UKC

I'm starting working over in Leeds in the City Centre (near the station), using public transport and looking at the different walls.
Which is the easiest to get to and from?
Also is there one slight further away but much better, I'll mainly be bouldering.

Thanks

City Bloc is the closest - around a mile from the centre, so you can walk - it's purely bouldering.

The Leeds Wall is maybe a couple of miles out. It is mixed, so there's a bit less bouldering. It's on a fairly major road and I've seen buses going past, but don't know their frequency.

The depot is a fair way further out (over 5 miles) and is bouldering only.


Normally bouldering and we're coming from further west so 'much always go to The Depot - it's definitely my favourite in the area for bouldering.

When we went to City Bloc my friend and I were a bit disappointed when we first walked in and didn't really quite 'gel' with it, however by kicking out time we'd had a really enjoyable session.

(Note, far from an expert nevermind good climber, other opinions may be different .)

The last times I've done some bouldering there (Monday evening prior to their 'parterns in climb' events), the wall's been really busy and due to the design found myself waiting for others to finish a fair bit.

The depot's where I'd spend my time given the choice, but think I'd exhaust what City Bloc had to offer before making the trip out.

In reply to Stuart Wildman: The depot is fairly close to new pudsey train station (10 mins?), you can get the 229 bus from the bus station for the leeds wall (or walk it, once you know where it is) and city bloc isn't too far from the centre (though i'd go with someone who knows where it is to start with as it can be difficult to find. or follow the skateboards/bmxs as the building is shared with a skate park). All are good, everyone has a different preference so I'd try them all out

In reply to Stuart Wildman: You can walk from the station to The Leeds wall in about 10 minutes, situated as you are you may as well check them all out.

In reply to Stuart Wildman:

Leeds wall about 2k from station Depot about 1.5k

In reply to Stuart Wildman:

City Bloc, 15 min walk from leeds train station, and the best bouldering wall around in my opinion.

In reply to Stuart Wildman:
Cheers for the replies
Will get my walk shoes on and give them a try.

Thanks

In reply to Stuart Wildman: 72 bus goes from Eastgate to the bottom of Richardshaw Lane, about 100m from The Depot, and is about every 10mins through the day.

City Bloc is about 10mins walk from the bus station in the direction of Wakefield.

In reply to Stuart Wildman:

I'm quite often found in City Bloc, it's about 15/20mins from the station. The Leeds Wall is about the same in the other direction. I tend to cycle to them both from the station.

If you're after bouldering I'd definitely go to City Bloc, much better than the Leeds Wall and (IMHO) a fair bit better than The Depot.

The Depot is too far to walk but you could get the train to New Pudsey, I believe it's only a short walk from that station.

In reply to Stuart Wildman: The guy above me is clearly much more in the know about public transports, so ignore my advice

In reply to Stuart Wildman: Depot is really good

In reply to Stuart Wildman: If you wanted, you could get the train (about 30 minutes) to Hornbeam Park which is a 2 minute walk to the Harrogate Climbing Centre. Makes a change to the Leeds Wall if you wanted one.

In reply to Stuart Wildman: For just bouldering you have city bloc and the depot, I have always found city block to be dirty, bad matting and just a bit crap. The depot is great but many of the problems are very pumpy. I actually find that leeds wall has the best set problems (although much less of it as it's mostly routes)

In reply to Morgan P:

Bad matting? How so?

In reply to Morgan P: Have to disagree. City Bloc doesn't have a cafe and shop but has better set routes than the Depot.

In reply to Morgan P: City Bloc has recently had new matting fitted and seems to be undergoing gradual refurbishment including new toilets , there's a cafe upstairs that's been there for a couple of years. the problems are good, inventive and frequently changed. It's a very friendly place without an overabundance of beanies and is really convenient for anybody coming up the M1 from the south. Decent mix of music as well - the only one where I've heard Sonic Youth and Dub on the same night.

In reply to cragtyke:
Decent mix of music as well - the only one where I've heard Sonic Youth and Dub on the same night.

Is that good?

Good wall though

In reply to Bulls Crack: Oh yes! It shows the diversity you get most nights, a lot better than the death by industrial techno you sometimes get at the Foundry on a saturday morning.

In reply to cragtyke:

Not sure you'd like Harrogate with it 'Dad Rocks' mix!

In reply to @ndyM@rsh@ll:

The leeds wall is 1.5 miles from the rail station. You can't walk it in 10 minutes!

Citybloc is just over 1 mile from the station.

If you can get hold of a bike you can realistically cycle to the depot and it's all downhill on the way back

In reply to Stuart Wildman:

City bloc is my son's favorite wall, bouldering only. It has lots good problems and a decent cafe...it may be a bit 'rough' if you prefer the more 'tourist' oriented walls.

In reply to Stuart Wildman:

Technically, the closest wall would be the Leeds Uni one.

http://sport.leeds.ac.uk/page.asp?section=69&sectionTitle=Climbing+Wall

Since this has turned into a debate about the relative merits of the walls rather than geographical distance as per the question, I'll point out it's probably not the greatest wall in the area.