Once again its been a dissapointing start to the 'summer' since returning from Kalymnos. Portland over my birthday was cancelled due to rain and so I have been desperate to get out without any risk of driving for hours and getting rained off! Tintern quarry in the Wye Valley had been recommended as a good place to take the dogs climbing, and it looked to be perhpas closer to us than the Peak. With no rain forecast on the final Saturday in June we headed off at 7am to the Wye Valley.
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| Spotty girls on the severn bridge |
I'd heard Tintern quarry was 'epic' and I was impressed with the look of the upper red dust wall. Unfortunately this trip with the dogs it wasnt really feasible to leave them 10m below the belay ledge for the upper red dust walls, so I could only look on in envy from across the quarry. The drops off the different tiers was a bit of a concern for the dogs but they approached the edges with caution and we felt they could be trusted for once...
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| Warming up on lower red dust wall |
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| Top of route 1 |
We started on the lower red dust wall on a couple of routes up to 6a+ and then headed over to the 30-ft wall. Along the 30-ft wall there was a good selection of low grade climbs without too much loose rock, it was just shame they were so short at about 10m.
We managed 15 routes before the swollen feet in climbing shoes took their toll, not bad for a chilled out day climbing in the sun with my spots.
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| Taking a rest in the sun |
