Ian Milward making an early repeat of Brazilian Style (6c+) on the Porn Walls. Photo Pete Clark.
Character
An impressive cliff with a wealth of excellent pitches ranging from 5+ to 7a. It’s ease of access—only 2 minutes from the car—should make it an ideal venue. The crag is well shrouded by trees making it a good place to escape the summer heat but rather dingy on dark cloudy days.
The rock is mostly solid though Cawdor doesn’t get the traffic as the more popular quarries so as in all quarries take care.
Approach
This is relatively straightforward. When travelling down the A6 from Bakewell, turn right at the new roundabout in Matlock and take the first right into Sainsbury’s. Turn immediately right before the petrol station and follow the road up the hill just beyond a L turn (to Masson Lees), where the new tarmac disappears. Park in the first lay-by on the left – the same layby for Halldale Quarry. The quarry is over the wall to the right.
Once the car parking place has been found, walk 50m towards Snitterton and hop over the wall on the other side of the road: this is just before a large green sign for ‘Matlock’.
Scramble down the slope and the cliff will be immediately obvious on the left.
Layout
This is a long cliff and currently only the initial walls have been developed. At the far end of the cliff is a pool used for fishing. Any disturbance to this area may not currently be welcome so please do not progress beyond the obvious barbed wire fence at the end of the cliff.
The crags are listed from left to right.
