Hangingstone Quarry Routes

Local Links Leicestershire Climbs Leicestershire Intro & History NEW ROUTES Anchor Church Caves Bardon Hill Beacon Hill Blackbrook Reservoir Bradgate Park The Brand Cademan Woods & Broad Hill Carver's Rocks Cliffe Hill Quarry Craig Buddon Enderby Quarry Finedon Slabs Forest Rock Grace Dieu Viaduct and Craglets Granitethorpe Quarry Groby Industrial Estate Hangingstone Quarry Hangingstone Rocks High Sharpley Huncote Quarry Markfield Quarry Minor Outcrops and Boulders Morley Quarry Mountsorrel Crags Nunckley Quarry Oaks Pinnacle Outwoods Crag Pocketgate Quarry Slawston Bridge Whitwick Quarry Whitwick Rocks Climbing Walls Index

Introduction & Location THE CLIMBS The routes are described from left to right. 1 Left Wing 10m VD The obvious broken and gorse covered buttress left of the main amphitheatre wall. 2 Old Rock'n' Roller 12m E2 5b *** (Hangingstone Quarry) Was once Cloister Groove. Climb the groove 6m right of the Left Wing and belay on the tree behind. A serious and poorly protected route. P. Mitchell, S. Boothroyd and J. Moulding, 2 Nov. 1978. 3 Weekend Warrior 12m E3 5b (Hangingstone Quarry) Climb the elongated peapod-shaped slot, or the wall just to its left, 3m right of the prominent corner groove of Old Rock `n' Roller, until a finger crack is reached. Move delicately right and finish on two knobbles and a hidden jug. J. Moulding, F. Stevenson and R. Conley, May 1979. 4 Sheer Heart Attack 12m E4 6a *** (Hangingstone Quarry) Takes the rightwards trending line of weakness up the wall to the left of the obvious crack with a tree in it. Start a few feet left of the bolt at 6m. Move up and right to the bolt, then trend back left and up, stepping back right above the bolt. Trend leftwards onto the finishing wall and boldly up. John Moulding, F. Stevenson, R. Conley and P. Wells, Aug. 1979. 5 Helloverhang 13m VS 4b Start in the right-hand corner of the amphitheatre wall. Climb the corner by ribbed blocks, which are loose at the top. John Moulding says he spent a week in Leicester Royal Infirmary with a guy who nearly died when a block fell off of this route onto him. A serious rock fall in region of Helloverhang. 6 Vertex 14m VS 4c * Climb the buttress 2m right of Helloverhang to the top, finishing by the small groove on the left. Poor protection. 7 Chrlst Almlghty 16m E2 5c *** Climb the next well defined groove running the height of the crag. Peg in situ at 6m. FFA. J. Moulding, P. Mitchell and S. Boothroyd, 2 Nov. 1978. 8 Plutonlum 16m E4 6b ** Takes the sharp fin-like arête on its left-hand side via a thin crack to the right of Christ Almighty. 9 Holy Ghost 16m E3 5c ** Climb the rib to the right, on the right-hand side via a shallow groove which is capped by a small overhang. 10 Crypt 17m E1 5a ** Climbs the obvious smooth groove right of Holy Ghost and left of the tree at the top of the crag. On the right is an area of a recent rock fall no doubt caused by the tree roots from the oak above. There was once a route called Sword of Damocles (E1) here. It was a very apt name! 11 Chrlst 17m E1 5b *** (Hangingstone Quarry) The obvious open corner to the right of the oak tree. Ascend directly to the pedestal splitting the base of the corner. Finish up the corner by some thin moves. 12 Alibi 13m E1 5a Climb the steep wall right of Christ onto a grassy bay and finish up the split wall on the left. Sorry about the gorse finish. There was a girdle traverse across this right-hand wall starting from Alibi and finishing up Vertex. The recent rock fall makes this a dubious proposition.