Valley of the rocks

Valley of The Rocks.

The Valley of Rocks is a popular tourist spot situated half a mile west of Lynton. It is accessible by road and a scenic footpath ‘The North Walk’ from Lynton.

There are two car parks. Both are now pay and display, only December and January are free.

The Valley Of Rocks is owned by The Lynton Town Council who until recently operated a permit system to control the number of climbers. During August 1998 I was informed that this no longer applied and that I could climb where I wished at my own risk, but please park in the car parks, not on the roadside or the grass.

The Valley is popular with youth and adult groups under instruction. Fortunately they tend to use only Castle Rock and the feature above the cricket pitch, which does not tie up very many routes.

Driving into the valley from Lynton, the jagged ridge on the seaward side comes into view first. Ahead in line with the road past the toilets is the Tor shaped Castle Rock with two flat top blocks.

Below the southeast side of Castle Rock is a roundabout around an ancient stone circle.

On the south side is the prominent pinnacle of ‘The Devils Cheesewring’ set back one hundred and fifty metres in the heather.

Castle Rock. GR. 704497

The North Walk leads off east from the roundabout towards Lynton. Another path goes off west down into Wringcliff Bay, passing three small buttresses above on the south slope of Castle Rock. One of these is the location of Seagulls On Steroids.

A path ascends the south slope of The Castle from the grass near the roundabout. There are two huge blocks on the summit. The tilted slab between the two forms the outline of ‘The White Lady’ when viewed from the road towards Lee Abbey. The easiest route up the east block is up its northwest corner.

The south side of the block has four obvious short unrecorded lines at about severe grade.

A peek over the north edge from below the block would have you looking down the approximate line of Dirty Epic.

There are two recorded routes on the west block on its south west and south east corners, no details available. The top can be gained by climbing the slab between the two blocks, followed by the last few feet of the steep east wall. There is a second exposed route, which starts at the southwest corner of the block.

Mount the slab with difficulty. Follow it to the top then make an exposed move right onto large holds on the north wall, then easily to the top. Don’t look behind you when reversing this route, its mind blowing exposure.

East Block, Castle Rock.

2. Crack of Noon. 40ft. Hard Very Severe. 5a.

3. Pudge. 30ft. E1/2. 5b.

4. Heifer. 30ft. E3/4. 5c.

Devils Cheesewring. GR. 705496.

The Devils Cheesewring is situated south of the roundabout on the opposite side of the valley from Castle Rock. It is a lone pinnacle with a superb north face.

1. South East Arete. 25ft. Difficult.

2. 4000 metre Pursuit. 50ft. Hard Severe. 4b.

3. Fingers and Thumbs. 50ft. Hard Severe. ??

4. Barcelona. 60ft. Very Severe. 4b.

5. Crack of Doone. 50ft. Hard Severe. 4b.

6. Olympic Wall. 70ft. Hard Very Severe. 4c.

7. Plasmagram Dance. 70ft. Hard Very Severe. 5a.

8. Ramble. 70ft. Severe.

The North Walk

The North Walk is a tarmac footpath leading from Lynton to the roundabout in The Valley of Rocks. It traverses at about 500ft along the seaward slopes of Hollerday Hill and The Valley of Rocks. It can be accessed from the roundabout or a path leading from the small shelter opposite the National Trust car park.

The two locations in this section are above the path. To locate the buttress on which Eros is situated count three seats along the path from the roundabout. The third has been reduced to cement supports. The left slanting line of Eros will be easily seen on the buttress above the remains of the seat.