Summer 2024 - Pembrokeshire
An account of our trip to sunny Wales, trad by Tom, & bouldering and day-to-day fun by Katie
Day 1
Tom: On day 1, some members set off for a bit of trad climbing on Stennis head. Despite spiky rock, the wonderfully evasive Welsh sunshine ensured a great time was had by all who stopped to gawp at the wonders of Pembroke south.
As all good things must inevitably come to an end however, we soon packed up and headed to newgale beach, to find our new living space for the next few days. Arriving to find that cars having left Bath later but lacking the wisdom to stop in St. Govan’s had already arrived and set up.
Katie: Whilst I didn’t initially intend to go, Emma Helena and Merle “encouraged” me into signing myself onto a 4 day camping climbing trip on the notoriously sunny Welsh Coast. Immediately getting some serious FOMO, I signed up, and only my immune system regrets the decision!
The first day started with a nice Uni-Early 9:30 wakeup call which left me with the perfect lack of sleep in the tank to help me fast travel most of the way - once arriving at the promised site of a day of toproping already set up on the South Pembroke Sea Cliffs, we quickly discovered through patchy data connections and Sherlock level deduction that the equipment to set up the top-ropes, was sadly running quite late. Thus we spent the interim time defending from the surprisingly fierce Welsh sunbeams, and visiting St Govan’s Chapel, an idyllic hermitage in a gorgeous cove.
Once the cavalry arrived, Amy was quick to set up awesome top-roping, and we all had a great time in the sunshine, climbing some really interesting sandstone slab and crack routes, one with outcrops that looked a bit like God was practicing natural climbing holds!
Arriving at the campsite, I was (and still am) amazed to find the best facility block I’d ever seen, with electric showers, clean loos, and best of all, WARMTH!! 10/10
Day 2
Tom: Day 2 started off wonderfully, with blue skies and a warm breeze. Eager and excited heads emerged from tents as early as 6AM, such was the trepidation. Tradsters headed off in all directions, from the turquoise waters of Porthclais to the stunning slabs of Carreg y Barcud UKC Logbook - Carreg-y-Barcud Area (ukclimbing.com).
I cannot speak for the happenings at Porthclais, but will instead take great pleasure in walking you, dear reader, through our climbing day at Barcud, by starting off with an exciting statistic: a majority climbers present had the sense of mind to don a Hawaiian shirt for the day. Admittedly, there were only 5 of us......
Having started our day warming up on the easy classic of the crag, Amy now had her feet firmly under her and prepared for an E1 lead. After some confidence inspiring mock leads, we had the pleasure of watching an impressive E5 onsight, and other hard shenanigans further along the crag UKC Logbook - 'Mean Feat' (ukclimbing.com). As the sun dipped and the tide rose, we headed round the corner to grey face, having been talked into having a shot at the stunning rightward leaning crack that is Ethos, some pleasant balancy moves later, we topped out, and Amy was now firmly ready to take on Sinecure. As expected, a cruisy lead resulted in delight, and we headed back to newgale for the evening.
Katie: The day started with more fast travel in the car, before arriving at a nice hillside boulder crag overlooking… a thick bank of somewhat rainy clouds…
Thankfully the weather improved, and the gorgeous Welsh coast was the backdrop to a great day of bouldering!
Again Wales treated us with some really interesting boulder problems, with a fun f4 rock-over starting move into a scary slab section, and a quick mossy scramble to finish. Moving to the next crag, Caitlin found a cool Giant’s Throne-shaped rock formation, with a vertical boulder on the “backrest”. Without any guidebook information, we spent the afternoon coming up with problems up its left, middle and right side, as Jack spent his time trying to find a heel hook on any surface available! It was so refreshing after Portland to climb some really grippy rock that I could trust!
Day 3
Tom: Day 3 was quite the different story, having rained all night and into the morning, breakfast was both later and damper than the previous day. Luckily, no one got carbon monoxide poisoning, that we know of. Nonetheless, the walkers got going soon enough. Those waiting for the rock to dry benefitted from the entertainment of watching/ actively participating in a haircut with Swiss army knives. With surprisingly positive results, it was time for climbers to head to St Davids for a resupply, and then to crag Caerfai.
We spotted the island described in the guidebook off the headland which was, rather unusually, flying a Cornish flag. Arriving at 3 PM, the crag had mainly had time to dry off, though the rough sea tried its level best to keep the rock and climbers damp. As the tide was still on its way in, we all had to delay our attempts on the crag classic “Armoricain”, which I am still sure none of us can pronounce correctly. Instead, we tried the disappointingly less graunchy than promised Caerfai Crack, a beautiful climb nonetheless UKC Logbook - Caerfai Bay (ukclimbing.com).
Amy would doubtless not say the same of Mildred Mindwarp, which she was forced to pitch to keep Sam B. out of the sea. As she set off on her second 9m pitch, she dropped all the small nuts in the sea, leading to much hesitation when it came to placing gear on the rest of the route. Despite this setback and Beth getting soaked when a wave came crashing over her head, the sublime climbing of the Bryn and white corner kept us all in good spirits.
As we abseiled in for the final time of the day, keen-eyed Hannah spotted a colourful bouquet in a rockpool. Plunging her hand in after it, she recovered the lost nuts, right as their disappearance was announced to their rightful owner. Though slightly salty, the recovered booty came in helpful on submarine slab, quite possibly the only non-starred route climbed all trip. Though we waited as long as we could for the sea to allow us to try Armoricain, it was relentless, and at 9PM we came to our senses and headed for the campsite.
Upon arrival, we discovered the more sensible people among us had already eaten and had set up a campfire on the beach, leading to a wonderful, if chilly evening of community wine-drinking and stargazing.
.........As for the flag, it turned out it was the flag of Saint David’s, not of Cornwall, which being in Wales, makes a fair bit more sense.
Katie: Day 3 unfortunately started with rain, and so after a slightly soggy breakfast time, we found that the trad climbers were too busy being indecisive on where to go climbing to be any use, and so a plan was made to wait out the drying rocks with a pint in St Davids. Arriving at the bus stop, 19 prospective pub patrons were greeted by a tiny little regional minibus with “room for 15”. I did not get on, so I can only assume that, given most people hadn’t showered since the previous day warm and sweaty climbing sessions, the bus both looked and smelled like a sardine tin!
Once the remaining 4 found transport to the ''city'', we found that the majority of the sardines had left, choosing to repeat the walkers’ previous day’s coastal path.
As an extremely reluctant hiker, I was promised by Evie that not only would we be out for a much shorter time than the others, but that actually we were setting off on a very scenic, very circuitous approach to the pub! Knowing this, we set off at rapid pace, and arrived at the pub with an hour to spare before the last bus. Emma and I made the final scramble to the bar, but unfortunately she missed the crux: remembering ID, and subsequently reported being “very happy” with her Coca Cola, despite excitedly grabbing at my Thatcher’s Haze when offered…
That evening, Jack, Annisa, Frankie and Brennan led a group to the northern shore of the St Bride’s Bay, where the previous day some bouldering had been spotted. A slab and an overhanging problem were attempted well into the darkness, with Jian Xin’s powerful torches helping to illuminate the holds.
Day 4:
Tom: Day 4 meant of course our final day of climbing before a doubtlessly emotional separation on the road back to Bath. We did not let this affect us as we set off bright and sprightly in direction of Porthclais, a move telling of the quality of climbing on offer.
As we arrived, the tide was out, the ab ropes were already in, making for an easy approach, ready to take on the featured slab. As more of BUMC arrived on scene, the most comfortable belay sports were soon claimed (no comment as to the quality of belaying/sleep these provided), and many people did some stunning routes. Of particular note is Merle, who having started climbing in March, found herself quite comfortable indeed on a hanging belay, with the waves lapping at her heels.
Katie: On the final day, I was too ill, tired and sunburned to do anything! I lay down on the beach and after poignant final goodbyes to leaving club members, I reflected on both my trip and my year. As a club fresher in my first year of climbing, Summer trip was a series of firsts for me, and I’m pretty sure I will remember it, with bittersweet framing, alone and with friends, for years to come.