Over the Moors: A User's Guide

Posted by Martin Kocsis on 18/05/2012
Tim Pearson getting weird on Kinder///Photo: Martin Kocsis

Bertolt Brecht once said that "Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." He must have had the moorland crags of the Dark Peak in mind when he said that, because he was right. Even with the guidebook just published, there are already updates to the guide. This page will be a randomly updated resource for the connoisseur of the obscure and magnificent.

If you think of anything pertaining to routes and crags that needs to be added, let me know.

If you spot any errors in the script (e.g. terrible spellings, commas) then let me know that too.

Buy the guide here: I give you special price.

April 2012: New stakes installed at Shelf Benches. Now stolen by some anonymous farmer.

April 2012: Hobson Moor back wall cleaned and some new stakes hammered in. Let's see how long it takes the chavs to nick 'em.

May 2012: Additional bolts placed at New Mills Torrs from "The Thin End of the Hedge"  to "Welcome to Portland (Oregon)" These new bolts remove the bold starts. Additional bolt placed at the top of "My Plan For World Domination" to protect the funky rockover. MPFWD is probably more like 6c, says Norm.

May 2012: Old bolt replaced with nice shiny new one on "War of the Roses" at Pule Hill. New peg placed under the roof to replace the manky old thing that used to be there but which was as useful as a chocolate teapot.

June 2012: Lines 3 (Slanting Crack) & 4 (Cake Buttress) at Lad's Leap (Millstone Buttress) are back to front on the topo, sorry. The route that doesn't look like a VD isn't, it's an E1 5a.

The PDF download support for the guide is here.



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14
27/05/2012
Hi Martin,

I'm having difficulty finding the pdf downloads for the more "esoteric bits" on www.thebmc.co.uk/guidebooks. Are they online yet?

Best wishes, chris
19/06/2012
Looking for the same as Chris - In particular for Middle Black Clough
Martin Kocsis(author comment)
20/06/2012
Sorry for being rubbish, here is the page, not fully complete yt but it won't be long.

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/download-support-for-over-the-moors
25/06/2012
Standedge Bouldering - Had a visit this evening. Clean n Mean! Clean n Mean!!
Anonymous User
05/07/2012
thanks for the guidebook martin it looks great. i can see you have work really hard to get things right all the best, Con Carey
Anonymous User
10/08/2012
Hi Martin,

Page 495 , in between 37 Crinkly Wall and 38 Arete is ... In Between, V0 4c/5a.

Start just left of Arete, below a small rightwards ramp. Climb direct to the ramp.
Anonymous User
19/08/2012
hi Martin About Charnel Stone, the Holly Tree Crack Area. The route mark number 41 is really 40, Route two, vs not severe?, route one is ten feet to the right. This means all the routes mark on phote upto 35 are all wrong. I could also say more about Rob,s Rocks but what the hell. see Con
Anonymous User
19/08/2012
Hi Con, Thanks for the notes. The description for 41 matches the topo so that one's right. I agree that the topo for routes 36 - 40 need looking at, they seem a bit odd. The descriptions make it obvious where the routes go though, so anyone who goes there can work it out. Why not mention Rob's Rocks!
Martin
Anonymous User
28/01/2013
Think I noticed an error on the topo for the lefthand bouldering at Upperwood Quarry. Problems/Routes left of Finger Wall are mislabelled on the topo (p.359).
Alex.
Anonymous User
30/01/2013
P.359
Chiseller's Choice - not actually on topo photo, mislabelled.
Finger Wall - mislabeled on topo as line 3 (Chiseller's above)
Wall End - correct
12/05/2013
Running Hill Pits, Back Quarry Diga-thon 12th May 2013 report.

1. Belay boulders have had their bases dug out, so will take a long sling.

2. Stakes are in place as follows:
Back area - 1 good old stake 10m back. Boulders and thread belays available.
String area - 1 old stake
Developement area - 1 old stake well hidden in the grass, 1 grave stone boulder, well back
Between Rain Stopped Play and Presence - 1 big flat boulder
Yawnsville onwards - 2 new stakes

3. The tops of all routes ( except English Wipeout) have been cleared of grass. There is a border of rock to top out onto.

Routes well cleaned - Combo, Gnome Slabbe.

Routes that still need a little bit of cleaning - Alas Poor Yorick - going right.

Back routes are all good to go!

Finally a big UP to Alex Thompson who shifted a skip load of shi from the ledges above Gnome Slabbe. Ta Mate!

Chris Tan Death Products... You know they work!
12/05/2013
Running Hill Pits, Back Quarry Diga-thon 12th May 2013 report.

1. Belay boulders have had their bases dug out, so will take a long sling.

2. Stakes are in place as follows:
Back area - 1 good old stake 10m back. Boulders and thread belays available.
String area - 1 old stake
Developement area - 1 old stake well hidden in the grass, 1 grave stone boulder, well back
Between Rain Stopped Play and Presence - 1 big flat boulder
Yawnsville onwards - 2 new stakes

3. The tops of all routes ( except English Wipeout) have been cleared of grass. There is a border of rock to top out onto.

Routes well cleaned - Combo, Gnome Slabbe.

Routes that still need a little bit of cleaning - Alas Poor Yorick - going right.

Back routes are all good to go!

Finally a big UP to Alex Thompson who shifted a skip load of shi from the ledges above Gnome Slabbe. Ta Mate!

Chris Tan Death Products... You know they work!
06/06/2013
New route on Pule Hill, Page 550 between routes 29 and 30.

Route 0.5 - Start just right of Coffin Crack, Climb the wall between Coffin Crack and Route 1, trending right towards the hanging arete at half height, to a good landing. Finish more easily. S 4a recorded by Chris Tan, Dave Bertalot 06 June 2013.

Best wishes, chris
11/06/2013
Corrections and New Routes on Dovestones Edge.

From Moorland Grit, 1988, page 171 - "Fifteen feet to the right of Route 1, and just right of an easy rock gully, is a prominent niche at 12 feet. This is the main feature of a poor route, Grotto, 30 ft, VD, (1972)."

I think OtM, page 402 has Grotto (a) marked in the wrong place. It should be about 0.5cm left of blue circle 3. Gotto climbs the dirty groove up to the triangular overhang, turns this and continues up the crack/groove.

Grotto and Bison Slab share the same start point but one goes
up, while the latter trends left.

Bison Slab details:

About 2m left of Slab and Saddle is a prominent triangular roof at 3m.

Bison Slab - Starts below the triangular overhang trending left to reach a good flake. Use this to turn the overhang and step up onto the hanging slab, which eases with height. VS 4c - Recorded by Chris Tan, Alex Thompson, James Rowe 08 June 2013.

So named as we found an empty can of Zubr - Polish Bison Beer jammed at the bottom of the route.

OtM page 407, bewteen route 33 and b - Vesta takes the right edge of the dirty gully, while asteV climbs the face on the left.

Start immediately opposite Vesta.

asteV - Use flakes gain a small ledge, then finish more essily
up a groove. No bridging onto Vesta. HVD - Recorded by Chris Tan, Alex Thompson, James Rowe 08 June 2013.

Best wishes, chris
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