UKC

Suffolk - Yes the one in the UK

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 MaranaF 05 Jun 2014
Mountains are conspicuous by their absence in Suffolk. In fact Suffolk could not be more different than our usual home in the Haute Alpes but next week we move there for the summer.

Hence my reason for posting this in Rock Destinations; If your a climber and you are unlucky enough to live in Suffolk [Ipswich to be exact] where do you climb?

Ignoring The Crag at Stowmarket or for that matter any indoor walls whats the best 'crag' in Suffolk?

Thanks for your replies in advance!

Stephen.
 1step2far 05 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

There aren't any. Kent for southern sandstone top roping or Peak district are your nearest opportunities. Unless you can find an old railway bridge to boulder on.
OP MaranaF 05 Jun 2014
In reply to 1step2far:

I have a horrid feeling your right but I am hoping... [praying] for some local knowledge.....

About 2 minutes walk from our place is the Orwell bridge... as it stands it would be about a 9a [smooth concrete], do you think I would get in trouble if I screwed some plastic to it?
 alimckay 05 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

There is no real crags in Suffolk. The closest real rock are some of the Southern Sandstone crags, which are 2/2.5 hours drive away so ok for a day trip.

Other than that there's Fairlop Waters on the north east outskirts of London which are man made boulders, there's pretty descent topos online if you google it, probably 1.5 hours away.

I've heard rumours about so man made bouldering in the park around Needham Lake near Needham Market, around 20mins away, but this is on the way to The Cragg in Stowmarket for me so I've never really been bothered to check it out.

All rough times are from Ipswich.

As an after thought, the Ipswich Mountaineering Club meet at Coppelstone School, which has a wall at the end of the sports hall. Not really what you're after but they organise fairly regular trips away.

Welcome to, arguably, the worst place to live for rock climbing in the country!

Thanks
Ali
OP MaranaF 05 Jun 2014
In reply to alimckay:

Hi Ali, thanks. I am under no illusion, Suffolk is no climbing mecca but is anyone 'developing' anything, even if its a disused railway bridge?

I have climbed with Ipswich Mountaineering Club at Coppelstone School about three years ago but its hardly inspiring!

I know we have been spoiled but i would love to find something around Ipswich we can play on after work.
 Bulls Crack 05 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

No crags but Suffolk is really rather nice - a surprise to me when I went there on holiday a few years back
 PanzerHanzler 05 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

Go to logbooks - find a crag type in an Ipswich postcode - throws up some disused rail bridges within 50km.

I'm a member of the Ipswich Climbing Club and would give them the thumbs up:

http://ipswich-m-c.co.uk/
 alimckay 05 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

I mentioned the IMC more for the trips than the, uninspiring, climbing wall.

There's nothing I know of apart from some bridge near Cambridge, but I'd be interested to hear about anything anyone else has found!
 Puppythedog 06 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

I live in Colchester if you find something drop me a line and I'd love to join you. It's tough being a climber in this part of the world. i've found nothing of note although considered a traverse of Colchester ancient walls.
 Ramblin dave 06 Jun 2014
In reply to Bulls Crack:

> No crags but Suffolk is really rather nice - a surprise to me when I went there on holiday a few years back

A lot of the coast is lovely.

From a climbing point of view, though, all that can be said for it is that it lets people who live in Cambridge think that it could be worse...
OP MaranaF 06 Jun 2014
In reply to puppythedog:

Lets do it! Whats the worse that could happen?
OP MaranaF 06 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

Its nice to see a few people have the same thoughts as me. If all else fails I vote we build a mountain, we could do a kickstarter campaign for it
 Gav A 06 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

On a positive note, you're only there for the summer! I spent about 25 years living in Ipswich on and off. In all that time i tried dry tooling in a chalk quarry, which ended before it began by guard dogs, searching for the elusive old sea defences in felixstowe (the bouldering mecca of suffolk i'm lead to believe), and on numerous occasions buildering around town which ended when a friend dyno'd to the 'G' on the great white horse hotel sign and pulled the 'g' off, which also didn't end well but i'd imagine goes as a good unrepeated v4. We also talked about bolting the orwell bridge, apparently there are some shallow pockets in the concrete but i never checked this out.

I will say this though, the climbers down that way are super committed, they travel all round the country at any free weekend. IMC are great, or theres loads of active climbers down at stowmarket who get out regularly. Your best bet is tunbridge wells, despite what people say there are some good venues and its a day trip (1hr 45), or the peak for a weekend. Being based in Ipswich forces you to travel, but thats not such a bad thing as you end up having a great weekends away in lots of different areas around the uk. Enjoy your summer!

OP MaranaF 07 Jun 2014
In reply to Gav A:

Cheers Gav, a positive note was needed!

I helped a friend do shome filming recently at Orfordness, there are some great buildings there to boulder but there are also army guards with guns! I might have another go!
 jhb0510 08 Jun 2014
In reply to MaranaF:

I grew up in Suffolk and can confirm that it is crap for climbing, or doing just about anything interesting! I now live in Cornwall where the sea is blue and the granite is golden. I suggest you get out of there as soon as possible!
In reply to MaranaF: buy a road bike?

OP MaranaF 08 Jun 2014
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

ahh yes... i have one and will be riding it but its not the same!

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...