Owned and managed by the BMC on behalf of all climbers, Craig Bwlch y Moch at Tremadog is an iconic traditional climbing venue. But poor behaviour and wild camping by a minority of climbers is threatening relations with neighbouring landowners at this popular site.
While the BMC owns and manages the cliff face and part of the old highway below the cliff at Craig Bwlch y Moch, the top of the cliff and the roadside part of the the old highway are privately owned.
In the last few weeks the BMC has received a number of complaints from neighbouring land owners about poor behaviour by climbers at this site. In particular some climbers have been camping at the base of the crag, leaving litter, cutting trees and vegetation for campfires and then cheekily using the nearby toilet and water facilities at Eric Jones's campsite nearby.
Eric Jones, himself a world famous climber and mountaineer offers a very affordable and cheap campsite for climbers only a couple of hundred yards away from the crag and is understandably very disappointed and annoyed by these individuals who are abusing his generosity and creating problems for other climbers.
Parking and highway safety issues at the small lay-by at the base of Vector buttress have also led to the Highways Authority to consider parking enforcement along the highway. This rough parking area is not wholly owned by the BMC and the landowner is now considering blocking up this area to prevent a repeat of the poor behaviour here.
The farmer who owns the land below and above the crag has also experienced a number of issues where climbers have descended from the cliff by crossing the cliff top fence, ending up in his farm yard. He has also had issues in recent weeks with climbers using the fields below the crag to play football.
Thousands of climbers enjoy the cliff in an environmentally aware and considerate manner each year but it is particularly disappointing that these problems arise at a crag owned by the BMC on behalf of all climbers and do nothing to help our efforts to secure access to climbing sites elsewhere.
Please help to maintain good relations at this important site by only parking at the cafe car park (which is available free when the cafe is shut), not camping wild below or at the crag itself, and please do not enter the fields below the crag and do not descend by crossing the fence at the top of the crag.
TremFest 2012
If you enjoy climbing at Tremadog and want to put something back into the climbing there, get along to TremFest 2012 over the weekend of 21-22 April.
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