Ba.jpg Brean Down Reel Copies of the first topos to cliffs at the western end of the Down, hand-drawn in ‘96. They were stuck at the back of a Jenkin-Captained supplement, behind the sport climbs. It’s curious that others had not furthered the development of these cliffs before the mid-90s. Apart from their ‘privacy’ (much lauded by Hone), one added bonus here is the deep water soloing – so long as you keep your butt out of the rip currents. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/606e7ab6-b72d-4104-a018-9e330d605993/Brean+C.jpg Brean Down Reel The Ballet Russes Wall, one of the many obscure faces far beyond the heaving sport routes of the Boulder Cove. All these routes were originally on-sight soloed, but there's gear available throughout, and the grades are mild. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c9872a07-e088-404c-8a31-d08baec4de36/Brean+2+laptop.jpg Brean Down Reel Winter sunshine, space, and serenity: Simon Fletcher enjoying the mix on gorgeously textured rock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4c72fa75-8d77-4ea6-ab0a-3bf28921e836/Brean+1.jpg Brean Down Reel This is the mini-classic Ghost Road (V0+) near Black Point, climbed in the 90s (or possibly before). The neighbouring cliffs were ‘worked out’ by the early noughties. Some might call much of it 'dross' but equally there's lots of harmless fun on fossil tubes and rough jugs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/873e6855-10a7-46a4-a942-e08dcdc70f75/bREAN+4.jpg Brean Down Reel The RapStack, one of the more substantial cliffs hereabouts which sports a bunch of tightly packed very-highballs, best headpointed. The usual descent is via a hand-traverse to a groove on the right (which is ominously overhung by this rock-bridge - which you dare not cross!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7878b5cc-4652-413c-add5-69e94a0a6bbf/Brean+4a.jpg Brean Down Reel Simon Fletcher about to Bend for the Money (HVS, or E1 to solo) just to the east of The RapStack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/901e342a-d19f-477b-807a-aa345cf02e7c/Brean+6+topo.jpg Brean Down Reel A personal favourite: this is the Groove Boat Cave, with some engaging solos and bouldering, developed in 2001. The routes get a mention in the CC guidebook, but not the boulder problems, such as........ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/dcac047b-622f-4eca-95f3-55051d7f3826/Brean+7.jpg Brean Down Reel Love Jugs, a V4+ traverse, which reserves much of the passion for the finish where there is less to hang onto. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c9beb69c-649d-425e-bc1b-732931571a25/Brean+8.jpg Brean Down Reel and Fooled by Foot and Mouth (E1 5b/V0+), also in the Groove Boat Cave area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/eee76b3d-172b-4bb2-a339-0acd73d8bc73/Brean+8a.jpg Brean Down Reel One of the weirdest - like climbing up fossiliferous frosted pink icing - this is the Deal or No Deal Buttress. The eponymous crack, and the slab of Rise of the Mutant Rat just to its left, might get a few ascents if it were not for the hawthorn and veg cornice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/597957e5-1c23-43db-babb-ba01f5a7ee22/Brean+9.jpg Brean Down Reel The Nose (HS), not far from the sport routes; an aerobic solo or lead at HS 4a on fab rock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a0554e5f-49fe-49bd-83a3-78e10f951328/Brean+10a.jpg Brean Down Reel Nearby is the Half-Battleship Boulder with its Keel (V0) (Simon Fletcher in action). An escalating V5 traverse (Hemline Traverse) and a V4 (Mutsu) are amongst the problems to starboard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6db9462f-9781-4369-8dd6-068b62434910/Brean+11.jpg Brean Down Reel It’s rare to see anyone exploring on this stretch. But there are all sorts of strange goings on hereabouts: Pool Wall, Loan Shark, the Crock Monsieur et Madame Buttress, and so on and so forth. It’s a great place to unwind on its esoteric bouldering and mostly unpublished solos and trad routes – which contrasts with what lies just around the corner………. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6b396efb-3ea8-41ca-a909-abd2aa914fb5/Brean+11a.jpg Brean Down Reel This is Boulder Cove (and, yes, more red t-shirts), a popular spot suited to a sunny winter’s day. Matt Ward (1st) and I started the sport climbing here in the late-80s. We weren’t convinced we were doing the right thing, though our initiative came years before bolt policies. Therefore we used every effort to utilise available natural protection, but there wasn't a lot of that on the bulging compact walls of Boulder Cove. Hence some routes started out with only spaced bolts, like..... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/67798d4b-40b2-4db1-ae32-a35cd335804d/Brean+12.jpg Brean Down Reel Chepito (F6c+), which is now fully bolted. Adjacent is Coral Sea, Brean’s first proper sport route which Matt described in his original description as: ‘One of Brean’s better protected routes, hence likely to become popular’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ba9db2a7-0502-4704-8a71-4e4a3c2ed470/Brean+13a.jpg Brean Down Reel There’s also some bouldering on both the main cliff and its trad right wing. This is the V1 start of Enter Uranus (E4 5c), which enjoys a 'Moons of Pluto finish' on projecting pebbles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/10ebae11-1c29-4c1f-a52e-d640a9d6d1e8/Brean+14a.jpg Brean Down Reel Traverse of the Waves (V0-); Jonathan Crocker climbing – fearing wet feet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/73a57f7e-7d49-4ace-842e-8373327a3b2c/Brean+15.jpg Brean Down Reel Heading eastwards again the mood changes as you cower under the towering cliffs of Great Corner Cove – a big chunk of Brean’s trad heritage boasting three monster lines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/da83bb0f-1244-451b-b0e2-c8b47d302bf9/Brean+15a.jpg Brean Down Reel The hardest of which is Cove Arête (E6), which I climbed in 1994. It shoots straight up the hanging edge above the black crusty groove of The Fog (1985) and must be. Brean's most exposed route. I never did apologise for nicking the concept from Ian Parnell. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1d0b7b0b-b7f7-4de5-b4f4-71a924fc42e7/Brean+16a.jpg Brean Down Reel The massive corner is indeed a Great Corner (E1 5a); a typically fuzzy scan from an 80s slide. It was pretty popular in the 70s and 80s, but ascents are less frequent now. Pity to miss out; the protection is all there, just about, and you'll already understand the rock's foibles from the sport routes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a3ad1d13-8ea0-4f14-9f44-6cbc4a86727d/Brean+17.jpg Brean Down Reel By contrast ascents of Bones Chimney (E4 5c) have always been rare, but rarely forgotten. Once you've mastered the shattered cave and kicked steps up a landslide, all is well and solid in an invigorating chimney. Thank Pat Littlejohn for this one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/cb1c7ddf-50e3-4500-9fca-9b55550da3f3/Brean+18+topo.jpg Brean Down Reel At the base of the wall is one of Brean’s oldest and best bouldering zones. Pre-eminent is a testing traverse, which I did in 2001 during the foot and mouth crisis when the countryside was closed down by knee-jerk bureaucracy. Brean was one of the few crags ‘legally’ accessible. The name…… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/19b689a6-7f1f-440e-bd21-59db7c8582ed/Brean+18a.jpg Brean Down Reel Cycle of Despair (V7) hints at the psychosis caused, mitigated only by a ‘moves manual’ in case memory faded between visits. The 8a+ grade was an attempt at a French sport grade (I didn’t understand font grades). Anyway, that's enough waffle when - like many other things at Brean - people consider the probability that it was ‘climbed years ago’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/755ab527-2c27-4360-a3d4-1adf252c1fc8/Brean+19.jpg Brean Down Reel This is Zany (V3), powerful off a good pocket; with a few moves shared by Cycle’. The curious zone of pebbles and pockets just to the right is The Zone (V4). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/31830c33-b3cf-4a2b-a1a8-02cee4a267b0/Brean+20.jpg Brean Down Reel And this is Judas Kiss a brilliant and extending V5 (or maybe harder), that humours rotator cuff injuries. The obvious V-groove to the right is Scope It! (V3). Both reverse perilously to the pebbles via the shaky corner on the left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7ce93975-8b4c-4fa8-8637-dafb0f7c1d49/Brean+23.jpg Brean Down Reel In front is an isolated block containing a technical traverse, where silky footwork by Beverley Crocker and others get the job done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/effb3bb9-f12c-4030-a7f8-f453ffb969f4/Brean+25.jpg Brean Down Reel Further to the east is the trad Ocean Wall, described by the Climbers' Club guide of 2004 as ‘probably the showpiece of the Down’. It’s a fine sheet of rock – of great quality once the initial black crud is overcome. Again, ascents are head-scratchingly few, but climbing orbits in 25-year cycles and maybe things will change soon!? Lots of high calibre routes here, one of the finest being... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a1210a83-f5fc-4482-bc4c-102eff361129/Brean+26.jpg Brean Down Reel Pandora’s Box. This section of Brean Down is best known for its easier classics which still take traffic. Pandora’s Box forges up the unmistakeable corner, with plentiful gear almost all the way. Here, Terry Cheek is opening the box; pic by Carl Ryan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f82eb88b-36a4-4935-947c-d9c0b36b9bdf/Brean+27.jpg Brean Down Reel But most of the routes on Ocean Wall are much harder, like L’attraction Fatale (E6, F7c). First ascent pic by Matt Ward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f430ec0d-7b68-4efd-9a4c-d23f8d5c604a/Brean+28.jpg Brean Down Reel and The Beast Unleashed (E5); first ascent in 1985. Pic Crocker coll (Gordon Jenkin) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4b0898d4-61e5-467c-8f25-792945f350a8/Brean+29.jpg Brean Down Reel At the western end of Ocean Wall is the deep rift of Reindeer Rift, often pigeon-filled, which climbers know as Cyclops Cave. There’s some nice bouldering on the rift walls and a bunch of highballs around to the left on a wall dedicated to Jane Fonda. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and Back (V0+) has to be repeatedly reversed to escape from the problems, the best of which is The Launch (V3), the bold arête direct. Pic: Matt Ward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/7004173a-62ea-492b-ac9d-e1cf3a142e29/Brean+30.jpg Brean Down Reel And this is a sexagenarian not to be missed. It's the elegant if nervy Cyclops Slab (HVS) which, in 1964, John Hone rated as ‘One of the hardest routes in the Mendips.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/48810000-43ad-49c9-bf57-7c668b6aa053/Brean+31.jpg Brean Down Reel Matt Ward's first words in his article for Mountain magazine in 1987 were: 'The sun always shines on Brean.' He lied. There's no sun on Axe Quarry, a north-facing bite out of Brean's backside which supplies six nutty sport routes facing T4 on the Beach. Here the dip of the beds will see you hanging desperately onto slopers, pumping inexorably towards meltdown or success. (The above pic needs lines. But the topo I drafted after two new tinkers in 2010 went AWOL.) https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/alternative-cheddar-gorge daily 0.75 2022-11-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/645e73d1-6a7d-4ed5-a4d1-f96779d76390/1.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Winter-only climbing in Cheddar Gorge is not to most people’s liking. However, today, many climbs, including Chili Cheesedog on Stepped Wall are available throughout much or (on the National Trust cliffs) all of the year. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4a0ab64d-7b19-4584-abc2-0dc88099305a/1a+Matt+Helliker+and+Kenton+Cool+on+CS.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Early routes like the famed Coronation Street, climbed by Chris Bonington in 1965 with the personal approval of the Marquis of Bath, remain among the finest in the gorge. ‘The Street’ is a free route, but many of the steepest bastions were climbed with direct aid from pegs and bolts. Pic: Dave Pickford, www.davidpickford.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4c7131e2-c047-415a-9fec-c64a1e3fece5/2a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge An ascent of Fornicator Simulator, in 1970. A pattern of climbing limited to the winter months evolves in order to avoid the spring and summer when the gorge is populated with visitors. This unofficial access arrangement becomes formalised with owner Longleat Estate in the mid-1970s consequent upon Lord Bath requiring a cliff rescue team to be created. Pic: Dave Ford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4a7e5bb0-cf67-4966-b4fa-f6756a634d24/2b+redacted.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge With support from the BMC, local volunteers pull together to form the Cheddar Gorge Cliff Rescue Team, a pivotal moment in Cheddar climbing history. Credit: BMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/cadb782a-565e-4215-b3b0-2961946f0401/3.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Pictured at a CragAttak festival in Cheddar Gorge, these jolly folk are members of the current incarnation of the team: Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue (ASSAR). Second from left is its former Chairperson Duncan Massey, himself a trained rescue helicopter pilot. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/fe5de5ad-2a31-4f29-8896-8f10a10ff8e3/4.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge An RAF helicopter on a training rescue exercise above Cheddar Gorge, in 2007. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f3ecde78-5b37-4f2b-94c6-4d5d863fde91/5.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge With an access agreement in place, climbing in Cheddar sees a boom from the mid-70s right through the 80s. Here Steve Monks (with partner Arnis Strapcans just out of view) makes an almost-free ascent of West Route in 1978. Pic: Al Churcher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9d7b38da-1091-4ad2-be68-6a23b006ed56/5a+copy.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Martin Crocker, tailed by banshees, crimps the first ascent of Siouxie in 1985 on a blank wall hemmed in by characteristic ivy sheets. Throughout this period adventurers probe the steeper and higher faces, peeling back curtains of ivy in the process. Behind lie exceptional routes but their appeal is limited by winter and overriding public safety constraints. Pic: Matt Ward https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3718d7fc-9ed7-4570-b06a-73987e084aa8/5ab.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Cheddar Gorge receives considerable press coverage in the late-80s and early-90s with various parties and experts chipping in to express worries about rock safety and the pros and cons of removing vegetation from the cliffs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8a21aede-56de-4b70-b5d4-89613506f85d/5b.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Landowners have to balance recreational interests like climbing against their responsibilities to conserve the Gorge and to keep it safe. I campaign because I want climbers to be heard and to be seen to contribute. At times we must sound oblivious to the bigger picture and the demands upon those who have to manage the Gorge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/83453ece-bb08-40f6-91dc-93374c014e4c/5c.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Discussions with Cheddar Caves & Gorge develop constructively to the point that I feel able to propose to the BMC that it support a project to rejuvenate climbing in Cheddar Gorge. The hope is that climbs can be restored and a new era of understanding nurtured to enable access to be extended beyond the winter months. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a088ea6e-6a25-4b32-a285-b935a5d08e80/5e+copy.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge In addition to a local survey, climbers’ views are sounded out in an Open Meeting organised by the BMC. Adventitiously it proves a powerful initiative to relaunch BMC Southwest, the area meeting which had become moribund reportedly because of lack of national support. Poster: BMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/871e6855-d874-48c8-a30d-f28800c9506e/6.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The Cheddar Gorge Climbing Project ‘think tank’, in Cheddar Caves & Gorge’s offices, 2005. Left to right: Hugh Cornwell (Director, Cheddar Caves & Gorge), John Beck (consulting geologist), Martin Crocker (project founder, representing the BMC), Nigel Elliott (Rock-safety Team Leader, Cheddar Caves & Gorge). Pic: Martin Crocker coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c6c478cf-38c6-4488-b538-0d1504329a2c/6a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Any consideration of a proposal to extend access could only be based on a risk-assessment of the individual cliffs and climbs. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/daae7e2d-1c7f-4f8f-b0ae-faf70c8953c5/6c.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge In order to minimise the risk of rock (or climbing gear) making its way into the road or to any publicly accessible area, the choice of potential extended-access climbing sectors is correlated with existing rock-catch fences. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8f0e585a-2b7d-4679-b8ed-e15d298debff/6d.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The limestone rock-faces are being destabilised by vegetation including ivy; the roots grow into cracks and joints in the rock, causing progressive damage. Expansive ivy-sheets are commonplace: pictured is the standard way up to Sunset Buttress, in 1973. Pic: Dave Ford https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9003c321-b1d0-4dae-8bb2-8dbfdb04c934/6e.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge After consulting with the geologist and English Nature, and with Stop/Go road management measures in place, ivy and other intrusive vegetation are painstakingly removed from the selected climbs. Best efforts are made to remove loose rock. Feral goats released into the gorge assist – ivy is cordon bleu for them! Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ce13f444-db52-4d16-a8c4-e6b7249e8ac0/7.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge A lovingly spruced up Pinnacle Bay c.2005/6. The climbing project’s loose rock and vegetation removal supplements the huge conservation and scaling programme that Longleat Estate carried out in the late-90s. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9ad83724-fcd9-4087-a37f-4c31648008ff/8.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge An aim is to safeguard the habitats of rare wild plants including Cheddar Pink – a delicate emblem of Cheddar Gorge – which occupies cliff-top ledges. One way the climbing community can limit its own impact, is to ensure it avoids trampling wild plants at the cliff-top. This was achieved by installing bolted abseil stations at a level beneath conservation-sensitive zones. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4b623055-7e11-4994-bc27-67026ad5d62e/11+copy.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The Cheddar Gorge Climbing Project Support Group volunteers undergo training in the use of a power drill. (And, no, they didn’t cause the pile of rubble under their work area!) Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/73e9c691-a6e2-4e3f-91e1-5626ebcb78c0/12.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge In addition to new abseil stations, bolting technology is required to replace the many old aid and protection bolts. Here’s a sorry looking mound of rotting fixed gear, some of which dates back to the early 1960s. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/99d2aea5-aef8-4066-a5ac-628108288592/13.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Donations to the associated fixed gear fund are kindly made by the BMC, various companies, and many individuals. Word on ‘the street’ is that no limits are being applied to the encouragement some climbers need in order to make a donation. Pic: Martin Crocker coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/67782656-b667-43ee-8ae9-2cae0b622896/13a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge By Easter 2005 a formal proposal for extended climbing access is submitted to Cheddar Caves & Gorge. Credit: Martin Crocker/BMC https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b7e793bf-f47e-4977-bb64-6deafd354cd3/17.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge The project presents new route opportunities for those with the drive and knowhow: here’s activist Gordon Jenkin rapping from the Spacehunter pinnacle in 2006 to bolt the winter-only epic Castles Made of Sand. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0630a0f8-8144-435c-b070-9a5827b412ef/18a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Taking pride in the Gorge’s world class climbing and to launch a new guidebook, Cheddar Caves & Gorge hosts an open day for climbers. The event ushers in a new era of collaboration between landowners and climbers and the potential for a modernised climbing regime. Poster: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d8990672-d18f-46ca-a626-9fa7c7f06d4d/18b.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The range of climbing demos takes some choreographing. The participating volunteers risk missing out on Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (without Manet’s nude of course). Poster: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1a2556cf-9fa7-4ddb-bc7b-74ac19e7610b/18c.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Brilliant at marketing, Cheddar Caves & Gorge seeks opportunities to maximise press coverage; one such was a spectacular first-ever tyrolean traverse between the two pinnacles. Credit: Western Daily Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f06f5697-26fd-43fa-a553-0ac795f2a0da/18d+2006.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge It must have looked quite a sight from the Cheddar Caves & Gorge open-topped tour bus. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/84564ce2-5c64-4571-9839-73df8ab213f5/18e.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Nigel Elliott enjoys his trip through space. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ea7321e5-b2ed-49af-9793-0d5cf44d4f27/18g.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Star power: Sir Chris is guest of honour. Credit: Western Daily Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d227c4cc-9d4a-4468-8aa0-e6c897c20d50/19a.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Sir Chris talks about his 1965 ascent of Coronation Street, which was televised by mainstream TV. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b674f927-f181-4b18-94a0-a01fa5f1fdbe/19b.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge The penultimate pitch of Coronation Street, 300 feet above the High Rock car park. At the picnic I do my best to persuade the audience that The Inspire, an adjacent route of mine, is ‘much better’ than Coronation Street! Notwithstanding the tease, Chris writes to say he’d had ‘a smashing day’. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b5f40fc7-9f7b-4373-9d7f-8b9d7b141900/19c.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Cheddar Caves & Gorge approves the formal access proposal on the basis that the BMC puts in place a very-part-time climbing warden to help manage the conditions of the new climbing agreement. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0546ef29-f895-4224-b32a-abfd57476e44/19e.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The climbing warden checks that climbers hold civil liability insurance, and he uses all available resources to encourage climbers to stick to the rules. Pics: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/fcbe2288-61b7-415a-b1dc-f48d1ab5d313/19f.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge One day, during a climbing liaison meeting, Cheddar Caves & Gorge Director Hugh suggests: ‘How about a climbing festival?’ Thus, Cheddar Gorge’s CragAttak is born. Poster: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3866ec8d-745a-4e6a-b1d9-31a24985d3e2/19g.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Unfortunately with just days to go, fate serves up a severe weather warning to coincide with the festival. The festival is rescheduled. Press release: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1fc0bc21-0662-4ca2-b290-2f18372f55b5/20.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge September brings better weather, and the festival begins with competitors pitching themselves against a hard climb called Dada. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/b0051353-8b0e-4b59-9652-0e3881a074d2/21d.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge There’s a speed climb too, which sees climbers fly up F6a moves towards the finishing klaxon (that, unhelpfully, runs out of gas and then falls apart!) Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/8a5fb898-e95e-4a1c-acdb-36d5a2bf2126/22.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Local whirlwind Adam Mulholland wins. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ea4753fe-6907-4de9-83cb-169291dcefe3/22a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Prizes generously donated by local climbing retailers are awarded winning competitors. Pic: Jonathan Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/992870b0-6b22-4279-afef-93c193e2c22e/23.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The festival is an opportunity for lots of fun on the Cheddar Man Marathon: here Katy Holden and Guy Percival of the Legal Eagles team abseil in unison down High Rock while earning points for not breaking the delicate thread between the balloons each are carrying. Who dreamed that one up! Pic: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/89fbc83a-1479-4e88-ac50-6ae3db1471a2/24.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Others participate in their most alluring attire. Here, Mike Robertson lets his hair down. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6f8fdaee-0a14-4486-806a-554e9abf3114/25.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Meantime a giant ivy-clad slug oozes up Jill, to escape the goats gnashing at its behind. Pic: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4f9d96a9-d988-4532-b891-b86162cf7006/25a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Money is raised by The Cheddar Man Marathon teams for regional charity Children’s Hospice South West. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d7fd8874-5f79-40ee-915f-93f71ed32f2c/27a.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Another year; another festival. This time we obtain a road closure, so we can spread out safely and optimise use of the Gorge’s topography to make the event ever more jaw-dropping. Poster: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/2de36eca-28b6-4df5-925a-3f5efd239a7d/30.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Lots of familiar faces including ASSAR and Undercover Rock help out once more. A 60-metre tyrolean across the road raises heads skywards but all eyes are affixed elsewhere. Pic: Carl Ryan coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/07e4c65b-55cc-42f0-b85f-3a558ee753ee/31.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Special guest Steve McClure performs an unscheduled bat-hang from the jug on Sherryland (F7a+), this year’s difficulty climb. ITV West interviews him. Pic: Carl Ryan coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/4d10590c-f9df-4532-98bc-aedf5245272d/32.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Naturally it is raining again. Ben Bransby courageously tries to hang soaking wet slopers in the bouldering comp’. Pics: Carl Ryan coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c9bf7365-1f44-4006-8d45-c50f3c7d2294/32a.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Exacting revenge on photographer Carl Ryan gets the thumbs up from Gary Gibson. (Wet weather and the paparazzi are enough to drive organisers nuts!) Pic: Carl Ryan coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c2bbaad3-5815-4222-a7f3-c29af89f1dcf/34.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge It’s summer 2009 and time for climbing festival 3 – as elaborate, complex, but utterly sensational as ever. Once again press releases go out to the media. Poster: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d9872405-ac03-4f8a-9e78-1569f2575d85/32b.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge John Alcock and cameraman from ITV West interview Hugh Cornwell at the eastern end of the latest challenge – a 60-metre tyrolean across The Amphitheatre on the Gorge’s skyline. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a829f922-10b7-4a07-af35-edde3afec66f/34a.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Once again the weather turns unsettled, and an awning is requisitioned to protect the Sunset String Quintet (Bristol Cathedral Choir School students) from showers, if not the wind. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/43a856fc-c515-4a0b-bae6-f50c7ddd3e28/34b.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge A virtuosi member of the quintet seizes the opportunity to jump on the tour bus to woo visitors with a little Paganini. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/a94a51bb-bfcb-434d-9055-a16c80d4023c/34c.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge But the weekend is equally about ‘slacker’ Jon Ritson, here pictured warming up for his second year’s attempt at a record-breaking highline between the pinnacles. All the local press and TV are lined up at the cliff-edge (mostly in slippery leather-soled shoes), but Jon has to cancel: the wind is too strong. Pics: Martin Crocker/Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/42e7b59a-a057-445e-8566-76b16a21b37b/35c.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Jon returns mid-week, and fortunately I have my camera to hand to record his remarkable success. Western Daily Express runs the story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/25557cd7-7747-49bf-8bef-caaa9290572b/36a+dm+8.8.09.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge As does the Daily Mirror. (Really chuffed to have my picture in a national, but – like the Western Daily Express – a credit was not to be seen. It happened in the Daily Telegraph too. Some things aren’t meant to be.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/3a3f0ce4-93d0-42d7-8133-d66aa5b12d0e/37.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge A brilliant trio from Cheddar Caves & Gorge, without whom the festivals could not have taken form. From left to right: Paul Ballantyne (Rocksport Manager), the late Bob Smart (Marketing Manager), and Nigel Elliott. Pic: Carl Ryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/38006c52-6060-4e90-975d-91ba4279d284/38aa.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge It was rather a hopeful notion to try to rival or even eclipse Coronation Street, but – always willing to give climbing its due – the local newspaper, Cheddar Valley News, keenly runs the story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/fe0ec73a-53cc-4c93-b15d-f8d03e5d74b6/38aaa.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Eventually, climbing partner Gordon and I agree we should call the route Sullenberger after the cool-headed airline pilot who just weeks before had made an astonishing emergency landing in the Hudson River. So far as the new route eclipsing Coronation Street was concerned, well that was climbing journalism being mischievous again. Credit: Cheddar Valley News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/d0501e3d-bb0c-4d02-a5c2-62900edb7f2b/38b.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Combining with other events on Mendip, we seek to make the 2010 CragAttaK one to remember. A tyrolean is planned and tested across the mouth of the gorge, its aim to follow the exact line of circus artist Omankowski’s celebrated 82-metre long tight-rope crossing in 1959. But will the weather play ball fourth time around? Poster: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/1a8a971b-261e-4651-83c3-57c307f5e274/38c.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge The plan is to slide to the centre and abseil into the open-topped Cheddar Gorge tour bus as the cameras click and whir: great TV for the Gorge! The BBC turns up as did the wind and rain, and by the time the latter had stopped the former had left. The abseil into the bus late in the day proved an eerily quiet but still revolutionary moment, somehow apt. It proves to be the last hurrah of CragAttak - its dominion drowned by the British weather. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/0bdc4f3b-a980-4046-b128-08a6db6e0277/38cc.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge The Gorge landscape provides a high profile to deserving causes. With Cheddar Caves & Gorge’s approval Adam Young occupies a porta-ledge strapped to Sunset Buttress for seven days to raise money for the Selena Young Cancer Research Fund. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/de5ad6dd-9d9e-446b-8d45-675c1bc82d23/38e.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge There is always something exciting going on in the Gorge. As gracious hosts, Cheddar Caves & Gorge illustrates that climbing is held dear to the Gorge’s roots – a connect between conservation, adventure, and landownership values. Shrinking violet or not, appearances on the BBC's Countryfile and Country Tracks further the cause. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/ad56cdb4-7b5f-407b-a95e-e06a8435f293/39.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge It is an experience to talk about climbing to dignitaries on the tour bus. Like when Prince Edward The Earl of Wessex, and Princess Sophie The Countess of Wessex visit in 2014. Performing alongside is stalwart ASSAR Chairperson Duncan Massey. Pic: Cheddar Caves & Gorge https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/69903a02-4ed0-4487-9a0a-03c3a7ceee14/40.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge And then there’s the Marvellous dressing up: and why not? Pic: Martin Crocker coll. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/f55473e1-aefb-435b-86f7-8e80d579f0ab/41+a+Yousef+Haddu+and+Ian+Butterworth+brushing+down+The+Wave.+%27We.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Success, progress, and change invariably root in hard graft and ‘elbow grease’, often that of the unsung. Here, Yousef Haddu and Ian Butterworth partake of some extreme brushing, enhancing the safety of climbing on The Wave. Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/6c489adf-71bb-45f9-9938-7d1d860a0466/41b.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Don’t drive too fast in the Gorge! Pic: Martin Crocker. Safety in the gorge like the climbing agreement only becomes fragile if caution and good conduct do not prevail. I can’t imagine many people now wanting a return to……… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/cf05cc9a-7642-4682-b76d-e7aa70dbb3ce/43.JPG Alternative Cheddar Gorge Winter climbing! Pic: Martin Crocker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/c1663f8a-3fab-477b-b1a1-2f17184ef2bd/img242.jpg Alternative Cheddar Gorge Consider this pic a ‘thank-you’. He may yet ask me to take it down, but here’s Hugh Cornwell, former Director of Cheddar Caves & Gorge at his workplace. Hugh would often talk about ‘the halo effect’ of climbing upon his organisation. So I should Photoshop a halo above Hugh. It would be a well-deserved anointment for his embrace of climbing and the opportunities granted for a great future. Pic: Martin Crocker https://www.martincrockerclimbing.com/the-lean-machine-40-years-old daily 0.75 2024-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/154c066f-26ea-4d02-9875-96d3ed23b4f0/Lean+Machine+2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/5f43d293-7aa8-4c43-ae70-18804904f2a5/LM3.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/9378def3-1129-424e-963a-f2ece0ae6e54/LM1.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/120da273-4cd1-4eb4-b18f-b094542f81f4/img555.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb50e3490cc1c797604ab3a/73faf86a-86c6-4b27-af3b-77aa3998e46f/LM2.jpg