UKC

Nobody seems to give a chance to this outcrop but I think it has at least one route with quite comfortable hand and foot holds and perhaps a difficult mantel at the top which could perhaps be  the crux? Has anybody tried it? Does anyone know of any other routes on this lot and books or links to it? I think it could also offer few traverses, I do think it has potential.

I've *nearly* stopped to climb on that a few times but never quite got round to it. I'll have to rummage for my copy of Southern Sandstone as it included a lot of these minor crags and boulders.

Watching this thread with interest ... 🤔

I don't think 2 of the books I have include it, I need to check an older one... 

Happy to give it a go in April or when the weather gets dryer if anybody is around Tunbridge Well and fancy doing it.

The very first ‘climbing’ I ever did was on Wellington Rocks at about the age of 4 or 5. (My grandparents lived nearby.)

Definitely not in the 1981 Tim Daniells Southern Sandstone CC Guide - the yellow one

Ah ok, that's what I was going to try to dig out...

FA credits? 

I guess the first inhabitants of the Tunbridge Wells area in prehistoric times…. 

  I have just checked my copy of 'Climbing and Walking in South East England' (1970) Edward C. Pyatt... Pg 68 reads...

 'There are a number of interesting exposures of sandstone on the commons around Tumbridge Wells. Wellington Rocks in the town itself are suitable only for very young climbers. A short way off on Rusthall Common the rocks are more imposing; Courtney Bryson devoted a section to Bull's Hollow, commenting on the seclusion: The trees guard the calm ease of the expert from the curious gaze of an unappreciative public, and decently veil the frantic antics of the peripatetic tyro from juvenile hilarity. A human belay on top of the rocks sometimes attracts attention on fine Sundays. 

He describes 8 climbs; by 1963 there were 24; now there are 45...' 

A grid reference in the Place Name Index for Wellington Rocks gives 5739... 

  Probably not what you wanted to hear but reported for the sake of a more complete historical record and I rather liked Bryson's comments... though they could be applied to many a venue... 

Regards,

Jim 

At least showing some light... I still think there is something  good out of those rocks, waiting for dryer weather to try.

Not sure I share Bryson's enthusiasm for bull's hollow, haven't looked for a quite a few years. But it was all damp and green then. Maybe there's been some cleaning and gardening done since?

There has indeed.

It certainly had a damp and green air to it on the one occasion I visited.

Back in the late 70's 😁

So it's just possible that it's changed since then.

The trees have been cut and the somewhat  swamp like area is being managed for wildlife. The starts of the routes remain slimey, but the climbing is surprisingly good after that.

I remember Bull’s Hollow as having a handful of very good routes … when it was dry.

Agree.

IIRC it even had a very poor short artificial route with bolts without hangers and a placement for stacked pegs. Hopefully no longer extant. 

.

Wellington Rocks mentioned on page 317 of Mike Vetterlein's Southern Sandstone guide of 2008, includes the phrase 'suitable for the initation of beginners of the youngest age group'. Also a reference to Mount Edgcumbe Rocks nearby (page 304) includes the phrase 'A major tree clearance took place here in the mid 90s, and there is now potential for a few routes'. 

... I should have continued the quote... Pyatt then states, (of Bryson's description of Bull's Hollow), 

'It is a little hard to account for his enthusiasm. It is in fact a quaggy dump - '... 

  Pyatt goes on to point out Denny Bottom just north, is home to Toad Rock and the Denny Bottom Pinnacle (all available to see on Google maps, with photos no less). His overall assessment being that they are a little too public to climb... 

'Rock walls, detached blocks and sand are all plentiful hereabouts, though it is too much in the public eye for climbing exploration to be seriously possible'. 

  How times have changed! He also mentions Happy Valley Rocks by St Paul's Church, also on Rusthall Common, claiming them to be, 'negligible except for another isolated pinnacle'. I am guessing these are labelled Cheeswring Rocks on Google maps. All these little outcrops seem to be well recorded on Google maps and I've had a quick look around... In fairness, as close as I need to be to South East sandstone. 

  Pyatt then goes on to talk of his 1956 search of the six-inch OS maps and the discovery of Bowles Rocks, then only a promise as there were pigs in residence at the bottom... 'if these conditions should change at some future date the outcrop would be an excellent prospect'. Pyatt describes Bowles Rocks as, 'though not as long as Harrison's, is almost as high as High Rocks in places'. He reports that the pigs soon departed and were replaced by the Bowles Mountaineering Gym... and at time of print, in 1970, states that it is currently the Bowles Outdoor Pursuit Centre. He mentions rocks at Boarshead, just south and then he leaves this immediate area... He mentions Stone Farm Rocks, East towards Crawley and wombles further about, identifying various outcrops. 

  To finish, I like a judgement he makes of those seeking to drive too close to their objective, Cat Wall...  'During the last few years the owner has had to bar entry to the lane along the top, as so-called mountaineers were driving their cars along it to save the 100yd walk from the road. It is puzzling to know how such people ever get very far on their mountains.' 

Regards, Jim 

Reading the posts above, I'll have to go back to bulls hollow and take another look!

From what I remember from a long time ago happy valley had some pleasant bouldering. I went there a couple of times years ago, but.. the last occasion while walking to them (from above) on my own, mid week there was a very creepy gentleman conspicuously lurking who spotted me and broke cover asked what I was doing, I said "bouldering" and he looked intrigued and enthusiastic (presumably as an activity that's a verb ending "ing" he seemed interested) and asked me what that was - and I said climbing on those rocks, pointing at them, and asked him bluntly why was he asking me this. His face suddenly changed as the penny dropped and he realised I was there for climbing and not why he was there. He made a hasty exit. I asked someone at my work who came from Tunbridge Wells and he said it was a common at happy valley and go somewhere else. Not sure if this is still the case?