In reply to Adam Lincoln:
Adam
Don't know of any access problem. It's just that they are protected by limited rotting insitu gear.
Ian
Hope to see you Wednesday to learn about your latest crash diet.
Re local ethics..I'm a local and I accept they are totally inconsistent in THEORY. How is it right to retrobolt natural Cheddar and not quarried Avon?
In terms of my own climbing experience what's now going on seems to make some strange sort of sense IN PRACTICE to me. I think Avon would be ruined by retro-bolting, whereas many Cheddar routes had been ruined by being climbed with limited fixed gear which then rotted or became overgrown.
I like keeping trad (place your own gear) as it was, but I'd rather climb properly bolted sport routes than climbs with limited rotting but necessary fixed gear.
The right end of Brean seems to me an area where virtually no trad climbers are going to try on-sight repeats because of the state of the fixed protection. If the first ascentionists give permission, then I think they'd be "better" as sport climbs.
Areas such as Fairy Cave Quarry have avoided the dilemma by being developed with a no fixed gear ethic..a great development in my view.