Northumbrian Climbing Guide

 
 
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Roman Wall

 

The status of the Roman Wall as a World Heritage site ensures that this area is plagued by tourists and gets lots of attention, and many of the crags are on land owned by the National Trust. However this does not seem to have affected access, which is generally very good. The National Trust have shown no signs of discouraging climbing on the major crags which run along the wall. The weather is an important factor in climbing here. Driven by the westerlys blowing through the Tyne Gap, the rainfall is relatively high and things seem to feel colder and damper than elsewhere in the county. This is particularly noticable on the north facing crags along the Whin Sill. As a relief from the dominance of the Fell Sandstones elsewhere in the county, here we have some large, good quality, Whinstone crags giving old fashioned crack climbing with good protection and precious little friction (none at all in the wet). There is even a bolted Whinstone quarry, and though the bolting is debatable, it contains some good mid grade lines. The sandstone crags are all Fell Sandstone, but the quality is not as good as further north.
Alphabetical list of crags
Crags shown in red have full guides online, either bouldering, routes or both. The star ratings relate to the best of either type. The colours represent the rocktypes. See here for details.
Bradys CragBroomlea Lough (Dove Crag)Cawfields
Crag Lough (High Shield Crag)Lookwide & Carr EdgePaddaburn
Peel CragQueens CragThe Tipalt (Collar Heugh Crag)
VindolandaWalltown