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!

It's a steal

I've learnt that the best way to get some climbing done during the British summer is to ignore the forecast and go anyway. Saturday just gone was a perfect example of this. Greenfield Bakery is a great meeting place: with a selection of sweet and savoury pies, and parkin that can be bought by the pound (£1.40 per slab) what's not to like? We ended up at Nab End in the rain, then retreated for Mars Bar Cheesecake in Marsden, and then went on a magical mystery tour of Strange Yorkshire Crags like Honley Quarry. As you can see, the lads are trying to get the place sorted out.. and it would be great if they got some support. It's a smaller version of Baildon Bank, and just ignore all that stuff about asbestos.
Inevitably, we ended up at West Nab. The picture shows what is known as the "Cock Crowing Stone" (don't ask) but despite the hard to avoid mental images, it is the gateway to the best and least discriminating bouldering in the UK. It was a glorious evening, no one fell in the moat, and we had a reet good laff.