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Pennine Lines w/c 4 February 2025
We tread between stones placed with a purpose, we climb among carved curiosities, gutters, lintel slots, reminder that we’re not the first to be drawn to these places. To find them special in some way, to attach significance to them, a link to the past and the future is felt. And it’s not just us seeking a quiet bit of refuge in the woods; approaching the boulders something dark and muscular is disturbed, and swiftly disappears away, antlers deftly weaving between the trees as we stumble clumsily through the undergrowth with ungainly slabs of foam on our backs.
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Pennine Lines w/c 9 September 2024
At this time of year I am always reminded of 2021 when, with the summer fading and gritstone prospects looking better, I embarked on the rollercoaster ride of going out up and down the Pennines shooting images for - and writing - Grit Blocs. The first dedicated photoshoot specifically for the book was down at Cratcliffe and Stanton with Gwyneth, who climbed superbly despite having about fifteen taped-up fingertips. If you can imagine climbing Egg Arete in gloves, then you’re getting close to it. But anyway, the crag of choice was fairly indicative of Septembers for me, when I look back through my September photo folders of old.
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Pennine Lines w/c 12 February 2024
Facing away from the afternoon sun, with boulders lurking among the twisted boughs of the trees, slow to dry but offering welcome shelter from strong westerlies in winter, with a few tall crag-based lines looming above the boulders, on the right day it’s a great spot to find a bit of peace. This part of the South Peak didn’t find its way onto the cover of Grit Blocs by accident.
Pennine Lines w/c 29 May 2023
It will be interesting to see if fashions change on this over time, and also what the next ten or fifteen years will bring for the ambience at Kyloe-In. Will young trees start to grow back where the mature trees were felled and make recent felling seem a little less brutal, will the atmosphere of the crag change and evolve again? We'll have to wait and see.