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Wrights Rock access (Read 24496 times)

shark

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Wrights Rock access
July 14, 2021, 06:41:39 pm
There have been some issues here recently I picked up on Facebook.

There are new landowners who have recently moved into Wood farm and signs saying Private Woodland, no right of way which had been put up around Wright’s Rock and in the field below.

Following a meeting with the BMC Access Rep (AndiT) the landowners are happy for climbing to continue BUT have raised (reasonable) concerns.

The BMC RAD has been updated as below:

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/RAD/View.aspx?id=5412

Access to this crag is dependant (sic) on climbers maintaining a low profile and adopting a strict leave no trace ethos, In addition, make sure you follow these few simple rules:

Only use the gate to cross the fence and access the crag

No dogs - dogs have worried livestock and if this happens again, climbing access could be banned

Daytime access only - no climbing after dusk

Minimise noise - stay low profile

Keep group sizes small - this isn't a venue for large groups



Spread the word



« Last Edit: July 14, 2021, 07:36:44 pm by shark »

fatneck

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#1 Re: Wrights Rock access
July 26, 2021, 02:59:47 pm
Bumped into a couple of nice lads at the Rambler's Retreat car park last week who had been at Wright's and spoken with the new landlord who was fine but very clear that groups of any more than 6 people would be moved on...

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRwAbSXjOZ8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

(As an aside, I got me one of those nice Tie Dyed vests and am very pleased with it!)

steveri

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#2 Re: Wrights Rock access
July 26, 2021, 04:24:11 pm
Good work, hopefully that update can get RADed and onwards trickle down to UKC.
No comment.

mr chaz

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#3 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 12:51:12 pm
https://www.instagram.com/p/CeyCqeYDfAA/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Wrights Rock closed until 1st July - seen on Andi Ts insta

Wellsy

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#4 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 01:22:47 pm
If this has been caused by climbers ignoring access agreement terms then tbh I'm getting pretty sick of crag access for everyone being put at risk by people who can't adhere to some simple and hardly tyrannical conditions.

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#5 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 01:43:46 pm
Fucks sake. People do take the piss by not following 5 very simple and easy to read rules when you reach the gate. Also plastered on UKC so no excuses. Another excellent venue closed off because of wankers doing what they like.

CapitalistPunter

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#6 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 02:16:21 pm
In fairness the rules on the ukc page for weekend only acess is hidden behind a thing you have to click. Its need to be more clear imo. Its a crag that is popular with indoor climbers who only go out every so often so many people wont be aware of the rules and will unlikely care to click and read the section about acess issues.

I think that if the access is set to red it shows the acess issues regardless if you click on it or not.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2022, 02:29:13 pm by CapitalistPunter »

spidermonkey09

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#7 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 02:18:07 pm
Presuming it wasn't a friday that your friend was turned around? Because otherwise its detailed on the sign at the crag, on ukc and on the BMC RAD, so...

CapitalistPunter

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#8 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 02:28:14 pm
This was a few months back sorry! Didnt read the post with the bmc sign! Im not sure if there was infortmation about that at the time or if it was a new rule because I never heard about that either.

I edited my post to say something different after realising

spidermonkey09

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#9 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 02:31:58 pm
In fairness the rules on the ukc page for weekend only acess is hidden behind a thing you have to click. Its need to be more clear imo. Its a crag that is popular with indoor climbers who only go out every so often so many people wont be aware of the rules and will unlikely care to click and read the section about acess issues.

I think that if the access is set to red it shows the acess issues regardless if you click on it or not.

Even accounting for this, which isn't the case when viewed on a laptop, theres still a massive sign on the gate, so I don't buy that this is even a remotely tricky case to be honest. Even if people have fucked up and not done their research, if they arrive there and ignore a sign they're dicks.

CapitalistPunter

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#10 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 02:35:21 pm
In fairness the rules on the ukc page for weekend only acess is hidden behind a thing you have to click. Its need to be more clear imo. Its a crag that is popular with indoor climbers who only go out every so often so many people wont be aware of the rules and will unlikely care to click and read the section about acess issues.

I think that if the access is set to red it shows the acess issues regardless if you click on it or not.

Even accounting for this, which isn't the case when viewed on a laptop, theres still a massive sign on the gate, so I don't buy that this is even a remotely tricky case to be honest. Even if people have fucked up and not done their research, if they arrive there and ignore a sign they're dicks.

Yes thats true

mattbirddog

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#11 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 04:04:55 pm
I am wholly biased on this topic as I was fortunate enough to grow up in the Churnet Valley so have seen it grow from obscurity to a major bouldering tourist venue due to its proximity and ease of access from London and other major southern areas before you hit the Peak. Yep it is weird and not 100% perfect but it is such a beautiful place to climb.

This said, I have totally given up climbing in the main Dimmingsdale valley and goto smaller venues now. It is so depressing seeing a place I grew up in get totally destroyed. The rock cannot sustain the level of attention it is getting and poor practices are deeply embedded (tick marks, using chalk balls to dry or mark out foot holds, not walking away from problems when it is wet etc). This is now happening more and more over in Farley Woods which is a shame but I guess it was inevitable.

From what I gather from my Mum who still lives in the valley, other locals are getting really sick of the 'mountain biker gangs and the folk with cushions on our backs' so I was totally unsuprised when the Wrights access issues started last year.

I am hugely grateful to any volunteers who help to sustain access to areas around the Churnet but as other commentors have mentioned, this is a much wider and systemic problem about climber behaviour outdoors (see Griff's for example) and managing access seems more like treating the symptoms rather than the cause.

I am aware that my business is a very small cog in a much bigger outdoor industry machine but happy to help wherever others want to about awareness raising to people who may not automatically read UKB or UKC - especially when it comes to the Churnet.

IanPeak

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#12 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 14, 2022, 10:29:04 pm
We went up to churnet 2 weeks ago and after seeing the sign we did not enter the wrights rock area

but a bit of information i have found on land registry for general information but to be used with caution

the land boundary of the land owners covers the most climbed area. but from Timber and to the east from the darleks to fairytale rocks is the same portion of land that includes peakstone and dimmings dale.
This land divide can also be seen on the ukc map

i would say personally timber and the darleks are still best to be avoided to hopefully restore climbing in wrights rock in the future though.

still wanted to provide the information so it is out there.

it was a very sad note on our trip as one of my climbing partners had quite a few projects at wrights rock

steveri

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#13 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 11:45:32 am
I'm only an occasional visitor to the Churnet but it strikes me as venue needing an extra nuanced approach. If the 'nearest crag to London' / 'new to outdoors' thing is true, there's an extra problem for people not steeped in the culture.

Hopefully it's a temporary blip, removing access for a short time. Not sure of the answer beyond handwringing. The guide does a good job of explaining.

Related note: has Rob Dyer left the BMC now - is he being replaced?

Bradders

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#14 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 12:34:27 pm
Playing devil's advocate; I get that the landowners have every right to make the rules (although that's a wider debate  :worms:), the six person limit seems both strange and very hard to comply with. Why six? Why not four, or eight? Why does allowing six at a time make access allowable?

Bringing this up because whilst "the rules" should be respected they also need to be reasonable, and it strikes me that that particular one probably isn't. Particularly in the context of access only being allowed on select days as well; giving an extremely narrow window of opportunity for a large and growing community.

teestub

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#15 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 12:45:13 pm
I don’t think there’s any requirement for the rules to reasonable on private property, High Rocks on the southern sandstone was £20 a visit before they closed it completely!

spidermonkey09

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#16 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 12:49:16 pm
Yeah, whether we think its reasonable or not thats the system we've got. Its private property and we don't have a right to be there. The owners want it to be a nature reserve, not a facility for use by climbers; they don't care about climbing's growing community! Given that I'm kind of surprised they've allowed any kind of access at all.


abarro81

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#17 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 01:19:52 pm
Playing devil's advocate; I get that the landowners have every right to make the rules (although that's a wider debate  :worms:), the six person limit seems both strange and very hard to comply with. Why six? Why not four, or eight? Why does allowing six at a time make access allowable?

Presumably the idea is that something like "small groups" is vague and therefore people are likely to end up ignoring it. I can see why it's easiest for them to define a specific number in order to achieve their objective of keeping numbers low.

P.S. stuff like this is why anyone advocating for "growing the sport" is an idiot.

JamieG

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#18 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 01:34:06 pm
stuff like this is why anyone advocating for "growing the sport" is an idiot.

I really don't like these types of comments, they seem really elitist. What I think you really mean is you are happy now that you are in the 'in' group and don't want too many more people to enjoy the things you enjoy. Otherwise they might spoil it for you. Seems a little selfish.

I bet you happily take all the benefits that come with the sport growing. Better and more choice in shoes, ropes, pads, gear, kneepads etc etc. More crags developed and bolted. Better indoors walls and training facilities. Obviously the 'growing of the sport' does have drawbacks, making sure that people understand obeying access requirements being one. But that is a matter of education not putting people off climbing all together.

northern yob

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#19 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 01:45:46 pm

P.S. stuff like this is why anyone advocating for "growing the sport" is an idiot.

Whilst we are playing devils advocate I get why you might say this… access is gonna be the biggest issue for us as a community going forward.

At the same time this attitude sums up what’s wrong with the world these days..

Here’s this amazing sport/lifestyle which means and has given so much to me. Let’s not spread the word, let’s not pass it on to inner city kids, let’s keep it all for me…. I’d rather be an idiot than a selfish hypocrite! Soz not aimed at you directly barrows, off topic but a great topic and far from black and white….. be interested to know how the hive mind feel. Thread split…?

abarro81

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#20 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 01:55:58 pm
I really don't like these types of comments, they seem really elitist.

It's not elitist, but it is passively exclusionary. And yes, it's selfish, as climbing is and as many things we do in life are. I don't think I have a big problem with that in this context.
(P.s.  northern - why is it hypocritical? All of us make judgements about things which are selfish which we think are ok, and things which are selfish which we don't like, we just draw lines in slightly different places) +1 to thread split

CapitalistPunter

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#21 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 02:11:13 pm
Playing devil's advocate; I get that the landowners have every right to make the rules (although that's a wider debate  :worms:), the six person limit seems both strange and very hard to comply with. Why six? Why not four, or eight? Why does allowing six at a time make access allowable?

Bringing this up because whilst "the rules" should be respected they also need to be reasonable, and it strikes me that that particular one probably isn't. Particularly in the context of access only being allowed on select days as well; giving an extremely narrow window of opportunity for a large and growing community.

I agree the rules make no sense. The reasoning is even more stupid too. The landowner told my friend the rules were put in place because they have people staying in their guest house who are scared of climbers...

Either way we need to follow these rules as it is the landowners right no matter how unreasonable.

JamieG

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#22 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 02:12:34 pm
I really don't like these types of comments, they seem really elitist.

It's not elitist, but it is passively exclusionary. And yes, it's selfish, as climbing is and as many things we do in life are. I don't think I have a big problem with that in this context.
(P.s.  northern - why is it hypocritical? All of us make judgements about things which are selfish which we think are ok, and things which are selfish which we don't like, we just draw lines in slightly different places) +1 to thread split

Without over arguing semantics, that pretty much seems like the definition of elitism to me. The 'elite' (established/experienced climbers) deciding or pushing for rules/ideas that benefit them at the cost of new/inexperienced climbers. Why is climbing selfish in of itself? I've always thought it was a very inclusive and sociable community.

As an aside, I feel there is an underlying assumption that people that bend/break access requirements tend to be new climbers. I'm not sure I believe that. I know of vastly more instances of experienced climbers ignoring access rules to their own benefits, as long as they do it on the low down, that I do of new climbers.

northern yob

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#23 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 02:17:05 pm
I really don't like these types of comments, they seem really elitist.

It's not elitist, but it is passively exclusionary. And yes, it's selfish, as climbing is and as many things we do in life are. I don't think I have a big problem with that in this context.
(P.s.  northern - why is it hypocritical? All of us make judgements about things which are selfish which we think are ok, and things which are selfish which we don't like, we just draw lines in slightly different places) +1 to thread split

I think it’s hypocritical to think here’s something I think is amazing, I don’t want other people to be encouraged to find/enjoy it.

mr chaz

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#24 Re: Wrights Rock access
June 15, 2022, 02:29:48 pm
Sociable and inclusive (?) it may be, but last time I checked the primary reason I partake in climbing is for my own satisfaction/torture... maybe that's just me.

I don't see the hypocrisy. Wanting to protect something that relies heavily on delicate agreements and goodwill seems sensible.

 

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