Following on from Part 1 of our Galloway Glamping Getaway…
Meikle Ross
Heading back east, we swapped views of Northern Ireland and Kintyre for the Lakeland fells across the Solway Firth. Our next stop was Meikle Ross.
The headline on the Biggar blog is “a big, complex cliff area” with the advice that “Climbing at Meikle Ross at its best is brilliant and idyllic, but it can be something of an acquired taste”. He goes on to describe eight different crags, and recommends a selection of routes for a first visit. These included the 4* offering of Mellow Yellow on Little Zawn – who were we to argue.
Parking is very limited at the end of the road, and we were a bit self conscious about the proximity to the houses, but the farmer trundled past on his quad bike and regailed us with tales of his own climbing exploits back in the day.
You follow a partly marked circular walking route, with great views of yet another lighthouse on Little Ross and to the Lake District beyond…
… before branching off to drop down to the crags on the southern tip of the headland. You’ll find the belay / abseil stake for Little Zawn just beneath the foot of a random fence line (the lower post of which makes for a handy backup to the rusty stake of indeterminate age and depth). Here’s the coordinates of the stake:
54.766459° N 04.098653° W
You can actually scramble down to the foot of the crag, but you’ll want to rig a rope from the stake / fence for a belay, so you may as well toss it down the hill and rap down, especially if you are planning to do a few routes.
There’s a nice, non-tidal ledge (except in a big sea) at the foot.
Only half a dozen routes but an impressive spot and a good spray of stars.
Mellow Yellow, VS 4c, breaches the obvious overlap on the wall to the right via a discontinuous crack supplemented by superb incut holds. It’s an absolute belter, well worth its 4*s and my favourite route of the trip.
Pinking Sheer, HVS 5a, takes an improbable line up the impending arete (which Helen is rapping down in the shot below). This steps the adventure up a couple of notches, with adequate but hard-won gear and some moves made in hope rather than certainty of more holds to come. Excellent!
We finished off with Green Wall, HS 4b and also worthwhile.
Here’s Red Slab, just across the zawn, which looks worthwhile for a future visit (along with a couple of others of the more friendly sectors).
The Thirlstane
This is a “nice wee crag” in Kirkcudbrightshire. It’s a seacliff, or at least a cliff by the seaside, but definitely at the more mellow end of the spectrum from some of the other venues. Handy for a dodgy forecast (which it was) but would also be perfect for a family with small kids or a quick solo hit.
Access is by a 5mins stroll from Powillimount Beach car park, along the beach, above the high tide level. Slightly confusingly, the natural arch is shown on the OS map but not in the correct location – it’s here: 54.8953080, -3.5733589
The routes are on the landwards side, so most are accessible at all states of tide. It’s a cracking chunk of highly weathered sandstone, with flutings and features that wouldn’t be out of place in Northumberland.
Undoubtedly the pick of the bunch is the unimaginatively named Left Arete, VDiff, and one of the best routes of the grade that I’ve done anywhere.
Here’s Helen on Catechumen Groove, S 4a
… and we pretty much ticked the whole of the crag in a morning before the rain arrived. There’s also a tonne of bouldering, if that’s your thing, with some nice sandy landings.
Clifton Crag
Clifton gets the full 5* treatment from the Biggar website, and we were a bit gutted when the forecast looked like it might wash out our planned visit on our final day. Fortune favours the fortunate (or something like that!) and the clouds rolled away to reveal the crag and the occasional glimpse of blue sky.
As Biggar notes, it’s an excellent wee crag, is west facing, gets lots of afternoon and evening sunshine, has a short approach over two fields.
… He also suggests it has great views over the Solway Firth to St. Bees Head, but we had to take his word for the St Bees bit…
Parking is in a passing space (apparently this is legit – be considerate. You’d be stuffed on a busy day) and you hop over a stone stile and then grapple (cautiously!) with a wire gate in an electrified fence to cross another stone stile and then easily to the crag. There are dire warnings of bull encounters but our visit was blessed by frolicking lambs and their mums.
There are some bird bans on parts of the crag but there’s plenty for a first visit on the first sector you come to: Hollowstones Wall and Dirl Chimney.
Jeune Ecole, a 3* S 4b, is a great intro to the steep featured granite, with a wild finale pulling out onto a juggy arete.
Sidekick, HS 4b, tackles the main tower from the opposite side.
The headline act at this end of the crag is Dirl Chimney, VS 4c, which gets 4 Biggar stars and a brilliant write-up in the SMC guide:
It’s a bit hidden on an upper tier, and as you bushwhack upwards through the undergrowth, watching out for basking adders…
… I was wondering if we’d somehow missed it.
The actual chimney section is short-lived, and it’s more of a wide niche than a speleological grovel, quickly succumbing to a bit of old fashioned back-and-footing. While Helen was squirming to compensate for a lack of height, her belay device managed to wriggle loose from her harness and fall to the ground (retrieved later!). There’s then a bit of a stretch to a good jug to haul yourself back into the vertical.
Great spot and well worth a re-visit. Could be a handy diversion on the way back from the Highlands (maybe adds about 75mins to the journey – easier than nipping into the Lakes).
Wallowbarrow
Having spent the last couple of days, when weather allowed, gazing at the Lakes from an unusual northerly perspective, it was nice to drop into Broughton for a family visit, combined with a bit of cragging. It’s odd to think you can see Black Combe from Southern Galloway until you look at the map.
Damp and drizzling but with a couple of hours to spare in the afternoon, Dave was easily persuaded for a quick fix. Wallowbarrow was a bit of a risk but turned out to be dry and not too chilly. Rather than another lap of Thomas we did Bryanston, VS 4b
Me following P1
Dave leading P2
P3 is where it kicks in and it’s well worth the VS grade. Superb!
As an extra bonus, there was a commotion in the square at Broughton on our return, a beer festival and a band. Result! The beers were superb and the band, PV77, lived up to their billing as “Cumbria’s premier punk covers band” – really tight renditions of about half the “favourites” list on my phone. The combination had me struggling to resist a pogo!
Pavey Ark
Forecast dry the following day, and our team was upped to three with the addition of Paul. We mopped up the last few parking spots at Sticklebarn (not bad for 10am on a Bank Holiday Monday) and set off up the hill. No sign of Pavey Ark…
Closer inspection in the lifting cloud revealed a fairly dank prospect, but enough dry patches to see Paul heading up the first pitch of Capella, E1 5b.
Calm lead in the conditions.
Regrouping at the tree belay, I definitely think I had the rub of the green getting P2. Much more straightforward, though the damp slippery grass leading to Jack’s Rake was a bit sketchy.
We linked into Poker Face, with Paul pulling another strong lead out of the bag for the crux 5b pitch (top end?)
The rock on this part of the Upper Tier has to be amongst the best in the Lakes (someone on UKC said “as good as Kalymnos” which didn’t seem the most obvious comparison!) I couldn’t resist nipping down from the handy rap station to lead Golden Slipper. Another absolute belter, with improbable holds but limited (and now very polished) gear placements. Nudging E1 5a? Undoubtedly 3*
Didn’t turn out too shabby after all. Great end to a great week.
RockAroundTheWorld 