After another whirlwind of packing activity, my latest group and I found ourselves down at the Albert Docks in Liverpool.   The destination – a new one for me – was the Isle of Man. A good sized ferry pulled up and literally, thousands of motorbikes disembarked as the TT races have just finished. Soon… Read more

Sourced myself (at long last) a huge ladder to do a bit of high level Cottage maintenance and since then it’s been raining! Typical. In between the showers I managed to get things sanded down and prepared ready for painting, so when the weather window finally appeared, I was ready and waiting. Having spent all… Read more

There’s going to be a bit of tent life for me over the next few weeks, as I’m supervising and assessing various Duke of Edinburgh’s Award groups. This mornings team set off in dire conditions, but thankfully, things brightened up by the time we needed to get the tents up and make home for the… Read more

A break in the recent damp weather was perfectly timed for meeting Clare back at Penmaenbach Quarry for some fresh bolt clipping.    On ‘The Level Below’, there are about ten new routes that have been recently bolted. The rock is sharp and angular, although the grip is fantastic on the rough surfaces. We climbed… Read more

It’s the first real rain we’ve had here for over a month and it’s like it’s making up for lost time! Grim, heavy rain! Luckily for me, I’ve had plenty of indoor work to be getting on with! Over 24 hours of solid downpouring has put 65mm of rain into our rain gauge, which I’m… Read more

A crazy busy day in North Wales and seems like ages since I was last at The Cottage. I got a lot of outside jobs done first-thing as the skies were indicating a possible change in the weather. Then raced out to meet up with visiting friends, Barney and Sinead in the Slate quarries on… Read more