UKC

I've fully cleaned the route Dumper (E1 5b) at Chatsworth. Don't think anyone had climbed it for a very long time!

Good little short steep E1 with an easy belay. Worth doing if you're over there for Mort Wall/Sidewinder which are also both in decent condition right now too. Would be good to get some traffic on it and keep it clean. 

I went over last night to belay Andy and gave it a go seconding. It's a cool route but bloomin' hard! I hadn't done a warm up and the conditions were hot and sweaty but my rests on the rope weren't because I was slipping off holds, rather I was failing to hang on for long enough when I did get the decent holds! But if you are more competent than me definitely give it a go and enjoy Andy's massive cleaning effort. 

Good work Andy.

Wasn’t it midgy?

Last night, yes! But just about bearable with some midge spray and the mindset of 'I'm getting this done tonight'

Oddly Andy was getting annoyed by them but they didn't bother me. I seem to be more of a tick magnet, I pulled three off me the night before after climbing over the valley at Birchen, and got one on me the week before at Stoney. So despite much paranoia about them last night, I seemed to have not picked up any at Chatsworth!

I'm planning to go back at some point and brush off the three easier routes to the left of the Dumper.  I did Strangler's Groove (S 4a) a few weeks ago and repeated Strangler's Crack (HVD) last night, but they are both pretty grubby and vegetated currently. And Throttled Groove (S 4a) is heavily over grown, so needs the most work!

Chatsworth was always a little esoteric but had enough traffic to keep it reasonably clean back in the day, though it was wise to take a brush with you. It’s a shame that it has become neglected and overgrown. Tics are an increasing problem, surprised that you picked one up at Stoney.

Great effort spending climbing time to clean routes for the masses.

does the route “go” from the ground or step in from the gully a little higher ( nr the gear!?)

spent my formative years climbing everything i was capable of at birchen, chats, gardoms as living south of chesterfield and reliant on buses these were the only crags i could get to,

we did an eliminate between mort wall and sidewinder i remember squeezed in but good moves ( same grade as neighbours!)

From the gully - Andy has really cleaned that too. You climb up it a couple of meters, to the horizontal micro break. Put a good runner in the corner then crimp like a melon farmer right along the break to the cracks in the upper wall. I thought it felt tough for 5b doing that! 

Andy did mention a direct start but it's super blank looking. Maybe if you've levitated up Walk on By (f7C+) first it could be worth checking out. 🙂

Always a delightful place to stop on the way home to Nottingham after a day on limestone and solo Mort Wall, Slip Arete, Puppet Crack, Monk's Park, High Step and Price.

I can't believe An Ancient Rhythm is still on you wishlist! Maybe an update required. I think I did it when it was E5 with a tied off half Friend in a horizontal break.

As Toby says, start up the gully to the big jug and traverse right on the crimps to the niche for the original route. I do think there is a direct start to be done, which is potentially not crazy hard (E3/4 maybe as a complete guess). It would be soloing/bouldering some hard looking moves off the ground slightly closer to the arete, until the gear at the niche at about 4/5 metres.

I might go back for it some time. The E3 'Jumpers' right of the arete looks quite worthwhile and probably hasn't been done for years either but needs a proper clean at the top out and the belay is a bit awkward directionally. 

The crag just went out of fashion, I remember it in the early ‘80s being green in the winter but pretty clean for the rest of the year. Mid you, the last time I was there, Quentin Fisher was soloing laps on Jumpers (E3 6a) and Andy Pollit was searching for eliminate starts which was a long time ago.!

I cleaned and did the start of Jumpers a few years ago, but just as a boulder problem and jumped off. It's got some great fun moves on it although I think the landing is a little stepped... I also did a lh version (with a sit start, but I was bouldering )which used the arete for the section to get from sit to standing but then climbed the wall just left of the arete above that so maybe slightly similar to the direct you are thinking about? Or maybe still a bit further right? 

pic here (but the lines not marked!) 

https://ukbouldering.com/threads/peak-chatsworth-jumpers-sit-and-lh.29816/

ps it looks a lot nicer in your photos, so good effort on the clean up.

Sound like good times especially after a day climbing on limestone. I remember soloing most of those routes back in the early 80s, happy days.

Nice! Yeah that's pretty much exactly where I meant with the direct start. Not being much of a boulderer I probably wouldn't have found the sit start.

Looking across at the shallow pocket/dish and flattish small holds above I was sure someone strong would have seen them and done it!

Do I have a wish list?!!  I must have done an ancient rhythm 20+ times in the full range of styles…. Including taking flight when pulling off a very well used chalky hold a couple of years ago…. My real wish list includes some crazy things in the USA that I’ll probably never do…. But it motivates me to go to minus 10 on stamina sessions a few times a week 😂

There's only one route on my wishlist, a forlorn hope nowadays.

thanks for this will add that to my after work private hitlist.

Here are a few things I have cleaned so far this year that might be of interest in return:

Howard's Slab (HVS 5a) @Lawrencefield - a lovely route and only 100m or so beyond Red Wall and is the obvious slab, or see the topo via the link. Probably only VS 4b*, variations are possible. Exit ledge and cracks dug out. Makes a change to doing the same routes again on a windy day!

The Last of Us (HVS 6a) Surprising gem well away from the main quarry. Did a small amount of cleaning to dig out some of the cracks ready for a return visit to lead but ended up soloing it, however a rope is recommended. Could be E2 5c** - stars reflect an esoteric experience at effectively a sperate micro crag, otherwise 1 star.

Also at Lawrencefield J.J.2 (E1 5b) - cracks fully dug out but saplings have resprouted slightly since it was cleaned in April so snips might be useful, only recently actually got round to climbing this, well protected but tough, E1 5c*?

Worth mentioning whilst talking about Lawrencefield that many existing boulder problems have been re-cleaned up and publicised by Ozz and Fiend which have proved popular this spring including Stonemason's Side-Pulls (AKA The Hexican) (f6C) & Anti-Climbax Sit-start (f7A)

Over at Millstone Lubric (HVS 5b) - Nails but excellent corner to the right of Lyons Corner House/Erb/Twikker felt E1 5c* to me & Pinstone Street (E2 5c) is in the process of being cleaned fully but is already in the best state its been in years. 

Stone Dri (E2 6a) - Death block removed, tough well protected crux unaffected, just left Nib Nob (HVS 5b) didn't require much cleaning but is a cool overlooked mini route that you get use the famous Millstone shot holes on but at a more amenable grade than Masters Edge.

Xanadu (E1 5b) & Xanadu Direct (E3 5c) - Brilliant well protected upper corner on the original route, ccould traverse or abseil in just for that. Ledge on the lower route has been dug out to help keep clean the bold(!) lower corner of the direct. This should also help keep clean Jealous Pensioner (E4 5c) which we further cleaned following on from the work of jordanramsden07 who got the ball rolling on this one and has been really popular this year.

At Ladybower Quarry I cleaned up the esoteric Jemelia (E3 5c) - quality climbing but unsure about the stability of this route, needs careful consideration (health warning!) but exit ledges and cracks dug out. The classic The Rat (E1 5b) was fully clean when we did it the same evening.

Sacrilege (E2 5c) - dug the exit cracks out and best I could on the traverse in a few abseils but will still feel dirty by most people's standards. brushed down a few other bits but given how gritty stuff gets there I'm not going to mention.

At Bauston Tor I cleaned back the exit of Nylon Stocking (E1 5b) but worth taking a brush to remove any fresh leaf material, my friend dug out the cracks of Streets Ahead (E3 6a) both are excellent and good choice in the heat. warning: Streets Ahead will remain damp after wet weather for quite some time.

Will write a separate post at some point but spent 6 days cleaning a few different routes at  Beeston Tor

Fantastic work as ever Graeme, really appreciate your efforts!

Howard's slab and J.J.2 both on my hit list now next time I go back to Lawrencefield. 

Beeston Tor has been on my list to visit for a while and a friend was talking about going recently but with having an 8 week old baby in the house, I'm limited for hours getting over there and back. Hopefully the routes you've done will stay clean for a visit a bit later this year 

Well done Graeme.

Interesting you cleaned Nylon Stocking. If I'm not mistaken Colin Winfield was on the first ascent of that with Jack Street? Colin passed away on Sunday so I'll make a point of doing that now you've cleaned it. He was also on the fist ascent of Wee Doris with Tom.

Ooh Ladybower Quarry! Good stuff Graeme, Jamelia is probably a second ascent! Great its still standing, got some first ascent photos somewhere. I have the dubious distinction of climbing all the routes there, I think it was during foot and mouth....challenging.

Nipped in for an ascent of Dumper today. Cracking route in challengingly humid conditions. Thanks for cleaning. 

I found some distinctive crag swag at the top. If the owner can describe it , let me know and I'll return it. 

Massive kudos for anyone putting the work in cleaning stuff. Graeme seems a one man army.

A couple more routes recently cleaned and worth doing, this time at Agden Rocher

Twentyman's Terror (HS 4a)

Double Shuffle (HS 4a)

Note only the slab has been cleaned, but it’s easy to escape left after this and avoid the loose and vegetated top wall.

Twentymans terror is quite bold, almost VS and in need of microcams

Double shuffle is a great route nicely protected with medium cams

To add to list, I recently cleaned up and replaced tat on Aquiline (HVS 5b) and cleaned away all brambles from start of Pendulum (HVS 5a). Good work on all the other routes mentioned above.

Thank you for that. Someone who did it this year suggested cutting and replacing some pink tat at the first belay of Pendulum. Would you agree? 

I havent actually done Pendulum for some time, I abseiled passed down the start. However I have done Evasor quite recently (which includes a bit of Pendulum) and remember passing some fairly old but fat looking tat  - not quiet sure where belay is though. Certainly ther'd be no harm in changing the old tat.

Did it the other day on my first visit to the area, excellent little route! Looks like it should be E5 but is actually quite steady, I was seconding though.

Took advantage and climbed Aquiline tonight. Felt pretty hard passing the peg but perhaps i missed something. A classic Stoney experience.  Some friends enjoyed Pendulum. Thanks for cleaning. 

Great effort, Graeme. I cleaned up SAE at Lawencefield a few years ago. It's got some excellent climbing, far better than it looks. Unfortunately it didn't stay clean very long. If you've not done it,  it's worth getting the cleaning gear out for! 

What does that mean, Toby?

You are obviously not a member of the Church.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06tz2jv will go some way towards explaining. 

Obviously. I guess you'll just have to write me off, Toby

I've added some beta feedback to Aquiline, about the moves passed the pegs. You may have climbed more directly as I did on my first (pre-cleaning) dogged attempt.

I have done S.A.E. (HVS 5b) back in 2022. When did you clean it?

I know it got cleaned around 2010 when a local club cleared lots of vegetation off the crag with permission of the Eastern Moors Partnership (National Trust and RSPB) and with some funding from the BMC.

However since 2010 it hasn't had the traffic it deserves.  This route along with several in that area have suffered from new sapling growth which have become increasingly large recently and decreases the number of people who want to attempt the climbs, leaf matter clogs up the cracks, and the climbs receive even less traffic. The vicious cycle continues and it just goes to show how quickly nature reclaims if routes don't have regular traffic and climbers don't remove new growth when climbing.

At Lawencefield this has also happened to all the easy routes between the back of Pool Wall and the Gingerbread Slab, Stonemason's Buttress and anything not popular around Red Wall. But even on Red Wall it will not be long before the birch trees restrict access to the classic The Delectable Variation (VS 4c) which has two large trees growing under its traverse.

Personally I think some of these routes are worth saving, including SAE but some are probably not worthwhile enough and are best left to nature eg the easy routes left of Gingerbread Slab.

I currently have a few cleaning projects ongoing of routes that i haven't climbed before so am going to concentrate on them for the time being.  Yesterday I walked in 1.5 hours to clean a route I have wanted to do for years that hopefully i will get to climb soon. However perhaps your post will inspire someone else to take a look. It's a rewarding process to climb your chosen route after the hard work, it's a bonus if others enjoy it too.

I reached up and left with difficulty but I think I might have been pretty tired which might not have helped. My 2nd removed a stuck wire out of the crack post crux with a single tap, it looked like it was pretty old with slight corrosion so thought it wasn't yours and he was going to dispose of it.

Yes I remember the stuck wire - on my first attempt I was quite glad to clip it as the only other gear was the awful tat on the pegs which I wasn't sure would take body weight let alone a leader fall.

Well done with your cleaning efforts - and t'others on this thread.

Trying to get better at posting about cleaning so this thread is helpful...

A few weeks ago I finished this cleaning project. Overall the whole process took loads longer than expected over many pre and post work cleaning sessions. I also ended up buying a leaf blower to help remove the dust better, much to the hilarity of several people including the wife.

Lubric (HVS 5b) - HVS/E1 5c*? Cleaned up beautifully and the top corner has some excellent well protected but tough moves.

Pinstone Street (E2 5c) - E2 5c** is now brilliant again the cracks have been fully dug out as has the two-thirds height ledge which has never been done before and should hopefully make the route dry fasters, stay cleaner for longer as soil isn't washed into the cracks and the climbing more pleasantly as you don't have to pass a vegetated ledge anymore. The exit as been cleaned of most of the worst vegetation and loose rock so it is enjoyable the whole way. The lesser quality sandy rock under the roof is still there but I don't think this detracts much from the route.

I also expanded the scoop of the job to include Diamond Groove (HVS 5b) which I thought  looked worthwhile but dirty. I felt it was worth the effort to clean in the end, with some good moves and a tough crux which requires some care to protect, therefore it is no push over at HVS. Worth a star just for quality of moves and length? Unfortunately the starting crack block was unstable and I made the difficult decision to remove this to avoid anyone likely having a fatal accident if it came off should the route become popular. This has left a reasonably clean crack behind the currently stark scar which can be climbed at the same grade or the groove can be approached directly from the formally large grassy ledge which in itself can be climbed to from the left, a bolder proposition but no change in grade. This is also a good time to note that i don't guarantee the safety of any of these routes and you should use your own judgement and consult the BMC participation statement. 

Really hope people enjoy these routes, I have been please to see Whitehall (HVS 5b) has become popular since 2012 when I spent a decent amount of time cleaning it, i think I've managed to do an even better job with these. 

Finally a big thanks to Mike Cheque who came out and belayed, took the action shots below and enjoyed climbing the routes too. I couldn't seem to get a link to the last photo in Mike's gallery so have uploaded it separately. Also apologies to Paul Jepson who had the 'pleasure' of seconding Lubric when it was only half cleaned wading through piles of soil on the way to the still not perfect upper crack. 

We admired your leaf blower Graeme, after working out ofthat is what it was hanging off the end of your rope! Fantastic effort - thanks again.