UKC

The trees at Armathwaite have grown and grown over the years - since the crag was developed in the 1970's. The crag was affected by the trees with moss etc on the crags and many routes took some time to dry after rain especially during the summer with the foliage on the trees.
The land there is owned by the Forestry Commission and they were doing some tree clearance in the woods above the track, above the crag. After discussions with Forestry Commission they agreed to clearance of trees along the base of the crag and open the crag up. This has been helped with fund from the BMC. This was done last week - though there are some trees below Bullgine Run / Monkeyhanger ; at the start of Ituna and below Dome Slab (and possibly others) which will be cleared at a later date.
This has made a HUGE difference to the crag !!! There is a lot of timber along the base of the crag and local climbers from the Eden Valley MC and Carlisle MC are looking to tidy this up with stacking of wood (good for animals) etc in the near future. The Forestry Commission have said that if anyone wants to take the timber out they can do - but this could be a logistical nightmare.
This should make the crag a true all year round crag.