August Bank Holiday at The Gower

Sun kissed bodies on sun kissed beaches, a calm blue sea, climbing on limestone cliffs in the sunshine of a hot southern coast. It must be Spain, the Costa Blanca! Well, no, actually, the south coast of sunny Wales!

It didn't start so well though! Pat Watson and I left Scotch Corner at 1.30 , only to hit our first bank holiday traffic jam near Wetherby. We hit another two jams on the way down and finally arrived in the Swansea area around 10.30 pm instead of the intended 7 or 8 pm.

We then discovered our planned campsite was full, so we had to drive around a maze of never ending country lanes to find another. We found one eventually at 11 pm, with four portaloos, one tap, and a free disco thoughtfully put on by some of the other residents. The price for this well regulated and well equipped site, only £8!

Pat told the others (Neil Harold, Tony Craven, Andy Platell) where we were. They all arrived around midnight. Good going since they had all left several hours after us.

Saturday, brilliant sunshine, but our first job was to find another camp site. The new one had one loo (but it was a flushing one - luxury), more than one tap at a more reasonable £4 and no disco.

We got our tents up, and went climbing. We headed for the Three Cliffs area. Most of the climbing was VS and lower. Climbs done included a sustained VS 4c named Scavenger climbed by Andy Platell and Tony Craven, and then by myself and Neil Harold. Andy, Neil, Tony and myself put up other climbs with Pat Watson ably seconding all of them. During the afternoon Trish Murray arrived with her friends Claudia and Jax, and the day ended with wandering off to the local cafe‚ for drinks and cakes, back to the site for dinner and thence to the pub.

Sunday, brilliant sunshine, but what was this ? One of our party was leaving ! Neil left us on Sunday morning for a romantic liaison in Liverpool. Our prospective section leader putting romance before climbing ! Is that allowed ?

The rest of us went to Fall Bay for a mixture of sunbathing, swimming and climbing. The climbs done were put up by Andy and Tony and seconded by myself and the girls. Trish was not climbing having sustained a broken rib when she and I were in Langdale the previous weekend. It was nothing to do with me, honest! The day ended as for Saturday.

Monday, brilliant sunshine, this was too good to be true ! We took the tents down and headed for Great Tor, about half a mile down the beach from Three Cliffs. There was more sunbathing, swimming and climbing. Climbs included a VS 5a put up by Andy and seconded by Pat. This had a tricky start not helped by the barnacles and limpets covering the base of the climb. These would come off if you tried to stand on them and rip your skin to shreds in the process.

Finally, in late afternoon we left for the long journey home. Was it worth it ? Considering the great weather and good company, it certainly was. However, in terms of the quality of the climbing, there is as good, and better, climbing that is not so far away. On the other hand, if the forecast is guaranteed sunshine, and you want sunbathing and swimming with your climbing, then it's a great place to go.

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

August Bank Holiday at The Gower

David Ballantyne