UKH

I went to climb Stone Cold Fever at Cheddar this morning and found a little BMC 'no entry' tag ziptied to the first bolt. We decided to move on and climb Castles Made of Sand instead, but there was also a BMC 'no entry' tag ziptied to the second bolt on that route .

We stopped and double-checked the latest access arrangements/agreements and believe climbing is permitted (on 11th April): https://www.thebmc.co.uk/download.aspx?id=1732 

Regardless, we chose not to climb because there's obviously a reason somebody's put the tags there.

Does anybody know why these routes are closed? 

(There's a comment on UKC on Stone Cold Fever saying there's a bolt missing from a belay, but I couldn't see anything for Castles Made of Sand.

Thanks!

The restored multipitch routes have never been open outside the winter.

"Some restored routes in the guide remain as winter only routes. This includes most of the multi pitch routes in the gorge."

Our bad interpretation of the access map I guess? 

I will admit I find the access restrictions properly confusing. I've got the 2009 guidebook and it's great to see that more access has been arranged for the south side since the book was published.

We'd both missed the bit you quoted; from what I can see at the map it shows the Long Wall area as "No access for climbing: 2-5 April, 1-3 May, 29 May - 6 June, 1 July - 31 August" so we assumed it was open. https://www.thebmc.co.uk/download.aspx?id=1732  

Thanks for answering the question Glad we didn't climb it

It's open except for the closed bit, except for when it's open, apart from during the times that it's closed, excepting the open bit.
I can't see any way the access arrangements could be made any clearer....

No problem. It's not the simplest...

Sorry, this is really unhelpful advice that could hinder long term access at a valuable site.

You must take into account the moon phase and the Julian calendar variations.