St Govans East
It’s hard to understand why St Govans East is so much less popular than its more celebrated neighbour – for the sake of another 100m walk you might well have […]
Category Archives: Wales
Penally – Pembroke off the beaten track
Having made a Pembroke Pilgrimage at least annually for the last 30 years or so, there aren’t too many unexplored areas for us, especially ones that aren’t affected by bird […]
Sunny Scareys
Another favourite spot to avoid bombs and bird bans, so no surprise to find a number of teams with the same idea of a visit to Mother Carey’s. Here’s Helen […]
Stand by to Boogie – more Mowing Word fun
Summer has finally arrived and Helen and I are back in Pembroke, this time in the company of Steve and James. It’s mid week and outside the school holidays, so […]
Rucksack Club Gogarth Meet 2019
Amidst a fairly unspectacular summer, the forecast for the Rucksack Club’s annual pilgrimage to Gogarth wasn’t looking particularly auspicious. I’ve been organising this gathering for almost 20 years, and not […]
Craig Arthur
A grey Saturday to be followed by a grim Sunday prompted a detour to Craig Arthur on the way to the Rucksack Club’s hut in The Pass for the annual […]
Big Family Gathering on Gower
We spent most of my childhood holidays on Gower (not THE Gower, apparently…) enjoying the world-class beaches and benign microclimate, whilst blissfully unaware of the wealth of climbing available under […]
Ogmore – Exposure Explosion!
Jim has been trying to persuade me to visit Ogmore for at least 20 years, but various factors such as weather, tides and the “easy option” of Pembroke another hour […]
Mother Carey’s
Having had the crags to ourselves, and an almost deserted campsite, the hoards began to descend on Thursday night and by Friday morning the Bosherston camping field was transformed. Plenty […]
Mowing Word
Almost exactly a year on from my last visit with Jake, Jim and I enjoyed another grand day on Mowing Word – it really is a great bonus to have […]
Pembroke – make mine a Triple
Where better for a short Easter break than Pembroke, especially with a Wednesday start to beat the crowds? After a somewhat tedious journey, Jim and I arrive at the St […]
Gogarth – the crag that just keeps giving!
I remember an early Gogarth experience with Paul, over 25 years ago, when we ticked three major 3* classics (Dream, Gogarth and something else – obviously I don’t remember it […]
Llanymynech
Another day promising blue skies after the mist has lifted prompted another trip along the M55 to Clwyd limestone. Andy and I made an early start to make the best […]
Independence Quarry
Another contribution to Clwyd limestone by the irrepressible Gary Gibson, Independence Quarry sits at the east end of the escarpment above Trevor, with views over Llangollen. A hazy mist threatened […]
Last of the summer wine
Sunday morning and I should be on a plane to Vegas. That didn’t work out (yet) but as a consolation I’m heading west along the A55, bound for Gogarth. The […]
The Groove – Llech Ddu
Another trip into Snowdonia to a high mountain crag that doesn’t often come into condition – this time Mike and I made our way up to Llech Ddu for The […]
Twll Mawr and Britain’s longest sports route
An over-optimistic interpretation of the forecast had me and Andy heading to Llanberis to find drizzle and clag down to the rooftops. A breakfast in Pete’s Eats and even a […]
Cloggy
Clogwyn Du’r Arddu, to give it its proper name, is one of my “Top 5 crags in the world” (the others being Gogarth, El Cap, Hobby and a fickle AN […]
Over the Moon at Gogarth
Helen and I have been organising the annual Rucksack Club Gogarth meet, on Holy Island, Anglesey, for about 15 years now. The formula is pretty simple: take the best crag […]
Milestone Buttress
Another revisit to a classic crag, Milestone Buttress on the side of Tryffan in the Ogwen Valley was the scene of a multi-pitch adventure very early in Helen’s and my […]
RockAroundTheWorld 