Does anyone on these forums know what the climbing is like, near London?

Specifically, I am interested in the availability of entry-level trad. climbs.

Here, in the Fairest Cape, we are terribly spoiled for easy trad. (around grade 12) on which to perfect placements and practice grabbing the right cam for the slot while not hanging on a microscopic edge from two fingers.

By "near London", I mean accessible from London without your own car, feasibly for a day or weekend trip. Trains, buses, bicycles and feet are all available, as is any combination of same.

In short, bugger all near London.

You can get to the Southern Sandstone by public transport, but the rock is very soft and grainy, so much so that gear protection isn't an option, and toproping is the only choice. It's pretty poor to be honest, but OK if you only want a short day.

Next closest is (debatably) the gritstone crags of the Southern Peak District - trad climbing galore, loads of entry level stuff, mostly short single pitch, loads more east stuff than you will ever need, but pretty busy because of it. Can be accessed by public transport (train / coach from london to Sheffield, then local train or bus out to the crags) but probably expensive and a hassle to do it for a day. Other options are Dorset seacliffs - Swanage being the most accessible and can be accessed by train and a longish walk (if you time it right). Other option is Bristol / Wye Valley crags. If you have a weekend a lot more options become available.

Might be worth posting asking for climbing partners on www.ukclimbing.com (the database on there of climbing crags is handy too) and offering to share travel costs etc. There are loads of climbing walls too, a good place for hooking up with potential partners

Thanks Chris. I'm sorted for partners - I have a wife - but I did post on the UKC forum anyway.

I'm contemplating the wisdom of buying in to the trad. game, while still in ZilleVille, and wondering if I'll be the proud owner of some shiny paper weights should I move.

I've done this run a couple of times.

The climbing gyms are a little pricey by SA standards, but when in London...
The gyms are really really good though - both the bouldering and the lead climbing have very intriguing climbs. I had a good month of training last time I was there.
Make friends at the gym.

Outdoors is a little more limited.
- If you have a whole weekend or at least a really full day you can take the train to Hathersage which is at the bottom of the hill to get to Stanage. You will spot many climbers on the train on Friday evenings, Saturday mornings and Sunday late afternoons. Team up with them, or hitch to the crag, it's about 5km. Hathersage is about half the size of Montagu and has 10 times the number of climbers and hill-walkers on any given weekend. It's like there was a train station in Montagu and you wanted to hitch to Boschkloof/Legoland.
- You can take a train (45 mins?)to the Southern Sandstone, but I can't recall if any crags are actually walking distance from the stations. You'll probably need a buddy.
- Fontainebleau is 3hr away by train, and car-rental is fairly cheap. Just saying... You'll always find friends at the 'Bac Cuvier' area.

Use the ukclimb forum - its extremely active and there are plenty of people in and around and about of London looking for partners. Normal rules apply.

Have fun.

Ant

OK, but might be worth looking for lift buddies to share petrol / car be a lot easier and cheaper than using public transport especially if there are two of you.

Not sure what you mean by the second comment, or what Zilleville is? But buying gear in the UK is going to be cheaper than SA. And it you want to climb lower grade stuff in the UK trad gear is essential. Entry level sport is very limited indeed. How long will you be there for? Might buying a car be an option - can pick them up for very little money.

Also Font is a good call. http://www.boulderbus.co.uk/ would be perfect if you are without wheels. I've done weekends in Font travelling from Leeds! (OK it was with 5 in a company car, but still)

Sorry about the confusing comment. ZilleVille is Cape Town. We'll be here for another six months and would get a lot of use out of the gear before we leave. We'll be in London for a while - not sure when we will return.

At the moment, we feel like we'll be missing something if we don't exploit the Western Cape before we leave.

Zilleville is a new one on me, not come across it before.

Get on the cape crags, daft to miss the opportunity.