UKC

Climbs 185
Rocktype Limestone
Altitude 179m a.s.l
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Carrie Hill cruising up the superb snaking crack-line on Rob's Crack (VS) at Fairy Cave Quarry. © Mark Glaister

Crag features

The gate combination is now available on the BMC Regional Access Database.

Fully updated guide to the area is in the GWR Mendip Outcrops available now from Dick's Climbing in Bristol.

Sept 2022: The strops above Halfway to Kansas/Lumbar Puncture and Balches Slide have been removed (BMC approved). Abseiling down these routes has caused serious erosion at the top and now earth is washing down onto the slabs. There is now a strop to abseil from above Ants In My Legloops Please use this and the other descents.

 

Approach notes

The quarry is situated just east of a small lane between Stoke St. Michael/Oakhill and Holcombe. It is one and half kilometres west of the Holcombe Quarries, and clearly marked on OS maps. There is roadside parking for four or five cars, but large lorries regularly use the narrow road, so please park with this in mind. Some parking down the hill by the beck on the junction.

Restricted Access

The BMC has negotiated with the landowner and secured an access agreement, but this is dependent on the continuing responsible behavior of climbers.

Local cavers have an agreement with the landowner to manage recreation in the quarry through the Fairy Cave Management Committee. They have been extremely supportive of climber’s efforts to secure access and without their support it is unlikely we would have been successful. Mark Courtiour (BMC Access Rep) has been co-opted onto the Management Committee but the cavers have overall responsibility for recreational use of the quarry.

Maintaining our good relationship with the cavers is important, as is following a few simple points within our access agreement:

  • Take all of your litter and any you find away with you to dispose of responsibly.
  • Responsible parking is essential to maintain access - see the 'parking and approach' section below for more information.
  • The only people with permission to be within the fenced area are cavers and climbers. If you find other people in the quarry please ask them to leave.
  • Parts of the quarry could be unstable and potentially dangerous for the unaware. In particular young or inexperienced climbers should be closely supervised at all times.
  • The quarry forms part of a larger SSSI and European SAC (Special Area of Conservation). Natural England are monitoring the rare flora and fauna within the quarry so avoid removing any vegetation without checking with the local Access Rep or Access Officer first.

Descents:

Movement around the top of some areas of the quarry can be difficult and local climbers have established abseil descents from all popular areas. Please do not remove these fixtures. Most lower offs/abseil points have been renewed and stakes have been installed above Robs Crack and Lumbar Puncture/Epic Dural. As always with fixed equipment, be sure to thoroughly inspect all parts of an anchor before committing to using it.

  • The best abseil descent (easier to pull through) from the Robs Crack area is from a pair of stakes with wire strops and maillon situated above Who Needs Hair Anyway i.e. next to the Hawthorn bush on the crag edge about 50m left (facing out) of Robs Crack.
  • A strop and maillon have been added to the stake above Halfway to Kansas/Lumbar Puncture, another above Balch's Slide and another above Senile Taff Corner to facilitate abseiling.
  • All routes in the Glacis area have lower offs in place.
  • The Alpine Ridge can be ascended/descended as a relatively easy but exposed scramble.
Great spot with some fun easy to hard routes for an afternoon of climbing. Shame that the dedicated route guide is now out of print. Would be great to see a link on here of the new book coming out soon.
xDarkKnight - 03/Dec/22
Just had a great day out in Fairy Cave Quarry, if you head there bear in mind that the abseil tat at the top of both 'Caveman' and 'Real Men do Eat Quiche' are in really bad condition. I backed up the tat last time I climbed Caveman, 2 years ago and that piece, plus the original main bit of tat, is still there. When I go back, I will take some more tat to replace them, but it won't be for a few weeks, at least.
Paul at work - 18/Jul/18
Worth noting that on Glacial Point the cam slot adjacent to the decent hold at 6m or so is not at all "off-line", it's reachable without moving a single limb from the line and makes a more natural and balanced route with two "bold but safe-ish" sections. But hopefully the onsight leader would just do this anyway.
Fiend - 01/Nov/16
Capability Brown: From the logbook entries it appears that people are finding the reference to a rockover misleading. Basically, after zig-zagging up the cracks, you have to stand up in the highest one. I did this as a leftward rocker move, but I daresay there are other ways. Un undercling in the crack may help, together with one or two tiny crips on the wall above. The crux moves then follow, to reach easier ground.
bpmclimb - 26/Sep/15
As promised, I checked out some new routes. There You Go Norm and Moving On will be deleted in a few days as they don't really exist independently of other routes. The same is possibly true of Slip Disc, if you allow Lumbar Puncture a little "bandwidth" - I'll get a second opinion on that. I climbed the following lines and confirmed that they do exist independently: I've started So …. , Your Ghost, I Like Big Butts - so these stay on UKC. Bonner's Route and Gatto Sul Tetto stay too, although the rock on them looks pretty poor, so I've no inclination whatever to reclimb them. How these routes will appear in the next guidebook (if at all) is not yet decided - no guarantees.
bpmclimb - 05/Jun/15
There's about 8 relatively recent new route claims. I can pretty much visualise where they all go, but I will get down to FCQ and check them all in the flesh over the next few weeks. Some sound like they use too much of existing routes to be considered new routes, some have (to my certain knowledge) been climbed several times previously and were excluded as routes on the grounds of overcrowding of slabs, others were looked at but considered too loose to be justifiable. All will be fairly considered, but please don't be upset if your "new" route doesn't find its way into a guidebook (or even stays on the UKC database). To would-be Fairy Cave first ascentionists: pretty much every bit of remotely solid rock under a UK tech grade of, say, 5c has already been climbed, probably several times. By all means try for that amazing find, but be aware that it's now extremely unlikely. And frankly, while I remain the crag moderator, I'm not prepared to sign off as checked any more blatant choss-fests here on UKC (let alone submit them for inclusion in a guidebook), because I think they are too dangerous to be justifiable. Some existing routes in this category (including one or two misguided efforts of my own) may well be removed from the next guidebook, or at least relegated in some way as of historical interest only.
bpmclimb - 02/Jun/15
how do i find out the combination to this lock? looking at an adventure this weekend...
01lewisj - 18/Feb/15
Strike that last comment. There is a new lock but you now have to line up the combination against the black line NOT the centre line.
RichOnaRope - 27/Oct/14
I visited today Saturday 25 Oct and there is a new padlock and combination.
RichOnaRope - 25/Oct/14
Please note that the climber in the Epic-dural pic has strayed too far left near the top of the lower slab. In general, there seems to be some (understandable) doubt about the exact line of both this route and Lumbar Puncture. I've amended the route descriptions to (hopefully) make things a little clearer.
bpmclimb - 08/Sep/14
Just be bloody careful, it's all loose as f***!
GBurton - 09/Aug/14
one of the best crags iv been to. helmets are a must due to the loose nature of the rock in some areas, however this will improve with a little more traffic. i love how quiet this place is. on an average day you will have the quarry to yourself and make sure you take sun cream as there very little protction from the sun.
Tom Harper - 20/Jun/14
I love Fairy Cave. Yes, be careful of loose rock; yes, park well off the road. Gradings in the guide for me are not always spot on, agree that Smell the Glove is more like E2, but apart from this I find climbs tend to be over-graded if anything e.g. Life in Limbo, The Tory... A lovely place to hang out for me - very quiet location, lots of birds for company, nice sunsets, good for trad adventures...
Tristypants - 14/May/14
Many routes here rely on sandstone concretions. These are soft and easily broken, the damage near the start of Rob's crack evidence of this. In many soft sandstone areas, Harrisons for example, it is recognised that no climbing should take place for a day or two after rain to minimise rock damage. This doesn't apply to all FCQ but people should consider avoiding routes like 4 Steps... or Stepping Out until they have had a chance to dry completely.
duncan - 16/Oct/13
Black spot Tracy??, really?? The whole bloody quarry is potentially lethal. Brian had a serious accident just scrambling to the very popular Bad to The Bone. Stanage it is not!!
The Pylon King - 12/Oct/13
Just added a FCQ "Top 20" Ticklist to UKC- based around the 14 climbs included in the CC South West Select Guide Vol. 1, and adding these 6 others: Smell the Glove E1 Stepping Out E3 Back Off E2 Talk to the Hand VS Halfway to Kansas HS Jive Talkin' E1 Complete list: http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=656
The Ivanator - 29/Jul/13
Went to FCQ on Monday night - witnessed an accident on Fairy Lite - it is horrendously loose (why no black spot in the guide, Brian??) - belayer pulling ropes up dislodged a block (microwave size) which hit the second on the ground - he was walking wounded back to the car (if it had fallen from much further up i don't think he would have been walking anywhere!) - after the winter be careful there as there will be lots of loose stuff, especially on the newer developed areas as they won't have had much traffic previously.
TraceyR - 05/Jun/13
Be wary of friction with the local youth who like to hang out here just as much as the climbers. On one occasion I have had my car vandalised and on another a very unpleasant confrontation with a couple of ASBO dirt bike riders looking for trouble.
GBurton - 06/Aug/12
FCQ grades are now amended here in the UKC database to reflect those in the new guidebook. Sorry if that has produced any unwanted effects in logbooks!
bpmclimb - 11/Jun/12
New FCQ guidebook now available.
bpmclimb - 24/May/12
Where can I find descriptions for the new routes?
Tom F Harding - 19/Mar/12
UPDATE: several of the newer routes have now had a second lead ascent. Routes that remain unrepeated include: Dirty Nightingale E1, Pimlico E3, One Leg Over E3, Stuff that Works E2, Ender's Game E4, No Thea HVS.
bpmclimb - 15/Jan/12
A new guidebook is being prepared, which will be a stand-alone booklet covering FCQ. The following new routes are in need of a second lead ascent, to confirm the grade and allow their entry into the new guidebook without a dagger. Foldawaydildo VS 4c Dirty Nightingale E1 5b Pimlico E3 5c Dolly Dimple E1 5a One Leg Over E3 5c Stuff That Works E2 5c Talk to the Hand VS 4c The Early Worm HVS 4c Ender's Game E4 5c Capability Brown E2 5b Wee Brownie E2 5b
bpmclimb - 14/May/11
As of 13th July, there is access thanks to the BMC. There is a combination lock on the gate however, but to get the code you need to email Ian. See the BMC website for more :)
stuntsbyjon - 18/Jul/10
Went there mid Sep and saw the fence. Serious amount of money spent to keep people out. According to BMC, the landowner is trying to keep out motorbikes but has an access agreement with cavers. As BMC is working on our behalf, should we really be scaling the fence and angering the landowner?? Not in my opinion... leave it for a few months until we have an agreement in place.
Freddie 1 - 17/Sep/09
A nice mix of trad grades here, but make sure you either check the logs on UKC or have a good examination before you climb some of them - there are a few that are loose beyond belief. Some cracking slab climbs in the VS-E2 range. Doesnt suffer from much seepage. Agree that some of the descents are a bit "atmospheric", frequently abseiling down is the best option
jamespilgrim - 26/Jul/09
Fairy cave is great. Climbing is about adventure and it ticks all the boxes for me! I know most of the routes are overgraded, but i'm quite able to grade them myself. This crag is 40 minutes from home and a serious place, but my kids climb here and love it.
bazzag - 17/Dec/08
It is just a modern quarry, don't expect great things, but Lumbar puncture was a good if not slightly confusing line and Balch's slide is fun on the grade. The higher starred routes on the glacis look solid also but it rained!
John_Warner - 08/Jul/08
This is an awesome venue with some really good slab climbs. I would warn people about parking out on the road though. I climbed there yesterday and parked my car behind others on the side of the road. After a few hours we could hear a horn being sounded from the road so I returned to my car to find a huge truck needing to get past. I had left enough room for a car or small lorry to get past but had not envisaged that the lane would be used by articulated trucks! Make sure cars are parked well of the road to prevent your climbing being interupted by having to move them.
Peter - 15/Jun/06
Poped across from Salisbury yesterday for the day, at last a crag nearby that can be done in an evening. We started unpacking our gear then it started raining, so we poped into Shepton Mallet for a coffee and came back a couple of hours later and it was bone dry. Excellent place and a good range of climbs with no polish. It could do with some more traffic though there is alot of loose stuff around, but no worse than climbing in Swange. The Glacis area is a good introduction.
Rick Nash - 30/May/06
Didn't think the stuff on The Glacis was hugely overgraded, but soft touch - yeah. Slight of Hand is a couple of 5b (maybe v. low 5c) moves with definite deckout potential. Seems like e2 to me. Robs Crack is spot on for a VS. Worth a couple of visits at least.
SARS - 13/Jul/05
Oh, and the locals are apparently friendly too! ;o)
BenP - 20/Apr/05
A good fun place, but wear a lid - it's still fairy 'fresh' in the grand scheme of things. Stuff on the Glacis is usually pretty overgraded (especially the RH side), and Rob's Crack is way overhyped. Some routes are beginning to show early signs of polish. Still a fair few routes to be had if cheesy death is what you're after...
James Jackson - 03/Feb/05
great little crag with some very overgraded routes. Lumbar puncture is nice but only E1. Robs crack and four steps to heaven are great, the latter is only E2 5B. Whithy crack is good too but not for long!!! The routes on the glacis are all a real soft touch. Nice to be on it instead of under it though.
robbie warke - 24/Aug/04
Take care, still a fair bit of loose rock around.
BenP - 12/May/04
Stay clear of Harman's Tree as it is a terrible route. Rob's crack was originally given the strange grade of HS 5a but I think VS 4b is much more realistic. I would also like to nominate this as a three star route, I know that it is in a grotty quarry but I climbed this route yesterday and is is beautiful for every move of it's 100 feet. Just get down there and do it . [Unknown]
(Unknown) - 17/Apr/03
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