2026 Meets

Sandstone or Indoors

Whether it’s summer or winter, the club has a set of routine meets that tend to happen on the same day every week – but not always the same day! Typically during the indoor part of the season there will be a few of us at an indoor wall on a Wednesday evening, and there will be a similar indoor meet on a Saturday or Sunday. The midweek meets are as local as possible – so either K2 in Crawley or Withdean, just north of Brighton.

During the outdoor part of the season, we will typically be at a local sandstone crag on a Wednesday evening – usually Stone Farm. And at the weekends we are often at one of the other sandstone outcrops such as Bowles or Harrisons, and occasionally at one of the lesser-known local crags. As you would expect given our location, we always like to introduce new people to the delights of Southern Sandstone!

In addition to evenings and weekends, the club has a number of members who either have flexible working hours or are retired, so weekday outings are also a regular occurrence – both indoors and out.

The Sandstone Volunteers Group

The club has always had a close association with the SVG, and the group has a schedule of conservation activities that cover all of the main sandstone venues. One of our members maintains contact with the SVG, and a few of us will usually be at each of their work parties.

Crag Walks

It has been a long-held tradition within the club to have a Crag Walk at some point during the year. This is a fairly lengthy stroll from Stone Farm in the west, through the various outcrops, typically ending at one of the lesser areas such as Eridge Green. Sometimes there’s climbing involved, and sometimes there’s not enough energy left for that!

Away Trips

In addition to the routine local stuff, we like to get further afield from time to time. Whether that’s a winter trip onto snow and ice, or a summer trip to Font, or an outing in between to get rained on in the Lake District or North Wales, these trips are generally called on an ad-hoc basis. Sometimes they will be campsite based, and sometimes we book one of the established club huts.

These trips tend to be very varied, and have covered pretty much everywhere around the country over the years. This year there’s talk of a Cuillin Ridge attempt, and rumours of more chalk cliff madness, and of course more trips to Swanage, Portland and the Wye Valley. And, allegedly, one of the club’s members has never been to Stanage – so we’ll probably end up there at some stage.