UKC

Birmingham might not have custom-built boulders in the centre, but I've been having fun on the concrete sculpture under the Hockley Viaduct during Lockdown 2. Some holds are chalked up .... own up, who else has been there? Am I in danger of cross-contamination!!??

First time I felt a bit self-conscious, but not many folk use these underpasses. Advantages of this wall: you can climb on concrete when it's wet, Birmingham Council allow climbing here, and it's close to home. Traversing is straight-forward, but you can find your own harder problems.

Any other good urban bouldering out there?

Presume you've done a good quest around under bridges? Would be cool if there's another hidden crack climbing venue like the one Robbie found in Edinburgh. 

I'll keep my eyes open as I'm cycling the canal towpaths. 

However, if I find cracks that are half as difficult as those in Edinburgh then I'll be leaving the Moderately-Deep-Water-Soloing to you ....

There (probably) is lots of good sandstone hard bouldering around where I live but you would really be trespassing (??) as the walls all belong to private tenements and I'm sure you (I) would not be welcome. As I live in the area I've not tried!

I've often looked longingly at the sandstone walls of the burgh hall in Maxwell Park...

This looks awesome, will have to try and scout this out next time I'm nearby!

You'll  know about the  B'ham uni walls above the sports fields off Bristol Road? Not perma dry but quality stuff I remember

When I was in the uni of Bham climbing club they used to go there occasionally - even made it onto the telly once! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-birmingham-48342439

Yep loved that, spent most of my degree in the sun down there - Bournebrook wall.  Some great little traverses and a topo for it in the 80s. Arch was an exciting 5c and there was a fingery traverse on one of the very far left faces harder with feet on second row up?

I have a list of possible bridges if you would like to have a look? 

I used to live in Birmingham but wasn't much of a crack climber then. I meant to head down in the summer for a look but never got around to it. 

Yes, I'll investigate anything!

Photo of the Lickey Hills Boulder ... this appeared next to the playground a few years ago. A geologist friend assures me that it's not an erratic or the result of overnight volcanic activity!

It gives a reasonable workout if you're on the south side of Birmingham.

Before Aberdeen had a climbing wall it was quite common to climb on some of the local walls built from granite blocks, my favourite was the Rosemount viaduc with climbing on one side of a tunnel so always dry and fairly close to the lab were I was working at the time. Some other Scottish cities had well known 'walls' such as Finnieston (Glasgow) & maybe the best known, the Currie Wa's (Edinburgh), there was an article about such urban climbing in an early edition of Mountain which might be on line soewhere.

Is that a sculpture of a Coronavirus at 1:10, low down??

It's been on here before, but 100 miles down the road in the City of Cool there is a fair bit of urban stuff courtesy here of Ollie Keynes

youtube.com/watch?v=CKdidg9vFPQ&