UKC

Does this place still exist, just been reading jerry moffatt's revelations and wanted to have a look and see what it was like.?

In reply to HOTDOG1:
It's still there I just spilled my coffee on the map.....

In reply to HOTDOG1: Yes. It's a very small village on the A623 - S32 4AA. Half dozen houses and a pub.

In reply to HOTDOG1:

Yes HOTDOG,it still exists but the climbing is not so fashionable as it was in the 70's and 80's when I was a young lad. Now you can see your face in the routes,it's so polished,
.Cliff

In reply to HOTDOG1:
It's still a REALLY good crag!

In reply to Hairy Pete:

It is quite a bit bigger than it looks, it extends back off the road in both directions, especially to the north.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoney_Middleton


Chris

In reply to HOTDOG1: Some of my distant relatives made it (I'm sort of related to the Goddards, I believe)

In reply to HOTDOG1:

Stoney is king of the peak!

In reply to Guy Atkinson:

In relative terms, it's not a REALLY good crag.

But, when compared any of the really good crags in the UK, or even the Peak it is not a really good crag.

Much of the rock is good but some is not beyond suspect. It's really polished. It's also above a road and part of it is an electricity power station.
I don't see these as the ingredients of really good crags.
I really like Stoney, it has it's own charm which brings me back there time and time again.

But I don't think it's a really good crag.

I fully recommend going there and testing it out though!

In reply to James Oswald:

It may be polished, but in its defence:

- It has bouldering, trad and sport all at the same venue.
- It really is good at E2, things like scoop wall are quality lines.
- You can climb there in the pissing rain, sport, bouldering or trad.
- It has some classic test pieces in all three disciplines.
- There is a pub nearby.
- Its pretty high in places.
- Windy ledge is a good place to sun bathe with a beer when its too hot to bother!

Not many crags in the peak that offer this.

In reply to James Oswald:

That's right, and I'm with Snoop, it is an excellent crag, one of the best in the Peak (s).

Great trad climbing and great bouldering in a convenient location - with bags of history.

Needs a bit more traffic, mind.

In reply to HOTDOG1:

Sadly not, most of it fell down in the mid 90's.

In reply to Cliffm:

When I climbed these routes in the 80s they were just as polished as they are today. I think most of the lines at HVS and below reached terminal polish back in the 60s. It is even possible that some of the routes have become slightly less polished due to lack of traffic and the weathering effects although I have no evidence for this. For the harder routes, the polish is relative to how much they were used in the 80s as training exercises - Traffic Jam, Bitter Fingers, Wee Doris, etc. - but, again, that hasn't got any worse in recent years and for most climbers, these routes have always been in the same state of polish that they are now.

Alan

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:
The VSs are polished, but not as badly polished as its reputation suggests. Strangely the sub-VS routes are mostly much less polished - possibly because they're not very good so nobody does them, more likely because they've spent most of the last 30 years protected by vegetation.

It's been very busy on my last 2 visits - though the majority were from the guidebook team.

In reply to James Oswald:

What............?
Not a good crag? You must be joking.

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax: Stoney is an amazing crag, and although i've not done much there, I have belayed more than climbed. It has always been a crag to throw people back to the ground. A true proven ground in the peak.

As Cheque tells me all the time, "If its polished just press harder". Plenty of real climbing in a truly magical setting. And road side, what more could you ask for?

In reply to lm610:

"Plenty of real climbing in a truly magical setting."

Sorry to be cynical but in what way is it a magical setting!?

It has an electricity generator in it and it's next to a fairly busy main road...

In reply to James Oswald:

At the risk of pedantry its a sub station not a generation station.

It is also a good excuse for taking a stereo for added psych. Take some retro tunes and pretend its the late 70s.

Best limestone trad outside of Pembroke

Fact

In reply to Brown: better than high tor?

In reply to Brown:

Questionable fact!

It's good but: High Tor, Cheddar, Malham - Avon even.

In reply to Brown:

corrected that for you

In reply to Toreador:

You are confusing limestone with magniseum limestone, whitestone cliff and other such delights are clearly in a higher league than pembroke and stoney.

In reply to Brown:

... or even magnesian limestone?


Chris