Waiting

...for Mary to get sorted out on the belay.  Behind me is the last route of the day, Pillar Face VD at Brassington (Rainster Rocks) and on lead I had to escape to the right just before the top as my right arm had become so pumped that I thought I was going to fall off.  So I reached the top the easy way, set up the belay and Mary climbed it, then we swapped so that I could do the route properly... which of course was much easier on a top rope!

When we first got there we spent quite a while wading through nettles and brambles trying to find the crags, and the first ones we found were so overgrown that there was no chance of any climbing.  But then we managed to reach a more presentable outcrop.  What lovely limestone, it was so nice to climb!

We chatted to an eighty year old who was self-belaying while he did some gardening, still getting out and doing what he can, he said. Good for him, it gives Mary and I hope, but he really should wear hearing aids :-)

The extra is the first route, Nettle Wall... aptly named!