Subtle eh? Over all the main crack lines...

when were they put there and how much do they effect the climbing

From the posts on this I think they were put up on Monday.
I managed to climb the large crack on the right by traversing right underneath the box, placing a bit of gear out there, then heading back left above the box. Bit of a pain in the arse though.
My partner led the one over the middle bird box without too much problem.
It's a little harder to climb the routes, but it's still possible to do so without damaging them.

Ah, that crack on the right was my first VS! Very sad, hope it gets resolved.

yass! Forbidden colours is still clear so my 100th ascent of it is still on ;-)
Seriously, this is BAD news indeed, such a great venue, It would be tragic to lose it as we are in short supply of places to climb locally here as it is.

w t f

how much do they effect the climbing?
How about "How do the climbers effect the bats"?

It looks like an RSJ from here.

suppose they were here first, but not in big eye sore man made box's ! The bat box's could of obviously been put out of the way or even in the near by tree's ! there is no excuse for this type of behaviour ! after all they are dirt ridden virus spreading flying Rat's !

And to think, many of these environmentalists get on our backs for the "eye sores" us climbers make. I can't imagine something more ugly, and why not hide them away in the tree's? since when were bats attracted to flat featureless rock faces anyway??