This extract from a Climbers' Club Journal has been made available by kind permission of the Author and or Photographer and the Climbers' Club.

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1 This extract from a Climbers' Club Journal has been made available by kind permission of the Author and or Photographer and the Climbers' Club. Copyright remains with the author/photographer. It is provided in electronic form for your personal use and cannot be used for commercial profit without seeking permission from both the author/photographer and the Climbers' Club. Journal: 1982 Author: Geoff Milburn Copyright 2008

2 T H E B E M P T O N FLIER G.M. Yorkshire can proudly claim to be the birthplace of both gritstone and limestone climbing. Although it is not weu documented, there is Uttie doubt that CecU Slingsby (born in 1849) was thefirstto climb for pleasure on the Yorkshire outcrops, possibly as early as Giudebooks have recorded wrongly that J.W. PuttreU was thefirstto set foot on gritstone at Wharncliffe Crags in About this time a yoimg boy, Sam Leng, from Flamborough began to explore the cliffs of the Yorkshire coastline in search of birds eggs. 'I started my cumbing experiences at the early age of eight years, with a pal about my own age, using a bit offisherman's rope, commonly caued a "pot tow", i.e. the rope fastened to crab pots to puu them in. There was a donkey tethered to this pot tow, and we turned the donkey adrift and pinched the rope. We used the iron stake to which the donkey was tethered, and hammered it into the ground, fastening the rope to it. I took thefirstturn down the cliff, and came up wudly excited with a prize of two puffin's eggs.' It did not take the small boys long to realise that eggs could be sold and a lucrative business began untu his parents realised what had been going on and promptly put a stop to the antics. Between 1887 and 1891, Sam was allowed to go with his elder brothers who were cliff chmbers of some experience; they also had the proper tackle. Unfortunately they were lost at sea in a gale while fishing. Sam worked first on a farm for four years and then took up sea fishing. It was during this time that he began cliff climbing again as a member of the Bempton gang. Apart from during World War 1, when Sam served in the Merchant Navy, he climbed regularly up into the niid-20s when he wrote about his exploits in a book called 'Experiences and Reminiscences of a Cliff Climber'. Some of his stories about the limestone cliffs are hair-raising to put it mildly. 'Previous to the War the climber wore a policeman's helmet to protect his head from falling rocks, but since the War a friend of mine sent me a tin hat, to which I owe my life on several occasions. I 49

3 50 THE BEMPTON FLIER remember very weu, after having used the tin hat for nearly fortnight, I was climbing near Flamboro' Head, and was about 50 feet down the cuff face, and was just reaching for an egg when a large piece of rock came crashing down on to my head, and but for my tin hat I should have been killed. As it was, I was knocked unconscious, and the weight of my fall nearly pulled the man who was lowering me over the cuff as weu, so they knew something had gone wrong and hauled my back to the top, still unconscious. The hat was staved in...' Often tourists used toflockto watch the climbers and on occasions they would be lowered down to try their hand at the sport. 'I remember on one occasion we let a Japanese gentieman go down for some eggs. After he had been over for some time I thought it was time he was coming back. We could feel him jerking about in the ropes, and wondered what he was up to, so I went down to investigate, and much to my amusement, instead of gathering eggs I found him jabbing wildly at a guillemet with a dagger. He could. not reach the bird by about two feet, and was swinging about on the rope and getting hopelessly twisted in its coils, so I had to go to his assistance and straighten him out, so that he could be hauled up. He was very disgruntled at not getting the bird...' On another occasion afilm maker from London turned up to shoot the 'cummers' in action. He was about to be lowered over the 350-feet drop when he suddenly reaused that the tide was in. He immediately declined to go down but commented that he wouldn't have minded if the tide had been in as he was a good swimmer. Eventually he was lowered down at a point not affected by thetide,after asking what the distance would be to the nearest place at which he could land if the rope broke and he had to swim for it. He was perfectly confident in his abiuty to swim the 2V2 miles to safety but never once thought of the matter of a 350-foot drop before he hit the water! At that time there were many 'Egg Collectors' about who used to pay well for rare and weu-marked eggs. One in particular used to boast that he knew every egg there was, so for a joke a lady painted a special multi-coloured egg which was pre-placed at a prominent place on the cliff they were due to visit. In due time the Collector arrived and was wudly excited when he observed the 'rarity' through his binoculars. He insisted that he should have it and promptly offered the princely sum of 1, although Sam let him off with 5 shulings. He went off

4 THE BEMPTON FLIER 51 contentedly saying that it was the best egg ever found. Eventually was told of the joke and took it all in good part. The bird cliffs stretch for about 7 miles from the 100-foot Flamborough Head passing a 400-foot section as they go north to Bempton and Buckton beforefinallyrunning out towards Speeton and FUey. Apart from the looseness of the rock which has deterred modern day climbers there are often other obstacles to negotiate. 'For about 200 yards further on the eggs are very difficult to get, and I have to 'get the eggs in the rope', which means that I cannot get a rest from leaving the top to getting back again. I slack enough hand rope over to reach nearly to the bottom, and after leaving the top I am continually on the swing, the chff overhanging so much that I have to swing 40, 50 and 60 feet sometimes, and each time I come in to the cliff I grab an egg, kick off again, and come back and get another, au the way down. The most difficult part about this is keeping the balance in the rope, as if I get a false swing I hang that distance from the cliff and cannot get in again, and have to give my pals at the top the signal to puu me up again while I am swinging on the rope, and it is swing, swing, swing untu I reach the top, as I cannot get a rest...' The main interest of Sam's book comes when he meets up with some rock climbers who arrive at the coast. It is a great pity however that there is no indication of either who was in the party or when the episode occurred. 'One time a party of mountain climbers came, about a dozen of them. They had heard so much about the Bempton cuffs and the climbing that they wanted to try it as a change from mountain climbing, so they came along, and each wanted a turn over. We put thefirst down at an easy place, "Medland Spring", the others watching his prowess. They kept calhng out and asking him how he fared, and when he said he had enjoyed it, the next one, who was supposed to be the cleverest of the bunch, asked if he couldn't be lowered at a more difficult place, so we put the ropes over, and I sent him along to a point where he could see me cumbing, and told him what to do, and he seemed to be quite satisfied, and thought the place where I went down would suit him very well. We therefore rigged him up, and I told him I would watch him, and he was to give me the signal when he had gone far enough, by holding up his hand. It was certainly an overhanging place for about 10 or

5 52 THE BEMPTON FLIER 15 feet, but I told him to kick himself off and he would always come back again into the cliff, so over he went, waving his hand to his pals as he disappeared over the top. When he got to the overhanging bit he began to spin in the ropes, that is, twist round the guide rope. We still lowered him, and I watched for his signal when he had gone far enough, but nothing happened, and we kept on lowering tiu he was down about 250 feet, and then I signalled to the men at the top to stop lowering him, as I thought he had gone far enough. They began to haul him up, and he was all plaited and twisted in the rope. I went over the edge of the cliff to help him, and when I got to him I saw that his eyes were tightly shut, so I asked him if he had had enough. He said, "Yes, thank God I'm back again; no more cliff climbing for me." I asked why he hadn't signalled for us to stop lowering him if he felt that way, and he said he had closed his eyes onfirstgoing over and never opened them till I spoke to him on getting back!' l ^ ^ - M Centre Left: Bempton Cliffs, looking south.

6 Above: Flamborough Cliffs. Below: 'The dimmers', with Sam Leng kneeling do

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