02/04/08

Neddyfields to be quarried...

John Leonard (a Portland resident and local new route activist) writes: "Stone Firms Ltd have informed Dorset County Council that it intends to start the first phase of quarrying of the coastal strip between Southwell and Portland Bill. This is the section of land between the Portland Bill road and the eastern cliff tops extending from Neddyfields to the old lower lighthouse. The cliffs here include popular bouldering, a wide range of sports climbs and the most important deep-water soloing area on Portland. Although the actual climbs themselves are unlikely to be affected (with the possible exception of the Neddyfields bouldering wall) the scale of the open cast quarrying will decimate this environmentally important site (SSSI with important geology, archaeology, flora and fauna). It will no longer be a pleasant play area for our outdoor activities whether we are climbers or one of the many other recreational users of this coast.

Stone Firms Ltd are able to do this under recently bought planning permissions granted in 1951 and what is particularly worrying is that they intend to start work on the first phase (see plans in the Southwell Action Teams web site: www.saveportlandcoastalstrip.org.uk/sign_epetition.html ) in May, in fact some site work has already begun in the section above the Neddyfields bouldering wall. The only powers able to prevent this are central government, withdrawing the 1951 permissions, hence the Southwell Action Team have set up an e-petition direct to the government on their site. Time is very much of the essence and the government are only likely to act if enough pressure is brought to bear.

25/02/08

New Quarry on Portland...

Welcome back - normal service will now be resumed!

The climbers and walkers car-park above Blacknor will be closed for the next three weeks, (hopefully it will open again in time for Easter) due to building work going on nearby. Provisions are included in the building work for a larger climbers and walkers carpark, so it will pay to be considerate to the locals and builders in the mean time.

Visitors to the Cuttings will find greater exposure to the winter sun this spring, thanks to the BMC sponsored crag cleanup. A large amount of ivy was removed from the crag, as well as the ever advancing buddleia's which have recently taken over over at the foot of the cliff. Marti Hallet took the opportunity of a bit of ivy bashing to uncover 'Quality Family Time', F4 and 'True Love', F6b+, which are both worthy additions apparently.

Rhys Jones on the summit of Everest

Matt Ridgway on the first ascent of
'I thought you had it', F6c+, Winspit.

The Big news on the other side of the island is the development of Sharbutts Quarry, on the approach to Blacknor Central, developed over the winter by Steve Muncaster, Mick Ward, Tom Beaumont and Josh Leonard. Whilst diminutive, these routes pack in some quality flowstone climbing, and are sure to be very popular(with probably the shortest walk-in of all Dorset crags!). Tom Beaumont has produced a topo that can be seen here>> ( a downloadable pdf topo should be available soon). Tom has also been active at Dungecroft quarry, where a couple of new lines and boulder problems have been added. Once again, Tom has kindly updated his topo, and is available here>>.

After procuring bolts from the BMC retro-bolting fund, the re-equipping of the Promenade has begun. Currently Crimes Against the Soul, Seppukko(F6b+), Chicago Peace(F6c) and J.J Burnell( F6a) have been equipped.

The happy hunting ground of Winspit has yielded more new routes this winter. Scott Titt has been busy in the west quarry, climbing an as yet unnamed F6a right of 'The Skin Room'. The much fancied groove left of Resin Devotion has been anonymously bolted to give a worthwhile F4+ in addition to the eliminate line to the left which goes at f6a/6a+ (Dependant on the line taken). Both routes are as yet unnamed, and the bolting itself leaves something to be desired. On the same wall Rob Kennard and Matt Ridgway added the crack and grooved arete left of 'Gallows Gore' at F6c+. Marti Hallet also found a surprisingly worthwhile line on the extreme left end of the quarryman face to give 'Free Entreprises', F6a.

Bournemouth University have completed the twice yearly re-routing and hold cleaning operation. There are now 35 routes between F3 and F7a+. Also at Bournemouth Hot Rocks wall, is the forthcoming lecture by youngest ever 'seven-summiter' Rhys Jones. The lecture is on Thursday 6th March 2008, 7:30pm- 9pm. Tickets are £6 for students, £8 for the general public( Contact: mtaylerson@hotmail.com)

It seems like a long time ago, but for those that missed it, local climber Mike Robertson staged a protest against the multinational oil corporation's interests in Burma, by free soloing the Eiffel Tower. Just check out the hair-raising YouTube video on the right!

25/10/07

Major Purbeck Roadworks...

Visitors approaching Swanage from the East should be aware that they face severe disruption on the A351 between the Bakers Arms roundabout and Wareham. Traffic along the A35 may also be affected with traffic lights in place to mitigate against extra anticipated traffic along this route. The schedule of works include:
Phase 2:(Monday 22nd October to Sunday 28th October) 2-way temporary traffic signals and stop and go boards.
Phase 3:(Monday 29th October to Sunday 11th November) A351 Sandford Road will be closed and all traffic must follow the advisory division route.
Phase 4: (Monday 12th November to Sunday 18th November) 2-way temporary traffic signals and stop and go boards will be used to regulate the traffic.
A map of the diversion can be found here.

07/09/07

Lulworth the Place to be...

The Lulworth Boudering Topo,
Dan Kennard just after the crux of the Dragon, V7

Finally the weather relented, and an unprecedented period of activity took place at Lulworth Cove. Firstly the man of the moment, Gav Symonds, stepped up to produce the much sought after link-up of 'Windows of Opportunity' into 'Adrenochrome'. Gav declined the use of a rope on this, the ultimate deep-water solo, and completed the line in 'ground-up' style, shortly followed by an on-form Dave Pickford few days later. That inveterate traveller Jon Biddle also made an appearance on these shores to produce 'Skillfish', a counter diagonal to 'the Walkin' Dude' at E2 5b. Over at a long neglected Church Rock Marti Hallet added an excellent sustained 7a, in the shape of 'Oh Blow You!' to the left of 'Blow Daddy-O'. Whilst in the area Marti also did the logical link up of Jugmaster Funk into House Nation to produce 'B-Boys Rock', although this may have been done before and left unrecorded. At the Amphitheatre Roofs the trad campaign continues with 5 new additions in the last month(bringing the total of new routes at Lulworth to 9 this month!) Once again on perfect rock, Rob Kennard and Jon Howell added 'Recursion', HVS 5a, 'Plwmp', Severe, 'Ouzo Envy', VS 4c and 'Lesbian Spank Inferno', E3 6a at the east end of the crag in a single day. Not to miss out, Alex More and Ian Gamblin added 'September Sessions' between 'Evening Slab' and 'Lulworth New Order'.

Elsewhere a couple of deep water soloes have been added. Steve Woods ventured down to Bird's Nest Bay, Subluminal to tackle the crack above Thomsons Chimney to give 'Dark and not so Long', F4+, and at Portland Steve added 'Doyouthinkhesaurus', F5+/F6a at Hidden Quarry. Ben Stokes was also active in this area, where he climbed 'Salty Sea Dog', F7b, a neat looking extension to 'Sugar Daddy' at Deep Zawn. John Leonard also added a low tide traverse beneath 'Penny Lane' to give 'Cold Feet', E1 5b.

On the dry land stuff, Steve Taylor returned to his newly developed crag at Godnor South and cleaned up an old aided trad route to produce 'Breakover Crack Direct', E1 5b whilst the Cuttings saw a couple of new routes in the shape of 'Flying Peach', F6c and 'Grapefruit takes a Whipper', F6b+ in the vicinity of the Rift area, by John Leonard and Steve Muncaster, respectively. Also at the Cuttings, Paul Johnson continued the trend for link-ups with 'Lup Dup', F6a+, starting up 'Mind Meld', into 'The Sod' and finishing up 'Little Sod'.

Finally you can now download a beta version of the Lulworth Bouldering topo here. Why a beta version? Because we aren't really sure about any of the grades, so feedback would be appreciated!

28/07/07

Balance of Power Video...

Watch the Balance
of Power Video

For those of you that enjoy the vicarious experience of watching internet climbing videos, Gavin Symonds has placed some hair-raising footage on YouTube of his first solo ascent of 'Balance of Power', at White Hole. Click on the thumbnail link on the right! In other news, local BMC rep Steve Taylor has managed to secure 122 bolts from the BMC 'local bolt fund' so that the remaining old 'through-bolts' in the area can be replaced. Well done to Steve for arguing for our corner on this one! It has also been observed that the belay bolts on some of most popular routes are becoming worn because of climbers top-roping directly through them. Obviously these will eventually need replacing also, but in the short term, please use a screw-gate/ quickdraw for top-roping routes. DCWEB is in the process of compiling a database of routes that need retro-bolting, or the replacement of the odd bolt. This is partly as a means of identifying all of the routes that need attention, and also as a means of recording the inevitable ongoing wear-and tear on fixed gear. If you like to help in compiling the database, or have any concerns about any fixed bolt protection, you can let us know at the usual email address, below. If you would like to make a donation to the Dorset Bolt Fund, a PayPal account has now been set up. The PayPal email address is "climbersteve**at**googlemail.com". Don't forget to remove the stars with an '@' sign, or it won't work!.

Gav Symonds on the first ascent of 'Enter Shikari',
Godnor North