UKC

Bit of a breakaway thread From the sad story of how Assassin got its name on Gogarth thread...

Ever wondered how a certain route got its name? Or why a crag has a certain naming theme?

Ask on this thread, Someone may be able to supply the answer?

Or if you Know an interesting or Funny Tale of how a route got its name, share it here.

For starters, anyone Know why three Paranoid couriers on the dole at Avon is so called?

In reply to Choss:

Ive got a couple if anyone can help

Flying Buttress/direct -from my understanding its an architectural feature that looks more like another route further down the crag.

Browns eliminate- Whats it eliminating?

In reply to deacondeacon:




Two apostrophes and a capital 'E'?

;~)

In reply to ewar woowar:

Ha! Very good.

In reply to deacondeacon:


I think in the past the word 'Eliminate' was often just given to hard-looking direct lines up cliffs. Take Castle Rock in the Lakes - there are 3 "Eliminate" routes there, none of which would be 'eliminates' in the modern sense.

In reply to deacondeacon:




All the the other wanbees of the day,


Chris

In reply to Choss:

Well a couple more on Gogarth are North West Passage which was done by several climbers from the north west and was above Atlantis, another was The Third Man, which was so called because a solo sea canoeist came up and had a chat to me and Jim while we were climbing it.
Also Supersonic which was named after a TV show that was all the rage at the time we did it. And of course The Cad which Ron named ironically because me and Jim climbed the line on a top rope but thought it was too pushy. Ron then placed two protection bolts, nobody else in the UK had the authority to do that in those days.

In reply to Choss:

Another great route name was Kipling Groove, because it was Ruddy 'ard.

In reply to Al Evans:


The one that really puzzles me is White Slab on Cloggy. Anyone have any idea?

In reply to abseil:

I don't know about White Slab but I recall Vember as having a fairly unsavoury origin and thanks to Google, I've just found the answer to the Woubits question!

In reply to Tom Valentine:


Errrr I was joking about White Slab [admittedly a poor joke] - when I've done it I've found the friction a bit less on all the white quartz...

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Really? I just thought that Vember was the name of the Half way Cafe owners daughter,I'm fairly sure this is stated in The Black Cliff.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Why is Vember unsavoury? I thought it was the name of the daughter in the Cloggy station cafe?

In reply to Al Evans:

Indeed it was. It must be my sordid imagination at work to think that my hero had named it after her for anything other than charitable reasons.

In reply to Al Evans:

And of course The Cad which Ron named ironically because me and Jim climbed the line on a top rope but thought it was too pushy. Ron then placed two protection bolts, nobody else in the UK had the authority to do that in those days.

In a similar vein and on the same cliff.
'The Demons of Bosch' was named, because the bolt placed by Redhead, mysteriously unclipped itself on the first ascent.

In reply to Choss:

Red Bits at Tremadoc, first climbed by a mate of mine called Pete Blackburn. Pete and I were at college together back in the '80's.
It's called Red Bits because the second threw up on the crux moves following a horrific time on the beer the night before...I'm sure you can work the rest out.....!
ANdy

In reply to Al Evans:

Al, you need to go through the Stoney route names, in consultation with your mates. Nearly every route has a good reason for it's name. Here's a start; Armageddon!
Take it away Al!

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Indeed! Hairy caterpillars, apparently.

Nearby, I always enjoy Shrike.

jcm

In reply to Choss:

I have always wondered about Renobulous Bongetl (Burbage), it sounds like it ought to be from a poem by Lear or Milligan but I have no idea.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Yes. a hairy caterpillar AND valid in a game of Scrabble. Must be an odd looking beast if it's got a pair of hands, though.

In reply to Choss:

Many years ago I quizzed Paul Mitchell with regard to the origin/meaning of his Water-cum-Jolly route name "The Amnicolist Spies on the Black Submarine".

"What's an amnicolist?" I asked.
"Look in a dictionary," came the reply.
"I have; it didn't have it."
"Get a bigger dictionary!"

Even now with the google-assisted knowledge that amnicolist means "one who lives by a river" I'm not entirely certain. Is it a reference to the various coots in the adjacent lake that surface briefly, have a look round, then re-submerge - presumably, if so, examples of the related "Periscope Voyeur"? Come on Paul - an avid public awaits enlightenment!

In reply to Ian Parsons:

Paul's route names would form a fascinating subject for a doctoral thesis in psychology.

I'd have thought a crossword buff like yourself would have known amnicolist, though - amnis, river, colere, to cultivate and hence inhabit.

The Black Submarine, however, is trickier. I have nothing to suggest. Nor about Renobulous Bongetls. Come on, Paul!

jcm

In reply to Choss:

There is an article by Dave Gregory which sheds some light.

http://www.climbers-club.co.uk/journal/original/2002-03%20Journal-p76-82.pd...

In reply to Choss:

Dinosaur on the main cliff at Gogarth. Climbed by Pete Crew and Joe Brown (with 10 points of aid). Joe Brown's comment about Crew was long neck and no brains (from the Gogarth guidebook).

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Hi John

I think that "buff" is being over-generous, and certainly wasn't the case in the 1980s - although I was rather better then at getting up the routes in question than I am now. I have to admit that, despite usually being fairly useful in these situations, on this occasion latin o-level has rather let me down - "fluvius" representing up to now the extent of my ability to translate the word "river"! But those coots always had a "stealth" look about them...

I have a feeling that I've somewhere seen "Bongetl" written as "Bonged", leading me to wonder which version is actually correct; if carelessly written lower case - as in Stoney new-route-book scrawl, for instance - "tl" can easily be made to look like "d" and vice versa.

In reply to Ian Parsons:

Well, that ("Bonged") does suggest an alternative explanation which had naturally already come to mind!

Paul?! You out there?

jcm

In reply to Choss:

Am I ''out there'' ?!

I always thought I was way out there, Dood.

If people want the explanations,then if they repeat the climbs ,with photo evidence,then I MAY explain the names.

On the whole,mysteries are best left unexplained...like who was the famous climber I photographed falling off Profit of Doom this week?
Best left unanswered for the moment....

Amnicolist was a route that J Woodward had soloed 15 feet up and not returned to.But he has no connection to the name.

Nowadays I am more fascinated why I choose certain guitar chord progressions as I learn the rudiments of music,self taught.

Mitch