In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:
I don't want to put words in Alex's mouth, I just wanted to point out that many British climbers see an 'us against them' (trad/sport) division, because unsurprisingly their first port of call outside of the UK is likely to be France or Spain where sport climbing _does_ predominate. But that's not all there is. The UK ha unique landscapes, seascapes, mini-mountains and climbing history. That is what differentiates and makes it special. All I mean is that trad isn't as odd as some think.
> British trad is an oddity, especially at the crags mentioned like Gogarth: Hanging blocks of rubble protected by old bolt stubs and hammered in ice screws. Not standard climbing. Slate - trad climbing on run-out bolts!
Is that so different from American desert towers? So their impressive rubble is sandstone and our isn't, but dodgy bolts and hammered in bit'n'bobs all seem part of that game as well from what I've read. With slate you could argue that it's uniqueness is that in many other parts of the world with more rock, they would look on the British as a bit desperate having to climb in industrial litter-filled and collapsing quarries!
Of course, that would be their loss because slate is cool even if weird!