West Penwith, Cornwall

Members: Lucie Crouch, Dave Shotton, Gareth Williams, Dave Wylie and Roger Dyke for the whole week, with Colin Maddison, Andy Stratford and Jim Symon travelling down on the Tuesday evening and Sean Kelly staying at The Count House.

 

This meet grew out of a casual conversation in the cafe after climbing at Froggatt earlier in the year, and it turned out to be a great success.  Accommodation at a substantial cottage near Porthgwara was outstanding. There were two living rooms, a TV with DVD player for watching climbing movies, four comfortable bedrooms, two bathrooms, a shower room, and a big dining room/kitchen with…. a dishwasher.    We could get used to this luxury!

 

On Sunday, Roger, Lucie, Dave W and Gareth set out in Lucie's car for a very straightforward journey to meet with Dave S at Hayle. Dave had been visiting family and had arranged chalet accommodation for us all at the Beachside Holiday Park.  We arrived in time to go for a walk along the beach, including a dip in the sea for Gareth and scrambling on the outcrops for Dave W.

The Cornish Arms was the venue for an excellent evening meal, and entertainment by way of trying to stop Roger giggling at the sight of the local talent with its hair extensions and platform heels:  “I haven’t seen anything like that for 50 years.”

 

After heavy rain in the night, we drove on from Hayle on Monday 9th to Bosigran, where we met Sean Kelly at The Count House.

The day started damp but the sun came out and we climbed classic routes on superb dry Cornish granite:

Dave W and Gareth: Little Brown Jug (VS 5a) and Nameless (VS 4c)

Sean, Lucie and Dave S: Oread (HVD), followed by the top of Alison Rib (Diff) Sean and Dave S: Doorpost (HS 4b)

Dave W, Gareth and Roger: Alison Rib (Diff)

To make us all feel young, a team of 3 wandered down from the Count House and set about the Diffs and VDs – ages 81, 82, and 86.

 

The team responsible for the shopping in the Co-Op at St Just claimed to have seen Annette Crosby. Apparently she is a famous actress, though Gareth for one had no idea who she is.

Lucie prepared a meal of pasta and salad which was appreciated by all.

 

Tuesday 10th dawned another warm sunny day, and time to visit another of the area's headline cliffs:  Chair Ladder, just half an hours walk from our cottage.  Roger’s navigation involved climbing a barbed-wire fence - he seems suspiciously well-practised at this – but we did find the crag, and Sean found us.

A scramble down Ash Can Gully and a short ab (“Keep that end out of the sea!”) took us down to sea-level – but not the start of the routes: both teams had to skip their first pitches due to the height of the tide.

Dave W and Gareth climbed Aerial (VS 4c);

Dave S, Sean and Roger tackled Mermaid's Route (VDiff)

 

By noon the tide had dropped enough to access the ledges at the base of the cliff, so routes could be done from the very start.

Dave S and Gareth climbed Diocese (VS 5a), a great classic.

Dave W (“Do you fancy a nice relaxing V Diff?”) and Roger started Wolverine Chimney (VDiff) and somehow found themselves on Corporal Route (HS 4b) where after extracting a particularly resistant wire Roger took his only swing of the week.  (Only one all week?  This must be a record!)

 

Meantime, Lucie had had a full day, visiting a vineyard, going shopping, exploring Mousehole and going for a run before meeting us at Chair Ladder. 

The promise of Lucie's cottage pie tempted most to head back early.  Instead of barbed wire we took the tarmac road, where Roger nobly declined a lift up the hill from a homeward-bound coastguard – but 5 minutes later his rucksack accepted a lift in Sean’s sports car.   This gave Roger an unfair advantage when he challenged Dave S to run the last 100m to the cottage.   Where did DS find the energy to do that?  Lucie must be feeding us well…

 

Youthful Gareth was not one to quit while there was still daylight.  He teamed up with a pair of instructors (Konrad and Rich) who'd turned up to climb South Face Direct (VS 4c). The tide was coming back in now, and the dash to the base of the route required a couple of exciting leaps.  After the route, Gareth invited Konrad and Rich back for a cream tea at the cottage, an offer that was well appreciated.   

 

Around midnight, Colin, Andy and Jim arrived to find their first route description waiting for them on the table.

Bedroom Direct was graded VS (Very Sleepy) and split into three pitches:

 

P1 (20 ft) a horizontal traverse to the end of the hall

P2 (20 ft) a steep pitch with good footholds, reminiscent of a staircase

P3 (15ft) a silent approach to the final pitch will reap rewards in the morning.

Turn R at top of P2. Space for one in the first room, 2 in the second.

PS   Leaving at 9.00 am for Sennen.

 

Wednesday 11th dawned and the weather was still good.…

Sennen Cove was the choice for today: our choice, and that of about 40 Royal Marine Commandos, all wearing big boots and camouflaged clothing. Even their climbing racks were anodised black! The Commandos were without exception very friendly, but some of their climbing calls seemed a bit odd to us. Runner on! Aye-aye! Runner off! (or was that bugger off?)

 

Colin, having been under the knife only 3 days earlier, might have been forgiven for taking things easy, perhaps seconding a couple of routes to test the reliability of his knee. Instead he opted to test his knee by "putting it in a position where it can't afford to fail" and soloed Senior's Route (Diff).

Roger had a lazy day, leading Colin up Sinner's Route (Mod) and Gareth up Staircase (Diff) and seconding Banana Flake (VDiff) and Intermediate Route (S 4a).

Lucie and Dave W teamed up to knock off more routes than anyone else: Banana Flake (VDiff), Main Face Climb (Diff), Senior's Route (Diff), Ostrobogulous (VDiff) and Sinner's Route (Mod).  This was a particularly good effort because Lucie made her first trad leads, taking the sharp end on Main Face Climb and Senior's Route.

It's also worth mentioning the commitment needed for Ostrobogulous: they abbed into Irish Lady Cove and pulled down their ropes, putting themselves in a ‘climb out or swim out’ situation. Fortunately the former prevailed, despite the upper part of the route having some "disposable" holds.

 

So many routes were climbed that we will just list what the remaining members led:

 

Jim -- Intermediate Route (S 4a), Church Window (VDiff sandbag), Banana Flake (VDiff).

 

Andy -- Letterbox (HS 4b), Intermediate Route (S 4a), Demo Route (HS

4b), Staircase (Diff)

 

Colin and his knee -- Letterbox (HS 4b)

 

Dave S -- Church Window (VDiff), Banana Flake (VDiff), Staircase (Diff)

 

Gareth -- twice attempted Samson Arete (E2 6a) but failed to get established into the layback moves (despite placing more gear in 2 feet than Roger placed on the whole of Staircase!), Main Face Climb (Diff).

 

Andy was taking over in the kitchen tonight, and eager to give him free reign in the kitchen, four of us selflessly made ourselves scare by heading to the pub. But it turned out Andy couldn't manage without us after all: three phone calls insisted we pick up some salt on the way home. But it was well worth it for the fabulous roast chicken dinner (mushroom wellington for the veggies).

 

Thursday 12th dawned wet and foggy.  We drove to the north coast in the hope of good weather, but it turned out that the fog and dampness encased all of West Penwith and we couldn't find anywhere dry.

 

Lucie, Colin and Gareth headed off to find Kenidjack, a small cliff none of us had been too. We sussed out the approach, but decided it was too wet and retreated.

Andy, Jim and the Daves drove to Bosigran, but also decided it too wet to climb.

Jim and Dave S headed to the Tate in St Ives, followed by the Leach Pottery Museum.

Dave W asked to be dropped off at Cape Cornwall, from where he walked back to the cottage via Lands End in remarkably quick time.

Andy slunk back to the cottage, thinking he could hide away and take care of some work he'd brought with him.  Alas, he was spotted by Lucie, Colin and Gareth, from their vantage point of a tea-room in St Just!

Dashing back to base, Colin and Gareth suggested Land's End Long Climb, which the guidebook describes as "mountaineering meets the Atlantic".

Suitable sport for a wet day!

 

The eight pitches of VDiff climbing provided excellent entertainment, and climbing as a three meant there was always someone with you on the stance to help ridicule whatever the leader was up to.  Every single pitch had something of interest, whether it be jumping gaps, slimy looking cracks which actually were better than they looked, exposed traverses or a chimney which started off to wide to back-and-foot!  The only downside to the day was on the final, steep pitch.  The best way to describe the holds was "soapy", and if you've ever stepped on a bar in the bath you'll know how slippy that can be.  Andy took a tumble from the very top hold of the route, falling several metres.  The rope came tight on the gear, slowing his fall, but not before he'd landed foot-first on a ledge.  No serious injury presented itself, but badly bruised was something of an understatement!  In the absence of any bones poking out, Andy decided to get back on the pitch, this time topping out with no trouble, before bringing up Colin and Gareth.  It was decided that ice was required, so Colin and Gareth selflessly accompanied Andy to the nearest place with any - the pub!

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the team had assembled back at the cottage after a walk along the coast.

Lucie had arranged tickets for us to visit the Minack Theatre in the evening, and, well wrapped up for a cold damp evening we saw an excellent all-female cast perform The Taming of the Shrew.  What a cultured meet!

 

Friday the 13th, unlucky for some, and indeed for the meet! Still damp and foggy, so most opted for other activities again. 

Dave S continued the culture theme, walking from St Buryan to the Boscawen-un stone circle - a Bronze Age monument with a central stone surrounded by nineteen others in an elliptical configuration.

Even more interesting than this, though, was Dave's description of how he tried to ward off a herd of cows that chased him: repeating "nice cows" was not sufficient to placate the beasts, and Dave was ultimately forced to jump over a wall into brambles. 

 

Dave W and Lucie went on an expedition to St Michael's Mount, requiring a crossing by boat. The café there is highly recommended.

 

Sticking with mountaineering in the wet, Colin, Andy, Jim and Gareth headed off to climb Bosigran (Commando) Ridge, another long and classic VDiff (8 pitches). Andy's foot was well up to the climbing, though he had to take care on the walk in. Jim mentioned that any hint of limping disappeared as Andy took his turn to dash across the ledges to the base of the route: the tide was still high enough that waves were crashing over the approach, and the team pitched the final part!  The climbing itself was excellent, the most amusing moment being on a pitch which involved descending a pinnacle before moving upwards again. Jim's gear lifted out, leaving Colin to second the descent with no protection at all, the taught rope between them akin to a washing line with gear hanging out to dry….   Colin came back into the cottage demanding  “Where is the Drying Room?”  The laundry proved inadequate even for just Colin’s kit, and the whole ground floor was soon decorated with dripping gear and heaps of wet equipment. 

The team was revived with bangers and mash, prepared by Gareth with willing help from Lucie and the Daves while trainers rumbled in the tumble-drier all evening.    

 

The determination of the bold four was recognised at the Annual Dinner - they were presented with a “Climbing in the Rain” award featuring a climber in sub-aqua gear fighting his way up the rock under a deluge from a giant tap…

 

Saturday 14th, and the good weather came back with the weekend!

Dave S went to visit relatives in nearby Hale, whilst the rest of us went to Bosigran. 

Gareth and Colin tackled Suicide Wall (5 pitches, E1 5c), an absolute classic.

Gareth writes:

 

"I remember Colin leading the bold 5a traverse pitch. As he neared the end of the break a pearl of wisdom from the Johnny Dawes film 'Best Forgotten Art' sprang to mind: 'just because a hold is above your head doesn't mean it isn't a foothold'.  Colin somehow got a foot-jam in the same horizontal break he was hand-jamming before using these three limbs to shuffle onto the belay ledge, his remaining leg scrabbling wildly in mid-air!  When I arrived, the belay consisted of two very rusty pegs and a couple of nuts Colin had got into flared cracks. The guidebook described the crux pitch as 'very well protected' but I still decided it would be wise to use the highest of Colin's nuts as a runner, so clipped the rope through it. I stepped up for a closer look at the moves, and as I stepped down the rope came just barely tight and ripped out the nut. Well protected indeed!  After a bit of thought, I committed to a sequence, and it wasn't long before the good gear arrived, and we were soon over the crux and enjoying the final wild 4b pitch."

 

The triumphant pair then zipped up Anvil Chorus (VS 4c) to complete their day.

 

Andy and Jim climbed Doorpost (HS 4b), Ochre Slab Route 1 (HVS 5a) and Nameless (VS 4c).

 

Dave W and Lucie favoured Rosemergy Towers.

Dave led Flashback and Sam's Greasy Thumb Print (both S 4a) before leading the first pitch of Finger Winch (VS 5a). This left the pair at the base of East Tower Arete (Diff), which Lucie led with little difficulty. 

The pair then joined the main team at Bosigran, where Lucie made an excellent lead of Big Top (VDiff). She admitted to one "heeby-jeeby" moment, later explaining her tactic to overcome it:  "I just clung on for dear life until I could think of what to do next". Whatever she decided to do turned out right, as she finished the route with no further problems.

 

The forecast for Sunday 15th wasn't great: windy, with rain due at 11am.

Ever enthusiastic, we all got up early (some earlier than others!) to make the best of the day before weather and the prospect of the journey home drove us from the cliffs.

 

Two teams of four set out: one to Chair Ladder and the other to Sennen.

 

At Chair Ladder, Andy and Dave W climbed Red Wall (S 4a) whilst Colin and Jim tackled South Face Direct (VS 4c).

 

At Sennen, it was much windier than expected, which gave everything a much more serious feel.  Gareth had really wanted to try Samson Arete again, but the buffeting gusts and sea-spray immediately ruled this out.  Instead, Lucie led Corner Climb (VDiff).  No "heeby-jeebies" today, just a very solid lead. Dave S and Gareth followed, giving a running commentary on the quality of Lucie’s gear placement.   To finish, Gareth led through the overhangs of Civvy Route (HS 4b), followed by a determined Lucie.  

Dave S very kindly abseiled down to collect rucsack and trainers, climbing back up the line of the abseil rope at top speed.  We quickly coiled ropes and dashed back to the cars as the forecast rain arrived.

 

Back at the cottage, it was time for a quick lunch then pack and tidy up before departing for Manchester in foul weather.

 

Thanks to everyone who came along and made the meet such fun. 

Particular thanks to Lucie for organising the Minack Theatre, Dave S for organising the ‘transit camp’ and Roger for finding and booking the cottage.

And a special thanks to the cooks from Roger, who managed to dodge cooking duty all week.

 

Gareth Williams