The Bells! The Bells! | E7/7b Trad climb at Gogarth

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It had been top roped a few times since John [Redhead] led it and as far as I knew only one person hadn't fallen off. They were three Peak E5 leaders whose comments on the route were something like, 'utterly ridiculous', 'think I only spotted one poor RP placement' and 'death on a stick'. Three of the top rope falls were due to a 'crucial' finger flake and two footholds snapping off so I wasn't even sure if the route was still climbable. That intrigued me and I began psyching up for it and when Johnny, Pritch and Nick Dixon starting checking it out two years later it became, in my mind, a 'now or never' situation and I went for it! [2]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/publications/other_publications/the_bells_the_bells__an_extract_from_andy_pollitts_punk_in_the_gym-12110

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/mark_zippy_pretty_and_andy_pollitt-9762

The week before Mike had set off up the route but had to get a top rope rescue as he couldn't clip the peg.

There was nobody there at all, just Elaine and me. Therefore no chance of a top rope this time. The boulders were slippery and it was very still and quiet. It was do or die. So I set off up the start of The Cad, traversed right to a good foothold and put the HB2 in again. Without hesitating, I committed myself into serious terrain, where it was up to me alone to see this thing through to the end, come what may! I dared not look at the tied off peg as I followed the line of incuts up to the start of the second traverse. There is a shield of rock there where I spent ages trying to get in some dodgy rp's and a tape sling over the top. The seriousness of my position was gnawing away at my concentration (if only I'd known that Hex 4 was nearby!). I have never been so totally frightened in all my years climbing, as I was from that shield onwards. I seemed to be looking down at myself tiptoeing across, with the ropes trailing uselessly down to the left of me. By the time I gained the shallow groove that led to the top I was almost completely spent and there was no meaningful gear to stop me decking out from about 150 feet. There was a nasty sting in the tail: on the last difficult move I felt a tiny foothold break off as I delicately weighted it. For a moment I swear that I thought I was going to fall to my death. At this point, Elaine was well aware of the mess I was in and was weighing up her possible options to run over the slippery boulders in an attempt to take in the slack if I fell. She told me afterwards that she realised there was nothing she could have done! Somehow, I told myself to calm down and test with my foot to see if there was enough left to stand up on. I crawled over the top and just lay there, utterly spent and sobbing as it all sank in. After a long time, I set up an abseil to strip the gear. You should have seen the smile on my face by the time I got down to Elaine. And I've been wearing it ever since! [1]

References

[1] https://mikeowenfrance.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-do-steve-boote-climbing-hangar-and.html

[2] Mountain Issue 134 (1990), page 14 /library/11317/mountain-134

John Watson:

One weekend he went down to Wales and onsighted The Bells, The Bells saying it was 'rather easy', in the manner of a gifted schoolboy rolling his eyes at simplistic homework. [1]

References

[1] https://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2009/08/unsponsored-heroes-craig-parnaby_12.html

With this ascent Glenda became the first woman to onsight E7. She used a side runner in The Cad though there's some debate about how much difference it makes.

References

[1] Queens of the Stone by Lucy Ellis, 2003. On The Edge 126, page 46

Aged a spritely 74!

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/04/rob_matheson_repeats_the_bells_the_bells_e7_6b-73955

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DJGsXORo-HA/

[3] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/rob-matheson-the-bells-the-bells-interview.html

[4] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/rob-matheson-the-bells-the-bells-interview.html

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTW0QkAFpOg

References

[1] On The Edge, Issue 113 page 53