User attention

The following is from the Forestry England website: 

"Symonds Yat Rockfall update

Updated 1st August 2024

On 8 August 2023 a major rockfall took place from the cliffs at Symonds Yat Rock. Since then, we have asked all climbers to avoid using the area and the areas directly below the rockface. We have also had to formally close the public right of way leading down from Symonds Yat Rock to the River Wye (see map below).

We immediately sought professional ground engineering and geotechnical advice from a private consultancy firm. The consultant inspected the rockfall site and further parts of Symonds Yat Rock. As a result of this advice, we have put in place a Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) dedicated land closure to prevent climbers accessing the cliff face, and we will be keeping the public right of way closed for the foreseeable future. This action has significantly reduced the assessed risk as much as possible, as advised by our specialist consultants.

An estimated 20 tonnes of rock fell from the cliff face, and had it not been for the rock capture fence, the damage below could have been significant. The rock capture fence was in place for incidents like this, but the size of the fall was large enough to severely incapacitate the fence.

Why are we asking you not to climb at Symonds Yat Rock?

Since August 2023, there have been further rockfalls and so, on the advice of our engineering experts, we have closed the cliff face to climbers. This is for your safety and the safety of others. A closure has been issued by Natural England (case number 2024030132) and this prevents public access. This closure is in addition to the public right of way closure that is also in place along the footpath leading down to the river.  At the moment, we don’t know whether another rockfall will happen somewhere else along the cliff face and without mitigation strategies in place, we can't take this risk. 

Temporary repair of the rock capture fence has been completed, but this does not yet mean that climbing can resume in the area. The level of risk is still too high, and we still have other work to do based on recommendations given to us by our expert engineering consultants. This is a significant piece of work and so we don't have a timeline for this yet.

In the meantime, we thank you for your continued patience and co-operation."

BMC Comments:

The extended closure has a nominal expiry date of the of 31/03/25. At which point the restriction will have to be reviewed by the Relevant Authority and an extension applied for. In this case the Relevant Authority is the Forestry Commission, of whom Forestry England is an executive agency. They've indicated they won't prioritise the funding and have no fixed plans to carry out the work required to address the reasons for the closure, so the duration of the closure now appears quite indefinite. 

While the restriction is in place the right of access under CRoW is suspended and climbers choosing to ignore it would therefore be trespassing.

Landowners cannot normally restrict CRoW access on the basis of hazards arising from natural features in the landscape. 

Thanks to a Freedom of Information request submitted by a climber the BMC have been able to see the report on which the current closures are predicated. As was expected this report makes the obvious point that these rocks as a natural feature of the landscape are prone to continual erosion, which by nature cannot be predicted with total certainty, whilst highlighting which areas appear most and least prone to further erosion. It then goes on to state that these non specific risk are unacceptable ones for climbers to take anywhere on the crag, even at the lowest risk areas and on this basis the whole crag should be restricted until this can be remedied. These are facts that are known to rock climbers and are worked with to a greater or lesser extent on all crags. Therefore the commission and use of a publicly unavailable geotechnical risk assessment as justification for an open ended blanket ban by a major landowner represents a serious precedent for crag access generally.

Efforts are ongoing to challenge this decision and gain at least partial crag opening through addressing specific concerns where these can be justified. 

The BMC does not consider the current restriction justified or proportionate.

*The case number quoted by FE here is incorrect. The correct case reference number is 202400132

Note the bird restriction on White Wall is still valid please do not climb in this sector after 1st March