Beeston meet report. (or what I think I saw)

Present. Ken Beetham, Dave Bone, Dave Garland, Chris Williamson, Clive Turpin, Christine Beeston, Rick Kruze, Ruth Ashton, Rick Davies, Elaine Beaulieu, Nigel and Zoe and Hannah Rosenbaum, Roger Dyke, Neville McMillan, Shenna Hendrie, Dave Dillon.

I had a vision of a damp green crag partially obscured by that sort of low swirling cloud/mist that makes your butties soggy. A nightmare brought on by consulting the weather forecasts. The crag provided its own interpretation of the vision. The low swirling mist was replaced by flowers and borders, while the damp green might have been replaced by suspicious sunshine, hard to be precise on that part of it.

Anyway. The day turned out quite pleasant. And in no particular order... The river was dry. Most of the visible routes got cleaned up. Seems like many of the routes were graded harder in the meet leader's old guide book. And to mention a couple of ascents... Dave B. did Patience. Roger tried out his new rope on West Wall Climb. Rick D. did the Thorn. Ruth did Deaf Dove and smirked. Chris not to be out done had a go too, but later in the day. The meet leader had scarpered before Chris finished. It was confirmed that no one had seen a sling pull on Evensong. The crag echoed with the sound of sneezing belay bunnies as the pollen drifted up the valley. Odd Comments - "Flick the pink rope over the Daisies" and "I'm just cleaning the cam lobes, they're full of petals" and "So, you do quite a bit of cooking then". The word Napalm had a subliminal presence in most sentences. A horticultural revolution was in the making when it was discovered that a certain plant smelt like beer. Sadly, the effect was isolated to Ken and a lively can of beer several hours earlier. Nigel and Zoe passed by with Hannah, in a rather fast 'jogging' pram.

So, quite a grand day out.

Beeston Tor is a suntrap with a delightful aspect. It has grades from around HS upwards, though there are some VDs lurking around. Get there before the droves. GR SK107541 in the Manifold valley. From Manchester ? through Buxton and down the A515, beyond B5054 head for Wetton then Grindon but stop at the bottom in the valley. Either park there or turn left and park nearer the crag. See you there.