|| Still dry, not too warm || A week of easterlies ||

|| Squirrel Buttress ||

Candy Kaned

Peak Limestone bouldering is a genre not without its critics, reasonably so. In all fairness it’s riddled with eliminates, linkups, sharp crimps, grim pockets, glue and old chipped holds so it’s not for everyone. But there are some undeniably great problems hidden away out there which are easy to overlook, even if you regularly drive past them.

Candy Kaned at Squirrel Buttress is one I’ve been guilty of completely forgetting about in recent years, despite having previously noted that it’s legitimately one of the best of its grade in the Peak, if not UK limestone generally. Maybe some of the access issues here served to remove it from my consciousness, but this seems to have settled down these days now everyone has got the message to walk around from the Monsal Trail instead of wading directly across the river.

Anyway, I was reminded just how good this one is only recently. Luckily there’s not much else here so you’re unlikely to fine Raven Tor-esque scenes (note: let's keep it this way, stay low key please, no Ondra-style power screaming), but for anyone operating in the 7c region it’s worth a trip. Flat landing, comfortable solid chunky holds, natural finishing point, there’s not a lot to dislike. Maybe that left hand starting hold is a bit sharp, but you’ve got to expect some Peak limestone DNA in there, right?

Candy Man Sit Start || Climber: Ben Bransby

|| Focus On ||

Fire

As I return from a family holiday in Northumberland this weekend to the scene of most of the moor atop Burbage North as far as Lady Canning’s Plantation still being out of bounds due to fires still smouldering, it serves as something of a wakeup call to the world we live in now. Namely; it’s barely June, it’s not even been that hot yet, and we had a very damp winter and spring, and nevertheless we’re already seeing pretty substantial fire risk. This doesn’t bode well if we have another heatwave summer.

I don’t know if we’re just culturally unaccustomed to this in the UK. Most of us have grown up complaining about damp weather and spend half our time planing various escapes to warmer climes for holidays. And yet here we are with wildfires burning for days barely ten minutes drive from Sheffield city centre. You’ll forgive me if I’m keeping fingers crossed for one of those damp manky British summers we all know and love this year.

Although this part of the Peak can be unusually busy with quick transition from the urban to the rural - and hence very accessible, with everything that comes with that - this is not just a Sheffield problem. We’ve already seen fire up on Marsden moor at the northern end of the Peak (for Grit Blocs aficionados this is near West Nab) and in recent years we’ve seen big fires at the Roaches (2020), Brimham (2022), Marsden again (2021), Saddleworth Moor (2018) and these are just a few I can think of. And not too far away, and somewhere a lot of us hold close to our hearts, in Fontainebleau they are already seeing forest fires this summer.

Once factor linking a lot of these fires in the UK is the use of ‘disposable’ BBQs, which are quite frankly an absolutely insanely stupid invention from a fire safety and environmental standpoint if not a culinary disaster too (you might as well chuck your food straight in the bin). Some people will argue that these BBQs don’t drive themselves out to moorland and light themselves, so there’s no point banning them. But what I will say is when you’re using the same basic argument that the US gun lobby uses then you should know you’re on shaky ground - shaky ground which is also now on fire.

Buy Grit Blocs

Don't expect flowering heather here this year now || Burbage Moor

On the subject of human behaviour around the recent fires I would recommend a read of this blog post by local Eastern Moors volunteer Tomo Thompson. It’s a bit of an eye opener to say the least. There’s evidently a lot of education needed and a complete shift in attitudes required if we don’t want to see huge fires becoming a regular feature of the moorlands of the Pennines. You have to come from the position that most people fundamentally aren’t idiots or psychopaths and aren’t deliberately using BBQs or lighting fires in unsuitable places, or deliberately turning perfectly good meat to basically strips of carbon encasing thin slivers of liquid food-poisoning. We’re culturally accustomed to British summers being very damp, and eating badly charred meat, but that needs to change, and change fast.

Other places with a longer history of widespread fire risk and higher standards of cuisine are ahead of us in the UK. I’m casting my mind back to climbing in Fontainebleau last August and seeing the local Gendarmerie arriving at the crag one evening checking nobody had any naked flames or was smoking, and ensuring nobody was in possession of sub-standard pastries or wines.

So what can we do? Firstly, when you’re out climbing or walking or running or cycling or whatever it is you do, keep your eyes peeled, especially around the evenings. Know who to call if you spot a wildfire in progress (dial 999) or if you see someone heading out with a BBQ or in the process of starting a fire (Firestoppers 0800 169 5558). Other than that, just talk about it with people you know. Talk about the risks, talk about that fact it’s a live issue. Not just climbers or outdoorsy types, anyone. Obviously nobody likes confrontation but if you see someone striding out onto the moors somewhere with a BBQ and a carrier bag full of sausages, tactfully have a word. They may not appreciate the fire risk, or indeed the near-impossibility to achieving a satisfactorily cooked meat product on one, so you’d be doing them a favour either way.