Climbing in North East England
by Steve Crowe, Bob Bennett, Mark Turner with the Cleveland Mountaineering Club
(Smartboys Publishing £17.95)
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High Mountain Sports
The North East of England is not the Peak, however, it does
offer a wealth of minor classic crags, which are often far from the madding
crowd and well worth a visit. The area, for the first time in a while, now has
an up-to-date guide, which, I am glad to say, has been worth waiting for. The
guide is well laid out with clear colour maps showing how to find the crags,
once there, modern style colour photo topos give the route lines on most crags.
The action photos on the whole are good though I would have preferred to see a
few more full-page shots and at least one is wrongly credited. Descriptions seem
to be up-to-date and well described. Gradings seem to be fair and any access
requirements are laid out clearly.
In the introduction the guide is described as 'a definitive guide to the best
climbing available in the North East of England'. I take it this means it is the
definitive guide to what is considered by the writers to be the best climbing in
the area. This could be misinterpreted as it being a definitive guide, which it
definitely is not. Crags are certainly missed, the most important of which is
probably Snotterdale in the North York Moors.
The guide has been split into four main areas, East Pennines, North York Moors,
Swaledale and Tyne and Wear which generally works well, however, certain things
irritate. The limestone crags of Swaledale may not be my favourite venue but
they are covered far too selectively in this guide. Worse still Healaugh (Crag
Willis) has fallen victim to the 'guidebook boundary commission' and appears in
the East Pennines section. As if to add insult to injury a picture of said crag
appears in the introduction to the Swaledale area. For the record Crag Willis is
in Swaledale. I also feel Windmore End would have fitted well in this guide
despite being just over the watershed of the Pennines. The Tyne and Wear section
covers the crags north of the North Yorkshire Moors and East Pennine areas but
south of the Northumbria guide's main areas. This inevitably leads to potential
crossover such as at Causey Quarry but this is no bad thing. It has to be said
certain crags in this area are, in my opinion, more than a little esoteric.
The biggest section, and for what I assume most will buy the guide for, is the
North Yorkshire Moors with the delights of Scugdale to the terrors of Whitestone
Cliffe described well. This part of the guide really does give a feel for the
variety the area has to offer. Hopefully this new guide, which is more extensive
than the last, will get more people out on to the less well-known crags.
Despite full and proper accreditation of previous guides from 1956 onwards in
the introduction there is some dispute on the accuracy of the first ascent
information in more than one area. If true then obviously this is a serious
black mark against the guide. In the writers' defence it must be noted whilst
this book was being written appeals for help, information, photos etc. were well
circulated round the local clubs, walls and on the web.
In summary this is a good guide to the area which will do the basics of what
guides should do i.e. get you to the crag and pointed at the routes. The area
holds crags for everyone from the local climber who wants to look for hidden
gems to the infrequent visitor who will be able to have some great days out in
fantastic scenery, climbing on some superb small, unsung crags.
Andy Saxby, High Magazine Review, May 2004 (Issue 258)
Climber
What have the
sea-washed cliffs of Filey Brigg, the perfect moorland grit of Slipstones, a
steep sandstone escarpment above the Dalby Forest, the site of a huge 18th
century landslide near Thirsk, limestone edges in Swaledale and several small
quarries in South Tyneside got in common? The answer is - not a lot in terms of
climbing style, but now, for the first time, they have a common home in a new
guidebook.
North East England, is a mammoth effort of joint enterprise by Steve Crowe and
Karin Magog and their Smartboys Publishing company in collaboration with Tony
Marr and other members of the Cleveland Mountaineering Club. This 500 page
volume supersedes the old North Yorks Moors guidebooks and much of the content
of earlier North of England guides but includes new crags, never previously
documented in any formal detail. The climbing styles vary considerably across
the area including Magnesian and other limestones, sandstone and grit with
several hybrids in between. There are big trad cliffs such as Whitestones and
Peak Scar, bolted sport cliffs at Filey and Houghton Graveyard, classic grit and
sandstone style trad cliffs on the North Yorks Moors but, I suspect, of most
interest to many potential users of this guide, bouldering by the bucketful. I
think it goes without saying that if you live in the region you will buy this
book for its (almost) complete coverage of all your local crags. If you live
further afield I suspect it will be the bouldering that will attract most.
Slipstones and Scugdale are pretty well known to outsiders but Goldsborough
Carr, Healaugh and Sunnybrow, for example in the North East Pennine are a and
Bridestones (I didn't know there was another one) near Picketing are bouldering
venues par excellence - generally quiet and in superb locations. Slipstones,
which has appeared in several previous manifestations has had yet another
revision by Tony Marr and with the relatively recent development and addition of
some outstandingly difficult new problems by the likes of Ben Moon and Steve
Dunning, its future as a world-class bouldering venue now seems assured.
The team have also gone some way to modernising the grading system in relation
to problems and micro-routes, with several now getting V grades particularly at
Slipstones. It's a pity, perhaps, that this theme wasn't taken further and some
of the bizarre traditional grades could have been dropped. On the same page at
Slipstones, for example, we find hybrid grades for five 4 metre routes all given
VS: 4c (VI); 5a (V3); 5c (V5); 6a (V3); and 2 other VS’s which just get English
technical grades and no V grades. It's all still a bit confusing. The more
modern, harder problems above V7 including Super Fury Animal (V13!) and Exocet
(V11!) get their own mini graded list. Another innovation for this guide has
been to remove the need for a first ascent list by the inclusion of all first
ascent details below each route description. Anecdotal material is printed here
as well, which gives all relevant info on each route in one place. It's
certainly easier than wading through lists at the back but has some
disadvantages by taking up more space and looking a little messy when a lot of
anecdotal material is included between descriptions. I'm not knocking it but
remain to be convinced it's the best format? The guide contains an ample mixture
of photo topos; line drawings and maps, which should ensure you, find your
chosen crag and routes with a minimum of fuss. They all seem clear and the
colour coded page index is also novel and easy to use.
All the photographs, and I suspect most have been taken with digital cameras,
are printed straight onto the text paper which I know reduces production costs
but provides more versatility for interesting layout and editing (see page 251
in particular). In the main they are good and show much of the character of the
diverse venues to be found in the guide, however, in general, reproduction is
not as sharp as we have come to expect in many recent guides. Going back to
crags and climbing styles, if bouldering isn't your bag, sport climbing by the
sea without that long drive south to Portland may just tempt you to try your
luck at Filey Brigg. Chris Shorter has put in a mammoth effort here, and a lot
of extra long bolts, to transform the steep sandstone cliffs into a worthwhile
summer venue with 30 Routes from F4 to F7b with most in the F6a-F6c range.
In conclusion, there is a lot of rock in North-east England, which has long been
overlooked by the mainstream climbing community. Now you've no longer any
excuse. The guide is a worthwhile addition to any northern climber's library.
Its style and layout is fresh and new and well worth the £17.95 price tag.
Dave Musgrove,
Climber (May 2004) Editor of the Yorkshire Mountaineering Club guides.
OTE
The new guide to climbing in the esoteric NE England area
uncovers a wealth of gems that deserve more attention than they ever receive and
as a guide this new edition is an excellent addition to any sandstone climber's
bookshelf. The guide is well laid out, with easy-to-use maps and instructions as
to where the crags are, and good up-to-date route descriptions.
The guide does what it should do: get you to the crag, tells you of any access
requirements, describes the routes well and gives mostly accurate grades.
Splitting the guide into East Pennines, North York Moors, Swaledale, and Tyne
and Wear works well, however the poaching of some crags from other areas is a
bit naughty. I know Slipstones is a fantastic crag but everyone is trying to
include it in their guide nowadays, a far cry from when it wasn't in any! Have
the Geordies decided that Causey Quarry is too poor to be in the Northumbrian
guide now? I also don't like the alphabetical listing of crags as it makes for
tricky days out at the crags, e.g. if you walk to The Wainstones from Hasty Bank
you first pass Landslip, Ravenscar, Oblique Buttress (mysteriously named
Broughton Bank) then the Wainstones and then you might go on to Cold Moor. I
liked the old NY Moors guide of describing the crags in the order you arrive at
them rather than thumbing through the index repeatedly. This is done for Captain
Cooks, so why the lack of consistency? Another gripe is that the North Yorks
section is supposed to be definitive; however there are a number of crags
dropped out of the guide, e.g. Roseberry Topping, Garfit Quarry and the
excellent Snotterdale which will only cause confusion when someone redevelops
the crag and renames the routes in the future. My biggest criticism of the guide
is the first ascent details. Oblique Buttress was developed in 1983 with the
routes Physical (Class Action) and In the Nick of Time (Master Class) being
climbed by myself, Steve Brown, Paul Ingham and Johnny Adams, yet the crag is
re-named Broughton Bank and supposedly developed in 1996. These routes were
recorded in New Climbs 1986 published by the BMC – the guidebook writers
obviously haven't done their research well enough. There are also a lot of other
errors many of which could have been corrected by sending recent activists first
ascent lists. I will let you have my corrections Steve, unfortunately according
to my diaries there are quite a few!
I don't like the lack of consistency with grading systems either. V grades for
some boulder problems, English technical grades for other bouldering areas,
French grades plus English grades for some sport routes, French grades only for
others and English grades for just about everything else. Also, do you or don't
you, grade for bouldering mats?
I was disappointed with the cover picture, pleasant enough but I really like to
see an inspiring photo of one of the area's hard routes on a guide cover,
something to make you want to go and do the route. Magic in The Air, Esmerelda
or Stratagem (again) would be more in keeping with the quality of climbing in
the area. I would have preferred fewer full page pictures rather than the number
of small ones, many of the same people.
The inclusion of Filey and Houghton Graveyard with their sport routes is a nice
new addition but why not include Kisden Gorge in Swaledale as well?
Goldsborough, Crag Willas, Brown Beck Crag and Round Crag as well as many others
will give those infrequent visitors to the area some superb days out amongst
wonderful scenery without crowds and with good up-to-date descriptions and
that's what the guide really does best. Overall, well worth buying, you will
find some gems in here but don't rely on some of the first ascent information.
lan Dunn OTE 134 (February 2004) "It is certainly the best guide yet to the
area"
A considered view by Fiend:
Fiend is a mild
mannered genuine climbing enthusiast who likes discussing climbing topics online
when he's not actually out doing it. Email
Fiend
I was waiting,
eagerly, for the NEE guide ever since it was announced and originally due out
this time *last* year. Now I've finally got it, I'm quite disappointed. I'm
happy with how much it covers, the photos are okay, the maps are good, the topos
great, and it's pleasingly comprehensive. There are a few minor issues - the
size and softback cover are a little inconvenient, the introduction is a bit
bland, and there is no mention of bouldering mats and grades - this last point
is very peculiar given a lot of the routes in the book are microroutes and the
effects of mats on their grades should have been made very clear. Oh and there
is no mention that Filey Brigg is extremely bloody reachy and that is as much of
an issue with the general undergrading there as the steepness.
However, the main issue with me is the inaccuracy of grades and stars of some
areas where I've done a fair bit of climbing - specifically The Cleveland Hills,
Crag Willas & Goldsborough, Slipstones.
For the latter three, the problem is the inconsistency with how bouldering
grades vs. route grades are allocated. Some short boulder problems are now,
appropriately, boulder problems, but some micro-routes are inexplicably treated
as boulder problems despite being comparably - or more - serious that other
micro-routes elsewhere. Hubris and Motivation being good examples. At the
Slipstones the first part is very good, then you get a load of 4m boulder
problems pretending to be routes near the end (like VS 5c and HVS 6b). This
makes it hard to know what's a boulder problem and what's not from reading about
the crags.
For the Cleveland Hills I have noticed a lot of grades and stars that are, in my
experience, just wrong:
Park Nab:
Dangle HVS 5c - why down from E1?? Hard and committing.
Twin Cracks S** - should have gone down to HS** maybe, strenuous and slippery.
Pinnacle Face HVS 5c "Climb the centre of the face, using the right arête if you
must" - ridiculous - no stars? That is taking the piss... E1 5b ***, brilliant
route with a delicate start and increasingly positive, but steep climbing,
obvious natural line to lay off the arête and rock into the breaks.
Wall Bar Buttress S* - probably HS* as well, steep committing climbing.
Hari Kari HVS 5a* - should be at least **, delectable wall climbing with a
brilliant final move. Why underrate it?
The Bitter End HVS 5c* - agree with it going up to 5c, but probably should have
stayed at E1 too, little cam is strenuous to place and no gear otherwise.
Wainstones:
North Route HVS 5b - should have stayed at E1 5a*, committing not hard, and a
fun route that gains a little summit, why no stars?
Bo Peep VS 4b** - should be VS 4c**, reasonably safe but really quite tricky
moves even at 4c.
Christopher VS 4b** - should be at least VS 4c**, with exactly the same comments
as above.
Concave Wall HVS 5b*** - why down from E1 5b?? Bold start and tricky and very
committing above, just like a standard grit E1 5b slab. More like ** as well.
(BTW I agree with the changes to: Steeple Face, East Sphinx Direct, and from the
look of it, Ali Baba).
Scugdale:
Several of the shorter routes here could do with just boulder grades/tech
grades.
Woodpecker Wall S* - why down from *** when it provides 7m of the most
delightful climbing around at the grade??
The Prow E1 5a - no stars what ARE you on, this is a good line and
entertainingly unusual climbing, how can this get no stars compared to ** for
the undistinguished reach problem of Stewker next door.
Pulpit E1 5b** - E1 5c* more like, the moves to get over the lip are desperate
(and could snap your foot if you leave it in), plus it's a pretty crappy one
move non-wonder.
Tippling Wall HVS 5a** - easy at this grade, upgrading this compared to
downgrading harder routes makes a mockery of the whole thing.
Eve E2 5b* - down to E2 like it should be, but one measly star. FFS another
great line with exciting bold climbing, ** minimum.
Scugdale Wall Eliminate Vs 4b - should be VS 4c*, good overhanging climbing, not
a bold 4b but a safe and strenuous 4c.
Bonzo VS 5b* - why down from HVS? Very standard at HVS 5b* i.e. one safe but
really quite hard move.
Barker's Crags:
Mr Whippy/Born In The USA/Captain Kirk E2 5c - no idea what you are trying to do
here?? Get rid of one good original route and replace it with a hybrid of two
eliminate?? Sounds shit to me. Why not have something following the natural line
up the groove and whatever's to hand and deserving a star??
Fallen Arch HVS 5a** - why didn't this go down as it's one of the few things
that should be lower graded, a 5a boulder problem or VS 5a tops.
Sculptured Wall E1 5a - no stars? Why not? Good route.
To be honest, I'm almost tempted to take the guide back, as I don't know how
useful it is going to be.
I got this guide for 3 reasons: 1. To get good information about a whole lot of
crags I hadn't visited. 2. To see accurate information doing justice to some
crags I had visited. 3. To support definitive local guides to a good climbing
area.
So far it has failed noticeably in 2., so I simply don't know if I can trust the
information that's provided, as far as 1. goes. If grade and star inaccuracies
as wild as Pinnacle Face or The Prow are common, it could be a long drive from
Sheffield to discover that the crag full of ** E1s is actually full of no star
E3s, particularly whilst simultaneously wondering if a load of no star E2s
elsewhere are actually classic E1s... How can I rely on a guide that so far has
proved quite unreliable??