Pembroke

For years now the Climbers’ Club guide has been the staple for climbers in Pembrokeshire. Coming in two volumes, the first covering the north of the county, the second the south, the books are the only comprehensive guides to the area (Rockfax’s guide only covers a fraction of the area). The guides cover an enormous area, and it is admirable that they try and pack in as much as they do. No stone has been left unturned, and an attempt has been made to provide details for all known climbing crags that fall within the catchment. In fact, in addition to the original books, in 2002 a supplement was published with corrections to the original document, as well as the addition of any new routes recorded since its publication.

Where the books suffer, is probably down to their age more than the quality of their content. There is a lack of topographical diagrams, maps and photographs, and although some of the more popular areas, such as Huntsman’s Leap, have some excellent sketches, more would have made the guide easier to use. When compared to more modern productions, and in particular Rockfax’s new Pembroke guide, the Climbers’ Club effort looks very dated. Another sticking point, and it may be a minor one, is that the books use feet rather than metres to denote route lengths, a unit that is now rarely used in Britain. All this said though, the guidebooks are still excellent, and will more than suffice until new versions are published. If you plan to do a lot of climbing in the area, or just have an eye for the esoteric, then these guides are pretty much essential.