UKC

The popular southern sandstone venue of Harrison's Rocks is undergoing some changes. The following information is for the Harrison's Rocks toilet and camping facilites:

The toilet block is currently closed because the building is unsafe. Water has leaked directly onto the fuse boxes...

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=68223

In reply to UKC News: A little worrying if there are no toilet facilities - the woods could become very unhygienic.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

More info here in the BMC article:

https://thebmc.co.uk/harrisons-toilet-block-and-campsite-closed

In reply to Team BMC: If you go to any crag that is even slightly out of the way you get wild camping and people using the surounding area as a toilet.
To expect Harrisons to be any different is strange.

How much would it cost to get the toilet block sorted? cost of raw materials and cost of labour.

Why can't a local run it when it goes back to the FC, neither being paid by the FC or paying to the FC, but making money from camping and parking fees to make it worth their while.

Just seems buldozing a good facility and turning the whole area into wild camping and poo strewn area is not a step in the right direction.

In reply to Bob kate bob:
I agree. Such a shame to lose this facility. Many a happy time has been spent camping here and surely it is just wasteful not to maintain the building and the loss of the toilets is a bad idea for the environment. Come on climbers can we not get this sorted?

In reply to Poolie: Julie Tullis will be turning in her grave!

In reply to UKC News: Aren't we all getting civilised, Julieand Terry were in the forefront of the campaign to stop the toilets and car park, cartoons in The Festerhaunt showing government inspectors crawling through the woods looking for turds. Think of the organised groups who will stay away, it might make the place worth visiting if I'm in the area!

In reply to Team BMC: I'd like to suggest a couple of eco-style toilets - basicaly a very deep hole, secure seat/cover and screen for privacy. No big building or water required to function. I don't imagine this would be very expensive and it could save the area around the rocks becoming a health hazard. Perhaps some local BMC members would volunteer to dig the hole!

I
So there going to shut it down for lack of money, this week Usain Bolt will be paid TAX FREE £500,000 for 10 seconds on the track, Wow so this is the big society where we're all in it together then, why are we letting it happen ?

In reply to Hannah Heywood:

I agree that eco toilets would seem the most sensible way forward.

As for health hazards the mind boggles when you think of the hundreds of climbers who visit the rocks every week. Harrisons is by far the most frequented. Bowles has toilet facilities as does High Rocks, with the exception of Stone Farm rocks (I wonder at times about the health issues here?)other outcrops have nothing like the same volume of visitors.

Maybe KCC Environmental Health need to get involved to see if they can contribute financially bearing in mind that Birchden Woods attract walkers and dog walkers to the car park as well as climbers?

I don't know much about the finances but I used to find it sad to see how many car loads of both climbers and dog walkers just ignored the "voluntary" parking charge. What can we expect if the people who use the facilities aren't prepared to pay for them?

It's also a sad reflection just how badly the wardening of the rocks and car park has deteriorated since the days of Terry Tullis.

In reply to Al Evans:

Not just a sad loss for London and the South East-

My understanding is that current camping fee's are a major contributor to Julie Tullis Trust funding. I'll just quote from the BMCs web site:

"the BMC is pleased to announce the inauguration of the Julie Tullis Memorial Award, a small grant to assist deserving female mountaineers or any disabled climbers or mountaineers, both male and female, to achieve their climbing or mountaineering ambitions.."

So you join the dots... is the BMC going to stick its neck out and do something to save the car park, toilet block AND campsite for ALL climbers?
Personally, as a lifelong BMC member I could do with a glossy magazine less per year, or even an executive less if it was a choice of how funding was spent.

In reply to chris gibson: In reply to chris gibson:
Ps
I've just read that as well as paid executives there are 30 staff at the BMC office in Didsbury- surely one BMC job could be created- to manage the Harrison's facilities - south of Manchester ?
After all there are a few members living this way...

In reply to chris gibson: May I draw your attention to this. Thanks.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=557791&v=1#x7434062

In reply to UKC News:
Thank you Oceanrower - I had seen this thread. As an active participant in the Sandstone Volunteer Group I know how important informal volunteer contributions are. Without wanting to dampening the enthusiasm of that thread of (so far fairly) anonymous climbers we need leadership from the BMC who own the crag and who's members stand to gain from the facilities being maintained in so many ways.
If your suggestion came to fruition and at some point in the future unwound as a result of climber volunteers coming to terms with the realities of Eco toilets rubbish and dog walkers at some point in the life of the new lease from the forestry commission ( the last one being 25 years) climbers and Groombridge village would be left with a mighty big problem - so for me not a goer.
Could someone from the BMC explain how the sports council have been pursued to continue funding the facility? As a minority sport what will the sport get from the SC in the future? Also has the BMC looked at joint sponsorships of the facilities with retailers manufacturers and any other bodies? It seems that all layers in the BMC just want to roll over on the issue and continue to concentrate on what's north and sexy.

In reply to chris gibson: I can assure you that the proposal we have put together (with the support of a major London climbing wall) does NOT involve eco toilets. It does, however, involve volunteer labour.

Having said that, the running of the block and camp site to date has also relied to a certain extent on volunteer labour.

We wouldn't be employing a warden though. That would be up to the BMC but that would, I assume, be for checking belays etc. at the crag.

Discussions between interested parties are still ongoing so no news yet but I am confident our proposal is workable and affordable.

I'm sorry you feel that you can't help but that is, of course, your decision.

In reply to Oceanrower:
We'll thats great news- genuinely good to hear that a climbing wall may be involved in leading the project: I'm not quite sure where your point about "feeling sorry you can't help" comes from. We are all on this thread for the same reason.
Kind regards
Chris Gibson

In reply to chris gibson:
so for me not a goer.

It was that bit. Sorry if I misunderstoon.