Pennine Lines w/c 16 December 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 16 December 2024

Alright folks I'm going to keep this short; I've got presents to go out and buy, I need to source a replacement dipped headlamp bulb, and the weather is terrible etc etc. But as Christmas falls on the 25th this year, meaning it all kicks off next week, we'll be taking a hard-earned break from Pennine Lines over what Americans excruciatingly refer to as the "holiday period". Instead of writing these emails I am putting the time saved into leaning heavily into consuming dried-fruit-based foodstuffs, marzipan, and beer. However, Pennine Lines is never far from my mind, so as I did last year I'm going to be asking you to do something for me for once, namely click here and give us your thoughts on what you want to see in these emails in 2025.  

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Pennine Lines w/c 9 December 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 9 December 2024

It’s cold, maybe too cold? Turn a cheek to the wind and glance - well, squint - across the moor to the jumble of gritstone boulders silhouetted on the horizon. Gonna be even colder up there. Is the cloud level going to play ball? The hours spent checking and re-checking weather forecasts at least confirms that this is exactly as anticipated. Should be the right conditions for it, on paper at least. That bodes well, perhaps this is the day after all. Could do without leaving empty handed this time, it’s a bit soul destroying. You wonder if you’d have been better off going elsewhere. Cue frantic waving of arms in an effort to pump blood into the fingers, the first of many such episodes.

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Pennine Lines w/c 15 September 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 15 September 2024

I have to say actually receiving a physical copy came as something of a surprise, as part of my personal magazine expectations baked into my psyche stem from the late 2000s. In many ways this era ushered in the decline of the UK climbing magazines, where along with not being paid very much for image use in magazines in the first place (that is if you got paid at all, or paid without having to chase them up a few times first) I distinctly remember actually having to go out and cough up a few quids worth of that hard-won cash and buy a physical copy of the magazine to even see your my work in print - hardly surprising then that a lot of us just stopped bothering submitting images to the mags. So it was great to see a couple of my images in print again in Klettern, although it does expose the fact that my grade C in GCSE German doesn’t go very far these days in terms of actually reading the magazine. Still looking for an article containing directions to the Bahnhof, taking the first straße on the left, then ordering two beers and a coffee mit sahne.

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Pennine Lines w/c 9 September 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 9 September 2024

At this time of year I am always reminded of 2021 when, with the summer fading and gritstone prospects looking better, I embarked on the rollercoaster ride of going out up and down the Pennines shooting images for - and writing - Grit Blocs. The first dedicated photoshoot specifically for the book was down at Cratcliffe and Stanton with Gwyneth, who climbed superbly despite having about fifteen taped-up fingertips. If you can imagine climbing Egg Arete in gloves, then you’re getting close to it. But anyway, the crag of choice was fairly indicative of Septembers for me, when I look back through my September photo folders of old.

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Pennine Lines w/c 2 September 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 2 September 2024

Let’s not linger on the fading daylight hours, that’s a given, but at this time of year there’s space to imagine if it’s going to be one of those vintage autumns. Cool and dry, the gritstone feeling crisp under the skin after the sweaty grind of summer, shoe rubber feeling sticky, and the limestone crags staying dry well into November. Confidence running high, momentum building, and maybe a few long-term projects will fall? We must be due a good ‘un after the last couple of warm and damp autumns. Last year in particular was terrible but I’m determined to not look back in anger.

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Pennine Lines w/c 17 June 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 17 June 2024

For the Climbing Photography groups in particular we were blessed with two really engaged workshop groups, representing a wide range of experience levels; from people who’d started climbing in the 1980s to people who’ve started just this year. Outdoor climbing lifers to those just taking their first steps outdoors after learning the ropes indoors. The same goes for the photography side - some participants had been at it for years but just ticking over as snapshooters, some had success in other genres but now looking to bring it to climbing, and others were just learning their craft for the first time.

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Pennine Lines w/c 27 May 2024
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Pennine Lines w/c 27 May 2024

Why am I plugging this, you may well ask? Well yours truly here will be running climbing photography workshops throughout the day. We’ll look at some technical skills, thought processes and problem solving, lighting and composition, with plenty of hands-on shooting too. If you’ve got an interest in photography but never really managed to make it ‘click’ (pun intended) with climbing, or you’re new to climbing and naturally want to take nice photos of climbing, or just want to raise your climbing photography game a little, this this is for you. Spaces for each session are limited - no passengers - so don’t forget to book. I’ll also have some signed copies of Grit Blocs on sale on the day too, so get involved.

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