UKC

For starters:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=1565

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

Yes, even the 'classic of the crag' gets no stars

And with routes called 'grotty groove', 'erosion groove' and 'why am I here?', its not sounding like a winner...

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

As the person who wrote the first ever guide to this crag, I think there may be a couple of routes worth stars, but not more than two or three.

In reply to Al Evans:

Did you do most of the routes there, Al?

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

Best I can give you is Upper and Lower Ranger Buttress with a mere 21 unstarred routes http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/moderate.html?crag=410

Happy New Year Mark and a belated happy birthday!

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:



Erosion groove
My first new route.
A real classic.

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

This link might work better
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=410

In reply to Al Evans:

When I bought an old guidebook from a bookshop once, tucked inside it was a guide for Stannington that someone had made a hardback cover for.
Did you sell them, or were they a free supplement? Somewhere in my memory I think I was told that it came from a magazine.

In reply to deacondeacon:

I think it was in Rocksport

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

Harpur Hill Quarry given that it's classic 6a is hardly worth a start so logically all the ones with less shouldn't have any.

In reply to RichardMc:

Thanks Richard, it's all a bit before my time

In reply to Bulls Crack:

I remember this route as being pretty good. Seems to get two stars from lots of people.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=15194

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:

Plenty of routes at Harpur are well worth one or two stars, just as there are at Horseshoe, but because of their popularity some people like to tell us that they have no appeal for real climbers like themselves !

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Nothing to do with popularity - I just though Coral Seas wasn't very good at all and the whole place dismal!

In reply to Bulls Crack:

This one's pretty good
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=15286

In reply to Bulls Crack:
Yes it doesn't get much sun, and does catch the wind, but so do many crags. Yes the lower tier is scrappy, but there is excellent and fascinating rock on the upper tier. The routes just to the right of Coral Seas - Apollo Creed and Rocky Variations have some great moves

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:


Well I repeated most of them if not the first ascents, Tanky Stokes actually left his shop to do one of the better ones, I think it was 1847.
I must again point out that nearly all the routes were done during the 1968 foot and mouth outbreak when just about every other crag in The Peak was banned.
The guide was a freebee in an early copy of Rocksport.

In reply to Al Evans:
There is no route at the Ruffs even close to being worth a star that I can see (Im certainly not climbing there again outside a hard winter after sampling the crap on offer) and most numbered lines in Burb Infinity are worth a black spot for rock quality and general detritus. I can understand and forgive people being forced there under foot and mouth (at the risk of tetanus) but not otherwise. I'm speaking as a dedicated grit obscurist who tries to get less popular deserving places more traffic... worst crag for over selling the content that I know in a current BMC guide (sandbag graded to boot as VD seemed more like VS 4a for risk of breaking holds and dodgy gear placments). Anyone wanting to sample the crag can make their own version at home from digestive biscuits covered by the contents of their bin some broken glass and some sharps.

In reply to Chris the Tall:


It's always been fashionable to slag off Horseshoe. I used to like doing the routes on the main wall and would have thought Legal Action and Say it With Flowers were easily worth a star apiece.

[To BC] Yes, Harpur can be dismal on a bad day. And you can easily have a bad day there. Isn't Buxton well nigh the highest town in England? And Harpur's obviously a bit higher. But if you go up in a heatwave, it can be delightful. Although Power of Soul in the sun isn't to be recommended.

Stannington Ruffs always looked like vertical sand. But I never got any closer (faint-hearted).

And there's Strawberry Rocks. Can't imagine many stars there.

Langcliffe Quarry may have few (any?) stars. But the routes are certainly memorable!

Mick

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

There's clearly an elephant in the room here, since the most obvious example hasn't even been mentioned. I'm very surprised and really quite shocked that the guidebook team involved in writing the Burbage and Beyond guide yet again failed to give any stars at all to the many classic routes at Birch Quarry.

http://www.planetfear.com/articles/01_Birch_Quarry_834.html

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

Anywhere on the North York moors



I'm joking by the way...

In reply to Mick Ward:

Delightful? Maybe one day I will go back....if I'm in the area!

RE: Horseshoe the Main Wall does have some goodish routes ..the rest is pretty crap though

I looked at some of the cliffs I thought, having been to them, were truly awful only to find that they have climbs with multiple stars eg John Henry Quarry Crowden Great Quarry.

I think it goes: Crap quarry gets poor write up in older guidebook. New guide inspires local activists to visit. They say 'They're not so bad, in fact some are ok...hidden gems in fact...and they get given loads of stars. New people go and think 'What an overrated pile of choss'. New guide demotes routes...and so it goes on!

In reply to john arran:

I'd missed that.... thanks, cheered me up imensely. It is of course a good example of the overlooked grit quarries but a lot better than the Ruffs.

In reply to Bulls Crack:

Activists can overstar through enthusiasm at times but John Henry and Crowden Main have several routes that easily deserve stars. I did raise my eyebrows about Crowden from just looking at it on the way to 'better things' at Bareholme etc but had to eat humble pie after climbing the routes (and I've been part of the editorial team responsible for removing all three stars from some routes elsewhere and would push for removing numbered line status from anything at the Ruffs).

In reply to Offwidth:
Back in the day, you'd go to these totally out of the way places and, often having made a big effort to get there (hitching, vans breaking down, etc), you'd get stuck in, regardless. There was a real sense of adventure - or foolishness! Sometimes you'd meet characters who lived locally and had never been anywhere else. "Cloggy? Where's that??"

I think Crowden Main, which we encountered while searching vainly for Tintwhistle, was the first place where I declined to climb. "F*ck this! I'm off for a curry in Bradford." But I can imagine that yes, there are hidden gems among the rubble.

With John Henry, there were thousands of ferns swaying in the breeze. We tiptoed out again. Never been back.

I think John's the clear winner so far. Looks like Tepui multipitch E7 is really just training for the Baxterian horrors of Birch. The photos reveal some wan and wary expressions, strongly suggesting caveat emptor to the rest of us.

"Birch?? Do you know I think I might be really boring today and just go back to Stanage..."

Mick

In reply to Offwidth:

I'm sure your assessments are more objective than mine Offwidth! (I was local to JHQ and CGQ but contented myself with looking at them - neither were as bad as some place in a wood near Glossop - the name of which escapes me)

In reply to Pylon King Against Capit@lism:

Lliwedd (if you read the definitive guide)