Surf/climb Holiday Part 1: Change of plan and Box Bay

The best laid plans.....
Our much anticipated autumn climbing and surfing trip to the Western Isles was sadly put on hold with the passing of my grandfather John Battersby.  The family gathered in Wales to celebrate and remember his extraordinary life.  There was much sadness, but a lot of happiness too as he was an amazing, funny and clever man, and remembering him brought as much laughter as sorrow.

After the funeral, we decided to stick with the climbing and surfing plan, but took advantage of our location, and began a tour of the Southwest that would take us through Wales, down to the end of Cornwall, and in to darkest Devon... I'm going to post the images in stages, as we did a fair bit, but will only bore you with the best bits!

The holiday began with a sunset climb at one of Wales' most popular surfing spots, Rest Bay.  Just east of the main beach lies a small rocky incut, known to the locals as Box Bay.  Here there are short and fun routes on sharp limestone.  Rough rock and lots of cracks make them relatively safe, and generally low in the grade (by Scottish standards), but beware many of the starts are unprotected, and the landings awkward/dangerous.

Shimmering surf in Rest Bay....

 The routes have tricky blank and barnacley starts with wet and rocky landings....

 But once established, there is plenty of gear and lots to hold on to.

 

It was a stunning evening, didn't really feel like October at all! Here's wally looking like he should be sipping a pina colada on the top of the crag. 

Eventually the sun set, and we had to go....

Walking in Wild Places

This weekend I was co-facilitating a workshop called Walking in Wild Places- all the way down south in Wales.  My role was primarily to help with teaching outdoor skills to ecotherapy practitioners and those interested deepening their connections with nature. This was quite a departure from my usual work, but really enjoyable- giving space to stop and listen and explore what was going on around us.

Sitting beneath oaks on the banks of the Loughar which rises straight out of a cave in the mountain fully formed at the "Eye of Loughor" (Llygad Llwchwr)

On Saturday, we followed a gentle route around Carreg Cennen, crossing streams, passing caves and wandering through woodland.  We were surrounded by birdsong, including the calls of the summer migrants- now arriving in numbers, including chiffchaff, swallows and the fluting song of the willow warbler.

Carreg Cennen is a 13th Century welsh castle that sits on top of wooded crags that form amazing natural defences.

 An oak growing on the edge of the woodland around Carreg Cennen.

Sunday was our chance to get up high on the Black Mountain (Y Mynydd Ddu), following an ancient drovers track up the hill, and then clambering up through the shake holes and heather to the summit of Blaenpedol, with it's huge bronze-age cairn on the top. The views were fantastic, and a bit of compass work soon established that we could see the North Devon coast, The Preseli hills and even Caldey Island.The weather was wonderful, and we had fantastic views of red kites flying over the moorland and fields.

A pool formed by a shake hole near the summit of Blaenpedol.

A huge thanks to everyone who took part for a wonderful and thought provoking weekend.