Well it has finally happened, the huge block that has been slowly moving for some years collapsed at about 2pm this afternoon (26 November). The fall site has not been investigated and there is ongoing rockfall so it is best to avoid the area.
After the rockfall, note the large scar.
Routes lost
For comparison this is what it used to look like.
RIP a lot of good routes.
Just a thought… first Deer Bield Crag, now Castle Rock…if Napes Needle, our iconic club emblem were ever to suffer any sort of collapse (not so distant from the site of the earth tremor which affected Kern Knotts some years ago!), maybe decapitating it if the top block tipped off, might it be an idea to make a full digitally imaged survey of the Needle from every conceivable direction to have on file or in archive? That might possibly allow the flight of fancy that the club could commission a full size replica (resin cast?) which might be sited somewhere in the grounds of Brackenclose.