We used to be giants – so when did we stop?
I first looked into this large hole in the ground, hidden in the forest on Longridge Fell, many years ago and climbed a few routes as well as some boulder problems. I called it Sweden because of the fir trees. Time passes and one’s attention goes elsewhere, but I never forgot. With travel restricted, the popular bouldering venue Craig Y Longridge became even more crowded at times, so I stayed away. I remembered this place though, the trees have been felled and the plantation has become popular with dog walkers. I mentioned it in a post a while back. Well since then on sunny evenings I’ve been visiting this place, cuckoos are calling across the way, mallard ducks are paddling in the pool below and barn owls have successfully nested in the higher parts of the quarry. The Ribble Valley is a distant view away. Magic and memories.
Looking back through my photos from 25years ago, I have found pictures of the walls up here with dotted lines drawn to show the problems I had succeeded on. The clean wall I’m now revisiting used to have JOKER in large red letters painted right across it, that has faded completely. And now the joke is on me, as I’m finding all the problems far harder than I remember. Tempus fugit!
I used to climb here with Tony, Pete and dear old Dor. Everything was fun and everything was possible. They are all dead now, and I miss them so.
We used to be giants.
Sad, but there is compensation in having such a wealth of memories.
I’m lucky to be still dabbling my hands in the chalk bag. I’m sure you would be out there too, you know the friendships one builds with climbing partners.
I was saddened to read your wistful post. But just imagine if you’d never made those memories and didn’t share them with eager readers now ..
Yes, wonderful memories. I’ll keep playing on the rock as long as I can, I’m lucky to be able to. Thanks for your comment.
I know the feeling.
I keep trying.
Poignant memories. Nothing like the loss of friends for marking the passage of time. I was thinking about this, and though some people can make a nightmare of the world for us, it’s also us, and the people we choose to be with that makes all the difference to living. Otherwise, that quarry would just have been a hole in the ground – no meaning. Nothing.
I think it was Colin Kirkus who said to a friend on top a mountain -“You know going to the right place, at the right time, with the right people is all that really matters. What one does is purely incidental.”
Yes, that’s spot on.