UKC

The Main Wall of Trowbarrow Quarry is a unique climbing feature. The wall is seamed with cracks that are the result of blasting on the wall in the 70's and its surface is covered with millions of prominent fossils which are often used to assist upward progress. The climbing is usually sustained, well-protected and not excessively technical.

Al Evans remembers a time when monkeys roamed the earth and Tarmac inadvertently created a climbers' playground.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=210

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

interesting to think that if it hadn't been blasted, would it have been bolted?

great article al, having spent my time at lancaster uni ticking a lot of the quarry i can hardly imagine what the main wall would have looked like without the crack lines - must have been amazing.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Dear Mick

I am lost for words.

Norrie

In reply to Norrie Muir:

Why are you bothering to tell us that, then, Norrie?

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Dear Gordon

Are you also lost for words about the article, that you had to make that comment about me?

Norrie

In reply to Norrie Muir:

I'm not. That was a fun little article.

Thanks Al.

In reply to Norrie Muir:

There's no need to feel left out Norrie! I've sourced you a suitable second for some of those hard winter lines that you've had your eyes on:

http://tinyurl.com/nmoko

Great article Al! I enjoyed reading it.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
What a brilliant article, Al.
Nice one.

In reply to Norrie Muir:

Not really a comment about you, Norrie, but about the logic of the sentence. Amused me a bit. 'I have a comment to make: I have no comment.'

I haven't read the article yet, because I'm very busy at work, but it looks interesting.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: where did you find those picture of the adorable monkeys?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
Brilliant story by Al, and it's even better when you hear him tell it. Al is one of climbing's great raconteurs.

Don't think you're allowed to use Monkey's as props any more though, hate to think what the RSPCA have to say about this line...

"One slow and boring day I found that if you took one off your shoulder and just chucked it at a wall, any wall, brick or stone, it would just stick! It would then proceed to climb upwards to the limit of their leads."

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

Office staff?

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

Al got them from Jean Horsfall


"Thank you to Jean Horsfall for the photographs of Joe the monkey"

They are of the actual monkeys that were being trained by Al and Jean for the ascent of Trowbarrow's Main Wall.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth: Its a lovely piece of climbing history.

Norrie's only jealous ;p)

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I might have read the article too quickly but: why didn't the monkeys get involved in any of the FAs .. as originally planned?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

So let me get this straight

Tarmac blasted the wall to deter climbers ?

That kind of backfired didn’t it ?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Well this is the second post today that's reminded me of M John Harrison's Climbers.

Al, did you know Mike Harrison at all?

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

Its a picture of the actual monkey in the article, supplied by Jean Horsfall of Jean Jeanie fame.

In reply to KeithW: Actually not well, but I have an interesting (another of Al's boring) story loosely about M John Harrison.
He was being interviewed by Jim Perrin on Stanage End, and Jim found this bit of paper torn out of a diary written in green ballpoint, which was somebodys game plan for the year, Jim was very critical of the 'youth of today'in the article that they needed to write down game plans instead of just getting stuck in and enjoying climbing.
It was my diary and my plan for getting back to form!
BTW, did you know Harrison was a sci fi author?
I was later introduced to him by Brian Cropper and admitted that the 'game plan' had been mine. He laughed out loud, I dont think I've seen Jim yet since the article.

In reply to tobyfk: Cruelly because we didnt need them once the cracks appeared, Lois did do the first ascent of Pigfall with me and Jean, but I led. They also produced boulder problems on the boulder in the quarry floor which I couldnt do and which have only recently got their first human ascents.

In reply to NIGBEE:

Just a bit, I still laugh about it to this day

In reply to Al Evans:

Excellent! Can I now claim first MFA of most routes in the Peak.

BTW climbed with Brian Cropper at Shooter's Nab on sat. He is still brandishing that decrepit old ice axe with gay abandon

In reply to Al Evans: A great read again, lovely to finally put a face to the star of the story.

Have you climbed with any monkeys on the Costa Blanca?

PS I know Brian's hairy but he doesn't count

In reply to Al Evans: Do you have any photos of the wall prior to blasting?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

This conjures up some amusing images.
Certainly beats a sitting start anyway.

"I found that if you took one off your shoulder and just chucked it at a wall, ......... it would just stick!"

In reply to ewang:

With one of these? http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/siege_engines_main.html

In reply to Al Evans:


It's news to me that he's a climber!

I can recommend his 'Viriconium' books to anyone who likes a bit of the weird stuff...

In reply to Chris Tan Ver. XLVIII SP2:

It would certainly stick firing a wee monkey onto a wall with one of them.

In fact, you would probably have to peel/scrape it off.

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut: Not sure, Jean might. I'll try chasing it up, if you know the crag it was just like Asylum Wall but on a vast scale, I actually top roped a route on this wall (Asylum) called 'The Great Unled' just to see what the Great Wall of Fossils would have been like,it was too bold for me to lead.
It was eventually led with bolt and peg protection in 1985 by Paul Carling and is now modern E5, can you imagine what the great wall would have been like at 3 or 4 times the height with no bolts, I still seriously reckon we would have had one of the hardest routes in the world for the time if it had not been blasted.

In reply to Norrie Muir:


F*ck me that's a first. Somebody write it down.

In reply to FedUp:

Dear Fed

So you took my advice to take a running fcuk to yourself.

Norrie

In reply to Al Evans:

Yep, just read Light, which I reckon is classic Harrison - by turns imaginative, perverse, obscure and surreal.

In reply to Al Evans:

Great read. One Bowie-centric question that I've often wondered though: why did you call it Jean Jeanie not Jean Genie?

Joe the Monkey Lion

In reply to jhenryb: Because I wanted to stress the Jean aspect and not make it seem like a straight copy of Bowie, Jean was far more important in the ascent than Bowie.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Ive got a good picture of Trowbarrow Main Wall in my gallery if anyone wants an idea of the scale of the place....

In reply to Dr Avid: Interesting that what looks like a small boulder down to the left is actually Asylum Wall, Kindda puts it into perspective!

In reply to tmh:

Yes, M John Harrison's Climbers is superb. It was a very worthy winner of the Boardman-Tasker award in 1989.

In reply to Al Evans: If you look very carefully you can see two friends of mine finishing off cracked actor

In reply to Dr Avid: Yes I noticed them, good pic mate, I've voted on it now. Just what technique did you use?

In reply to Clauso: Only just opened your link, very funny

In reply to Al Evans:

Actually on re-looking asylum wall is behind the trees

In reply to Al Evans:

so did he retrieve abseils as well?

In reply to Al Evans: Asylum wall is that black 85 degree face with a bolt or two on it and nails climbing no?

Oh and the photo is a plain old stich of 5 photographs taken from the same spot....whole thing is about a meter long full size....

In reply to Dr Avid: Thats correct, its not as beautiful as Wall of Fossils was, but the climbing gives a sort of flavour of what it would have been like.

In reply to Al Evans:

Lovely story, Al, I remember Myles and Susan chortling over it, in Spain.

Mick

Fantastic. My mum has a picture somewhere of one of those pissing monkeys on mine or my brother's shoulder. I forget. Jean Jeannie was the first 'all time great' route I did, starting out on those same quarries and outcrops.

Thank god I moved away before the idea of having a go at The Great Unled ever got too strong

In reply to steveri: Brilliant, do you realise either me or Jean probably took the photograph.

In reply to Al Evans:
I'll ask her to dig it out. It's a bit out of focus to be honest
Climbing every route on Warton Upper is still one of the most amusing things I've ever done. Beautiful spot.

In reply to steveri: It is isnt it, I once got Jean and her brother John on the top of the pinnacle, then set the camera up with self timer on, on the main crag, I had several seconds to climb down into the gap, climb the pinnacle and pose with them on top. It took me 4 attepts to make it,
If it was out of focus it wouldnt be mine or Jeans, must have been Dave Parker Though in fact the cameras we were issued with were crap.

In reply to steveri: I once did all the routes at Warton and Farleton in a day, its good fun but you need a long summer day.

In reply to Al Evans: More of you should consider offering articles to UKC, since the articles were published I am back in touch with about 50 old friends that I had completely lost contact with, not least Jean and also Ed Grindley, just hope Dave P sees it.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
I'm a bit confused ... the article refers to activities in 1965, but those Bowie songs only came out in the mid-70s ... a typo?

In reply to ttmor: I have already been ticked off by Jean, you are quite right, I got the dates wrong, Jean didnt even go to the college until 1970, and the FA details for JJ say 1971. Sorry, put it down to alzheimers.

In reply to Al Evans: But it was not mid 70's, Bowie had a hit session early 70's them another resuurgence in the mid 70's onwards.

In reply to Al Evans: Is that Ed Grindley chap the guy who's mention as doing slab problems on the sea wall at morecambe, "have you seen the size of the sea wall? he's a mad bugger is ed" by normal in Climbers by Mike Harrison?

In reply to andi_e:
>that Ed Grindley chap
You should try Grindley's Grunt at Heptonstall. A very silly and strenuos route. Bimble, bimble, bimble, clip peg, grunt strenuously up overhang.

In reply to Ross McGibbon:

A different Grindley - Peter - and a different era.

Mick

In reply to Al Evans:

Hi Al,

I can remember a load of us getting rained off in the Lakes, mid '70s, going down and doing Aladdin Sane and Jean Jeanie, still in the rain. When I questioned the wisdom of this, they said, "It's OK, the limestone is so rough you can still do 'em in the rain." And it was! And we did!

I've not been back since but gather that things have got rather more polished.

Wilton was interesting, last night, first visit for 30 years, the spoil heaps grassed over but the rock polished and green. Didn't seem to stop the locals, but I found it distinctly uphill. Good fun though. May be another casualty of folk going on walls, not crags.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward: Its strange Mick, I remember Wilton as being free of green and Lichen, and certainly Millstone is far greener than it was when I used to climb there. When we were ringing the Ravens, Jack Street was gobsmacked by how green it had got. I dont think I would ever have got up Great West Road if it was as green as it is now!
Similarly for Helsby, its bright green instead of sandstone red now when you pass it on the motorway, it started to go early on but we always put it down to the fertilzer factory emmisions, now I'm not so sure.
Do you think that as a consequence of global warning climbers will have to wire brush routes every year or so?

In reply to Al Evans:

Hi Al,

That's a really interesting point about Helsby; of course, it was the first place (that I can think of) that went green. As you say, we thought it was emmisions. Maybe not, though...

Not been to Millstone since I left Sheff, but it seemed to be getting greener each year, e.g. the embankment. I remember Great West Road as having excellent friction.

Climate change + lack of traffic??? Somebody on here must have a sound professional understanding.

Went to Anglezarke the previous week - again green. Grovelled up Samarkand, albeit in the rain, before packing it in. It too, seem polished (well, worn) and very dirty.

When it's green, I just don't trust my feet and soloing is no longer enjoyable.

Think I might mosey down to Wales later on. Hiraeth. It's calling!

In reply to Al Evans:

We were doing the routes just as smokeless fuel rules came in. Before that , coal fired was the main source of heat with all the sulphur and other pollutants in the air it involved.

Maybe the BMC should now be looking at safe cleaning agents we could use. Path cleaner would do the job but I have no idea what the chemicals are in it, or the other things for removing lichens. Whatever was used would have to be used very sparingly, and discussions like the bolt debates would be needed to say where it should be used.

In reply to Mick Ward: Hmmmm! So does Golden Tower need re-naming

In reply to sutty:

Dear sutty

I was only at Helsby once and was told it was green because of the Chemical Plant. Do you remember it before it was green as you are a lot older than Al, Mick and myself?

Norrie

In reply to Norrie Muir:

Think it was always green at Helsby Norrie, as was a lot of Millstone. I think Al may have selective memory on some routes, and did them when dry. I do remember taking a party up Allens Slab wearing nailed boots after all the 'hard lads' had failed on it in their PAs in the damp November mist.

BTW, I am older than you and Al, by around 8 years.;-P

In reply to sutty: Sutty is a bit older than us, actually I'm a bit older than you and Mick, but no I'm not having selective memory, Helsby was always 'that big red crag overlooking the end of the motorway' and Millstone was only ever as green as it is now, in the end bays.

In reply to Mick Ward: Wilton was very green and mossy when we went last week. Only the inside face of The Prow was clean. I'm thinking of writing a complaint to the Council along the lines of "How come I'm paying £1,200 council tax a year and yet the local quarries are all vegetated?"

In reply to Marc C: Something serious is happening, soon Stanage will be green, perhaps we should all climb with wire brushes instead of chalk bags. Incidently has anybody been to Agden lately?
Is it just a grit thing? and sandstone thing? does limestone have its own natural acid (carbonic acid?)and the acid rhyolites of Wales. In which case chalk will help I suppose. We need a geologist/biologist answer, Horse?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Hi Mick, good to hear you're ok, you taught my yonger brother at rawthorpe high school, he asks about you now and then, guess you must have made an impression on at least one pupil there which can only be good!!

In reply to Al Evans:

Plant biologist here, it might be that there are more nitrate/phosphate minerals in gritstone then in limestone? Besides, gritstone a lot coarser, so it maybe stays wet just a bit longer, so plants have just a bit longer to grow.
Just speculating, but I know that nitrate/phosphate rich water will get green very quickly.

I'd really like to lead Jean Jeanie before I leave Lancaster in 2-3 months time, but haven't led a single VS yet, so that is probably a hopefull illusion.

In reply to Arjen: Don't be stupid, of course you can lead Jean Jeanie, its mega safe, even a monkey could do it

In reply to Al Evans:

Ehh, thanks for the compliment, but note that I've been climbing only for a couple of months now - will try to lead my first VS soon (Coral See probably), and train hard in 'holding on' for a long time...
I doubt about 'mega safe', once you're above 25m with a 50m rope you can't bail out anymore, so if you're too pumped out to be able to do anything anymore you're f*cked. (not?)

In reply to Arjen: Warning, I think Coral Sea is a harder first VS lead than Jean Jeanie, for lots of reasons, its not as big a deal physcologically as JJ so you won't perform as well on it, plus actually JJ is really well protected. I'm not sure where I'me coming from, but go for Jean Jeanie before Coral Sea.

In reply to Al Evans:

I must admit that I have tried both of them as a second, and I couldn't get past the crux on JJ, but found Coral See a really pleasant climb... Maybe its the style that is the difference? I like more technical stuff... (botterill slab is one of the best climbs I seconded!)

You're the first who finds JJ easier then Coral See btw - most people I know see Coral See as an overrated HS 4b, and JJ as an easy HVS. Coral See has loads of gear as well.

Ah well, all this grade arguing is getting silly - I hope to get out to trowbarrow soon, and get some good climbing done!

In reply to Al Evans:

You think? Thought CS over graded.

In reply to Marc C:

Yeah, we ended up on the inside face of the Prow, Dawn, Ann, etc (after a 30 year absence).

I'm sure there's some good sociological research to be done into complaints to jobsworths. Hearing the Chairman of Ofwat bullshit (same old, same old) on the radio, coming back from Wales this evening...

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward: Mick, you have to do Cameo, softest touch E1 I have ever done, then again you know my penchant for routes dont you, dont expect much pro

In reply to Al Evans:

Cameo's top of my list (well, at least at Wilton). It was bright green last week, though that didn't stop the locals and, when we realised our faux pas, we couldn't get on it! Vaguely remember doing Wombat Chimney (at HVS, hmm...) 30 years ago. Looks like Peapod's evil sister.

We'll be back!

Mick

P.S. Really enjoyed Wales - 1,000 feet of easy soloing on Sat & same on Sun. Very soothing to be in the hills.