| Ashop
Edge - Kinder |
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The first buttress looked disappointingly lichenous
but you only had to look across the splendid green and
golden valley stretching forth to know your time would
not be wasted. A few seconds later we spied the Big
Brother Buttress which revealed the Edge's true climbing
potential on black, finely grained gritstone, around
16m in height with a solid sculpted look.
We were visiting Derbyshire's own forbidden mountain.
In fact we were lucky to be there. On Monday April 25th
1932 the Mass Trespass of Kinder took place with the
call made to take action ‘to open up the fine
country at present denied us’. Access to Kinder
had formerly been the preserve of the adventurous with
the masses prevented from enjoying this wild and barren
landscape. Walking up there it was a pleasure to be
listening to the gentle gurgling stream and spare a
thought for the 400 to 500 ramblers marching for something
they really believed in access for more than the privileged
few. Ultimately it marked a victory for those who love
open spaces.
It must have been very exciting, I could almost imagine
the vigorous hand-to-hand struggles or fisticuffs with
keepers on the walk up as a rustle in the bracken turned
out only to be a large bird. Last year saw the event's
70th anniversary where the Duke of Devonshire, the largest
landowner in the Peak District speaking at a Ramblers'
Association event said: "The trespass was a great
shaming event on my family, and the sentences handed
down were appalling. But out of great evil can come
great good. The trespass was the first event in the
whole movement of access to the countryside and the
creation of our National Parks." He was reported
on the Ramblers' Association website to have made a
dignified apology for the conduct of his grandfather
during the Kinder Scout mass trespass where five young
men were imprisoned.
An hour's walk, but well worth it to escape any oppressive
heat and inevitable warm rock and that ‘slimy
hands’ feeling. Ashop Edge faces predominantly
north and at an altitude of 550m promised to be the
perfect place. J W Puttrell made the first recorded
pioneering ascents with friends in 1901. It almost made
me want to rush off back home for a hemp rope (and a
set of period clothes a la Hard Grit video) that's if
he used one. Some re-enacting would add a new dimension
to the day's climbing, particularly considering the
boldness that these early routes would have demanded
using very little or no recognizable equipment.
The late '50s and early '60s saw another surge in development
in which several routes came into being by the likes
of Malc Baxter and development has continued with now
only a few hard lines remaining to be done.
Many others had had the same idea of visiting Ashop
that day and it would take a walk for 400m to ditch
the crowds along an edge that is well worth exploring
fully. It has a good spread of routes with the majority
being around VS.
Classics at Ashop
Big Brother Buttress
Intestate HVS
5b or E1 5b
Starting as for the old classic of Legacy, this route
then climbs the centre of the wall with the crux negotiating
a vertical crack by jamming or otherwise. A superb quality
climb.
Spacerunner E4
6a
An exciting route, great fingery climbing above perfect
gear culminates in a crux lock move or a powerful dyno
to a break at a height that might leave one wondering
whether a fall would put on the ground. A must do if
you dare.
Little Brother
Buttress
Dunsinane VS 4b
This route traverses across The Savage Breast and for
its grade it is an unlikely line. It has fantastic moves
and stays continually interesting after traversing right
and finishing up the arête.
The Savage Breast
E1 5b
This interestingly named route threatened to repel all
comers, a tricky number that is more technical than
hard. A few moments pondering the right sequence may
pay dividends. It ascends the wall with the crux at
the top.
The Plateau Group
Mustard Walls
E2 5c
Surprisingly good climbing with an inescapable and somewhat
urgent finish.
Jester Buttress
Jester Cracks VS
4c or HVS 5a
Some of the finest pure hand jamming on the Edge, unfortunately
the crux is gaining the crack itself.
The Twisted Smile
HVS 5a
Climbs pleasantly up past several breaks to the last
move which is challenging for the short requiring more
finger strength than the grade would suggest but a distinct
sense of satisfaction on summiting.
Harlequin E3 5c
or 6a
It starts virtually at the top of the crag on the last
move of Woe is Me (Severe), and manages to pack in a
lot of climbing. The crux is an increasingly difficult
traverse left above the roof on decreasingly useful
slopers with perfect gear, if you can stop and place
it, to finish direct.
Access
From the parking just south of The Snake Inn on the
A57 Sheffield - Glossop road, a footpath leaves (SK
115904) a few hundred metres south of the Inn. Follow
this alongside FairBrook Clough to the plateau (45 minutes)
and a further five or ten minutes to the base of Ashop
Edge. OS Landranger map 110
Guidebooks
Kinder (BMC)
edited by Geoff Milburn. Contains an interesting introduction
to the area and some excellent old photographs of Peak
climbing as well as full route descriptions.
Western Grit (Rockfax)
by Chris Craggs and Alan James. Excellent topos from
Rockfax with useful opportunity to update information
on their route data base on www.rockfax.com
This article, by Anne Arran,
first appeared in the December 2003 issue of High Mountain
magazine.
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