Northumbrian Climbing Guide

Malcolm Lowerson was the first person to discover the climbing potential of this crag in 1959, putting up most of the popular routes. Many of the first ascents were soloed including most of the Severes and Very Severes and the difficult Wet Fly. On the first attempt Malcolm was unable to summon up courage for the top wall. He also failed to make the moves back down to the ledge which resulted in a long jump into the river below. The second phase of development was by Bob Hutchinson and John Earl. This started in 1973 with the Butcher and in the period up to 1976 they freed Ancient Briton and the Girdle Traverse and climbed, amongst others, The Angler and Greenwells Glory. Bob and Tommy Smith climbed the ferocious Barracuda Roof in 1979 and 9 years later Breakout was added by Kevin Howett and Andy Nelson.