[Wood FT]

Happy Friday,

With the arrival of our sprog, we’d like to venture out of the cave for some bouldering.

I know the usual spots close to Sheff but would like to know about those little gems. Flat spots, nice outlook, minimal small child traps etc.

What about Baldstones? Never been but looks nice. Am I still going to be harassed trying to go to Conies Dale?

Please feel free to throw in wider suggestions, N Wales etc

[Murph]

If the sprog is brand new then buggy access is more of an issue than traps. Roadside lime is obviously god tier but I'm guessing you already know that.

[mrjonathanr]

A pram up to Spring Boulders at the Roaches would be quite feasible. Baldstones is a 20 minute hike but a suitable venue, with a little supervision. Similarly, lower tier at Gib Torr, under a minute from the road.

[Johnny Brown]

Babies are pretty portable and  so unless you need a pram carry on as normal while you can. Once they start walking venues become more fiddly. The usual suspects are good - Roaches, Stanage, Froggatt, Cratcliffe RHS Newstones etc. Rowtor is a death trap, avoid. Rheinstor is a great picnic and climb spot as is Celestial twins.

[mark20]

I’d have thought The P would be pretty good

[Bonjoy]

Clifftop Boulder has a lovely picnic friendly aspect, shortish easy walk in, and compact set of problems all at one spot.
Nuda's is good for being compact, zero walk in, and surprisingly secluded for a roadside crag.
Conies is okay if approached from Oxlow to the east or Eldon in the North. Just don't come in via Peak Forest and you should be fine.

[highrepute]

I’d have thought The P would be pretty good

I think we felt like the p wasn't the kind of place you felt you could lay out picnic blanket and put a baby down on it. But then it is right next to a playground.

We found the cratcliff boulders good.

We went Rubicon a fair bit. Litton for an ice cream from the post office is still a favourite. Good playground there too.

That's all I can remember. We tended to not attempt going to far because driving was hard. So never tried Western grit

[Wood FT]

Cheers all. He’s hit and miss with the car at the moment so we’ll probably follow your routine HR

I suggested the P but Flo actually said the exact same thing.

[Sidehaas]

Cheers all. He’s hit and miss with the car at the moment so we’ll probably follow your routine HR

I suggested the P but Flo actually said the exact same thing.

P was ideal when they are very small and you have a pram with a bassinette in it as you can just leave them sleeping in that the whole time, no need for a mat. I found nowhere better. There are fairly few crags you can get a standard pram like that to without jolting a sleeping baby all over the place. Most of those suggested above you are much better taking them in a rucksack but the P works well with a pram. Rubicon would probably be fine too.

[T_B]

We used to push a buggy into Anston a fair bit, but that was when we had one age 4 (who could play in the dirt) and one age 2.

Last time we went to Rheinstor there was so much dog shit it was a bit grim tbh.

The wood of eastness would be good with a baby if there weren’t the access issues.

[BrutusTheBear]

Heh WFT.  Whilst the sproglets are still babies, taking them bouldering is a much simpler and safer process.  It's when they are able to move around that the fun starts.  Leave the buggy/pram at home and get a decent carry system, we had a 2nd hand BabyBjorn one, baby on the front, crash-pad (full of the extra shit you now have to bring whenever you leave the house) on the back.  The carry system would have the distinct advantage of inducing sleep, so depending on timing the babbit could be placed safely and snuggly on small pad whilst daddy got some climbing in.  Just a question of how far you're prepared to venture from home and the car. 
When you're in Devon - Bonehill is the perfect venue. 

[highrepute]

Had a bit of a chat with my partner about this.

We went to stanage far right bouldering a few times. The ground is a bit challenging but there's some flat bits. Shortish drive and walk-in.

We definitely got the buggy into Rubicon.

This whole sleeping at the crag thing never really happened for us.

There's a training beta podcast with Rachel Briggs that I found helpful. Where she talks about climbing and parenting. With s listen.

It can be a challenge to take a child to the crag and still get some decent climbing in. The key is to just accept this as an outcome.

We'll have to try go out together sometime Guy.

[deacon]

Harland Edge would take some beating. Great (although mostly easy) bouldering. Nice flat walk in, and you'll probably have the place to yourselves.
Couple of nice flat picnicky areas too.

[CrimpyMcCrimpface]

Took the 8month old to Gib Torr on Sunday, 1min walk in and perfectly soft floor to nestle him between the bilberry bushes. It can be windy along that ridge but both there and Newstones / Baldstones have 2 min walk from the car.
We've been taking him out since he was 1 month old and thus far I've found 0 situations in which it would have been better to have a buggy vs the carry system + bassinet that we use. (Our bassinet which is rigid but packs flatish). This also opens your options which may be limited by the approach.

Stanage North as already mentioned seems favoured by the wife for gentle walk in. There are parts to Wharncliffe with easy walk in and flat areas surrounding boulders. Also, if you're not precious about having a good view, then lots of the magnesian limestone offers flat and short walk-ins. Sprotborough, Church Crag, Levitt Hagg.

[spidermonkey09]

Bridestones would be perfect on a nice day. Slightly longer walk in but dead flat at the bottom of most problems.

[danm]

I'd be pretty wary about some of the limestone venues, with the risk of stuff coming down off the top. A massive tree trunk came down overnight at Rubicon a few years back, which landed exactly where a baby buggy had been placed when I was there the day before. (By the slightly raised bit towards the start of the warm up traverse). The crag above the P looks pretty loose too...

[Wood FT]

Good replies, thanks.

I’ll take you up on that, Jimmy.

[sidewinder]

Just for a contrary opinion we have an out 'n' about running pushchair, the one with 3 big wheels which we have found invaluable in crag logistics. Can load it up, he sleeps in it etc. Stiles, really narrow paths and super steep inclines the main issue but have got it into most of the crags mentioned so far and anywhere in font you would want to take a child. We also have/have had slings and a child carrier backpack thing (good for walks) but have not used these on climbing days. It is also much nicer for walking (rather than going to shops) than a non pneumatic pushchair.

[SA Chris]

Optimum number of pushchairs is the same as optimum number of bikes; n+1

[Wood FT]

Just for a contrary opinion we have an out 'n' about running pushchair, the one with 3 big wheels which we have found invaluable in crag logistics. Can load it up, he sleeps in it etc. Stiles, really narrow paths and super steep inclines the main issue but have got it into most of the crags mentioned so far and anywhere in font you would want to take a child. We also have/have had slings and a child carrier backpack thing (good for walks) but have not used these on climbing days. It is also much nicer for walking (rather than going to shops) than a non pneumatic pushchair.

We have a fairly plush running buggy and hope to have similar blissful experiences carting him around in Font over Easter.