A Day At the Crag

We are back in our previous bloggers dilemma of time pressure! The current workload is very agreeable to us but it doesn't leave very much time for writing. As such to keep things ticking over this month here are a few photos from a recent Canoes, Mountains & Caves Community Event at Great Wanney in Northumberland. It was another of those days that the Community is all about - an eclectic mix of folk who have rarely climbed, to those who are really quite talented; an age range from three years old to sixty years old; just a great social vibe!

Over the past few months we've enjoyed a number of great days out climbing in Northumberland, its our intention to write more fully on them when time permits but for now here are a few images from our last visit.

Mal

Bouldering With Grandchildren!

Over the past 12 months or so we've spent quite a bit of time at various bouldering venues across the North of England: Lake District; Yorkshire Dales; Northumberland etc (and at indoor walls  pre-lockdown). The simplicity of turning up with nothing much more than a crash pad; climbing shoes; a guide book & whatever other comforts might be required for the day has an appeal to it. We've seen others out with quite young children, so when a day looking after the grandkids coincided with some dry warm sunny weather we took the opportunity.

We are blessed to have Carrock Fell boulders just a short drive away - it seemed like an obvious venue choice. There were a few folk about but parking remained plentiful & we headed for the "warm up" area in the Central Group of boulders. Evvie is 10 and Iris 6, they both had a great time! The morning passed quickly with a mixture of scrambling about on the boulders; weasling between them & generally larking about!! Carrock's Gabbro can bite a little but it also provides outstanding traction even for small feet that aren't wearing climbing shoes.

There was much triumph and no mishaps!

We were sufficiently encouraged by the success of the morning to consider this as a potential venue & activity from a work perspective.

As little people began to tire (ever so slightly!) it was even possible to get a couple of climbs in ourselves with Maz breezing up Frustration Slab & me feeling quite pleased with myself with a first attempt success on White Streak at F6a+

Mal