CHURNET BOULDERING Over 600 boulder problems in the lower Churnet valley Stuart Brooks
PHOTO: JOHN COEFIELD
CHURNET BOULDERING
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CONTENTS Copyright © 2015 Vertebrate Graphics Ltd & Stuart Brooks. Published by Vertebrate Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanised, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-1-910240-33-5 Cover photo: Stuart Brooks on Spellbound, Peakstone Amphitheatre. Photo: Brooks Collection. All other photos as credited. Designed & produced by Nathan Ryder www.v-graphics.co.uk
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 A legal bit/Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 What to expect in the Lower Churnet . . . 6 Reasons for this guide/What’s in this guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Parking at the Ramblers Retreat and lantern sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 When to go–conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Note on hold erosion/Hold restoration . . . 8 Safety statement/Behaviour/ Respecting the rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 BMC Bouldering Ten Commandments . . . 8 Stars/Grades/Grade Comparison Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Map key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The importance and conservation of Dimmings Dale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 GPS coordinates for all blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Useful information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Conditions table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Lower Churnet area map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Grasshopper Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Cottage Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Farley Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Dimmings Dale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Rainroach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Wright’s Rock Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Peakstone Amphitheatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Threapwood Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Ina’s Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Alton Cliff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Graded List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Problem Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Printed in Slovenia on behalf of Latitude Press Limited.
CONTENTS
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STUART BROOKS ON DEIR EL BAHRI, FARLEY WOODS PHOTO: BROOKS COLLECTION
CHURNET BOULDERING
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Introduction
I first visited the Churnet valley way back in 1997 after being inspired by an article in On The Edge magazine and Jason Myers’ Peak Plus bouldering guide. Little did I know how much time I would spend there years later; I was instantly hooked by a combination of the exploration, solitude and just the plain beauty of the surroundings. Following the footpaths in the forest, up hills, across fields, and through the rhododendrons revealed a forgotten history. Beautiful and not so beautiful blocks of sandstone conglomerate lay tucked away out of sight just waiting for someone to come along and look at them afresh through the eyes of a boulderer.
valley from Gentleman’s Rock. It was at this time that Andi Turner produced the spectacular Thumbelina over at Ina’s Rock. In 2008 Rob Mirfin succeeded on its harder neighbour Cornelius. The once quiet and forgotten crag of Ina’s now hosts two of the best highballs in the country. Around the same time, among the rhododendrons, forgotten crags were being re-discovered, re-examined, and other parts of the valley were being scrutinised for potential. The quest was on to find the most beautiful of sequences, the allure of a truly great line.
Looking at both the 1973 and 1989 Staffordshire guides, one thing which stands out is just how much activity and interest there was back then. Crags like Rainroach, Castle Crag and Park Banks stood proud above the valley floor and were the main focal points. One can only imagine how different things would have looked in the 1970s and 1980s when crags were free from vegetation. Local activists who opened up the area included Dave Hudsen, Austin Plant, John Stubbs, John Yates, Bob Hassall, Barry Marsden, Norman Hoskins, Dave Salt, Jim and Roger Nicholls, Jonny and Andrew Woodward, Steve and Brian Dale, Gary Gibson, Simon Nadin, Martin Boysen and Rab Carrington. The 1990s were up next, and activity slowed right down, well, apart from one man, Gary Gibson, who worked his way through the valley to produce a host of tricky routes. He can also be credited with many of the original classic boulder problems such as Ousal Low and Wright’s Traverse, first climbed in the 1980s. In 1991 Roger Nichols repeated what he thought was Right Wall over in the Peakstone Amphitheatre, but it came to light while researching this guidebook that in fact he did the direct start into this, now known as The Ramp. But it was in the mid 1990s that change really started to drift through the valley; say goodbye to your ropes, and hello to pads, toothbrushes and fingertape. The Bouldering Boom had arrived.
2007 was also the year when Lion Rock featured in the DVD Hard XS; The Pride instantly became one of the must do highballs in the area. And during 2008 Dan Ogden cleaned and climbed two aesthetic lines at Stoney Dale Quarry in the form of Picasso and Boccioni.
In 1998 the Rockfax Peak Bouldering Guide was published. The first time that boulder problems of past masters had been documented. The release of the BMC Roaches guide and Vertebrate Graphics’ first Peak District Bouldering Guide in 2004 and 2005 increased the valley’s profile and many new problems emerged, such as The Sloper Problem and The Undercut at Wright’s Rock. Oddities surfaced and gave a glimpse of what was to happen during the following years, for example Bizarre and Instant Funk. 2005 saw the arrival of Mike Adams who pushed standards further and was rewarded with new hard classics; Point Break, Warchild and Bhodi.
In 2011 the second edition of Vertebrate’s Peak District Bouldering Guide came out and cleared up some grade discrepancies, and later that summer Dan Varian quickly put the guide out of date by adding Panther Dash to Lion Rock, and a highball finish to Warchild at Wright’s Rock; Wildchild, one of the hardest lines in the valley. Rob Mirfin, Neil Furniss, Tim Banton, Gaz McShee, Ian Cornish, David Hudson, Team Bridgwood (Pete, Seb & Dom) and I have been responsible for most of the development from 2007 onwards, and within the guide those problems where first ascent details are known have been included to document the development and to add to the on-going Churnet history.
During 2006 and 2007 Rob Mirfin and I began to stray away from the main areas to find problems such as Miss You Already at Well Hidden Buttress and The Awakening across the
In 2009 the BMC’s Roaches guide was tweaked and the Churnet section completely re-written to give a more accurate picture of the area. Just before the guide came out Tom Churchman dynoed his way up Pegasus at Gentleman’s and Richard Cole succeed on a much tried problem, Limp Lizard. Dave Parkin then added the obvious start into this from Lockit to the Pockit to give Slow Worm. Subsequent repeats have favoured a more dynamic approach making the grading of these as hard as the problems themselves! At the tail end of 2009 Mike Adams swept through the valley again and added Lunar Direct and Crash Damage at Gentleman’s. 2010 saw Ryan Pasquill quickly dispatch the tricky line of Quill at Wright’s Rock, and that summer Matt Isles added War, Nip and Tuck to the Stoney Dale circuit. Then after being tipped off by Gary Gibson, late in 2010 the ‘Wideboyz’ Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall re-discovered Rainroach and produced two hard and impressive routes; Pieces of Eight and Captain Cutloose.
Stuart Brooks, January 2015 INTRODUCTION
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Farley Woods This is a series of outcrops that run along the rim of Farley Woods, north over the river from the Ramblers Retreat. There is no record of any climbing on these outcrops until Rob Mirfin started the ball rolling in 2007. I ventured further into the woods during 2010, and Neil Furniss and Tim Banton and his son joined me during the 2011 season. Seb and Dom Bridgwood and Gaz McShee continued the development in 2013.
Access & Approach
STUART BROOKS ON IMHOTEP  PHOTO: BROOKS COLLECTION
From the Ramblers Retreat car park, cross the road and go through the gate. Once over the bridge, follow the steps that lead down and left onto the old railway, turn right and after about 2/3 minutes of walking keep a look out for a tiny valley up on the right. Cross the stream and head into the forest. You will be able to see the Discreet Block on your right; the Twisted Block is left of this.
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The approaches to the other areas have been listed within their own sections.
CHURNET BOULDERING
Discreet Block
1–3
Conditions: this block faces north and is hidden in the trees. The left-hand side is slow to dry out. Propeller Head is the driest problem, which can be dry from April until November. The problems on the left are best tried between July and September if it’s been relatively dry. 1 Mushroom Head 5+ Sit-start the arête on the left of the buttress. Neil Furniss, 11 Jul 2011
THE NEW KINGDOM
2 Machine Head 7a (6a+) Sit-start the crackline left of Daywalker and top out onto the ledge. Morpho. Neil Furniss, 11 Jul 2011 3 Daywalker 7b+ Sit-start on the small break, use pebbles, pockets and the vein to get the hole. Rob Mirfin, 2009
VALLEY OF THE KINGS
BEE BLOCK AMAZING TREE BLOCK
100m
4–5 Projects 6 Feeding the Pony 7c Ù From holds at the back of the roof span to the slot and crimp your way up the wall. Dom Bridgwood, 12 Aug 2013 >>
OUSAL DALE TWISTED BLOCK
GRASSHOPPER RIDGE
DISCREET BLOCK
RAMBLERS RETREAT CAFÉ
1
3
4
2
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7 The Mentalist 7c Ù Sit-start, gain the crucial pocket in the roof. Use the small pockets and pebbles above to get the breaks. Rob Mirfin, 15 Mar 2009
9a Propeller Head Indirect 7b An alternative start. Follow the break until you can reach the holds in the roof and then span to the jugs on the original problem to finish up this. Rob Mirfin, 2008
8 Crazy Horses 7c+ Û Link The Mentalist into Feeding the Pony by taking the crimp above the lip, crossing right hand through to the pocket and then crimp on pebbles to finish as for FTP. Dom Bridgwood, 10 Sep 2014
10 Google Earth 7a+ From the same start as Propeller Head gain the pocket in the wall and then the seam. Either rock it out for the slopers or slink left to match the top. Rob Mirfin, 16 May 2007
9 Propeller Head 7a Ù Sit-start to reach the shelf. Use pebbles and crimps to grab the break. Then throw one for the top. A more direct finish is 7a+. Rob Mirfin, 16 May 2007
11 Pinkle 6a From the shelf use monos and thin pebbles to hit the break. 12 Ponkle 4+ The easier wall to the right.
8 5 6 7 9
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CHURNET BOULDERING
A
9
11 10
12
Twisted Block
13–18
Conditions: like Discreet, the traverses stay dry all year round. It’s best visited June to October for the problems which hit the top. 13 Heeler Monster 7a (6a+) The blunt arête from sitting, top out using the tree. Rob Mirfin, 2009 14 Firestarter 6a From the break climb to the pocket and top out using the roots of the tree. Needs a sit start. Rob Mirfin, 2009 15 Encore une Fois 7a Dyno to the lip. Rob Mirfin, 2009 16 You’re My Wife Now 7a+/7b From the break gain the pocket then undercut to launch for the sloping top. Neil Furniss, 11 Jul 2011
17 Papa Lazarou 7a From the jug in the middle of wall use the opposing holds above to match the top. Neil Furniss, May 2011 18 Hello Dave 6b+ Low start on the right. Use pebbles and pockets to gain the slopers then flick to the tree. FA Neil Furniss, 6 May 2011 19 Twisted Traverse 6a+ Traverse the break to finish on the slopers. 20 Multi Storey Parkin 6b+ A variation on the above traverse. Eliminate the break as shown on the topo. Dave Parkin, 14 May 2010
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17
13 20
18 19
FARLEY WOODS
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