The Roaches

Me and Kasia arrived at about 9:30 on Saturday morning raring to get stuck into some climbs at our first visit to the Roaches. Finding myself caught short I managed to sweet talk myself into Rockhall Cottage, which surely must have the most unique kitchen in the UK, being built into the rock itself. Unsurprisingly I was told it gets a bit damp and greasy in there in the winter so perhaps not a design that will catch on.

No one else had yet arrived so we started off up Raven Rock Gully with a lovely squeeze up through the top. Whilst half way through this voices rose up from the bottom of the crag and I knew others must have arrived. I was met by a further eleven members of the KMC when I returned to the crag's base, a number which was set to grow as the day went on.

Al, Trish and Cristina started climbing in the Dorothy's Dilemma area whilst Kate and Dave went for the smelly sounding Guano Gully on Elegy. By the time Midge arrived she was just in time to see Dave Wylie and Julie O'Regan having a bit of a mission on Valkyrie but their resilience won out at the end of the day and they got to the top.

Des and Mike won the award for the hardest climbs attempted during the day. I didn't see many of them but they climbed the elegant and varied line of Hawkwing, which travelled through some impressive positions.

Ken Beetham came to watch the action for part of the day as he went for a walk around the Roaches area. After stopping for a good chat he zoomed off up the steps and onto the Upper Tier.

I also spied Joe Flynn and his daughter climbing the slabs in the Chalkstorm area but by this time it was getting towards lunch and many of us decided to move onto the Upper Tier. This proved harder than some of the climbs as our first effort was repelled by National Park rangers concerned that the nesting Peregrine was being disturbed, and we walked around to the Wombat Area from the left hand side with the bird majestically screeching and soaring above our heads as it tried to return to its nest with food. It was an impressive sight.

Midge led the amazingly good line of Maud's Garden which had its first ascent by our own Bowden Black back in 1945 and other lines climbed included Beckermet Slab, Heather Slab and Capitol Climb; led by a first timer with the club James, who at just 17 looked a very promising climber.

My stomach was beginning to rumble badly by this point so we all decided to call it a day and headed off to a nearby pub. Unfortunately Mike took a plunge seconding what I think was his last climb of the day and got the rope caught around his finger making a nasty mess. Fortunately we were all so hungry he didn't put us off our dinner! Much merriment was provided at the pub by some rather disorganised service. It seemed that the earlier you placed your order the later your food arrived but thankfully everyone eventually got served with Mike managing an impressive amount of chocolate fudge cake. Great turnout and I hope everyone had a great time.

James Hoyle