Boyes Quarry

Grid Ref: NU117078   Aspect: N   Routes: 10   Max Length: 20   Average Length: 14

Altitude: 198 mtrs   Walk in: 8 mins   Route quality: *

Park near a forest entrance on B6341 Alnwick/Rothbury road about 1/2 mile north of the A697 crossroads (the first plantation going N from the crossroads, just after Caller Crag). About 30m N of the plantation is a small gate, through this and up the hill for 250m to the quarry.

General:

A Fell Sandstone quarry in a sheltered position with superb views (from the top).

Rock:  

Fell Sandstone Carboniferous, Dinantian

Vegetated and tends to get damp at the start of the routes.

Routes/Bouldering:  

Routes:

The climbing is normal for quarried sandstone, mostly flat holds with a few cracks, some long reaches (hence some routes may be hard for the short). Protection is "adequate" rather than good, and some of the rock requires care, particularly near the top. There is much heather on the ledges and in the cracks and most routes will need cleaning, but this will be a worthwhile exercise as the climbing is good - particularly on the upper walls.

Problems:

There is scope for some traversing on a wall on the left of the quarry, but nothing else of note.

History:

The quarry was visited by Steve Blake and Jeff Lamb in 1978 and 4 routes done. The record of these routes has been lost, but one was certainly Flight Training, and the others were almost certainly The Jupiter Collision and a couple of lines "up the walls on either side". The routes as described here are the work of John McRoberts and Will Walker who cleaned and climbed them in 1994.