Handholds and footholds

The sport of indoor climbing in re-used industrial buildings on purpose-built "rock faces" was unknown to me until two of my grandchildren took up the activity. Like any doting grandparent I took photographs of them as they scampered up the "cliffs" and stepped into space to be lowered gently to the cushioned ground by the auto-belay. I was also minded to find out something about the strange shapes used for footholds and handholds.

 Disappointingly none of them have unique names - all are described by existing words such as "jugs", "slopers", "pinches", "pockets", "smears" etc. As I've watched the climbers in recent months I've reflected how different this climbing is from the only climbing I ever did on limestone cliffs in the Yorkshire Dales.

The oddly shaped, colourful hand and foot holds have a pop-art sculptural quality to them that I find quite appealing.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Cyclamens, assorted colours

One of the attractions of the cyclamen is that it can be persuaded to flower indoors in the depths of winter, a time when many flowering plants are dormant. We have, for many years, had cyclamens that spend much of the winter on the window sills of an unheated conservatory, only bringing them into the house proper when the temperatures dip below freezing for any extended period. We currently have plants that have spent previous winters with us, and a few that were bought last year. They are a variety with smaller flowers and have been in full bloom for weeks, with more weeks to come.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10