UKC

FRI NIGHT VID - Against the Grain: Staffordshire Gritstone

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 UKC News 26 Dec 2014
Against the Grain, 2 kbTonight's Boxing Day/Friday Night Video features gritstone climbing in Staffordshire - what better way to get motivated for some post-Christmas grit action?

This film follows local climbers as they enjoy familiar favourites, iconic classics and seek out seldom-repeated desperates. Against the Grain shows-off Staffordshire as a county and gives a fantastic insight into the close-knit climbing community in the area (including a wallaby or two!).



Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=69393
 Doghouse 26 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

Nice little film and a great bit of spotting at 2.30
 1poundSOCKS 26 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

There's no excuse for cutting loose on The Sloth. Although I do like the description of if. 95% VDiff.
 andi turner 26 Dec 2014
In reply to 1poundSOCKS:
There is one good excuse: when you're being filmed for dramatic effect
 northy1983 26 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

yep and thats exactly why i did it.
 1poundSOCKS 26 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

> There is one good excuse: when you're being filmed for dramatic effect

I can't deny, I would be tempted if I did it with a crowd again. Only time I've done it, I was too worried about what awaited me above to show-boat!!!
 Wft 26 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

Nice one, great film
 cha1n 26 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:
Must admit that I cringed a bit at the cut-loose. Not a very natural looking one!

Fortunately the rest of the film made up for it.
Post edited at 19:49
 Mick Ward 26 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

A lovely, lovely film. Great to see Pete Bridgwood's nonchalant solo of Counterstroke of Equity. It stopped me dead in my tracks, back in the day.

There's something different about Staffordshire grit, not sure what it is, but something different, something special. This film's maybe got as close to catching it as you ever will.

Mick
 pneame 27 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

That's a lovely, gentle and heartwarming film.
Thanks
 Smelly Fox 27 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

I'd be more impressed if he had a paper bag over his head...
In reply to UKC News:

Great vid. Makes me miss my old stomping ground a bit. Nice crisp days with friends milling about the upper tier.

Even if noone was available to climb I'd head up on my own and i'd always bump into a familiar face to climb with.

Friendly folk, Staffs grit climbers.
 Fraser 27 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

Great film, nicely edited with a decent but unobtrusive soundtrack. A very minor quibble would be the lack of of info. on the grades, for those of us who don't know the area at all.
 mark20 27 Dec 2014
Lovely film
In reply to UKC News:

Really nice film, and some real inspiration for 2015. I was lucky to spend summer 2013 climbing full time based in a caravan on the Roaches side of Buxton, and it was the best climbing experience ever, discovering the esoterica and off the beaten track in the Churnet. Nunny was right about the best grit in Derbyshire being in Staffordshire.
 andi turner 27 Dec 2014
In reply to Fraser:

I think Dave deliberately left the grades out, I suppose it makes it more about the aesthetics of the climbs. Grades are all over the place anyway! I'd be interested to hear which routes "look" the hardest though.
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 27 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

Very nice, evocative vid, with some spectacular tumbles/falls - they are right it is a bit 'special' over there.

I'm not sure if Paul Nunn is being mis-quoted - I thought the original was along the line of "Ironically the best grit in the Peak is not in Derbyshire but in Staffordshire"?


Chris
 andi turner 27 Dec 2014
In reply to Chris Craggs:
Where was the quote first from Chris? I always thought it was a bit strange sounding. Was it the old red selective guide?
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 27 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

> Where was the quote first from Chris? I always thought it was a bit strange sounding. Was it the old red selective guide?

Good question - I had already mulled on it for while.

As you suggest the best guess would be Nunn's own Peak guide (maybe someone could check it - I am away from my reference library!). Other than that - something in Mountain mag (nothing rings a bell) or Classic Rock - did he write the Roaches chapter?


Chris


 andi turner 27 Dec 2014
In reply to Chris Craggs:
Yeah, I've not got mine to hand either... I'm sure someone knows out there, but I've got a feeling it's the guide I mentioned, maybe!
 Fraser 27 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

> I think Dave deliberately left the grades out, I suppose it makes it more about the aesthetics of the climbs. Grades are all over the place anyway! I'd be interested to hear which routes "look" the hardest though.

Fair enough, I can understand that rationale and it was a very minor quibble. Plus I can always look up the names in the database here.

As they're two of my biggest weaknesses, I'd say the hardest looking lines were the cracks....and the slabs!
 andi turner 27 Dec 2014
In reply to Fraser:
If you really want the grades, I could produce an addendum
 Mick Ward 27 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

If I remember correctly (and I may not) the late Dave Cook wrote in Mountain that the best jams on grit were all the way up Matinee. He must have had big hands!

Mick
 Adam Long 27 Dec 2014
In reply to andi turner:

Yeah it's from the intro in the old select guide:

"Ironically, the finest crags on gritstone are neither in Yorkshire nor Derbyshire but in Staffordshire."
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 27 Dec 2014
In reply to Adam Long:

> Yeah it's from the intro in the old select guide:

> "Ironically, the finest crags on gritstone are neither in Yorkshire nor Derbyshire but in Staffordshire."

Cheers for confirming that - that's 10 points for me I believe


Chris
 Michael Hood 27 Dec 2014
When was the last time any wallabies were seen at the Roaches, I thought they died out years ago.

 Dave Todd 28 Dec 2014
In reply to UKC News:

Anyone know the music playing over the closing credits, around 19:00? (It's not Quiet Orchestra: My Friends - the music that's mentioned in the credits - although I'm sure that's in there somewhere...)

Cheers

Dave
s56sdf 28 Dec 2014
Nice little film.
 andi turner 28 Dec 2014
In reply to Michael Hood:

There is still the occasional spotting, but nothing too convincing. Pete saw one a few years back, that's the last convincing spotting I heard of. I've never seen one despite living and working up there every day for the past 8 years.
 Fraser 28 Dec 2014
In reply to Dave Todd:

> Anyone know the music playing over the closing credits, around 19:00?

'Me and Albert' by Peter Mulvey', courtesy of SoundHound.

youtube.com/watch?v=5rpO15QpHtY&

 Dave Todd 28 Dec 2014
In reply to Fraser:

Thanks! He's a new one on my radar....

Much appreciated.
 Adam Long 28 Dec 2014
In reply to Michael Hood:

Some info here, though most of the sighting are far from convincing:

http://www.roaches.org.uk/wallabies.htm

There was a very good article in British Wildlife a while back by a mammal expert who had studied them since the seventies.
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