A55 TY NEWYDD MARIAN BACH J17 J16a THE AUTHOR SPORT CLIMB J16 Conwy J20 DYSERTH CASTLE SLAB PENMAEN HEAD Penmaenmawr Mike was born in 1950 and brought up in Llanfairfechan J21 DYSERTH WATERfaLL CRAG TRENCH WALL J18 J19 Newcastle-on-Tyne. He joined the RAF aged 18 ACCIDENT AND MOUNTAIN J15a Colwyn J22 MELIDEN QUARRY CHWAREL BACH Y PENRHYN Bay and spent the next 7 ½ years in the air force, RESCUE PROCEDURE J23 latterly in North Wales at RAF Sealand. He J23a LLANDDULAS CAVE NOTICE BOARD CRAG Llanddulas discovered climbing during a chance posting When phoning for help phone 999 and ask for RHYD Y FOEL QUARRY PENMAENBACH QUARRY to RAF Waddington near Lincoln in 1969 and POLICE and MOUNTAIN RESCUE. spent much of the next decade climbing, CRAIG BRYN DULAS THE GALLERY S including the great classics such as Cenotaph When connected provide: CASTLE INN PENMAEN WEST QUARRY A55 Corner and Diagonal. Although much of his 3RD EDITION a. Location of the incident (grid reference, map CREIGIAu’r gigFRAN climbing was in North Wales, he also made sheet number, description of the terrain) TYDDYN HYWEL expeditions to the Alps with the RAF – to b. Number and names of people in the party and Michael Doyle Kenya and South America. their condition SPORT CLIMBS He left the air force in late 1976 to work in c. Any injuries and names of casualties FEATURING: the UK oil industry, during its boom years. d. Be ready to provide the following additional A55 He married and had two children, settling • 437 routes from F2 to F8c information: back permanently in North Wales from (including a handful of trad). • Telephone number of the phone you are Northumberland in 1983. After a break of using and any other phones in the group. SPORT CLIMBS • Accessible single pitch sport several years, upgrading the house and • The nature of the incident – what happened? venues with varied aspects. assisting in raising the kids, he returned to These eighteen sport climbing crags are, with • Time of the incident. • Short walks from the car and NORTH W climbing, discovering a passion for sport the one exception of Tyddyn Hywel, between • Weather conditions, including wind speed accessible by rail and bike. climbing that took him, amongst other places, and visibility at the accident site. Junctions 16 and 31 on the A55 and a short • 71 full colour photo topos. to Portland, France, Spain, Kalymnos and Italy. • Equipment at the accident site (warm hop from the expressway. They are only 1½ Work was getting in the way of climbing and A clothing, group shelter, etc.). hours from Manchester and ¾ of an hour by NEW IN THE 3RD EDITION: LE he was able to retire in 2008 after 31 years in • Any distinguishing feature / marker / colour S car from Llanberis and Gogarth. Easy route the offshore oil industry, allowing more time • 157 new routes. R at the accident site. finding, technical climbing, and bolted routes O for the Penmaen Head project. He now has the • 6 new crags. C • Location of where you are phoning from – if makes for a fun day out. It’s a great way K CLIMBING crag development bug and thinks it may be • 8 new sectors. different from accident site. to bag a few routes on the way back from even more addictive than climbing itself. Anglesey or Snowdonia or enjoy a full day of Please consider donating to the two mountain varied and fun climbing with short walk-ins. rescue teams which cover the area. They are: North East Wales Search and Rescue (east of ISBN 9781906095697 • Gogarth J23 Penmaen Head) and Ogwen Valley Mountain J16 • Conwy Rescue Organisation (west of Penmaen Head). Doyle Michael Thank you. • Llanberis 9 781906 095697 Front cover: Ryan McConnell going for THE move 3RD EDITION Mike Doyle on Top Secret (F6c) Penmaenrhos Wall, on Three Degrees of Levitation at Ty Newydd. Penmaen Head. Photo: Mick Ryan. Back cover: Clwyd Mountaineering Club on Tricky Dickie in Penmaenbach Quarry. Photos: Michael Doyle. NORTH WALES ROCK CLIMBING TY NEWYDD DYSERTH CASTLE SLAB DYSERTH WATERFALL CRAG MELIDEN QUARRY 0 2.5km Point of Ayr Talacre RHYD-Y-FOEL LLANDDULAS Prestatyn QUARRY CAVE A548 Gronant Rhyl Gwespyr Gwaenysgor Kinmel Bay Meliden Llanasa Trelawnyd Towyn A525 A547 Trelogan Pensarn A548 Rhuddlan Dyserth A547 A55 A5151 Llanddulas A547 Rhyd-y-foel Mynydd Cwm Marian Abergele Afon Clwyd A55 Bodelwyddan St George Rhuallt Pen-y-cefn A55 Dolwen Glascoed St Asaph Moelfre Pentre-mawr Tremeirchion Isaf A525 Caerwys Betws-yn-Rhos 317m CHWAREL BACH Y PENRHYN Great Ormes Head/ Pen-y-Gogarth MARIAN 0 2.5km NOTICE BOARD BACH CRAG Gogarth PENMAEN HEAD PENMAENBACH Llandudno TRENCH WALL CASTLE QUARRY Penrhyn Bay INN Penrhynside THE Rhos-on-Sea GALLERY Llanrhos Llandrillo- PENMAEN WEST Deganwy QUARRY A470 yn-Rhôs CREIGIAU A546 Colwyn Bay Llandudno ‘R Junction A55 GIGFRAN A547 Dutchman Mochdre Conwy Old Bank Dwygyfylchi Colwyn A55 Llanelian- Gyffin Llysfaen Capelulo yn-Rhôs Penmaenmawr Llansanffraid Bryn-y-maen Glan Conwy Llanfairfechan Henryd Pentrefelin Dolwen A470 y Dawn w Abergwyngregyn n o Tal y Fan Rowen C 610m n Moelfre TYDDYN HYWEL fo Trofarth A Tal- Graig Uchaf 25 MILES Ty’n-y-groes y-cafn 396m J20 J21 J22 J23 J23a J17 J19 J16a J18 Conwy J16 Penmaenmawr Llanfairfechan Colwyn Bay J15a 55 Llanddulas A LIMBS C Michael Doyle SPORT N 3RD EDITIO NG CLIMBI ROCK NORTH WALES First published 2010 Second edition 2011 Third edition 2019 First published in Great Britain 2010 by Pesda Press Tan y Coed Canol Ceunant Caernarfon Gwynedd LL55 4RN © Copyright 2010, 2019 Michael Doyle Maps based on © OpenStreetMap www.openstreetmap.org (and) contributors, CC-BY-SA www.creativecommons.org ISBN: 9781906095697 The author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed and bound in ?????? Dedicated to Colin Goodey Local Colin Goodey had a 72 year climbing and new routing career in the area. He was a true gentleman and was climbing and establishing new routes very late in his life. Thanks for the climbs Colin. 4 Crag Selector The crags are listed east to west and all routes are described from left to right. Approach Crag Routes Faces Conditions Up to F4 F5 F6a F6b F6c F7a F7b F7c F8 a-c Trad Summary Page time Ty Newydd 17 15 min South Sun all day. 1 4 4 4 3 1 A fine crag in a sheltered valley. 22 Dyserth Castle Slab 9 15 min South Sun all day. Sheltered. 2 3 3 1 This rare limestone slab has some long climbs. 26 South-east, Dyserth Waterfall Crag 17 10 min Sheltered. 6 1 2 3 1 1 3 Two contrasting faces and grade range. 29 south-west 6 + 9 boulder Meliden Quarry 2 min West Sheltered, sun after 2pm. 2 1 3 A few sport routes and a useful bouldering wall. 35 problems North-west, Major venue with many significant harder Llanddulas Cave 81 (5 sectors) 10–20 min Sheltered. 6 13 22 10 7 10 4 8 1 38 north-east routes and a big cave roof. A new crag with a number of climbs on quarried Rhyd y Foel Quarry 4 10 min West Sheltered. Sun afternoon. 1 2 1 58 rock. Up to 7 Large selection of quality routes and grades Castle Inn 52 (8 sectors) South Exposed, sun all day. 15 10 7 5 6 1 1 1 5 64 min across many sectors with a pleasant outlook. Friendly and sheltered with a batch of mainly Marian Bach 21 15 min South Sheltered, sun all day. 5 9 4 2 1 76 easier grades. Mainly sheltered, sun Arguably the crag of the A55 has many engaging Penmaen Head 65 (8 sectors) 8 min West 6 22 19 12 5 1 82 after 2pm. routes with much character and easy access. Technical climbs on quarried rock, which climbs Trench Wall 23 (4 sectors) 10 min North Quite sheltered, late sun. 5 11 7 98 a lot better than it looks. Quite sheltered, sun A useful crag for the lower grade enthusiast and Chwarel Bach y Penrhyn 10 10 min South-west 7 1 2 106 afternoon. beginners. Daunting, exposed cliff with pocketed, quality Notice Board Crag 5 20 min North-west Exposed, sun after 7pm. 1 2 2 110 routes on rhyolite. Hugely varied selection of worthwhile routes Penmaenbach Quarry 58 (3 levels) 20 min North-west Mainly sheltered. 6 7 14 12 10 6 1 114 right across the grades. The Gallery 25 (2 sectors) 10–20 min North-west Exposed. 6 5 10 3 1 Quirky climbing above a pathway / cycleway. 130 Usually sheltered, sun Characterised by long, quality routes on good Penmaen West Quarry 15 (3 levels) 20–30 min North-west 2 4 6 4 1 1 142 after 3pm. rock in an atmospheric old quarry. A number of natural crags across the hillside Creigiau’r Gigfran 18 (5 sectors) 20–30 min North-west Exposed, sun after 3pm. 2 6 3 4 1 2 148 offer much varied climbing. Engrossing, quality climbing on unusual rock Tyddyn Hywel 11 35 min North-west Exposed. 1 1 4 4 1 156 with a glorious outlook. 5 Approach Crag Routes Faces Conditions Up to F4 F5 F6a F6b F6c F7a F7b F7c F8 a-c Trad Summary Page time Ty Newydd 17 15 min South Sun all day.