UKC

The annual Sandstone Open Meeting takes place this coming Sunday (15th May) at Bowles Rocks - in the bar at 7pm. From 6.30pm, there will be snacks available, provided by the BMC.

The Sandstone Open Meeting offers the chance to have your say on Southern Sandstone climbing and management issues. This might, for example, range from paying for climbing at Bowles and High Rocks, through access issues, top-roping and other ethical issues, erosion of crags, repair of crags, bolting issues, use of chalk, groups using the rocks, bouldering issues through to the Sandstone Volunteers Group.

Don't grumble to yourself about the issue that gets you going - this forum is the place to voice it.

The agenda is appended below.


Also, on Sunday 17th April, the bolt at the top of West Wall at Harrison's Rocks was pulled out with the loss of some of the surrounding rock. The damage has been addressed but it is not known what happened. If anyone has any info or knows what happened, can they please let myself or Chris Tullis know. It's important we find out if possible so that we can assess whether there are further implications. (See Rob Dyer's thread in the BMC areas section for more info http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=457411 ).

Thanks,

Graham.


Sandstone Open Meeting
Sunday May 15th at 7 p.m. in the Bar at Bowles. Snacks provided by the BMC – buy your own drinks from 6:30 p.m

Agenda:

1. Welcome and apologies

2. Minutes of the 16.5.11 Sandstone Open Meeting and the 15.11.11 Sandstone Volunteers Group Meeting

3. Harrison's Rocks
a) BMC Ownership issues
b) HRMG
c) Wooodland Management programme
d) Bolt Placement failure above West Wall (details of the incident are still urgently required).

e) Other

4. High Rocks
a) Further work/maintenance?

b) Bolt Inspection – Hut Boulder

c) Other

5. Bowles

6. Bulls Hollow
a) Further work/maintenance?

b) Other


7. Eridge Green Rocks
a) Tags on tree belays above the car park buttresses
b) Sussex Wildlife Trust

c) Other

9. Stone Farm
a) Work days last year

b) Other

11. Other crags

12 Southern Sandstone Charitable Trust – now set up

13. Any Other Business

14 Date of next meeting of SVG

In reply to Graham Ad:
In addition to the urgent need for any information on the West Wall bolt placement failure, we would welcome attendance from any of the posters on the forum on related topics over the last year or so who have made (usually contructive) comments as to the care of the Southern Sandstone crags.

In particular is the question of the need to clean footware before climbing. This is point 1 on the full Southern Sandstone Code of Practice but it does not appear on the current summary code as printed on the back of the CC guidebooks or on the signs at the entrances to the crags.

If you can't get to the meeting, please email Graham Ad or myself, or post a reply - it would be helful to know who you are.

Bob

In reply to Bob Moulton:

Hi Bob

The shoe cleaning issue has been a particular hobby horse of mine but I'm convinced that it has recently become the single biggest cause of damage on sandstone (with the possible exception of insufficiently extended belays)
This is both because it's become so widespread & because sand is such an excellent abrasive.

As you say it is missing from the summaries & even in the full-code appears as an aside to a different issue.

I'll do my best to get to the meeting but work & rail maintenance tend to conspire to prevent this.

In reply to i.munro:
Thanks Ian. Hope you can make it to the meeting, but even if not, we'll make sure that the matter is discussed fully.

Bob

In reply to Bob Moulton:

Another possible subject for discussion is the intention of the authors of a proposed upcoming guide to unilaterally introduce a ban on the use of brushes.

I think this issue is complex & there are good arguments both for & against such a ban.

I do, however have major problems with
a) their publishing of guidelines that diverge from the accepted code of practice.
b) their wording that seems to encourage a switch to more damaging methods of removing chalk.

In reply to Graham Ad: I will do my best to get along to this meeting but as an ex landscaper i am more than willing to supply labour and tools for days of work if needed for no charge.

In reply to willriseley:
Thanks for the offer - I'm sure it'll be taken up!
I maintain a list of 'sandstone volunteers' and email out when there is work in the offing.
Maybe you could send me an email (via my profile) with your preferred email address and I'll add it to the list...

Cheers,
Graham.

In reply to Graham Ad: Will the minutes be available to those of us that can't make it?

In reply to Elwood:
Yes, minutes will be available. They should be posted here http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Pages.aspx?page=248 but I see they're a bit out of date... I'll see if I can get them updated.
Cheers,
Graham.

In reply to Graham Ad:

.

As you say the recent minutes aren't on that link, due to a technical problem within the BMC website that I don't pretend to understand as they have been uploaded! Rob Dyer at the BMC should be able to provide copies, but in any case I will take a few spare copies of the meetings in May and October last year along to the meeting.

Bob

In reply to i.munro:
>Another possible subject for discussion is the intention of the authors of a proposed upcoming guide to unilaterally introduce a ban on the use of brushes.

Hi Ian

Noted. If you can't make the meeting, please email the details to Graham or me. I have some idea of the points you are making (and am aware of the brushing arguments), but don't know the details!

Of course, the BMC don't have a direct control of what goes into guidebooks that they don't publish. I and others who will be at the meeting do have a vested interest in the CC guide, in which the approach has been to use the exact wording in the BMC codes of practice.

Hope to see you there anyhow.

Bob

In reply to Graham Ad:

Thanks to all who came to the meeting last night. It was good to see 30+ attending and particularly some 'younger' climbers - all getting involved in the discussion. (It was good to see the older ones as well, it's just that I see you more often!).

Thanks also to Rob Dyer from the BMC for coming all the way down south and to the BMC for feeding us.

Cheers,
Graham.