7am - “Phil, it looks like rain” - Dewerstone and Avon Gorge


A wet Dewerstone

7am - “Phil, it looks like rain”

From waking up to striding with rucksacks on took about 3 minutes. Despite the forecast the night before predicting a dry morning, it had a distinctly damp feel in the air and there was moisture on the car.

Somehow, between the guidebook and map in the car park, what should have been a simple 10 minute walk-in had been confusingly interpreted into a 40 minute hill walk. We geared up quickly and touched the bottom of the rock just in time for a downpour. Rain was now forecast to set in for the day, so we reluctantly backed off, grateful that getting lost on the way to the route had probably saved us from being caught in the rain halfway up it. Dewerstone would have to wait.

Avon Gorge, however, was bathed in sunshine and just 10 minutes off our route up the M5 home, so despite disappointment we still had chance to tick off 5 out of 6 that we set off to climb.


Delicate work on pitch 1 Piton Route

Piton Route - VS 4c

I kind of forgot that grade-wise this was the hardest on our SW climbs trip; I was soon reminded. John took the delicate moves under the overhang of the first pitch and following, I took an instant dislike to the smooth, polished limestone after the perfect rough granite of Cornwall. Treading carefully up the slabby second pitch, I also experienced run-out protection for the first time in the trip, had a little chat with myself and used a slimy, water-filled borehole with one finger to boldly reach up and round an arete, trusting that the side pull was as good as it looked from below. As my finger slipped out with a slurp I found the arete was just good enough to grasp and regained confidence. Finishing up through a series of grooves and ledges trailing off in difficulty, we reached Clifton top in time to watch the sailing ship, Matthew, heading up the Avon towards Bristol, a much more interesting piece of traffic than what we’d got used to.

Topping out
After the natural and awesome beauty of the Cornish coast, Avon Gorge felt a little bit of an anticlimactic way to end the trip, but to make such a comparison is unfair. The natural grandeur of the gorge is still there, but the edge of urban life has crept in all around. On it’s own merit, I actually really fancy going back there and climbing up near the suspension bridge for a full contrast of natural and urban splendour in one setting. I’ve still got Lundy, a return trip to the Dewerstone, as well as family holidays in Devon and visits to the in-laws in Bristol to give me excuses to pop in for another day in Avon.
Location: Avon Gorge, Bristol BS8, UK

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