UKC

Rob Greenwood takes a look at one of the jewels in the crown of Peak Limestone

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article. I've wanted to go to Cheedale for years but always either been put off by the fact it needs time to dry, or just gone elsewhere. Sounds like a great option for when I'm at a loose end in June.

My French family always say to me "but shurely zer is no clime-ing in ze UK?" and I want to scream back "you have no idea how wrong you are, there is TOO MUCH climbing in the UK and I live in a constant state of FOMO!"

In reply to Paul Sagar:

Chee Tor is an impressively fast drying crag, more so than people think, and is certainly in a different league of dryness than the likes of the Cornice.

Hopefully the various ticklists + route choices within the article will provide you with a suitable level of entertainment...either that or you'll hate it...

Still, at least the article will elicit some form of a reaction

In reply to UKC Articles:

Excellent article, it brings back loads of memories of great days down there,

Chria

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great stuff Rob, long overdue! #whoneedspembroke

In reply to UKC Articles:

That tree is slippy as f**k. Even with the recent addition of staples for grip I just know one day I'm gonna fall in. It's tricky with a full sac for sure. 

Who has took the plunge? Surely someone has. 

In reply to snoop6060:

There was a video doing the rounds a few years ago of a particularly comedy fall from it but I think it may have been removed to save the climber's blushes. 

In reply to Wft:

I tried to track down that footage whilst I was researching the article but couldn't find it, presumed it had been lost within the ether of Facebook archiving. It's a real rollercoaster from what I recall, as it's clearly a very wet/slippery day - hence he resorts to using a clipstick for balance/aid. Sadly this doesn't quite do the trick, and whilst he comes close to making it, he fails at the final hurdle, coming close to falling, recovering, then over compensating, and finally going over backwards - pack first - into the river. It really is excruciating to watch.

Part of the reason I didn't get in touch was because I was loosely aware that for many people this could be considered embarrassing, but if that was me I'd wear it like a badge of honour. I have a feeling it was his first time to the crag too.

What a first impression...

p.s. thanks for the use of the pic of Tequila Mockingbird

Great article, great crag.

My personal favourite is probably queer street - Pembroke e5!

In reply to James Oswald:

I'd love to get some pics of people climbing there later this year, as it'd be good to get some nice action shots for the next Peak Limestone Guide.

Not sure what you're keen for, but I'm going to assume Theo would be up for it, so let me know. It'd clearly be a legitimate use of work time for me to come down and take a few photographs

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Yeah count me in too, would definitely like to get a shot of someone falling in the river.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article. Just the right level of honesty about the superficial flaws on the surface of what is a really great crag. Although "...worth travelling for in much the same way that you would travel to Dinas Cromlech..." is going a bit far! I consider Chee Tor to be much like Shipley Glen: aesthetically a bit of a disaster, but once you break through the initially repellent facade there are many rich and varied experiences to be had.

Whether or not I'll ever climb at Chee Tor again remains to be seen, but I had a great time there when I lived in Sheffield and was working my way through the E1s, 2s and 3s. Funnily enough I moved away before I "got round" to trying Queer Street...

In reply to Jon Stewart:

That's interesting, do you mean on a micro level? So the rock from the climber's perspective.  Because that bit of Cheedale on a landscape level, I think, is rather beautiful. There aren't many other places that feel like "lost world" canyons like that in the UK. Although the eyeless baby-doll head that Rob pulled out of the river during the litter pick last summer was rather disturbing!

(BTW Jon, talking of eyes, or lack of them, can I ask your expert opinion before I order some new contact lenses? I recently had my eyes retested and got new glasses, but are still using up the contacts I have of the old strength.)

In reply to TobyA:

I like the scenery of Cheedale, especially where it becomes the peculiar British jungle at Chee Tor. It's the amount of stuff growing, and crawling, out of the crag that makes it aesthetically unsettling from a climbing perspective. But I found climbing the dusty sloping horrors and woodlice-infested pockets of the place absolutely compelling: I liked it enough to climb nearly everything there I could, often multiple times.

As Rob says, if for the E2/3 climber, it's a fantastic place, it's just a bit strange.

Haha! Thankfully, I don't think that's really in keeping with the atmosphere. He should have transferred it to Shipley Glen where it would have been right at home.

Course - end me an email.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

If I remember correctly Rob also recovered dozens of golf balls from the river along with more normal rubbish and the horrific baby doll head!

I've just been the once to climb, we did a couple of VSs which were both quite good although the one Sam led was total nails. Perhaps I wasn't Limestone ready but it seemed a bit of a sandbag. Must go back and do the traverse though when I find someone silly enough to do it with me.

I did one of vertebrate publishing mountain bike rides that goes in and out of Cheedale last weekend, it was great and reminded me how much I like that part of the Peak District. It is so totally different from Kinder and the High Peak just a few miles away. No other mountain bikers around also, which was nice, although an endless stream of bored looking teenagers doing their d of e.

I'll send you a message re: eyes!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

It's the first time that I have ever seen The Glen compared to a major limestone crag. Having been born in Saltaire and visiting the Glen several times a week I had never considered it "repellent". Other than the broken bottles it is obviously far superior to Chee Tor!!!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Aesthetically it’s very pleasing as a location. The dandelions and dirty pockets just add to the experience  As does the risk of getting eaten by a sabretooth tiger if you take the ‘lost world’ approach rather than wading (I suspect wading or using the tree is the more eco friendly approach and the risk of sabretooth tigers is reduced somewhat, so I’ve been opting for that in recent years). 

In reply to Misha:

I went a lot in the pre-tree era and after a painful first visit, always had a pair of flip-flops for the wade approach. Definitely added a bit of adventure to an afternoon in the Peak, but not as much as an encounter with a sabre-tooth tiger of course!

In reply to TobyA:

That's pretty typical of Peak limestone!