UKC

I'm looking to go away for a day or twos sport climbing somewhere in the south, i live on Portland and climb here and Swanage regularly and want to go somewhere new.
Preferably in the lower grades as I'm a fairly new climber, can anyone suggest a good crag or area? im happy to travel further afield if it means a good venue.
Looked at a few places in the south (cheddar and dartmoor) but a lot of them seem to have only high grades. Somewhere with a good amount of climbs in the 5 - 6b range would be great.

In reply to ConstaBern: There aren't any other lower grade sport venues in the south that I can think of. The lower grade climbs tend to remain as trad routes (do you climb trad?). The nearest sport venues are in South Wales (I could be wrong).

Have you tried the UKC map? http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/map/

Also, at the bottom of that page is a plugin for Google Earth which will show all crags in the UK and abroad. Great for planning holidays.

Hope that helps.
Adam

In reply to ConstaBern:

I'd seriously consider getting on the boat and going to somewhere like Clecy in Normandy.

In reply to GrahamD: Yeah, I went to 'Fosse de Arthur' (sp?) in France some years back. Great low grade sports routes in a forest / lake setting. Lovely.

In reply to ConstaBern:

The Wye Valley has some lower grade climbing. Tinten Quarry, Wyndcliff Quarry, Ban-y-Gor, and Woodcroft Quarry at Wintours Leap all have stuff.

In reply to Adam Perrett: 'La Fosse Arthour'

France would be lovely but I'll be driving up on a Sunday and leaving on the Monday so wouldn't really be worth it. Another time though perhaps!

Will have to check out Wales though, and thanks for the link to the map its helping me out a lot.

In reply to ConstaBern: Cheddar has a good spread at 6a-b range. There are two worthwhile routes at Anstey's Cove - perhaps wait for a sunny day and get out and DWS at Long Quarry Point.

Dartmoor has no sport climbing.

In reply to Will Cat:

Cheddar Gorge has quite a few in the 4-6c range.
Take a helmet (for belayer too!) as it can be a little loose there. You should also have insurance (BMC membership).

In reply to Durbs: Insurance required for climbing on the South side of the gorge, the North side is open access and most of the lower grade single pitch Sport is situated on that side.
There are a couple of ticklists here that include the best low/mid grade Sport routes at Cheddar and in the Wye Valley.
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=275
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=519
There are a few low grade Sport routes at the Holcombe quarries in Somerset, but not really worth a specific trip.

In reply to ConstaBern: You may be disappointed in other areas after Dorset, in terms of low/mid grade Sport it is probably comfortably the best UK destination. The only other area that comes close is North Wales where there are a fair numbers of routes in your grade range on the A55 Limestone Crags, at Trevor Rocks near Llangollen and in the Slate quarries (some of the levels in Australia have a host of lines at F5 - F6b, get the Ground Up Slate guide).