Rock climbing in the Peak District

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Rock climbing is a popular activity in the Peak District; particularly on edges such as Stanage or Froggatt. Generally the climbing style is free climbing (as opposed to aid climbing) [ citation needed ] and the rock is either gritstone or limestone. Climbing has been practised in the Peak District since the late 19th century; James W. Puttrell is generally credited with starting the sport.[ citation needed ] The first climbing guidebook to the area was Some Gritstone Climbs , by John Laycock, published in 1913. There are over 10,000 routes in the Peak District. [1] One of the most famous Peak District climbers, and a pioneer of many new routes, is Ron Fawcett. The climb known as "Master's Edge", on Millstone Edge, near Hathersage, is a testament to his skill and strength. The climb is graded E7 6c and rises 19m up the near vertical edge. [2]

Contents

Gritstone

The gritstone crags include:

Western Grit (Staffordshire, Kinder, Bleaklow, and the Chew Valley)

Eastern Grit (Derwent Valley, Sheffield, Derbyshire)

Limestone

In-situ bolts and pitons are more acceptable on limestone and some crags are almost exclusively bolted.

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Peak District Upland area in England

The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. It is mostly in northern Derbyshire, but also includes parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire. An area of great diversity, it is mostly split into the Dark Peak, where most of the moorland is found and the geology is gritstone, and the limestone area of the White Peak.

Derbyshire ceremonial county in East Midlands, England

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire, containing the southern extremity of the Pennine range of hills which extend into the north of the county. The county contains part of the National Forest, and borders on Greater Manchester to the northwest, West Yorkshire to the north, South Yorkshire to the northeast, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the southeast, Staffordshire to the west and southwest and Cheshire also to the west. Kinder Scout, at 636 metres (2,087 ft), is the highest point in the county, whilst Trent Meadows, where the River Trent leaves Derbyshire, is its lowest point at 27 metres (89 ft). The River Derwent is the county's longest river at 66 miles (106 km), and runs roughly north to south through the county. In 2003 the Ordnance Survey placed Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms as the furthest point from the sea in Great Britain.

Gritstone A hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone

Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is often applied to sandstones composed of angular sand grains. It may commonly contain small pebbles.

Hathersage Human settlement in England

Hathersage is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Sheffield.

Dark Peak

The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern Peak District but also extends south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire and parts of Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

Stanage Edge mountain in the United Kingdom

Stanage Edge, or simply Stanage is a gritstone escarpment in the Peak District, England, famous as a location for climbing. It lies a couple of miles to the north of Hathersage, and the northern part of the edge forms the border between the High Peak of Derbyshire and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Its highest point is High Neb at 458 metres (1,503 ft) above sea level. Areas of Stanage were quarried in the past to produce grindstones, and some can still be seen on the hillside—carved, but never removed.

Ingleborough mountain in the United Kingdom

Ingleborough is the second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, and is frequently climbed as part of the Three Peaks walk.

Black Rocks (Derbyshire)

The Black Rocks is a small outcrop of natural gritstone, between Cromford and Wirksworth in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. Parking is available for walking along the old railway path and up to the top of the crag, and there is a picnic area.

Jerry Moffatt British rock climber

Jerry Moffatt is a professional rock climber from Leicestershire, England. One of the best and most prolific climbers of the 1980s. August 1983 Moffatt did the world's first 8a Oyster on Pen Trwyn Wales. In September 1983 in Germany he did the first 8a+ with a new route called The Face. May 1984 he climbed Revelations on Ravens Tor in the Peak District now graded 8b making it the first of the grade. in 83 and 84 Moffatt soloed many E5 and E4's, no one else in the World was consistently soloing routes of that grade at that time. May 1990 back on Pen Trwyn Wales Moffatt climbed yet another world first when he did Liquid Ambar 8c+. Moffatt's world first on-sights were, 7b+ Super Crack in the U.S.A 1982, 7c Heisse Finger in Germany 1983 and 7c+ Pol Pot Verdon France 1984. In 1993 while in Yosemite, he did the first 8b boulder problem The Dominator. In competition he won the first ever round of the world cup Leeds 1989. When retiring from competition 1990 he was ranked world No1 (ASCI) winning 9 internationals in two years. 2002 Moffatt retired from professional climbing. In 2009 his best selling biography Revelations won grand prize at Banff mountain book festival. His second book on sport psychology Mastermind was published in 2017. 2018 he won the first ever lifetime achievement award for climbing at Krakow.

Froggatt Edge

Froggatt Edge is a gritstone escarpment in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, in Derbyshire, England, close to the villages of Froggatt, Calver, Curbar, Baslow and Grindleford. The name Froggatt Edge applies only to the northernmost section of the escarpment; the middle and southernmost sections are called Curbar Edge and Baslow Edge respectively. The escarpment, like many in this area, is easily accessible from Sheffield.

Thors Cave Cave and archaeological site in the United Kingdom

Thor's Cave is a natural cavern located at SK09865496 in the Manifold Valley of the White Peak in Staffordshire, England. It is classified as a Karst cave. Located in a steep limestone crag, the cave entrance, a symmetrical arch 7.5 metres wide and 10 metres high, is prominently visible from the valley bottom, around 80 metres (260 feet) below. Reached by an easy stepped path from the Manifold Way, the cave is a popular tourist spot, with views over the Manifold Valley. The second entrance is known as the "West Window", below which is a second cave, Thor's Fissure Cavern.

Derwent Edge mountain in United Kingdom

Derwent Edge is a Millstone Grit escarpment that lies above the Upper Derwent Valley in the Peak District National Park in the English county of Derbyshire. An Ordnance Survey column marks the highest point of the Edge at Back Tor. North of Back Tor the edge extends into Howden Edge and enters the county of South Yorkshire.

Millstone Grit

Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the British Isles. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills. Geologists refer to the whole suite of rocks that encompass the individual limestone beds and the intervening mudstones as the Millstone Grit Group. The term Millstone Grit Series was formerly used to refer to the rocks now included within the Millstone Grit Group together with the underlying Edale Shale Group.

Windgather Rocks Human settlement in England

The Windgather Rocks is a gritstone crag on the Derbyshire–Cheshire border in England. It is in the Peak District National Park and is a popular site for learning the rudiments of rock climbing. As the name suggests the area is exposed to the prevailing westerly winds. The rocks lie above Taxal Edge and are part of a north–south ridge that starts between Kettleshulme and Whaley Bridge and culminates at Shining Tor. The crag was featured in the first guide to rock climbing in the Peak District, Some Gritstone Climbs, published in 1913 and written by John Laycock.

<i>Hard Grit</i> 1997 film

Hard Grit is a 1998 climbing film produced by Slackjaw Film, featuring climbing on gritstone in the North of England. It has won ten international film festival awards .

<i>Some Gritstone Climbs</i> book by John Laycock

Some Gritstone Climbs is a rock climbing guidebook written by British lawyer John Laycock (1887–1960). The book's subtitle, included uniquely on the frontispiece, is Some Shorter Climbs . It was published in Manchester in 1913 by the Refuge Printing Department. Although focusing on rock climbing in the Peak District, it covers several adjacent cliffs outside this region, and despite its title, referring to the Millstone Grit geology of many of the cliffs, it includes several cliffs consisting of other rock types, including mountain limestone and red sandstone. It is regarded as the first ever published rock climbing guidebook for the Peak District National Park. Some Gritstone Climbs is one of the earliest guidebooks to rock climbing in the United Kingdom: Climbing in the British Isles by Walter Parry Haskett Smith was published in 1894 and the climbing guide The Climbs on Lliwedd, by J. M. A. Thompson and A. W. Andrew, in 1909.

Peak District Boundary Walk Long distance footpath in England

The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular 190-mile (310 km) walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District and was launched on 17 June 2017.

Chee Dale Valley in the Derbyshire Peak District

Chee Dale is a steep-sided gorge on the River Wye near Buxton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England.

Middleton Dale Valley in the Derbyshire Peak District

Middleton Dale is a steep-sided, carboniferous limestone valley in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The village of Stoney Middleton lies at the eastern foot of the dale and the village of Eyam lies about 600 metres (660 yd) to the north, through the side valley of Eyam Dale. The dale is cut into the surrounding gritstone uplands of Middleton Moor and Eyam Moor. Dale Brook stream runs down the dale into Stoke Brook and on into the River Derwent 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) beyond Stoney Middleton. The Delf is a secluded, wooded side gorge with a stream between Eyam and Middleton Dale. Opposite The Delf, water gushes from Hawkenedge Well and flows into Dale Brook.

References

  1. On Peak Rock, foreword
  2. On Peak Rock, published by the British Mountaineering Council, first edition 1993, ISBN   0-903908-91-3