When I was climbing during my uni years (1992-95 in Sheff), one of the guys I became a regular partner with earned himself something of a reputation for fairly bold on sights. I watched him on sight solo several of the really bold E5s on the Great Slab of Froggat Edge. He would just mosey on up to ‘have a look’ and then the next thing is he’d be half way through the crux. And this was in the day before everyone got soft and started bringing monstrous crash mats to the crag!

Will watch tonight #BookMarked

Who’s Andy the Clam, Andy Swann?

Oh dear (I am old), so many names from the past. Have watched Dunne at Malham back in the day while spending many hours (days) on the ledges, always seemed a good guy to me. Same Dawes, bouldered with him in the pass years ago, friendly guy. My best memory (of big names) is of watching Ron Fawcett shunting up and down routes in sub-station quarry at Stoney, he really was a nice guy and encouraging.

The magazines of the time were full of b…sh.t about this and that. If you traveled around a bit then most climbers were pretty ok with the exception of a few tossers. The Saddleworth-Glossop scene that was based out of SIDS (remember that?) was a good one as I recall. Rose tinted glasses an all that.

Some of you will remember Naheem (Sid) Siddiqi. Bumped into him a couple of years ago as he lives near my sister in law. He’s into mountain biking now.

watching Ron Fawcett shunting up and down routes in sub-station quarry at Stoney

Hah, same story from me too – but at Millstone. Very impressive. Also watched Livesey “bounce” down Green Death from one hold to the next and land on his feet at the bottom to cheers from his entourage.

Some of you will remember Naheem (Sid) Siddiqi

yes indeed. He used to pop into Jo Royle (where I worked as a youngster) and drop off his hand-made route guides to the latest loose and unpleasant limestone crag he’d just bolted 😆

Watching some of these videos makes me miss climbing, but it’s another activity fallen* by the wayside as life reprioritises.

*(pun not intended)

Aaagh! It’s not Naheem, it’s Nadim 😳

Loose and unpleasant limestone crag – AKA the Peak District 😉

Talking of loose and unpleasant limestone crags, I used to live with Harpur Hill quarry behind my garden and I still never chose to climb there 😆

Was at Harpur Hill tother day visiting HSE, mentioned it was a nice change not to be chased out by security. Not seen Sid in years, last time was in Linthwaite (I think).

JD used to frequent Warrington climbing wall back in the day before he opened his own in Manchester. It was always mind-boggling watching him train by doing laps of 7a/b’s with only smears for feet. I always preferred his style of climbing to the more dynamic style of Dawes etc. My oldest daughter is big into climbing and I’m always telling her to try to climb like Dunne instead of jumping and slapping for stuff.

Also watched Livesey “bounce” down Green Death from one hold to the next

Green Death has holds? 😯

JD used to frequent Warrington climbing wall back in the day before he opened his own in Manchester.

We probably crossed paths – I’m member #13 at Warrington 🙂
I think John still lives somewhere locally in the ‘Wall Owners Triangle’ – NWF, Awesome, MCC. I know the 2 Daves more from running and cycling these days. Top people.

That link sent me down a very pleasant YouTube black hole at the w/e!

stever, we probably crossed paths too; I was the first employee at Warrington, as a 17 year old doing the Saturday shift!

Green Death has holds?

Well, obviously not holds in the sense of, you know, holds. But he appeared to be slapping something which slowed him down slightly.

Talking of falling off, here’s a fall off an E10 (I thought it was only an E9). Very nonchalant….

[video]http://youtu.be/_WzYni4QjOI[/video]

Nice guy Jules, but definitely missing something he is. Dragged me up my first E1 he did.

Enjoyed the Big Issue (thanks OP), always gave me inspiration did John (me looking more like him than any of the Sheffield crew…. 😳 ). Might have to rig up the video player and see what else I have kicking about on VHS.

Well I must have missed geetee by just a year at Sheffield. I was there just 89-90 I think, for teacher training. Is just my mates who called the Sheffield crew the “LAs” pronounced “lars”

I never met John Dunne but I think he did like to promote a bit of controversy. We were in the cafe at Stoney and a mate of mine asked for the new route book. So I saw the entry for Partheon Shot. He really layed it on thick. No unemotional write up, I wish I had a photo. He’d written it like an advert “As Seen On tv” in huge letters in a sort of star burst bubble. I think it also said “route of the future repeated” and loads of line from Stone Monkey

I’d heard Dawes didn’t believe he’d done it, so asked him about it ( In Pete’s Eats of course). He said that he didn’t believe John Dunne had done it as he thought John Dunne was to inconsistent in terms of what he could and couldn’t climb or something like that.

It all seems a bit odd viewed from afar.

I’ll watch the video later in the week

Many thanks for posting this film.

I met John and chatted with him several times while climbing in Warrington he was always great to get on with and never in your face about his awesomeness.
But a lad he climbed with from time to time needed a good slapping 😉

When I was climbing during my uni years (1992-95 in Sheff), one of the guys I became a regular partner with earned himself something of a reputation for fairly bold on sights. I watched him on sight solo several of the really bold E5s on the Great Slab of Froggat Edge. He would just mosey on up to ‘have a look’ and then the next thing is he’d be half way through the crux. And this was in the day before everyone got soft and started bringing monstrous crash mats to the crag!

Who was that then? Those are the exact dates that I was at Sheffield Uni (well, I’ve not actually got round to leaving yet).

Nevis the cat, Ba. nana, may well have climbed with you around that time then, though I did spend a lot of my time in Ian’s cellar at his warehouse in Saltaire on his board getting unnecessarily strong over 3 moves (4 and I was generally pumped). I climbed a bit outside with Stuart, Steve (Rhodes), Big James (top spotter in the days before mats) and occasionally Adi Gill. In fact if you ever went in JD Mountain Sports in Bradford the likelihood is you’ll have been served by Adi, me or John.

Thanks for posting the link, I’ve not seen that for years. John certainly put up some big routes in his time.

It always seemed to me that he liked his banter in real life and that carried over into how he was seen publicly with his climbing. Maybe courting it to a degree but things getting a little out of control at times.

The Sheffield mafia was a fairly odd phenomenon. I’ve lived in Sheffield since the mid ’90s and bouldered to a high standard (for that time anyway) I did climb with various of the upper echelon Sheffield mafia, they were actually ok mostly. The entourage where the ones who could be idiots. Like people trying to move you off problems because ‘Jerry is doing a circuit and will be here in a minute’ – well he can wait his turn then can’t he!

There were pockets of lovely people, many of who I still know know, but it felt quite unhealthy at times in that anyone who was a threat to the top dogs was often cut off.

I realised the extent of this when we went to stay at Todd skinners place in hueco tanks in ’97. An unimaginably welcoming and motivated bunch of folk from around the world. Also I’d though that Ben and Jerry were strong: until I went climbing with Fred Nicole who was quite simply next level strong and had flawless technique too.

Who was that then? Those are the exact dates that I was at Sheffield Uni (well, I’ve not actually got round to leaving yet).

Good for you for not leaving! That was the right choice.

I should confess that I was actually at the Hallam Uni so we would not have overlapped via the Uni climbing club (and I didn’t join Hallam climbing club either) but we almost certainly saw or even met each other at some other point. It would be fun to find out!

The guy I was referring to was called Richard, or just Rich for short. Because there were initially two Richard’s in the group I climbing with, I gave him the nickname ‘Mad Bastard Rich’, on account of his on sight solos of the E5s! I cannot remember his surname (I lost touch with him when I left Sheffield) but he drove a Triumph Dolomite with a fuel gauge that didn’t work, so ever where we went he had to meticulously record the mileage and work out how much fuel he had left so as he didn’t run out! He was also a metallurgist who couldn’t find work and went on to do a PGCE. He was a lovely guy. I always wondered what happened to him.

There were a few other people I climbed with that you may recall. Innis was a very tall, wiry guy with long hair and a reach like an ape. He ended up dating my ex (also a climber, called Serena Whitaker who was from Macclesfield).

If we did meet, then the most likely place was probably at the Ecclesall Road bouldering wall, the block work one of primitive design but it was then (and indeed up until they got rid of it) the only free bouldering wall in the UK. I used to always be down there training on low traverses in a vain attempt to get strong (it never happened). Of course I was at The Foundry quite a bit as well but in those days, you only climbed indoors when the weather was bad or it was dark (and sometimes not even then).

I climbed almost exclusively on grit because I wasn’t strong enough to climb limestone! I did get into sport climbing in the last year I was there and managed a few 7a+s and a 7b but I was always better on bolder grit routes where I found I had a decent head and good foot work. I was pretty pleased with onsighting ‘The Brush Off’ and ‘I’m Back’ on Rivelin Edge, and Downhill Racer on Froggat, albeit after top roping it a few times.

Hmmm, non of those people sound familiar actually, except perhaps if you mean Paul Innes, who now lives in Ireland – I used to come across him through work. I was at Sheffield Uni though, and nobody was posh enough for a car! I do recall one lad that I lived with onsight soloing Right Wall, and some of it was a bit damp too.

You sound very similar to me; I nearly always climbed on grit, mainly soloing, up to E4 or E5 pre-mats. I never really enjoyed limestone in the UK too loose and too tiring!

I am sure we must have come across each other down the poly wall or on Stanage.

Did any of you Sheffield lot know Ruth Jenkins, she was based in Sheffield but don’t know if she went to uni there tho. She’s tiny but possibly the UKs best female climber at the time (mid-late 90’s). Now lives nr Foix in southern France and is a stunt woman.

Did any of you Sheffield lot know Ruth Jenkins,

I can’t say I knew her, but I did know her. You couldn’t not as she was part of a very dynamic and high profile clique of female climbers in Sheffield at the time. They included the utterly wonderful Rachel Farmer (first woman to climb 8a – Raindogs), Arlie Anderson (bit outspoken, from London but very talented. Famous for being quoted as saying ‘it’s not the climb that counts it’s the grade’ having climbed Sturgeon in the Cupboard 7b+ in Cheedale although the one time I spoke to her friend about it she said that the quote was taken entirely out of context), Anne Arran (can’t remember her maiden name – she married John Arran some years later and set up a womens climbing teaching business).

I did once hitch a lift with the great and the good of the Sheff team from Hunters Bar (you’re not from San Francisco you’re from hunters bar…) that included Anne Arran and Ruth Jenkins and they were all really lovely people.

I’m trying to remember if Ruth was the one who climbed Caviar 8a+ on Water cum Jolly or if that was Anne. They were all really short but sublime to watch move over the rock. They did things quite differently to those who were taller.

Rachel Farmer was just a delight to watch. She’d been a ballet dancer before she moved to climbing and her grace and poise really showed through. She was tragically killed in a way not unsimilar to Jim Jewell, moving on an easy traverse in France while wearing trainers.

I know Ruth J. It was her that climbed caviar. Used to climb with her and belay her quite a bit when she was trying that harder route just left of rubicon roof (name escapes me now) also took the photos of John Welford (who was married to her at the time) climbing the first ascent of his hard route at rubicon

She was a fierce climber and certainly blazed a trail for standards to take a leap on.

She’s back in the uk now. Living near Beadwell

name escapes me now

Zeitgeist?

Actually that’s at Ravenstor. I was thinking of Zeke the Freak.

Ah yes that’s it.

I am sure we must have come across each other down the poly wall

I was trying to remember what it was we called it; of course, it was indeed the ‘Poly Wall’. That place was so much fun considering it’s super basic design and uber high polish. It made Stoney Middleton look like grit it was that smooth and topping out on a desperate move for the bar always gave you a little flutter.

I’m definitely not thinking of Paul Innes, though I am sure that I knew of him because his name is immediately familiar.

onsight soloing Right Wal

Do you mean Right Wall as in Dinas Cromlech or Right Unconquerable on Stanage? I think a solo of any kind of Right Wall would be pretty notable so I’m thinking you meant the latter (though that is still a decent solo).

Yep, Right Wall on the Cromlech. He was very good and a bit barmy. He grew up climbing with Vickers and Parry so wasn’t rubbish.

It was quite a strong household i lived in as a student, 5 out of 7 occupants had climbed E5 or above, including lots of grit solos. Adrian did the first ascent of Nightmare on Elm Street at Millstone, E7 or so I think.

Yep, Right Wall on the Cromlech.

That is batshit mental! OK so I guess it’s only technical english 6a and it’s E5 because it’s quite run out in parts but still, that is a monstrous solo even if you’ve led it already. It’s also notorious for being hard to route find as it wanders around all over the place.

Gaz Parry and Ian Vickers were other climbing greats I used to watch and admire from inside the Foundry!

Adrian did the first ascent of Nightmare on Elm Street at Millstone, E7 or so I think.

Ah, Adrian Berry, yes not only do I remember him (I didn’t know him) but i was at Milestone Edge one time when he was actually trying that route.

It was my first year at Uni and I was only climbing around E1 at the time. I was roping up to climb Embankment One and he was next to me, cleaning his boots off. I asked him what was the route he was about to do and he replied ‘this? this isn’t a route yet’. A little while later I saw the report in OTE that he’d done the FA and chuckled to myself.

These were all such happy times but the one thing from that period that irked me was that I actually did the first ascent of what subsequently was claimed and called ‘Daz Ultra’ on Burbage South. It’s the slab between Roof Route and Gable Route.

I was with a mate who climbed at a much lower level and after he’d done Roof Route he asked me what went up the middle of the slab. I didn’t know so checked the guide and turns out nothing had been done or claimed so we threw a top rope on it and I gave it a go, climbing it first try.

My mate was super excited and cajoled me to lead it, so I did, with low side runners in Roof Route and called it ‘Clark Gable’. I graded it something like E2 5b or E3 5c and wrote it up in the new route book in Outside, Hathersage (this must have been spring in 1992). There were so many notes of scorn next to it – ‘Done by everyone, except you it would seem’, was one I remember vividly. It was most upsetting. Then someone came along a year later and claimed it, grading it E4 6a, which pissed me right off.

I’m not sure if you know who Andy Barker was (FA Nosferatu on Burbage) but he was a good firend of mine at the time and encouraged me to fight the claim but I could never be bothered as I was really a nobody in climbing terms.