UKH

I'm sure that they're not all crappy (and I'm not really dissing them - that's just click-bait - it's actually quite impressive), but judging by the photos over the last few months, one consequence of Covid seems to be that every little "local" exposure of anything rock-like is being discovered and climbed on.

Whoever knew there was so much stuff in say, Gloucestershire.

I wonder how many of them will still be visited when/if we get back to normal.

In reply to Michael Hood:

The click bait worked on me but I assumed this was the title of a new West Midlands guidebook.

But I agree. In general, I think discovering and taking pleasure local things rather than travelling to honeypots has been one of the good things to come out of this experience. I'd guess when things are relaxed there will be a strong swing back to the honeypots but the long term equilibrium will see relatively more use of local crags, nature reserves and "natural" spaces.

In reply to NathanP:

I'd look at what happened during foot and mouth as a guide.

For example I wonder how many people braved the A55 to climb at Roadrunner after restrictions were lifted.

In reply to Brown:

Yes I go past Cragfoot every day and haven't seen anyone climbing there since foot and mouth when there used to be queues!  And it's not even a really crappy crag. 

In reply to Michael Hood:

Castle Rock up Cleeve Hill is pretty good for a local crag. The views are nice and it dries out quickly. Lots of stakes as well. Not very big though.

Actually on 2nd thought, its crap don't come. Not worth the drive.

In reply to Michael Hood:

You mention Gloucestershire.  With a bit of luck perhaps Mark Davies will post and add some meat to the bones.  I know Mark has spent a lot of time exploring, cleaning and publishing several of these lesser known crags in Gloucestershire and is a big advocate of making the most of local venues. It's nice to see that the spirit of exploration and adventure is not dead.

Al

In reply to Michael Hood:

A limited run of Frome Valley guides (think small, broken and loose sandstone bluffs in a generally dirty, wet valley) has sold out and become very sought-after in local facebook groups. I couldn't believe the amount of pads I saw a few weekends back when I went. Pre-Covid you would never see anyone there but the inside climbers have nowhere else to go now. 

In reply to Michael Hood:

I think sometimes it's a matter of taste. Supposedly crappy crags can be surprisingly enjoyable. I used to climb quite a lot on the little crags in the Malverns, many of which seem almost entirely neglected. Unfashionable and with a fairly terrible reputation, but it's actually ok if you're prepared to be adventurous. Certainly, it's esoteric and took some getting used to - an "interesting" combination: fragile, snappy rock, lack of gear and no proper belays as typically the crags merge into steep hillside. Mostly, I soloed.

In reply to Michael Hood:

All in the eye(s) of the beholder.

I recall, back in the day, that crags of the 'stature' of Scout Crag (Langdale) and Side Pike were regarded as 'minor crags'...a far cry from the micro-route revolution that started apace in the 80s/90s etc etc. In my '67 edition Langdale guide, Scout had 7 routes (now 37) and Side Pike had 4 (now 35)...

On the other hand...East Buttress (Pavey) had a paltry 6 routes in the same guide...and now has 24 - many of which are peerless in the Lakes, let alone Langdale.

In reply to Greenbanks:

All in the eye of the boulderer.

The demand for boulders to climb around Bristol is far beyond what is mentioned in guidebooks.Those that were previously untouched since Martin Crocker discovered them are now being revisited with a vengence. We could do with a decent new guide to esoteric bouldering around here.

In reply to Michael Hood:  Loads I imagine.  Its very nice to be able to get out after work and only have to drive 10,20 minutes

In reply to guffers_hump:

Ah Cleeve Hill. Due to its geographical context it is both crap and polished!

In reply to Michael Hood:

I grew up in Leicester, and to this day still mourn the demise of the classics in (landfilled) Whitwick Quarry

In reply to AlanLittle:

Ah, Whitwick - a jewel in the Leicerstershire crown...I've tried to locate my antique Vicker's guide (bright yellow) with such routes as 'The Orb' and 'Sceptre' - my first 'hard' route, I thought back then (think it was VS). We were young, had no transport and little gear...but that crappy little place made my heart sing on a summer evening after school...

In reply to Greenbanks:

What it's all about.

Mick

In reply to Greenbanks:

First time we went to Whitwick we ended up in the adjacent (still just) working quarry and had just about fitted all the guidebook features to the rock when we realised that the correct hole in the ground was next door!

Sceptre was VS, fell off the crux top pitch 3 times before nailing it (it took that long for me to realise what I was doing wrong 😁) and looking in my log, I did solo it some years later.

I think my favourites were on the "Block", things like Grudge, Pig's Ear and Lizard Crack. I have some cine film ("what's that" today's youth asks) of Grudge which I really must transfer and add a sound track - ELP's version of Fanfare for the Common Man fits perfectly.

Gave the Yellow guide away when I moved from Leicester (still got the 92 one) - I think to "The Sheep" of this parish or one of his crowd.

In reply to Michael Hood:

Surprising what reminiscences a crappy little thread can evoke

😊

In reply to Michael Hood:

I 'checked out' some of the crags on my local walks during the first lockdown from the South Cheshire Esoterica section of the Cheshire sandstone guide (that's actually what the chapter is called).

Some of them were actually worth a visit, though we were in the middle of a drought. I might 'check them out' again if it ever stops raining.

In reply to guffers_hump:

At first glance I read that as 'Lots of snakes as well, not very big though'  Maybe you could promote that to help keep it tourist free.

In reply to Jim Lancs:

Cragfoot's a nice crag, especially since a lot of trees were felled a few years back. Some folks just can't handle real limestone (ie the odd loose hold or blade of grass). Left Foot Eliminate is the Sloth of limestone!

In reply to Lankyman:

Yes I should have said "It's not even a crappy crag".

And compared to some of its neighbours that have been bolted, it's right up there with Cloggy!

In reply to Michael Hood:

I was wondering whether ‘buildering’ was having a renaissance. Anyone going to Sedgwick Bridge these days for example?

In reply to Bob Kemp:

Yes! Strangely, somewhere with half a gale blowing through it for most of the time now has its fans.

In reply to leland stamper:

You know GWR have one in the pipeline?

In reply to Bob Kemp:

Not for me I'm afraid. UKC lists 22 'crags' within 40 miles of my house. 21 of those are bridges or walls. I've not been climbing for 10 months but still have no desire to visit any of those types of venues.  

In reply to Jim Lancs:

You could get a really good endurance session there by repeating both the traverses. Not particularly useful at the moment of course!

In reply to Removed User:

Better than nothing, alright for top roping

In reply to flatlandrich:

I've only ever seen a couple snakes in my whole life living here.

Supposedly the bigger ones live in the crag though.

In reply to PaulJepson:

Been on tenterhooks for the past year!

In reply to guffers_hump:

Supposedly the bigger ones live on the crag though

Fixed

In reply to Michael Hood:

Classics! As good as any small scale outcrop routes anywhere. Fite me!

In reply to Bob Kemp:

I walked under it a few weeks ago and it was cold and grim. I only ever used it once and that was decades ago. Perhaps not surprisingly, it wasn't plastered with chalk.

In reply to Michael Hood:

I reckon 'Crappy Little Crags of the UK' would be a great coffee table book.

In reply to anyone:

Can someone name 3 crappy little crags in Yorkshire.....just trying to get a feel for what is crap and little

In reply to Jim Lancs:

I can't let you send Cragfoot into the Climbing Room 101.  I did four routes there, back in the eighties.  I seem to remember going there a couple of times, it was fine if you were just getting into climbing.

We only went to Jack Scout Cove once though.  We thought that really was crappy and little.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Other Leics classics (still there) that are as good as any outcrop route at similar grades:

Mango (VS) - line, length, quality moves, gear, situation - what more could you want from single pitch VS?

Sorcerer (E1) - similar quality of moves and overall "feel" to L'Horla on Curbar

In reply to Dave Cundy:

Jack Scout Cove. We went there once lured under false pretences by the 3 stars then awarded to In the Wake of Poseidon (I think). While we were there, a light aircraft crashed on to the sea-washed grass/river threads at the end of the road. The grass was covered in picnickers but fortunately it missed them all and ended upside down in one of the river branches. Luckily, no-one was seriously hurt. The emergency services had been alerted and blocked the road out so we could't get away. We still didn't climb.  

In reply to Dave Cundy:

I wasn't aware I was trying to! Sorry about that. I was merely commenting on the difference between some crag's popularity during and outside, of the Foot & Mouth pandemic. Cragfoot was the only place (together with Warton Little Quarry) round here that you could access without breaking the countryside embargo.

However I can understand your underwhelming impression of Jack Scout Cove. When we dug it out and developed it in the 70's, the base was the most immaculate and extensive lawn of perfectly cropped grass. As a winter afternoon suntrap it was sublime. So I'll always have a soft spot for the place, even though an actual visit these days does quickly remind me of the reality. Still, a trip to do The Onedin Line during a high water spring tide is still a great adventure as you have to traverse in to the start above the sea. Well worth it.

In reply to Jim Lancs:

Stopped at the little coastal "car park" in Silverdale in 2019 and got talking to an old guy there (who did his regular walk there). He was telling me about how the main channel moves all the way across to the Grange side over a period of 30 years or so and then makes its way back and pointing out to me a huge bank (it was low tide) only a hundred meters out or so that just wasn't there a year earlier in 2018.

I'd not realised how much the channels changed in real time (as opposed to geological time).

In reply to Michael Hood:

Yes, the main Kent River channel does meander slowly about. Quite how rhythmical it is I'm not sure. But where mud and sand is left undisturbed it can then become inhabited by grasses and weed and begins to 'solidify'. The whole area of green in front of Grange over Sands has appeared over the last 10 (?) years.

But smaller areas can move much more quickly in storms. Big dumping waves at high tide are very erosive and the foreshore can disappear in a flash. Today the whole foreshore between Jack Scout Cove and Jenny Brown Point is much lower than it was 45 years ago so is subject to more frequent storm wave action. Walduck's Wall (the remnants of the land reclamation share 'scam' in the 1870's) only re-appeared shortly before the grass at JSC disappeared. Now the little stone wharf at its landward end (where they loaded the stone from the quarry to build the sea walls) has almost been battered into oblivion. 

In reply to Jim Lancs:

When the Lancashire Supplement was published in 1979, we were made up to have a brand new crag on our doorstep, which we were completely unaware of (no internet back then).  I remember being impressed when we first visited Jack Scout Cove, not only because the rock was completely unpolished, but because the setting was so lovely.  The perfect sea washed turf which Jim describes was like a well-manicured lawn running right up to the cliff.  It allowed me to boulder out the start of In the Wake of Poseidon in relative safety, even though bouldering mats hadn’t been invented!

One memorable evening in 1980 I finally committed to the sequence and finished that route, before soloing all of the other 28 routes in that Supplement, finishing by reversing Onedin Line. Whilst the very thought of such craziness now leaves me with sweaty palms, I certainly wouldn’t have contemplated it had the landing been the chaos of lethal, jagged boulders which greeted me when I returned a few years later.  I didn’t climb on that occasion and haven’t been back since, that charming, miniature crag having been completely ruined by that devastating winter storm, as far as I was concerned.

In reply to Michael Hood:

I suggest Miami Rock Ridge. The only rock within South Florida. Check out the panorama in the photo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Wainwright_Park

Comes complete with snakes.

In reply to Neil Foster:

I too first climbed at the Cove in the seventies along with lots of other local crags. It was a big adventure just getting there in a 'crappy little car' from the south end of Lancashire. I well remember the beautiful turf and idyllic outlook over the Bay. Even the addition of Heysham 1 and 2 didn't really impinge. The turf has long since gone. What I always find odd is how some folks turn up there (or anywhere) and feel let down, even seemingly taking it personally, that the crag has somehow offended them. It's not a patch on Stanage or whatever premier venue they care to compare with. To me, what their attitude demonstrates is a failure to appreciate it on its own terms. Presumably anyone lacking supermodel looks and galactic intellect is also a failure in their estimation. I climbed lots at Jack Scout over the last 40 plus years and also around the globe and still think it's a good little venue. I just don't compare it to Scafell and then throw a strop. And if you can't hack a blade of grass or wobbly hold just move along the shore and you'll find bolts galore to save you from the awfulness of it all.

In reply to Michael Hood:As a complete diversion I find geologic time a bit misleading.  A lot of things happen quite quickly in geology, as you've observed though most of the time nothing.

Back on track good to see some love for crappy little crags.  I have some boulders near my house you can boulder on.  They ain't the the new Stanage, but I'm glad they're there

In reply to The Pylon King:

I can see 1st editions of 'Crappish Rock' going for £200 in the future. 

In reply to PaulJepson:

There will be no 2nd edition 😁

In reply to PaulJepson:

That will be because most of the originals fall apart as you turn the pages.

In reply to Dom Goodwin:

Remarkable how often the Malverns crop up in threads like this. Usually ones about rubbish crags!