UKC

Saw a thread earlier this year about crags near marinas and it got me wondering about crags which are walking distance from airfields/ airports within the UK.

Any ideas?

Could inspire some future trips.

You could walk to  Caley Crags and  Chevin Buttress from Leeds Bradford Airport. Not sure we should be promoting flying to cities just to then walk to crags, though.. 

Goblin coombe in easy reach of Bristol Airport

For better context; my dad who has his PPL has access to a small aircraft and I thought it would make some rad trip ideas for the future.

He gets to fly which he is passionate about and I get to climb which I am passionate about. Seems like it could lead to some cool father/ daughter opportunities.

Humphrey Head is just over 1km from Cark airfield.

RAF Valley is close to Rhoscolyn.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55739524

If an airplane landed but overshot runway 027 at Bristol it would end up on top of Goblin Coombe.

Al

It’d be the airplane equivalent of Castle Inn Quarry!

There must be loads of small airfields nearish to crags in the UK and probably a list somewhere on the Internet detailing them.
For example: http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/Airfields/airfield_listing.html
Maybe see where an airfield is on the map and cross reference with the crag database on UKC?
Swansea airport might be an option as it's quite close to Gower.

With the added advantage of a woody en route... 

Barra Airport Wall springs to mind. Just bouldering, but there are one or two trad options nearby too, and plenty of three star sea cliff routes about 8 miles walk away  Southwest Barra

I'm not condoning the flying bit, but the father-daughter bit softened my heart.

John Wayne Memorial Crag and  Aire Point are ~1km from Lands End Airport (an airport no less!).

Heads up though - you'd need to check the tides.  The crag isn't tidal, but the airport runway is!

One hopes air traffic control has a set of tide tables in its beach hut.

When I was flying about twenty years ago, in a C172, C150 or PA-28, one of the places I wanted to go (from Bristol) was Plymouth.  I reckoned it would be a short and cheap taxi ride up to the Dewerstone.  Sadly I drifted out of flying after five years (too much cost and time for the perceived benefit), so I never got to do that particular trip.

If you can cope with a taxi ride, what about flying down to the airfield at St.Just.  Tons of crags nearby.  A pint to finish in the Star in St Just (passengers only, of course) and back home.  What a stonking day out that would be.

And the airfield at Perranporth is only 5 miles from Carn Gowla !   I'm dreaming now..

That sounds lovely! 

Lundy is an obvious candidate if your dad is feeling particularly adventurous.

Just checked and it's 3 miles from the airport to Three Cliffs.

Lundy is one of the places we have discussed. Apparently you have to fly low on the airfield to shoo the sheep away and then you can swing round and land!

I don't really understand how these things work, but I think pilots wanting to land might have left it a bit late if they wait until they're talking to them on the radio.

It's pretty tiny by airport standards, but much grander than a beach hut.  And (potentially useful beta this), the terminal building is mostly a really nice cafe with a check-in desk.

Going with the island concept, could this be another contender?
Peninnis Head

And avoid the rabbit holes! It's one of the very first things I want to do when (if!) I finally finish my PPL — but I'm not sure I'd want to take someone else's plane there. And if I did, if they were sensible I'm not sure they'd let me.

Though I know less about the climbing there, Scilly is potentially another option (there must surely be climbing on Scilly!?). The Channel Islands too.

You could go bouldering on Coll.

http://www.flyingschooldirectory.co.uk/scotland

And from what i remember, the Lundy airstrip is barely 400 m long.  And if you cock it up, you end up going head-first down Albacore!

My grass-strip take-off technique wasn't remotely good enough.  But another good shout for a cracking trip.

There are some crags near Plockton airfield, an exceptionally scenic area. A few near Wick airport and a couple of venues in both Orkney and Shetland, although I'm guessing most of these don't get the best weather most of the time. 

Can't you get him to convert to helicopters, that really would open up some possibilities. And the opprobrium on here would be brilliant!

A long time ago we had a trip to Lundy organised but the boat couldn't go due to a storm so we hired a plane from Plymouth and spent an entertaining hour or two somewhere over Ilfracombe trying to actually go forwards. Then gave up.

Lands end has an airfield. 

Cheddar Gorge South Draycott Sleights I don't know if this fits your criteria but Halesland Airfield is within easy walking distance from Cheddar Gorge and Draycott Sleights. It's really a glider station.

There's Spence airfield in the forest of Dean http://www.spenceairfield.co.uk/

It's about 10k away from Symonds Yat

Culver Cliff Has some trad and bouldering and is really near an airfield.  I’ve never been, but my bro flies down to the IOW and that got me wondering...

Llanberis MRT have a helicopter LZ in Nant...

1.75km from Guernsey Airport terminal door to Le Gouffre crags.  1.55km from Alderney airport to some new routing. Nearest rock to Jersey airport is 3.5km, and that's probably not climbable.

Airfields tend to require flat, whilst climbing requires bumps, however I seem to recall that Mick Fowler once did a trip which involved landing on a beach, maybe Glen Brittle, but that could be totally incorrect.

Only if you're flying (or swimming). It's at least 5 miles to walk from the end of the runway to climb, closer to 6 from the entrance to the airport.

Flying Boat.  The world is your oyster!

Isles of Scilly. The end of the runway is practically at the climbing. Lundy too for well, all the climbing. Land's End too wod be great for the entirety of the crags out on the end of Penwith. Yeah, lots of options in the SW.

At the other end, what about places like Barra? 

Roche Airfield for Roche Rock 🤣

Actually, don't bother. 

My post might not have been entirely serious... ✈🙄

Salcombe has a grass airstrip https://www.boltheadairfield.co.uk/ and Sharp Tor is 20-30 minutes walk away, maybe file under esoteric. It's a stunning walk though, not a moorland tor, more of a jagged coastal feature. https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/sharp_tor_devon-1479 

Isn't there quite a sizeable airstrip near Sennen ?

Land's End Airport

Are you talking about airfields with or without tread mills?

Can you land a plane on a treadmill?

With a bit of imagination and specific conditions you could consider an aircraft carrier a type of treadmill so perhaps the answer is yes

Al

Very much in the "don't bother" category, but this one's right by the end of the runway at Birmingham:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/robos_bridge-21639#overview

(o::

That is. and was, always the question.

If you're feeling adventurous, I reckon a day trip to do the Nose on Nebbifield, Foula would be a fun day out.

Whitestonecliffe is basically right underneath Sutton Bank which is a gliding club with grass strips. Prior permission only AFAIK and quite a challenging site (climbing and flying wise), Felixkirk is almost as close at the bottom of the hill and an easier airstrip.

Llanbedr would get you to some lovely climbing but you'd probably want bikes.

jk

Kalymnos has an airport just above Saint photis crag. Not sure whether the airport is ever used these days though 

I thought it was the opposite?

Parachute and a Fulton surface-to-air recovery system seem ideal.

Plenty of suggestions to keep you going all summer. Then when winter comes it's off to the altiports at Courcheval and Alp d'Huez for some convenient ice climbing.

(Jumping past the climate emergency and the need for us all to drastically limit flying.....)

There are some pretty impressive options within walking distance of Sumburgh airport on Shetland. 

Fogla Taing looks impressive, and I hear the bouldering at Troswick is good too. 

D.

Landing a treadill on a plane? That's just daft!

If you landed at edinburgh then sneaked off the opposite side to the terminal you could reach craigie hill quarry in no time. You'd have wasted your time though - it's shit. 

Was at a party near Derby some years ago and an old friend arrived a bit late because he'd flown to Lundy, climbed on the Slide and flown back for the party

That's style.

But even more stylish is the party venue having its own landing strip 🛩🧗‍♂️🛩🍸 👍

And it has the best/fastest baggage handling!