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Black Rocks
I've climbed here only a handfull of times, but each time I always feel 'uncomfortable' there. I can't put my finger on it but there is always 'something of the night' about the crag.
There is often litter at the base of the crag that's been thrown from the top, lots of non climbers hanging around the car-park and top of the crag (I have nothing against this, it's not my crag and they have as much right to be their as I have), there never seems to be anyone else climbing there except maybe 1 other party and the climbs have a evil temperament.
Does anyone feel this or shall I just go and lie down in a dark room?
I've climbed here only a handfull of times, but each time I always feel 'uncomfortable' there. I can't put my finger on it but there is always 'something of the night' about the crag.
There is often litter at the base of the crag that's been thrown from the top, lots of non climbers hanging around the car-park and top of the crag (I have nothing against this, it's not my crag and they have as much right to be their as I have), there never seems to be anyone else climbing there except maybe 1 other party and the climbs have a evil temperament.
Does anyone feel this or shall I just go and lie down in a dark room?
In reply to Jim Walton:
Black Rocks.
Hmmm.
All I will say is that sometimes it's healthier not to delve too deeply into such matters......
Black Rocks.
Hmmm.
All I will say is that sometimes it's healthier not to delve too deeply into such matters......
In reply to Jim Walton:
Of course the climbing is also often of a rounded, unprotectable and foreboding nature. I camped there once and weasels never ripped my flesh.
Of course the climbing is also often of a rounded, unprotectable and foreboding nature. I camped there once and weasels never ripped my flesh.
1
In reply to Jim Walton:
Not to the extent your talking about.
More to do with the trash and greenness of the climbs (mostly) .
It can look intimidating when you first get there and take a walk around.
It's very overgrown and shadowed by the trees, I can't remember much of a view for one.
I like to think I'd pick up on the evil temperament (if there was a real problem with the place) being quite sensitive to things like this.
I'd research the history and find out if any big evil events have occurred there.
But what do I know?
OM
> I've climbed here only a handfull of times, but each time I always feel 'uncomfortable' there. I can't put my finger on it but there is always 'something of the night' about the crag.
> There is often litter at the base of the crag that's been thrown from the top, lots of non climbers hanging around the car-park and top of the crag (I have nothing against this, it's not my crag and they have as much right to be their as I have), there never seems to be anyone else climbing there except maybe 1 other party and the climbs have a evil temperament.
> Does anyone feel this or shall I just go and lie down in a dark room?
Not to the extent your talking about.
More to do with the trash and greenness of the climbs (mostly) .
It can look intimidating when you first get there and take a walk around.
It's very overgrown and shadowed by the trees, I can't remember much of a view for one.
I like to think I'd pick up on the evil temperament (if there was a real problem with the place) being quite sensitive to things like this.
I'd research the history and find out if any big evil events have occurred there.
But what do I know?
OM
In reply to Onion magnet:
I can confirm, Black Sabbath played an open air acoustic concert here in 1968 and Ozzie bit the head off a boulderer.
I can confirm, Black Sabbath played an open air acoustic concert here in 1968 and Ozzie bit the head off a boulderer.
17
In reply to Jim Walton:
Definitely and the grades reflect this.
I've often seen a black dog there, which is locally known as a Boggart, which was introduced into the Harry Potter story:
"A boggart is an amortal shape-shifting non-being that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear.
The charm that combats a boggart is Riddikulus. The charm requires a strong mind and good concentration. The incantation and wand movement alone will not affect a boggart.
The correct way to perform the charm is to push past the fear, and concentrate on something that will make the boggart look amusing. "
There is the Spencer Tracy film - Bad Day at Black Rock but that has no known connection, apart from inspiring the route at Trow Gill, Bad Day on Black Rock.
Definitely and the grades reflect this.
I've often seen a black dog there, which is locally known as a Boggart, which was introduced into the Harry Potter story:
"A boggart is an amortal shape-shifting non-being that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear.
The charm that combats a boggart is Riddikulus. The charm requires a strong mind and good concentration. The incantation and wand movement alone will not affect a boggart.
The correct way to perform the charm is to push past the fear, and concentrate on something that will make the boggart look amusing. "
There is the Spencer Tracy film - Bad Day at Black Rock but that has no known connection, apart from inspiring the route at Trow Gill, Bad Day on Black Rock.
In reply to philipivan:
Very good
> I can confirm, Black Sabbath played an open air acoustic concert here in 1968 and Ozzie bit the head off a boulderer.
Very good
In reply to Jim Walton:
Head games. Like many aspects of climbing...
> I've climbed here only a handfull of times, but each time I always feel 'uncomfortable' there. I can't put my finger on it but there is always 'something of the night' about the crag.
Head games. Like many aspects of climbing...
In reply to Jim Walton:
some places have a bad feel - this is quite interesting about Porth yr ogof - a cave in swales
http://www.hiddenrealms.org.uk/story001.html
some places have a bad feel - this is quite interesting about Porth yr ogof - a cave in swales
http://www.hiddenrealms.org.uk/story001.html
1
In reply to Red Rover:
Actually some of it is dexter.
This may help shine some light on the dark side:
http://chequepictures.com/
Actually some of it is dexter.
This may help shine some light on the dark side:
http://chequepictures.com/
Post edited at 16:24
1
1
In reply to Chris H:
I always got that feeling about PyO
In fact, I used to dream about it quite often and very occasionally still do, despite not having been there for 20 years.
> some places have a bad feel - this is quite interesting about Porth yr ogof - a cave in swales
I always got that feeling about PyO
In fact, I used to dream about it quite often and very occasionally still do, despite not having been there for 20 years.
Post edited at 21:57
In reply to Jim Walton:
It was bloody green last time I was there. But 'sinister'? Not if you mean in a spiritual sense. I don't buy into that bollocks.
It was bloody green last time I was there. But 'sinister'? Not if you mean in a spiritual sense. I don't buy into that bollocks.
3
1
In reply to Jim Walton:
I've climbed at BR since a kid and I never noticed this feeling until the last 15 years or so. I believe it is simply a trick of the mind and the way the brain deals with the stress of climbing.
BR as we know tends to be dank and green due to aspect and trees, the Rock is very rounded and can feel insecure and difficult to protect. In addition to these problems there is the dogs shit, broken glass and kids and yoofs wandering about on the top. In the cyber world BR often gets bad press on UKC due to thefts, vandalism etc and YouTube vids are frequently the mesuga and Gaia falls. All of this is in your subconscious when you tie in so it really is no wander you are spooked!
Try it late summer midweek when the kids are back at school and it's a different place.
I've climbed at BR since a kid and I never noticed this feeling until the last 15 years or so. I believe it is simply a trick of the mind and the way the brain deals with the stress of climbing.
BR as we know tends to be dank and green due to aspect and trees, the Rock is very rounded and can feel insecure and difficult to protect. In addition to these problems there is the dogs shit, broken glass and kids and yoofs wandering about on the top. In the cyber world BR often gets bad press on UKC due to thefts, vandalism etc and YouTube vids are frequently the mesuga and Gaia falls. All of this is in your subconscious when you tie in so it really is no wander you are spooked!
Try it late summer midweek when the kids are back at school and it's a different place.
In reply to Jim Walton:
Oh, and to comply with the UKC pedantic arsehole rules, I am complelled to point out that BR isn't in the Peak District, it's about 15 miles south of the border 😜
Oh, and to comply with the UKC pedantic arsehole rules, I am complelled to point out that BR isn't in the Peak District, it's about 15 miles south of the border 😜
1
In reply to wilkie14c:
It's about a mile and a half in reality always amuses me that Wirksworth has Jewel of the Peak in its nameplate when its about a couple of miles away from the southern border.
It's about a mile and a half in reality always amuses me that Wirksworth has Jewel of the Peak in its nameplate when its about a couple of miles away from the southern border.
1
In reply to Removed User:
Yea guess so, high peak trail direction? I always think in terms of roads, between Matlock and bakewell. It amuses me when looking at the map and you see gossop, a perfect compass circle drawn around it to exclude it!
Yea guess so, high peak trail direction? I always think in terms of roads, between Matlock and bakewell. It amuses me when looking at the map and you see gossop, a perfect compass circle drawn around it to exclude it!
In reply to Jim Walton:
Always surprises me why people climb at Black Rocks when there's so much quality limestone just a short walk away.
Martin
Always surprises me why people climb at Black Rocks when there's so much quality limestone just a short walk away.
Martin
1
In reply to Jim Walton:
live very near it for the past 30 years and always found it quite nice to be around the Rocks, bar the summer weekends although wandering up and around the upper moor area late on a winters afternoon with the dog can be a bit eery at times. I find Shining Cliff woods to be more atmospheric for that kind of feeling even in the summer.
live very near it for the past 30 years and always found it quite nice to be around the Rocks, bar the summer weekends although wandering up and around the upper moor area late on a winters afternoon with the dog can be a bit eery at times. I find Shining Cliff woods to be more atmospheric for that kind of feeling even in the summer.
In reply to Removed User:
I was brought up just down the road on the edge of Amber Valley and have always tended to regard both Cromford and Matlock as being in the Peak District. Crich is more borderline, but it does have a strong candidate for the most southerly hill in the Pennines, so is an important place in the old and impossible-to-resolve debate about where the Midlands stop and the North starts.
> The Peak starts just down the via Gellia along from Cromford.
I was brought up just down the road on the edge of Amber Valley and have always tended to regard both Cromford and Matlock as being in the Peak District. Crich is more borderline, but it does have a strong candidate for the most southerly hill in the Pennines, so is an important place in the old and impossible-to-resolve debate about where the Midlands stop and the North starts.
In reply to Dave Hewitt:
Surely that one's easy? Once you're past Watford it's The North and the midland is a part of it.
Surely that one's easy? Once you're past Watford it's The North and the midland is a part of it.
In reply to Jim Walton:
I hear its quite nice now, Mike Cheque has recently spent a year cleaning routes and removing trash. and done a little filming as a sideline too. hear its a free film showing at Matlock Pavilion
vimeo.com/126981723
I hear its quite nice now, Mike Cheque has recently spent a year cleaning routes and removing trash. and done a little filming as a sideline too. hear its a free film showing at Matlock Pavilion
vimeo.com/126981723
In reply to Onion magnet:
Mmm, I love the smell of delusion in the morning.
> I like to think I'd pick up on the evil temperament (if there was a real problem with the place) being quite sensitive to things like this.
Mmm, I love the smell of delusion in the morning.
2
In reply to wilkie14c:
is that the grid reference?
> it's about 15 miles south of the border 😜
is that the grid reference?
In reply to Lukem6:
Looks good. Thanks for the link.
> I hear its quite nice now, Mike Cheque has recently spent a year cleaning routes and removing trash. and done a little filming as a sideline too. hear its a free film showing at Matlock Pavilion
Looks good. Thanks for the link.
In reply to Jim Walton:
I've climbed in the Peak for about 12 years or so and only been to Black Rocks once. To be frank, I thought it was shite.
Probably more that it just doesn't have good routes at the grades I can/want to climb (HVS-E2*...I had a look at The Sprain but it seemed to absolutely typify "gritstone bollox" which is fine in good conditions when you're in the mood...), but I thought the so-called classics at VS were crap as well. I might have thought more fondly of them were it not for the semi-urban character complete with dogshit and broken glass everywhere - great effort to all those who've worked trying to the get the place a bit more presentable!
*the ones on the Promentary that looked good in the guide didn't seem to have been climbed for years and were super-green and ugly that day.
I've climbed in the Peak for about 12 years or so and only been to Black Rocks once. To be frank, I thought it was shite.
Probably more that it just doesn't have good routes at the grades I can/want to climb (HVS-E2*...I had a look at The Sprain but it seemed to absolutely typify "gritstone bollox" which is fine in good conditions when you're in the mood...), but I thought the so-called classics at VS were crap as well. I might have thought more fondly of them were it not for the semi-urban character complete with dogshit and broken glass everywhere - great effort to all those who've worked trying to the get the place a bit more presentable!
*the ones on the Promentary that looked good in the guide didn't seem to have been climbed for years and were super-green and ugly that day.
In reply to Jon Stewart:
Yea but it still has to be the only crag where you finish next to your second after leading a route
I missed out from my thoughts what you hit on - semi urban. It def feels like that.
My early forays where at black rocks as I could get the bus from Derby. Used to enjoy the railway boulders by the HPT. I offer split the day and in the afternoon I'd wander down to willersley castle for some traversing. Sometimes I'd go on the bike and get up harbourough rocks and black rocks on the way back then train home from cromford. All of this was 14 or 15 years old and solo, I'd never heard of bouldering back then (had anyone?!) but what I was doing was fun. 32/33 years ago! I'd sometimes make it into Matlock bath and gaze at the Lycra in the climbing shop window
Yea but it still has to be the only crag where you finish next to your second after leading a route
I missed out from my thoughts what you hit on - semi urban. It def feels like that.
My early forays where at black rocks as I could get the bus from Derby. Used to enjoy the railway boulders by the HPT. I offer split the day and in the afternoon I'd wander down to willersley castle for some traversing. Sometimes I'd go on the bike and get up harbourough rocks and black rocks on the way back then train home from cromford. All of this was 14 or 15 years old and solo, I'd never heard of bouldering back then (had anyone?!) but what I was doing was fun. 32/33 years ago! I'd sometimes make it into Matlock bath and gaze at the Lycra in the climbing shop window
In reply to Jon Stewart:
Maybe you need to be more open minded. Watching Mike's new film might help.
Maybe you need to be more open minded. Watching Mike's new film might help.
In reply to Jon Stewart:
Lean Man's Superdirect is arguably the best grit VS in the Peak. Superb rock, very clean. Technically interesting, steep and exposed. That west face and northwest arete are exposed to an enormous amount of sun and wind, and always remain clean. (Challenge: name a higher quality gritstone face.) Also, home, of course, to one of the most famous gritstone climbs in the world.
Lean Man's Superdirect is arguably the best grit VS in the Peak. Superb rock, very clean. Technically interesting, steep and exposed. That west face and northwest arete are exposed to an enormous amount of sun and wind, and always remain clean. (Challenge: name a higher quality gritstone face.) Also, home, of course, to one of the most famous gritstone climbs in the world.
In reply to Offwidth:
The film looks great - but I doubt somehow that it's going to feature a load of brilliant low-extremes I've overlooked.
The film looks great - but I doubt somehow that it's going to feature a load of brilliant low-extremes I've overlooked.
1
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Isn't that the one with two short sections of awkard climbing on polished rock separated by a walk up a grassy bank strewn with lager cans and fag packets?
Batchelor's area at Hen Cloud? Owl Gully at Cratcliffe?
> Lean Man's Superdirect is arguably the best grit VS in the Peak.
Isn't that the one with two short sections of awkard climbing on polished rock separated by a walk up a grassy bank strewn with lager cans and fag packets?
> Challenge: name a higher quality gritstone face
Batchelor's area at Hen Cloud? Owl Gully at Cratcliffe?
1
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