The term 'coffee table
book' is generally used to describe an A3 sized doorstop which is
brim full of seductive images but sadly lacking in solid writing.
However, within the climbing/mountaineering field there have of
course, always been exceptions to the rule. Works like Crew, Soper
and Wilson's The Black Cliff; Tony Smythe and John Cleare's classic
Rock Climbers in Action in Snowdonia- recently republished as a
Paperback- and of course Ken Wilson's series of weighty tomes with
Classic/ Hard/ Extreme Rock at the heart of the series.
With the recent
publication of Grant Farquhar's The White Cliff, The aforementioned
The Black Cliff now has a worthy companion within the genre. A
diligently researched, skilfully edited and beautifully produced work
which features a contributing cast list which appears to include just
about everyone who has contributed to north Wales's post 1950's
climbing history.
John Redhead on a recent addition to the Gogarth route list with a first ascent of The Golden Fan with Martin Crook
It is fitting that Ynys
Mon -the land of the druids- should cast a spell over climbers who
were drawn to these complex, intimidating cliffs of Ynys Cybi
relatively late in the century. Although the RAF had used the cliffs
around Gogarth since the 1940's and local activists had dabbled
thereabouts in the 50's, the true birth of climbing on these pale
cliffs above the Irish Sea began in the 1960's as word leaked out
that a stone El Dorado existed way out West. No surprise then that
the procession was led by north Wales's leading activists and new
routing pioneers . Hard chaws like Pete Crew, Joe Brown and Martin
Boysen in the vanguard. To be quickly joined by just about every
'name' in the UK climbing scene and beyond. All magnetically drawn
to this fabled climbing terranova.
This explosion of
activity in the swinging sixties is described by many of those who
were part and parcel of the scene. Both the living and through the
words of the dead. David Dukan, Geoff Milburn, Les Holliwell, Trevor
Jones and Ken Wilson included. One of the more fascinating episodes
in this period is 'The Great Gogarth Hoax' as described by Peter
Gillman. Then a young non climbing Sunday Times journalist.. It
recalls a bizarre case of the climbs that never were. A collection of
state of the art routes written up by a climbing Walter Mitty
character-Keith McCallum- whose activities quickly aroused the
suspicions of fellow activists. Not least the Holliwell Brothers and
Pete Crew who were in the vanguard of developments at Gogarth at the
time.
As the 1970's brought
in great advances in equipment and footwear, standards continued
apace and essayists including Henry Barber, Martin Crook and Al Evans
describe the relentless drive which delivered classic routes like the
3 star E5 'The Ordinary Route', Positron E5 and the 3 star
Moran/Milburn/Evan's E3, 'The Assassin'. With The White Cliff now cooking on gas, the clear blue sky certainly was the limit and as
the punk era ended, the 80's New Romantics in the form of Johnny
Dawes, John Redhead, Ron Fawcett , Jimmy Jewel and Andy Pollitt took
The White Cliff by the scruff of the neck and recorded increasing
audacious first ascents. The old master's like Brown, Crew and Boyson
could only look on admiringly as routes like Conan the Librarian E7,
The Big Sleep quickly fell. By the 90's it was open season on The
White Cliff and editor Grant Farqhar opens 'The Raving 90's and the
Naughty 00's with Sex and Religion, his serious E7 route at the heart
of his revealing essay, Bouncing Czechs'.
But before I give the
impression that The White Cliff is a mere chronological procession,
detailing hard routes and their creators, let me quickly confirm
that far from being a dry historical account of climbing on the
Gogarth cliffs, The White Cliff ranges far and wide across the the
entire Gogarth spectrum. Covering developments on every cliff-
including Rhoscolyn- but including a broad area of interest with every aspect of climbing covered by
over 100 trailblazing pioneers. Contributions ranging from a brief paragraph
to lengthy essays and describing the characters, the
epics, the exploration, the failed projects, the accidents etc etc.
Fascinating and inspirational in equal measure.
It would be unfair to
single out any single essay from such a qualitative field of work, or
indeed, mention stand out photographs from such a stellar cast of
image takers which include John Cleare, Leo Dickinson and Ray Wood. Suffice it to say that the editor has used the whole range of the
photographic spectrum to illustrate the essays herein. A worthy project
which like the aforementioned tomes mentioned at the start of this review, is
destined to be a future classic within the field of climbing literature.
John Appleby; 2018
