All posts in Meet Reports

And so the final curtain, or at least the final Sunday climbing meet of 2019 has ended. As promised the rain had gone, replaced by a glorious sunny day, coupled with quite a cool strong breeze. Nevertheless a good number of members attended, at least 10 climbers I saw, one or two on the injured/sick list came for a walk and chat, one walked up without her gear as her partner promised to carry it up for her but fell asleep in the car recovering from attempts last night to become a pirate. No prizes for guessing who but its a long way from Barnsley to come for a sleep🤣🤣 he did appear later, but only to take pictures.
The early coolness drove a few away after a couple of routes but later the breeze reduced eventually it felt rather warm. Castle Chimney was ticked by several parties, many other routes in the Black Hawk area were enjoyed, or at least completed.
The meet leader ended his 34th year of climbing with the CMC on a couple of V Diffs, previously soloed but now a bit of an effort, with various body parts protesting and plenty of gear placed😱😱
Nevermind, hopefully we’ll be back climbing in 2020, jut don’t expect me on a climbing wall anytime soon! Scrambling next Sunday with Jaycee-May.
Thanks to all who came
Paul and Vanda

First apologies for the delay in posting but well what can I say , a truly great location for a meet, we were though blessed with the weather for starters, just a shame so few people attending, the Saturday we all climbed at Bowden Doors, a bit of a shock to the system as all seemed fairly steep to me but great routes and with the heat, we were totally wrecked by about 4pm just having the the entertainment of the only one still standing climbing Paul thanks!
Sunday we sought a bit of shade at Kyloe which again had great routes and we were able to flatter ourselves on some more slab like routes. we returned to our base for a quick refreshment before a cycle to Bamburgh and for some a cool off in the sea.
Monday we went south and high up with fantastic panoramic views all around at Simonside again good routes but a bit less used and licheney, we were beaten back by the midges about 4pm , was scared to try the 3* classic vs layback crack, even if i had had 8in friends probably would not have had time to put them in.
On a note for future visits the site we stayed at was not really for tents, we were the only ones, it was very friendly though with all manner of wildfoul, ducks, ducklings, turkeys, guinea foul and rabbits, near to the chippy and COOP, maybe a better site would be the camp site at Wooler.
Hopefully people will have seen photos on facebook
Bill

Eight people plus two dogs set off from Cutthroat Bridge along Derwent Edge in drizzle which quickly developed into “dancing white rain” and a cold wind.
Morning highlights- coffee at Wheel Stones, Chris impersonating a gorilla for a photo? Ziggy stealing a lunch pack from young ones sheltering under a rock, rock formations, descent just before Back Tor, hot chocolate and Bovril at Fairholmes. Andy’s eternal optimism that the weather was improving and learning that optimists live longer than pessimists!
Morning lowlights – cold wet weather, numb hands, realisation that very few of us had packed gloves,
Afternoon highlights – ascent via Lockerbrook, blue sky, delayering, warm sunshine, interesting route up to summit to bag all tops of Crook Hill, – for some of us the first time, deciding where the relics of the ancient stone circle were, final descent to Ladybower Bridge and realisation that cars not too far away.
Afternoon lowlights – aching legs, more ascent after ladybower Inn..
Overall – a 13 mile route with all four seasons, fantastic views from both sides of the valley, and great company.
Thank you for an enjoyable day out,
Ali

Despite the Meet Leaders optimism, it appears that some people were put off by something called ”rain”? However, he and fiancée [!!] duly arrived at 10am to find prospective member Risa waiting for us. We set out for the crag in dry weather, heading for some modest climbs as Risa had never climbed before. As Vanda set out on the first route, Hugh arrived. Despite very slippery trainers our new recruit soon ascended the starred slab. Time for introduction to gritstone jamming which we all subsequently polished [!!!] off, thanks to Hugh’s lead and Vanda’s intro to belaying lecture.
So far, we’d stayed dry, so our oldest female leader was pointed at a lovely off-width polished crack. Despite overcoming the crux and placing all the gear, she then nobly handed over to Hugh to grab the glory.
At this juncture, the heavens opened but after a slight wobble, the top was achieved, leaving the meet leader to second in a deluge to retrieve the gear. Risa was obviously enjoying herself so much she borrowed Vanda’s rock boots and followed.
After 3 routes, the Meet Leader was discovered not to have led anything, so despite the gentle drizzle we made our way to a chimney, green in parts, wet all over but plenty of gear where all had fun transferring green to clothing, the winner being our new recruit.
To avoid any pre-marital stress, it was now decided, at 2pm, that route 5 was to be ‘Pub Direct’ where 2 soups, 1 beer, 1 hot chocolate and 2 chip butties were enjoyed.
Thanks to those who came and had their characters built even further, it was fun to be out in less than perfect weather for a change.
Pictures on Facebook as soon as my phone’s dried out enough to work [hopefully].
Cheers
Paul and Vanda

Ten of us made it to Borrowdale between the Wednesday and Sunday. Walking, climbing, biking, scrambling and wild water swimming all took place. On Saturday some tried to find Millican Dalton’s cave. Millican wrote an article in the 1913 Fell and Rock Club journal advocating camping as an antidote to modern life’s stress. In the summer he lived in a cave near Castle Crag; having given up conventional life as an insurance clerk. He made a living from hiring out light-weight camping kit and guiding people up Napes Needle. On the occasion of his 50th ascent he built a fire on top, brewed some coffee and smoked Woodbines. Some of us tried to find the equally elusive Nitting Haws scramble, ending up on High Spy, and Dalehead. Climbing took place on Raven Crag, Shepherds, Doves Nest and Glacial Slabs, mainly on the less wet Sunday. Bill and Paul also explored Gouther Crag, West of Shap, including the excellent Kennel Wall. Chapel House Farm campsite was friendly and a good base. Maybe next summer we could do a six day Lakes trip, split between two valleys.

Geoff

A fine team set off from Derbyshire Bridge . Almost immediately we were overtaken by club cyclists and that set the theme for the day. A good ride with long fast descents and ok climbs (Def did it right way round). Stops for cafe and cute alpacas. On the final grind up Goyt valley pride made us take on a group of mountain bikers who were out for a picnic and had music playing while they rode, sadly it was a bit of a struggle. Overtaking their dog was even harder but we dug deep. Thanks to all who came. Elen