Barlands Quarry

A very interesting discovery, this quarry gives the best hard slab climbing in the South Wales area. In fact it gives almost slate-like qualities where friction and technique pay more dividends than brute force.

The crag is situated on the right-hand side of the small valley slightly to the west of Bishopston when travelling on the B4436 from Swansea to Southgate. It is best to park alongside the Beaufort Arms in Kittle at the top of the rise and walk back down the hill and into the quarry. Parking in the lay-by before the quarry is inadvisable since one person has had their car stolen from here.

Barlands Quarry map 1 Barlands Quarry map 2

What’s the climbing like?

Slabby (!) and intense on the harder routes. There are some excellent longer routes as well.

When should I go there?

The quarry faces east and gets hardly any sunshine. This gives it the bonus of not getting too hot which helps the friction in many ways, an important factor. Unfortunately the quarry isn’t the most scenic of places.

Grades:

5+ (1), 6a+ (2), 6b+ (1), 6c (2), 6c+ (1), 7a (2), 7a+ (1), 7b+ (1). A total of 11 routes.

Anything left for me?

Absolutely loads but you will need a big drill, a shovel, a brush and lots of time and patience on your hands.