Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 8.

There were some really good climbers around during the years '75 to '77. I remember being impressed watching Dave Morgan and Diddy Butler on The Grochan in '75. I was in awe watching Ron Fawcett make the second ascent of Right Wall in '75. Again I was in awe watching Ron, Chris Gibb, Andy Parkin and Bill Briggs strolling up Void in early 1976. And of course there were Andy Sharp and Steve Lewis making early ascents of all the hard routes in The Pass and on Cloggy, always in fine style.

However the most impressive piece of climbing I saw back then was The Psychos' fifth ascent of Right Wall. It happened the same day I returned to Left Wall. "The Psychos" was the name we'd given a young pair of lads from St Helens. They were outrageously loud and always up to mischief. One night in Humphrey's barn, whilst climbing onto my bunk, the whole thing suddenly collapsed onto the bunk below. It turned out that The Psychos had removed the screws and replaced them with match sticks! Luckily nobody was hurt and everyone had a good laugh. The Psychos of course were Gaz Healey and Phil Davidson.

Phil insisted on Jim belaying him (because he was heavier than Gaz and would be more likely to stop him hitting the deck if he fell). Phil was crap at placing gear, but he had supreme confidence in his ability. It turned out to be a formality really, Phil made it look like "a path" and was at the top after about ten minutes, having placed around five pieces of pro. Gaz was up it even faster, making it look even easier, and finally Jim followed with ease. We were all gobsmacked; we'd not seen anything like that before. It really was an audacious ascent, which proved that Right Wall wasn't so scary after all, so long as you were confident. During the next couple of years it became a trade route. In fact when I led it, in 1979, it was at least the 25th ascent and I can remember Phil and Gaz shouting up "You're gonne Die"!

Elaine and I moved to the North West in 1980. Phil became a very close friend and we used to climb a lot together. I forget how many times I thought "How does he make it look so easy?" whilst belaying him on some desperate route. I'm glad he's still keen and enjoying climbing.