GB Paraclimbers test out Horseshoe (Furness) Quarry's new wheelchair-friendly access

BMC-owned Horseshoe Quarry has had an £8,000 makeover, with a new wheelchair-friendly kissing gate and emergency vehicle gate replacing the two original boulders blocking the entrance, and a smoother track and landing area in the Toilet Sector of this popular, limestone sport climbing venue in the Peak District.

We met up with GB Paraclimbers Luke Jamieson and Jon Shields in a small opening event, also reported on BBC East Midlands Today.

Luke says, "I came here once with my wheelchair before the revamp and it was certainly tricky - not for the fainthearted! The track is a lot smoother to go across, and the gate has a RADAR key, a disabled toilet key, and that means anyone with a wheelchair can come through that entrance and not have to get out of their chair until they're ready to pull on to the climb."

Luke can walk short distances but uses a wheelchair as he has right-side hemiplegia cerebral palsy. He relies predominantly on his left side to climb, placing him in the RP1 Category, covering loss of range and power in multiple limbs, in the GB Paraclimbing Progression Squad.

He continues, "This new access allows me to pick routes that I want to do, not just the routes I can get to, and just enjoy climbing outside. It does feel amazing to have the backing of the BMC and others to support this level of access outdoors. There's nothing more freeing than coming outdoors and getting on a wall like this and having a good time. I'd love to see this at more quarries up and down the UK, especially replicating what the European outdoor crags are doing. I think this benefits everybody."

GB Paraclimber and coach, Jon, says, "The smoother track is also much better for me - with my prosthetic leg from my climbing accident and balance issues from my brain injury. It means we both don’t arrive at the base of the crag exhausted from just getting there. Not having clutter and things to fall over [at the base of the crag] is great for me too. It’s much better than I expected, it’s beginning to look like a really nice place to climb with the level ground and the pond. I’m very pleased about this, it’s a start.

Jon sustained a brain injury falling from scaffolding for his loft extension in 2016, then in 2019 he fell 7m from a climb and broke his left leg so badly the lower part of the limb had to be amputated. He competes in the AL2 category (at least one limb lost or deficient) and is on the GB Climbing Development Squad.

Jon continues, "Looking to the future, it would be great to enable access to the upper tiers, but if I had to choose just one thing next it would be a disabled parking bay. This would make it so much easier for us to climb here regularly, knowing we would get a spot next to the gate. Risking parking in the lay-by and dashing down the busy road is not an option for us."

The access work at BMC-owned Horseshoe Quarry was arranged and completed in March 2025 by BMC Land and Property Manager, Phill Hargreaves from the BMC's Land and Property Trust (LPT). The £8,000 grant funding came from Farming In Projected Landscapes (FiPL) and the Peak District National Park Authority.