UKC

I'm working in Guildford for a few days towards the end of this month and was wondering whether anybody can recommend any sport/trad venues with low - mid grade routes within a short car ride? I'm from 'up north' so forgive me if this is a stupid question!

In reply to gfpowell:

Swanage/Portland at a guess

In reply to gfpowell:

Portland(sport)/swanage (trad) are your best bet, but they aren't a short drive.... 3hrs or so to portland, a bit less to swanage on a day with good traffic (although it may be a lot better now following the olympics relief road - haven't been down since last spring)

Otherwise there's southern Sandstone around an hour away, no leading, but despite its reputation there are some interesting routes worth a bash, but make sure it hasn't rained for a while before you head down, and read up on avoiding contributing too much to additional errosion.

A weekend in font is more than possible as another alternative.... either the dover route (4-5hr drive in france) or newhaven-dieppe night ferry which drops you in France about 6:30 AM, and you can be climbing by 9 on a good run

In reply to balmybaldwin:

3 hours from Guildford ? I'd have thought it would be a lot quicker than that. Its not much over 3 hours from Cambridge to Swanage on a good run.

In reply to gfpowell: There's the Cathedral, but they used to take a dim view of that.
Swanage is closest for leading (1.5 hrs if you avoid the traffic), Sandstone closest time wise, and you can always whizz along the M4 to Bristol area in less than 2hrs.

Other than that its not really the mecca for outdoor climbing.

Apparently the local climbing walls (Craggy Island is it?) are excellent