The River Wye continues from Chee Dale to cut another less-imposing dale characterised by sweeping river bends below some compact buttresses of rock. In many ways Water-cum-Jolly lives in the shadow of its more illustrious neighbour - the routes are shorter, the buttresses smaller, and the setting less dramatic but no less picturesque. This is the place for the connoisseur of Peak Limestone to seek out forgotten gems on the Upper Circle or on Central Buttress, do battle with technical wall climbs at Rubicon, or launch themselves across the steepening wave of the Cornice. In summer, each of the buttresses stands in isolation from the others, sheltered by the trees and, with the exception of Rubicon Wall, your only companions are likely to be one or two other climbers and then only on busy weekends. From the climber's point of view, some of WCJ is suffering from neglect. Routes on isolated sections of the Upper Circle, Moat Buttress and Central Buttress see few ascents these days. Ivy has taken over on certain sections and the rock has returned to a natural but loose and unpredictable state. It is perhaps time that we reassessed the climbing on some of these locations before they become forgotten altogether.

Photo: Moat Buttress © ROCKFAX

ROUTES

170 trad routes (D...E7) 66 sport routes (6b+...8c) 3 boulder problems (V7...V9) Graded List of Routes List of First Ascents

Buttress (click for routes)	No. of Routes	Route Type	Sunshine or shade	Approach walk	Other	Page
Vision Buttress A small and secluded buttress tucked in the woods above the path from Litton. Difficult to find....	4			15 mins		-
Jackdaw Point One of the Peaks great limestone sun-traps which is guaranteed to be 10 degrees warmer than any...	16			20 mins		148
Upper Circle A sunny venue consisting a line of cliffs on the outer sweep of the river bend. The routes tend to...	42			20 mins		149
Lammergeyer Buttress The toothy, undercut walls of Lammergeyer buttress have a number of powerful and fingery routes...	16			15 mins		-
Rubicon Wall The best buttress in Water-cum-Jolly is the short sweeping wall of Rubicon. Easily situated near...	47			10 mins		152
Moat Buttress This impressive buttress rises from the water which makes for some very atmospheric climbing....	26			15 mins		156
Majorca Buttress Tiny and friable wall passed on the way to Moat Buttress.	6			15 mins		-
Crunch Buttress A small and very compact wall which has the hardest sport routes in WCJ. Passed on the approach to...	8			15 mins		-
Cornice A huge wave of rock frozen on the point of collapse. This fine crag has some of the best roof...	26			20 mins		158
Witchcraft Wall A small wall, upstream from the Cornice, with a few routes including one worthwhile sport route.	4			20 mins		-
Central Buttress The largest crag in Water-cum-Jolly has a fearsome reputation. Most of the routes are big...	44			18 mins		160
		What do these symbols mean?

Ping
"Maybe it was because we had just done Ping Pong and Erithaca (both hard E1), but..." 12/Apr

Sheerwater
"On the first ascent Al Evans led the (crux) second pitch." 18/Dec

Zeke the Freak
"The original line must be the harder of the two. 8b either way as you've done th..." 22/Sep

St. Paul
"Peg was utterly rubbish, more hazard than protection, removed Aug 09." 23/Aug

Knuckle Knocker
"nicely put Jez! Distinctly wobbly and quite tricky and dirty, but sort of satisf..." 22/Aug

Ping Pong
"Used the tree to start, having consulted the definitive guide. Didn't feel soft ..." 14/Aug

Deception
"fairly solid E4 without the peg, which it doesn't really need. There are enough ..." 09/May

A Miller's Tale
"replace pegs?" 09/Mar

Zeke the Freak
"New bolts and lower off, including an extra dogging bolt making it much easier t..." 03/Nov

Salar
"Actually I changed my mind, hard 7c+ I reckon having climbed some stuff abroad r..." 02/Sep

Fledgling Flakes
"Not a bad route for limestone. Decent line and some good moves up the flakes, to..." 25/Aug

Salar
"Soft 8a I thought. Try getting LH pocket as a sidepull/ undercut. Deep dropknee ..." 07/Aug

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