climbing

I was strolling through the beautiful Holland Park one misty morning when I came across a man hanging from a tree... Before the war this park used to be a private house and gardens, sadly the house was firebombed by the Luftwaffe in WWII and burnt down. An unintentional upside of this act of war was the council buying it, and gradually opening it to the public in 1953. So a socially positive end to a fascist story! I hope you'd agree? During lockdown this park has become a favourite place for people to exercise. There's plenty of space and what remains of the house has become a focus for training....


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Famed for the surly attitude and truculent behaviour the Castle staff are in fact beautiful, benevolent people, without whom the climbing centre would grind to a halt. Here are a couple of portraits of the staff. Rosa evades castle shop customers... Tim training for another improbable climbing route... Ida, castle wood nymph, plants the herbaceous borders...


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Falling usually entails some kind of unpleasant consequences, normally pain. This is also true in climbing. There are times though when it just seems to be fun! Laughter... Joy... Bliss...


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Testing the new Catacomb set Climbing in the 'catacomb' involves intricate footwork, strong hands, and hanging off the ceiling. In the these shots Tricky, Leah and Martin test the grades of each others routes. Leah concentrates... Martin contemplates his next move... Tricky move on... Solly takes care of tea...


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Route testing the new 'Mezz' Once climbing routes have been set, they have to be tested. The setters will test their own, and each others routes to make sure that they are 'on grade'. This is not an exact science and whether they are correctly graded is often hotly debated. Following on from last weeks route setting climbing photographs here are some shots of routes being 'tested'. Tricky watches as Mike tries out his new anti-grav boots... Leah leaps... Controlled descent... Pride in a job well done...


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Castle Climbing Centre The Castle Climbing Centre has become my second home over the past coupe of years so it seems only natural that I start to photograph the place and the people in it. Over the next few months I'll be posting climbing photography of the activity at this dusty, sweat filled environment! Enjoy! Rebuilding and resetting the 'Mezz' Every few weeks climbing routes are reset. This time walls that the routes are on were re-modeled as well . In this shot the route setters contemplate their handywork... Mike Langley (routes manager) tests a route.... Fastening...


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