Paul under the Rostrum in evening light, YellowCake UFO is the slab in front of him
A new crag for us, not far off the M62 about 75mins and 55 miles from York, Paul and I got an early start and headed west. The new BMC guide (Over the Moors) has details about how not to get shot and how to get there (we messed up on the way – make sure you leave the M62 at Junc 24). The friendly guy from the shooting club greeted us and we exchanged some banter before heading off on the 15 min stroll up the hill. It's an obvious crag, an ex-quarry in a fantastic setting, with easy block belays on top (at least for the routes we did).
The crag has lots of clean rock but also quite a bit of lichen growth and a lot of grass at the moment. Being a moorland crag it takes drainage and hence mud flows into the cracks and then sprouts! Paul did a sterling job cleaning 'Dont Panic' a S 4a with some nice moves and gear (once dug out).
I jumped onto did Ricochet Wall HVS 5b- the route of the crag, technical at the bottom, easy jamming at the top and all the cams you can carry (I placed 0, .5, 1, 1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5 and some wires !) so it's very safe, the top out is good and clean. Wonderful route well worth doing.
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=320
We finished on Yellowcake UFO VS 4c, a really good series of ledges on a slab, trending up a crack to finish, which Paul cleared of grass. Possible to make it easier by straying right to the arete, or way harder on the left (E2 5c!). Excellent small wires and cams protect the slab, and in the evening light it was fab.
The midges turned up as the sun was setting (it faces n.west ish) so we left. We will return, with more tools (take nylon brush and a nutkey at least) to clean the other good looking routes, climb some more of the interesting routes.
Looks and sounds like a nice crag. I look forward to visiting it sometime.