Northumbrian Climbing Guide

Callerhues has a very short history. Although climbers had visited the crag there are no documented records of the routes ascended. In 1976 John Earl and Bob Hutchinson visited the crag and climbed the classic Callerhues Crack and the dark Callerhues Chimney. They also soloed a few, other lines. At this time the crag was in poor condition and nothing else was considered worthwhile. The crag was rediscovered later in 1978 by Tommy and Bob Smith accompanied by Pete Alderson who took it upon themselves to clean the crag up, and within three months it had yielded some fifty new routes. Other people to climb new routes were Steve Blake with Boulevard and Earl with Arkle. Although the crag was climbed regularly there were no further developments until 1979 when Bob Smith climbed Dulalai T.A.P., Sheer Temptation and the technical Crouching The Mahogany. In 1984 Alan Moist with Dave Carr popped up Toshiba Receiver. A visit to the crag in the summer of 1985 found the overhanging crack left of Callerhues Chimney cleaned but unclimbed. An on sight solo by Bob Smith gave Second Born in celebration of his daughter. 1988 saw only a couple of short routes, with Bob Smith as the author of Chouca and The Storyteller.