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A few days on the grit were great and no harder than expected, which was pretty hard really! Condition were generally excellent and we managed to avoid the rather battering and chilly east wind by picking cliffs that faced away from it. Bamford was a brilliant as ever and quite busy too, there was a continuous stream of folks up the classics, and I was pleased to see that at least on of my routes (Reach VS 4c) was proving popular.
There were a couple of German climbers there - who were grabbing a few last route before getting the Hull to Rotterdam boat home that evening. It turned out we 'rescued' them in Lofoten a few years ago when their abseil rope got jammed. Small world!
Burbage South was another great day, the crag dry but just a bit crusty and skiddy in places. Graham Dragged me up Millwheel Wall (E1 5b) a route that used to be a regular solo of mine - that felt really tough. It brought to mind the 1st time I did it back in about 1975, Steve Warwick belayed be whilst I top-roped it a couple of times, then I soloed it. I looked back down the route from the final jugs to see him hot on my heels - "you made it look so easy" was his reason for the audacious solo!
By early evening I was in the clutches of the grimmest cold I have had for years, it has taken me a week to get over it - maybe that's why the routes felt so hard!