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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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gritstone</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hathersage</span> Village in Derbyshire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanage Edge</span> Escarpment in the Peak District, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Rocks (Derbyshire)</span> Rock climbing area in England

Black Rocks, is a small outcrop of ashover gritstone, between Cromford and Wirksworth in Derbyshire, the Peak District, England. It is an important crag in the history of British rock climbing, and has some of the most extreme climbing routes in Britain, including Gaia E8 6c.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Dawes</span> British rock climber

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Froggatt Edge</span> Climbing areas of England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master's Edge</span> Traditional climbing route in England

Master's Edge is an 18-metre (59 ft) gritstone arête that is a rock climbing route in the "Corners Area" of Millstone Edge quarry, in the Peak District, England. When English climber Ron Fawcett completed the first free ascent of the route on 29 December 1983, it was graded E7 6c, and one of the hardest traditional climbing routes in the world; it remains one of the hardest gritstone climbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derwent Edge</span> Escarpment 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millstone Grit</span>

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<i>Hard Grit</i> 1998 British film

Hard Grit is a 1998 British rock climbing film directed by Richard Heap and produced by Slackjaw Film, featuring traditional climbing, free soloing, and bouldering on gritstone routes in the Peak District in Northern England. It is considered an important film in the genre and regarded as a historic and iconic film. The film starts with a dramatic fall by French climber Jean–Minh Trinh-Thieu on Gaia at Black Rocks. Hard Grit won ten international film festival awards.

Ron Fawcett is a British rock climber and rock climbing author who is credited with pushing the technical standards of British rock climbing in traditional, sport, bouldering and free soloing disciplines, in the decade from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, and of pioneering the career of being a full-time professional rock climber. At the end of the 1970s to the early 1980s, Fawcett was widely considered the best and most notable rock climber in Britain.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derbyshire Dome</span> Geological formation of the Derbyshire Peak District

The Derbyshire Dome is a geological formation across mid-Derbyshire in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenfield Valley</span> Valley at Saddleworth Moor in the Peak District

Greenfield Valley is a river valley through Saddleworth Moor in England's Peak District National Park. Historically this area of the South Pennines was part of Yorkshire but since 1974 it has been within the eastern edge of the county of Greater Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harthill Moor</span> Hill in the Peak District of England

Harthill Moor is a small upland area in the Derbyshire Peak District of central and northern England, lying between Matlock and Bakewell near the villages of Birchover and Elton. The moor is within the southern portion of Harthill civil parish. Its highest point is 272 metres (892 ft) above sea level. The River Bradford flows along the northern edge of the moor past Youlgreave and into the River Lathkill at Alport. Harthill Moor is a rich prehistoric landscape with several protected Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

The geology of the Peak District National Park in England is dominated by a thick succession of faulted and folded sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age. The Peak District is often divided into a southerly White Peak where Carboniferous Limestone outcrops and a northerly Dark Peak where the overlying succession of sandstones and mudstones dominate the landscape. The scarp and dip slope landscape which characterises the Dark Peak also extends along the eastern and western margins of the park. Although older rocks are present at depth, the oldest rocks which are to be found at the surface in the national park are dolomitic limestones of the Woo Dale Limestone Formation seen where Woo Dale enters Wye Dale east of Buxton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curbar Edge</span> Rock outcrop, Derbyshire

Curbar Edge is a gritstone moorland escarpment above the village of Curbar, in Derbyshire, England and close to the villages of Baslow, Calver, and Froggatt. It is located within the Peak District National Park at an altitude of 958 ft (292 m). It is regarded as a significant location for rock climbing, both regionally and nationally, in terms of both the historical development of the sport and as the location of first ascents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burbage Rocks</span> Hill in the English Peak District

Burbage Rocks is a gritstone escarpment in South Yorkshire, overlooking the village of Hathersage in the Peak District. The highest point along the escarpment is 429 metres (1,407 ft) above sea level, whilst Burbage Moor rises above to 438 metres (1,437 ft). Burbage Rocks is a southern extension of Stanage Edge. Burbage Brook runs from the northern end of the Burbage Rocks, past the southern end, through Padley Gorge and into the RIver Derwent.

References

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