The new Climbers Club Dartmoor guide which includes 1200 boulder problems is now available online
at teh CC online shop or from retailers.
By way of a personal introduction I grew up in East Devon on a hill farm and although Dartmoor was 50 miles away it featured strongly in my life growing up. From the age of 11 onwards as a scout we went for a weekend every January on “Operation Snowdrift”. The bleak, boggy and largely featureless landscape, save for the occasional granite tor, made navigation a challenge especially when you were enshrouded in thick fog or bent over double walking into driving snow. What’s not to like? I loved the place and as a teen would hitchhike out there with a friend or my brother and we would spend days on ambitious walks crossing and camping on the Moors. I was hoping that I my sons might inherit my enthusiasm for hiking and camping but it was not to be. My sole reminder of my Dartmoor adventures is a book of
letterbox stamps. Enough of my rambling!
At the last Peak area meet I was shown a copy of the new Dartmoor by CC guidebook veteran Ian Smith. I’m not a guidebook buff but seeing as it was Dartmoor my interest was instantly piqued. This CC guide is standard issue Rockfax sized. The real innovation is that it printed portrait style which means they can do some interesting things with the layout which should improve ease of use at the crag and even flipping pages on the loo isn’t too annoying.
The real area of interest to me and the majority of UKB is the bouldering. For me bouldering on Dartmoor is synonymous with Bonehill Rocks (and bleeding fingertips). No longer. Much work has been done opening up new areas in the East (towards Exeter) notably Bovey Woods and to the South towards Plymouth. In fact the problems outnumber the routes 2 to 1 (1200 vs 600) Flipping through the guide there is page after page of magnificent looking lines with some of the boulders looking they have been stolen from Font. Maybe they are less rough than Bonehill. That would be a bonus.
If a guidebook’s prime purpose is to inspire you to go to an area then it scores 10 out 10 from me. As for usability, gradings, star ratings, definitiveness I will have to leave that to someone else. I don’t know who James Clapham is but his love for the place is evident. There are some quirky bits which I think is a nice nod to Nick White’s magnificently eccentric “South Devon and Dartmoor” guide from back in the day.
This guide is a gift for me (in fact it was – thanks Ian!). Next time we visit my parents I’m taking my sons bouldering there as it gives me the perfect excuse to drag them to Dartmoor after all.
For a more professional review of the guide go to
Rob Greenwood's write up on UKC
