Sport Climbing - North Berwick Law Quarry

It was a very clear blue-sky day and we were keen to make the most of it. Without any planning, we took the easy option and headed for North Berwick Law Quarry.

Down safely after leading Wild Iris F5+**, North Berwick Law Quarry

It was after lunch before we were at the car park and gearing up. It was a fantastic day - not a cloud in the sky. As we headed round to the Quarry, we saw many folk out on The Law and making the most of the good weather. When The Red Wall came into, to my surprise, there were a number of folk already on a number of the climbs.

Lots of gorse on route, North Berwick Law Quarry

Down safely after leading Wild Iris F5+**, North Berwick Law Quarry

I decided that I would warm up by leading Wild Iris F5+**. It was a little tricky about halfway due to the gorse bushes being in full bloom! Safely down, it was Emily's turn to follow on the bottom-rope. It was at this point that a fellow climber, a middle-aged gentleman who had been climbing just next to us, came over and asked me how the route was. I grinned at him and told him that it was a little "gorsey" and dirty. He smiled back at me and then proceeded to quiz me about what I had done at the top of the route. He asked me if I had placed two quick draws through the lower-offs and I told him that I hadn't; I had just threaded the lower-offs in the usual textbook fashion. For some reason he didn't seem like he was too convinced by what I had done and asked me if I had my SPA. "No", I replied, "But I climb regularly and have climbed here a few times before". He then left us alone to climb. I'm not sure what his problem was, but Emily followed up the climb in no time.

Bottom-roping Old Law Breaker F6b**, North Berwick Law Quarry

Looking up The Red Wall, North Berwick Law Quarry

Leaving the rope up, I bottom-roped Old Lawbreaker F6b** and tried to work out the sequence. The climb has a couple of hard and committing moves to better holds higher up, but having worked it out I didn't fancy the lead - perhaps next time.

Having a look at the rather bold-looking Darkness Falling F6a+*, North Berwick Law Quarry

Shiny stuff, North Berwick Law Quarry

Taking down our rope, we now had the Quarry all to ourselves. I had a long hard look at Darkness Falling F6a+* but the move to the first bolt still looked terrifying. Feeling a tired and far from brave enough, we called it day. Fish and chips on the shore in North Berwick were calling. A great day.

Looking up The Red Wall, North Berwick Law Quarry

Emily enjoying the sun, North Berwick Law Quarry

Skimboarding at North Berwick

This weekend we were in North Berwick for a 50th birthday weekend. On Saturday evening the sun was still strong and warm so we took the opportunity to head to the beach. Emily's cousins had been on and on at us to try some Skimboarding on the beach for ages so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Skimboarding, North Berwick

Skimboarding, North Berwick

We grabbed the boards and headed down to the shallows at Milsey Bay. I had never tried it before but Chris gave us a quick demo and it looked pretty simple... well, the idea certainly looked simple! It certainly wasn't easy - as I soon discovered after a few classic wipeouts on the sand. It was all about technique and I seemed to get better at it but nowhere near the level that Chris was - he made it look very easy (I'm sure it also helps that he only weighs around 6 stone!).

Despite my poor attempts, it was still brilliant fun and a magnificent setting with the sun setting on the beach.

Wipeout! Skimboarding, North Berwick

Skimboarding, North Berwick

North Berwick Law Quarry

With the kids finished their block for climbing this session, we had a free Tuesday session for some staff climbing. Richard T had suggested that we head to North Berwick and check out North Berwick Law Quarry, as apparently there was some sport climbs there. I had been up and around Berwick Law a handful of times in the past but couldn't recall anyone climbing or seeing any bolts. However, after some brief online research, I had found us a topo of North Berwick Law Quarry.

We left sharply at the end of school and after negotiating the Edinburgh Bypass traffic and blasting down the A1, we were at "The Law" carpark and gearing up. The approach was less than 10 minutes; go over the style at the carpark and head right along the path that goes around the base of the hill until the quarry comes into view on your left. As this was only my second climbing trip in the great outdoors, I was pretty excited to check out the routes. However, I was a little intimidated and I thought some of them looked quite tricky! After a bit of a chat, Richard T decided to get on something easy(ish), so he lead Wild Iris 5+** and I gladly belayed and then followed on a bottom rope to strip the route after him. It was more tricky than I had planned for and I have to say that I struggled a little to find the holds - this was most probably just down to my lack of experience. Not impressed by my first attempt, I got back on it and this time made fast work of it. The rock wall is quite blank and has had the holds chipped out to give the routes - not much visable traffic for a while made them quite tricky to find.

Richard G bottom roping Darkness Falling F6a+, North Berwick Law Quarry

Richard G had now joined us and was keen to get on a route, but with none of us climbing particularly hard recently, there wasn't many easy options as we gazed at the topo. We had a look at Darkness Falling 6a+* and the description said, "Tricky first clip"... and it really wasn't kidding! The first bolt was high above the ledge that appeared to be gained by a rather tricky move in the corner - certainly the crux. As we didn't have a clip stick, and none of us fancied risking an injury, we decided just to top rope it; this seemed the sensible option. Richard T headed up Wild Iris again and swung accross the top to put the rope through the lower off above Darkness Falling. We all felt more compfortable with this approach and we all had great fun on it, but I wouldn't fancy leading it without a clip stick!

Richard T bottom roping Darkness Falling F6a+, North Berwick Law Quarry

The Richards then had a play around on a few of the harder routes but they both soon discovered that they were quite nippy! A great evening of climbing and great company too. I was really impressed by The Law as a climbing venue and I fancied coming back to try a few leads when I had gained more confidence and experience; a venue that I would recommend.

Edinburgh to North Berwick Cycle

Today I managed to get away from the desk and take in the East Lothian coastal route to North Berwick. The GWC Cycling Project was only a few weeks away and we needed to put the kids and their machines through their paces. It was also an opportunity for them to get an idea about what  'proper' day on the road bike would be like... for 10 days on the trot!

We assembled at the Commonwealth Pool around 9am and made a final check of the kids' bikes. The rain had stayed away but it was rather chilly and overcast; not a bad day for cycling actually. Lewis lead the way into Hollyrood Park and onto the cycle path towards Duddingston. We must have looked like some kind of caterpillar, as we snaked our way through the park. We continued on to Musselburgh; following the Niddrie Burn and Brunstane Burn before joining the A199. Soon, we turned off the main road and followed the coast through Prestonpans and passed Cockenzie Power Station (not the prettiest of views!). We paused for a breather at Aberlady to regroup and have a brief chat. The kids were doing great and were hardly spread out at all. Much to our relief, all of their bikes were also holding up nicely. I set off at the from this time and was told to try and set a decent pace to see how the kids coped. I was rather nervous at this prospect because I knew that the two boys that had been right at the front were rather keen cyclists so there was a bit of pressure to set the pace! As soon as I set off, Cammy and David just tucked neatly in behind my back wheel and got some nice shelter from the wind, and I did all the work... typical!
We soon arrived in North Berwick and were having coffee and cake in the North Berwick Seabird Centre cafe. The kids were in high spirits but some of the sharper ones realised that we had been given the assistance of the wind on our backs and we were about to head straight into it on the return journey...
Initially, it wasn't too bad but we certainly hit a bit of a wall returning past Cockenzie. The kids did great but the way back into Edinburgh was a long and tiring slog for all of us. However, the weather could have been a lot worse and wind must always be expected when cycling in Scotland! A very worthwhile day that will see us in good stead when we hit the highlands in a few weeks - super psyched!