A few weeks back I made my first trip back to Mile End for several years, a few "life events" like children and <cough> a dalliance with another wall (you cheeky biscuit, you know who you are!) having intervened. Taking one of my frequent rests between grappling with the reduced size holds and the gravity-enhancing matting I realised I had been climbing there off and on (and off) for thirty years. Sadly I missed the actual thirtieth birthday celebrations...but there were still a few familiar faces both behind the counter and on the walls. A few things had changed (particularly the outside area - good job guys!), a few things had stayed the same (the Peggy Day wall, my hands and feet finding the holds on autopilot...).
Sitting under the now watertight roof - I remember snow coming through it and resting on the holds of the red slab - I pondered on how much a part of my life it had been, and wondered how much longer it would be so, as sooner or later we are going to have to do the whole "move to the 'burbs" thing to accommodate the feral children. I've now introduced them to the wall, and whilst J (boy) was mainly focused on running around and jumping on the matting, G (girl) was very keen on the Monkey Room, and still asks to be taken back there to be a monkey.
In the mean time, I just wanted to say, thanks Mile End, hope you are there for another 30!
