Lawrencefield, 14th August 2009

This evening saw Rich S and Tim back in the Peak District for some more climbing. With Birchen being the closest crag for both of us we have been going to it a lot recently and although it has enough routes (Rockfax, Eastern Grit has 161 routes listed!) we felt the need to try some longer routes so set off for Lawrencefield. The setting for this crag is fantastic just a 5 minute walk from the car park down into a wooded area with a small pool. Under the trees are the remains of one of the quarries past products, a surplus of millstones, some completed with others half carved from huge boulders. Being a quarry, the sides of the crag are vertical with routes exceeding 20m in some instances. To kick off we found a nice VDiff called Snail Crack, a 16m slab climb following the route of a finger crack to the top. I led the route and found it much harder than any other VDiff I had done before. Tim followed and came to the same conclusion. The descent on this route involves a scramble to the top of the crag which was hard enough to make me glad I had rock shoes on!

Next we went for something a little harder, Tyrone, an 18m VS 4c. Again, I went for the lead and started well finding good protection along the way. As I reached a small stance at 16m I was faced with a bulge as the rock lent backwards slightly. Above me was a small hold and to my right a nice ledge, easy I thought. Not quite! The hold was good but I was at full reach and my arms were tired. This one was no good and I decided to climb down to let Tim try. After seeing my struggles, Tim decided he didn’t want to finish the lead so I set off to the top of the crag to top rope him. After a couple of minutes Tim had reached the difficult bulge and lunged for the hold. Three times he attempted the moves and each time he would swing out on the rope as his grip failed. Time for another route, we’ll try this one again another day!

We moved onto an area called the roadside bay where we managed another route called Straight crack, a 10m VDiff. A much easier proposition that was dispensed with ease.
Lawrencefield is another great area with most routes HVS and above. We will probably be back when our confidence at VS has grown and we are looking for more challenging routes. For now its back to Birchen and Stanage!