Grumpy Old Men's Climbing Club 2026

We are the pilgrims, master

Always a little further, it may be

Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow

Across that angry or that glimmering sea.

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Grumpy New Year to all

Mayhem and chaos on the embankment - right. No, we wern't there, these pics are curtesy of our television.

 

We hosted a little dinner party on New Years Eve. Our guests were nearly as old as us and by 11 O'Clock, after a heated session of Scattagories we began to fade out and the evening celebrations descended into the sound of gentle snoring. Sue retired to bed and our guests shuffled off home.

 

All alone but not deterred, or only slightly deterred I stuck it out until 12 O'Clock and watched the late show with Jools Holland until the london extravaganza started. As spectacular as ever.

 

 

February 2026. From Richard Haszko, the mountains of Egypt. What? No pyramids?

 

What’s For Desert?

‘Where are you from? I asked the couple in front of us in the minibus taking Valerie and I from Hurghada airport to our hotel on the shores of the Red Sea. ‘Shropshire’ said the man in front. ‘Where in Shropshire? Asked Valerie. ‘Telford’ was the reply. ‘So am I. Where in Telford?’ ‘We live in Lee Gomery.’ ‘I live in Madeley’ Valerie told them. ‘We know it well’ came the response. Thus began a conversation which nicely filled the 70 minute bus ride.

That’s how we got to know Mick and Tracy and when over dinner that evening Mick said he was going to be 60 soon and wanted to go up 60 named tops this year to raise money for charity and he’d got two in mind in the desert behind the hotel I was interested. ‘I’ll go with you if you like’ I said. I knew there were organised desert walks from the hotel but I didn’t think they went the way Mick had in mind. ‘There’s CKW and Miss Ilgin’s Hill on Google maps so we can do those.

Two days later we met at 8 and set off up the hotel drive. At the gate we had to sign a disclaimer telling us about the dangers of the desert, no rescue etc. but we weren’t concerned. Following directions on Mick’s phone we walked along the largely deserted road, passed by the occasional lorry carrying large blocks of stone. ‘Looks like they’re building another pyramid’ Mick quipped. Spotting a potential route to our first hill we stared up a dry riverbed only to be waved at by a man higher up next to a building. We waved back and carried on, at which point he was joined by another chap and they came down to us. With various gestures it became clear they didn’t want us going that way ant to go further along the road.

Crossing the southbound carriageway we were soon into another wide old riverbed. At it’d head was a small col which we soon reached. Hill CKW was up to our left and we quickly scrambled up steep very loose ground to the top. ‘Not going to be nice going down that’ I said to Mick and it wasn’t: sharp limestone blocks slipping away as soon as we touched them and horribly loose underfoot. Back at the little col we debated what to do next. Miss Ilgin’s Hill looked to be a long way off and we only had one bottle of water between us (me having foolishly not thought to bring one.) We looked up, we looked down and were just starting back but I didn’t really want to give up and neither did Mick. ‘There’s a faint track up this slope let’s go to the top and see what it looks like’ I said. From the top it there was an obvious path leading over to Miss Ilgin’s Hill and it didn’t too far away so we decided to go for it. I got summit fever and raced along, waiting for Mick just below the top so we could go up together. It was only 10 minutes from when we spied the hill in the distance. ‘Must be the opposite of foreshortening in the desert’ I opined, forelengthening.’

The top was marked by a sign that told us the hill was named after Miss Ilgin who was the wife of the man who first went up it in 2007 and started building the hotel. The obligatory photos were taken and it was time to head back. A little track led down quickly to a rocky area with some scrambling down the ancient limestone but it didn’t take us long to get down and back to the hotel in time for breakfast.

 

 

From Phil Kershaw

From back in the old days when we were proper climbers. This is Phil on the abseil from The Old Man of Hoy. Note the essential anchor rope to the top of pitch1.

 

March. From Tom Westgate.

 

Roy & Marilyn Small together with Sue & Tom Westgate have just spent a week ski touring in Hamn, on Senja, a large island 40miles as the crow flies (3.5 hours driving) South West of Tromso in the Norwegian Arctic Circle.  Don’t go there expecting to see the Northern Lights or good weather as these are god given.  We got out everyday although the weather varied from hail squalls to winter sun.  However the Nordic noire is there to the full at this time of year – we all enjoyed a great week.  Hopefully the photos give a flavour of our week.

Click to enlarge. Be patient with the first image, it might take a few seconds to download.

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From the Gravelings John and Cath

 

La Geoda da Pulpi

 

At the end of our latest annual Winter 2 week climbing trip to Costa Blanca, we decided to have a change – to finish with something completely different -  and booked 3 extra days in Cartagena.Set on the coast an hour or so drive south of Alicante, Cartagena is a delightful place,  rich in Carthaginian and Roman history, and is well worth a visit in its own right.However, for us, Cartagena was primarily to be the base for a further trip south to visit a phenomenon that had been on our bucket list for some long time – La Geoda da Pulpi.

The visit entailed an hour’s drive further south to the long-abandoned Mina Rica silver mine just outside the small town of Pulpi in south-eastern Almeria Province.

The mine is home to the world’s largest geode which is located some 50m underground. A geode is a void formed from an air bubble in volcanic, metamorphic or sedimentary rock and is filled with crystals formed from mineral deposits.The Pulpi geode, which was only discovered in 1969, is 8 metres long, 2 metres wide, 2 metres deep and its interior is lined with huge translucent crystals of selenite (gypsum) up to 2m in length. It is the transparency, size and state of preservation that makes this geode globally unique.

Entry is by a pre-booked small group guided tour - which lasts about 90 mins – and is so popular that the tours get booked up months in advance.The tour was not physically demanding – easy walking through head height tunnels, passing lots of evidence of the previous mining of silver, lead, iron and zinc - and down ladders to the prime attraction.

Wearing face masks and gloves to avoid contamination, the geode is then viewed by laying flat and squeezing ones head and shoulders through a 2ft diameter aperture from which position the crystal interior of the geode can be seen in all its glory.

The only slight downside was that the tour guide only spoke Spanish and, though we had English audio guides, we felt that we may have missed some interesting asides.However, this was really a one-off experience and a must visit if you are ever in that area.

Interestingly, “marmite” Michael Portillo has just done a series travelling through Spain on Channel 5 and in the 6th programme, he went to Almeria and there is a 5 minute clip of him visiting the Mina Rica Mine and viewing the geode. If MP is not your cup of tea, you can scroll through the programme to the mine clip which comes at about 24 mins in.

 

News Flash News Flash News Flash

 

Roy has fallen off the slabs at Awesom Climbing wall and suffered grievous injury.

Roy, what were you messing at? It was only 6c+.

 

 

Monday 13th April.

 

Sad day, John Robson's funeral at Macclesfield crematorium. Well attended by Dot (of course) and members of John's familily. There was also a good showing of Grumpies to say farewell. Afterwards there was an excellent wake and buffet at the Cavendish Golf Club in Buxton.

 

 

In the past, John was awarded Grump of the Year, and questions were asked when this was. Gerry has kindly sent a definitive list.

 

 

 

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