UKC

So I've been to Anglezarke to climb more times than I can think of and every time I seem to bump into someone who tells me that Lester Mill used to be a massive climbing venue and how great it was.

What I am intrigued to know is why has it fallen out of regular use? I can understand why anyone wouldn't want to be there now as the place is a right tip, overgrown and damp but if it used to be popular what changed to stop it being popular when Anglezarke is right next to it and has loads of climbers in the summer months?

I would love to climb at Lester Mill but since last time I went for a look I had to fight my way through bracken, japanese knotweed and brambles it has kind of put me off.

Would anyone be interested in the possibility of an organised clean up to get the place back into some sort of useful condition or should we just condem the place and never climb there again? I guess before any kind of clean up takes place it would have to be discussed with the BMC and the land owners but I reckon with a little TLC it could become a great venue again.

Or am I just being a wuss and need to man up and ignore all the bushes and general cr@p and climb there anyway?

Mark

In reply to monkeymark: I agree with a good clean up Lester Mill could be a good venue, but it would need regular climbing on or clean ups.

In reply to monkeymark: An interesting venue and sad to hear it's not seeing much traffic. However I always remember it being fairly damp, I would often take a peek at it, but generally headed for Anglezarke as even in the depths of summer it seemed constantly to be dripping!

In reply to Removed UserJeremy Ashcroft: There was talk way back of diverting the drainage, I can't remember how this was supposed to be done?

In reply to Al Evans: I would have hoped a clean up would generate a significant amount of additional traffic.

I also have a vauge memory of someone telling me that there is a purpose built abseil station somewhere up there which would hopefully mean that if the place was cleaner and easeir to access it would reduce the number of people abseiling off the Many Happy Returns, Knightmare and Golden Tower area's of Anglezarke.

In reply to monkeymark: I would be up for getting involved in a clean up if we get the go ahead!

In reply to Al Evans:

Suspect for it to work it would have meant digging up the road!

Pity it's so damp, as the route I managed where good.

In reply to monkeymark:Bolted lower off's? That might encourage a few more people to climb there. Or perhaps just bolt the whole place...

Stands back and waits for a torrent of ethic abuse.

In reply to Andrew Smith:
Considering how little traffic there is at lester mill I think that if bolting it would generate more interest and make a clean up more sustainable it could be good.

Please note normally I don't like the idea of bolting but in the case of lester mill something needs to be done to increase it's popularity to warrant the effort of the clean up.

In reply to monkeymark: Gear placements where never a problem on the routes I did. In fact once cleaned up it would be easier to place gear than clip bolts!

In reply to monkeymark: I climb in there alot, i set to cleaning the top end last year got quater way round before not being able to return for a while due to work and stuff, it soon gets messy again, it does need more ppl to take on the clean up and the climbing, blue stilton a short steep classic and fun, email me when you fancy getting a crew together count me in

In reply to monkeymark: Joking aside, I am anti bolt, but I do think bolted lower offs would add a bit of traffic to certain routes. If anybody wants to arrange a good clean up of the place then email me, and we can arrange a meet.

I have cleaned routes in the past in the quarries, climbed them, and been shocked to go back 1 year later and found them covered in veg again.

Cheers Andy

In reply to monkeymark: Does anyone know of the hideaway in lester mill and why it was made???? looks like someone put alot of effort into making this, i did a camp in it once to find that big black rock spiders like to wake you up, shXt me up. i found an old miners lamp in there and some weird wood working skills.

In reply to Al Evans: Brilliant, i would have been 3yrs old then, practicing my heel hook on the back of the sofa, not to my mums amusement though i love lester mill arriving at the belay ledge and looking over the footpath and the little hump hill that casts out over the reservior is awsome, great feeling, i like how coming out from the hollow start and climb past the tree levels to the open veiws of the lower levels of lester mill has a real adventure feel, just my feelings and experiences there, i like anglezarke and the climbs are great, but not greeted with the same scenery as its sister crag.