About Us

Founded in 1967, the Castle is a BMC affiliated, Sheffield-based mountaineering club, but we’re not just about mountaineering. The aims of the Club, as stated in the Constitution and Rules, are to “foster the love of mountains and to afford opportunities to its members of acquiring knowledge of all aspects of climbing and mountaineering”. Our members undertake a wide range of activities including rock climbing, walking, trekking, backpacking, ski mountaineering, ski touring and mountain biking. What unites us is our love of remote and mountain environments and enjoying those places with others. We’re a rather sociable and supportive bunch with a lot of combined experience. Many lifelong friendships have resulted from club membership.

Clubroom

The Castle has a clubroom behind the Rising Sun on Abbey Lane, Sheffield, with its own indoor climbing wall. We meet there from time to time for social, training, and other activities. These are listed on the Home Page of the website. During the winter we hold regular presentations of members’ activities undertaken during the year. We also hold an annual photographic competition (although none has taken place since 2019).

Activities

Club members engage in a huge range of activities. Generally summer meets tend towards rock climbing, winter meets towards hillwalking and weekends away are a free-for-all of various activities depending on location! Take a look at the meets list, on the home page, for some idea of the various activities we’re currently running. You can also browse our Past Meets. Meets lists are put together by the committee on a quarterly basis. However, the meets list reflects only a fraction of what people do. Many trips are arranged informally between members and whatever you want to do you’re sure to find someone else who’s interested, and most likely also someone who’s already done it with some good advice to pass on!

When it is too dark to climb outside in the evenings we often meet at a local climbing or bouldering wall – keep on eye on our messageboard for more information.

Benefits of Club Membership

• • You automatically join the British Mountaineering Council and become part of a much wider network of climbers and hill walkers. Additionally you make a contribution to their access, conservation, safety and environmental work
  • Through the BMC you get £10m third party liability insurance which protects you if you cause an accident on a club meet or as an individual
  • Your BMC membership card gets you up to a 15% discount with 700+ outdoor retailers nationwide
  • Joining us gives you the opportunity to find climbing, walking, mountaineering, biking and skiing partners
  • You join a bunch of sociable, like-minded people keen and knowledgeable on many aspects of the outdoors
  • The club provides organised activities 52 weeks of the year including monthly away meets and weekday evening climbing from April to October. Lift sharing is often available and makes sense to more distant destinations
  • You gain access to advice and mentoring from other members
  • You can gain skills from informal training sessions. Recent examples have covered navigation, ropework, mountain biking and bike maintenance
  • You can access BMC subsidised training courses and other events
  • the club takes the risk of booking huts, campsites and other accommodation, sometimes years in advance for popular locations
  • You can use the club’s extensive library
  • You can use our own indoor climbing wall and join our regular visits to other Sheffield indoor venues
  • The club organises regular photo presentations of recent trips undertaken by members together with film nights and other social events

Privacy

Our policy on Privacy is stated in our Privacy Notice.

 Committee