Causey Quarry

Grid Ref: NZ204560   Aspect: N   Routes: 39   Max Length: 80   Average Length: 15

Altitude: 0 mtrs   Walk in: 0 mins   Route quality: **   Bouldering quality: *

The quarry is between Sunniside and Stanley in County Durham about 8 miles from Newcastle.From Sunniside follow the A6076 towards South Stanley for 3 miles until a large white pub (The Causey Arch) is reached. Turn right into the Causey Park picnic area. Park in the picnic area car park and descend on foot following signs directing one to Causey Arch and the gorge, to reach the crag in 5 minutes. The X30/X31 buses leave about half hourly from Eldon Square, ask for The Causey Arch Hotel.

General

This is an old sandstone quarry important for its proximity to Newcastle. The routes are of a high standard and the rock is reasonably sound and well provided with trees for belays. The quarry is in a sheltered situation and is often in condition in poor weather, but soil runoff from the wood on top of the crag means that some cleaning of the harder routes is advisable.

Rock

Coal Measures Sandstone Carboniferous Westphalian

Sound sandstone, but usually dirty.

Other interesting stuff

It's worth a trek up the valley to have a look at the rather impressive Causey Arch bridge, the oldest surviving single arch railway bridge in the world.

History

The crag was discovered in the nineteen fifties by Nev Hannaby after a tip off from a fellow coal worker. Nev lived a short walk from the crag, which rapidly became the Wednesday evening venue for the 'Crag Lough Group' of Nev, Albert Rosher, Eric Rayson and Geoff Oliver. Many of the classic lines were done at this time and named, but the details are now stored in Nev's memory banks. The Mangler, climbed by Nev, was called Causey Crack and another one of Nev's lines, Telstar, was The Corner. Activity continued in sporadic bursts, with Bob and Tommy Smith launching their careers with The Dangler in the late 1960's, Karl Telfer adding Sandman in the mid 70's and in the early 1980's the Perplexity and Mauler roofs were cracked by Paul Linfoot and George Haydon respectively.

Routes

Name	Grade	Stars	Description
A Means to an End	VS 4c		Start at the right hand end of the right wall of Hanging Crack where the face is severely undercut. Climb onto a ledge and move right onto the arete, which is followed to the top.
Diagonal Direct	HS 4b	1
Caff's Crimpy Cracker	MVS 5a	2
Telstar Crack (Telstar Direct)	VS 4c	1
Diagonal	D
Telstar Corner	S 4a	1
Telstar Corner Direct	VS 4b	1
Right Hand Wall	VS 5a
Right Hand Wall Direct	HVS 5b	1
Sandman	E3 5c
White Traverse	VS 4b
Low Level Traverse	f5
The Haunt	HVS 5a
The Hangman	f7A	2
Wall Route One	S 4b		Goes up the middle of the small triangular wall at the left end of the crag, moving right on small holds at the top.
Black Crack	VD
Easy Buttress	M
Spiders Crack	S 4b
Wall Route 2	HS 4c
Dusky Maiden	S 4c
Quarry Wall	VS 4c
Overhanging Wall	HVS 5b
Crack and Chimney	S 4b
The Mauler Roof 20m	E5 6b
The Mauler	E3 5b
Unbreakable	E5 6b
The Mangler	HVS 5a
Perplexity	E6 6c
The Dangler	E3 5c
Strangler	E4 6b
Hangover	E1 5b
Letterbox	E1 5b
Route 2.5	HVS 5a
Route 2.75	HVS 5b
The Arete	HS 4b
Wall Route Three	S 4b
Hanging Crack	VS 4b		In the corner to the right. Climb the crack (awkward in the middle) until a small ledge is attained. Traverse right and finish up Causey Crack.
Hanging Crack alternative start	VS 4c		Takes the wall to the right. Mantelshelf onto a ledge and climb the wall on poor holds moving slightly left until better holds lead into Hanging Crack.
Causey Crack	VS 4c		The steep wall to the right of Hanging Crack. One of the best routes in the quarry. Climb up onto a small ledge at 5m and pull onto a sloping ledge on the right. Pull into a small niche and continue to the top via the crack.