Dropped in at Stonehenge (about which I'll say nothing on this occasion) on the way to Dorset, on week-long trip seeing out the month of June. It rained quite a bit, as it seems to have done everywhere for weeks, but the South was the place to be (and probably sill is).
First and last stop on the Dorset sea-cliffs was the geologically interesting Lulworth Cove, and Stair Hole.
There was quite a big swell running, which meant that the rock in the caves was greasy-wet. I peeled into the sea twice, off the same set of soaking wet holds on the Maypole (6a)...once attempting the route clockwise and once going anticlockwise. Bracing.
More Deep water soloing at Swanage
Seacombe, Aquanaut Buttress. One of a bunch from London on Lost in Time (4+)
Brave person moving out of the corner of Codfish (5a) towards the roofs of The Howling (7b).
Freeborn Man (6c), Connor Cove. One of the London team waltzed it, one sketched it, one fell off, the others watched (as did I....the thought of trying it was just too much for me on the day...maybe next time!). The sea was much noisier and choppier than the photo would suggest...it was pretty windy too.
Troubled Waters (5+), Connor. Juggy, steep and fun.
Followed this up with some bouldering and stone-circling on Dartmoor...
The rather spooky Plague Market at Merrivale, Dartmoor. In the plague years of the 1700's, victims were quarantined on the Moor, and used to leave money in exchange for food at the site. Farmers would take the dough and leave some vittals. Even if you didn't know this, you could be forgiven for feeling slightly unsettled by the barren setting.
A big site, with two almost-parallel stone rows, 3 stone circles, burial chambers, and lots of hut circles. There's nothing like this in the north of England.
It contrasts somewhat with the woodland setting of the Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbass, Dorset, which provided a useful stop-off on the way...
