I had a meeting with John and Bruce Boulton (landowners of Chudleigh North Face) on Monday and have spoken to Lord Clifford (landowner of the South Face) today on the phone and clarified the access arrangements for climbers at both sites following some confusion amongst local climbers in the last month or so. Basically, the access situation is really positive and the landowners of both crags are very supportive of climbing in general and wish to see it continuing on their land. Concerns were raised by both landowners about their liability for climbing related accidents, but I have discussed these with them and they are happy with the situation. There are a couple of minor changes to the access arrangements which are outlined below.
Chudleigh North Face:
- All climbers should continue to sign the visitors book prior to climbing, however this is now located in the Rock Nursery rather than the Rock Centre as it was previously.
- Commercial or educational groups wishing to use the crag should contact Mr Boulton to ask permission beforehand at: Chudleigh Rock Nursery, Station Hill, Chudleigh, Devon, TQ13 OEE or 01626 852134. (This does not apply to individual climbers).
- All users of the North Face should note that some of the bolts on the North Face have been either fully or partially chopped and may remain in place in a seriously weakened state. The BMC would always encourage climbers to carefully inspect any fixed gear prior to use and make an individual judgement on its state, but in this case, additional caution should be excercised. The routes on the North Face were originally climbed as trad routes, so climbers attempting these routes may wish to carry a trad rack with them in case the bolts are found to be in a poor state.
Chudleigh South Face:
- Individual climbers should have appropriate 3rd party liability cover in order to use the crag. (This is a standard part of BMC/MCofS membership or can be sought from elsewhere providing the cover is of the same standard as the BMC/MCofS policies).
- Commercial or educational groups wishing to use the crag should contact Lord Clifford to ask permission beforehand at: Lord Clifford, Ugbrooke Park, Chudleigh, South Devon, TQ13 OAD or by phone: 01626 852179 or email: cliffordestate@btconnect.com. (This does not apply to individual climbers).
Hopefully that clears up any confusion as to the access situation at these two superb crags but feel free to get in touch using robd@thebmc.co.uk if anything doesn’t make sense. I’ve updated the RAD entries for both crags, they can be found here for future reference:
http://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmccrag/ViewCrag.aspx?id=24
http://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmccrag/ViewCrag.aspx?id=25
Finally, many thanks to John and Bruce Boulton and Lord Clifford for taking such a positive attitude and continuing to allow climbing to take place at Chudleigh.
Cheers,
Rob Dyer
BMC Access & Conservation Officer
