Third time lucky

Whilst making my way through a chicken samber at the Cafe Bombay (with a saag paneer and garlic naan to share), I was taken to task for the recent run of rather downbeat emails. I was compared to either Marvin the Paranoid Android, or Eeyore the donkey. The point was clear enough. However I can hardly be blamed for feeling a bit down about the weather and many aborted attempts to get to Ashop Edge. This last Saturday, however, was excellent! There were about 15 people climbing all over everything, we did a handful of new routes (S-E1) and the Red Arrows did a salutary fly by as various teams climbed. It was quitre a moment that is unlikely to be repeated: cameras snapped, people waved and the sun came out. We also managed to solve the "mystery" of Ashop Crack's recent upgrading in a recently published selected guide: it's now the easiest E2 in the UK!