It wouldn't be a hard grit route if it didn't have Neil "Equilibrium" Bentley on it; he recently whizzed over to Ramshaw Rocks to repeat Seb Grieve's Clippity Clop (E8 6c), which he says was "brilliant" but probably easier for the tall: "It's a huge block with a rounded arete which becomes very thin until you end up with your legs either side of it and pinching.. then it turns into a layback which is very airy. You wouldn't want to fall off there."
A Friend 6 protects the hardest moves - but when Seb did it in 1991 they didn't make Friends that big. "Scary," says Neil. But he reckons it's easier for tall folk (such as himself); Nick Dixon, who was with him, tried it too but found the reach hard. Neil reckons though that there have been more repeats since he did it - which was three weeks ago. (OK, we've been slow reporting. He's a shy lad.)
Don't expect too much more grit news from Neil: he's aiming to do lots of sport climbing this year (some 8cs would be nice, he reckons). "It all got a bit trad-y last year," he says. Yeah, but we liked the photos.