On the First British Rock Climb!

A backblip. Found this old snap the other day. My first climb of Napes Needle in the Lake District. Said to be the first climb on British rock purely for the fun of it. Walter Parry Haskett Smith in June 1886. The top is a flat 'table', so he threw stones on to the top to see if any would stick and suggest there was room for him: rather like the dove sent out from the Ark. The 'crux' is from the shoulder where my friend was sitting. That meant that I was to lead the final pitch, which had a tiny crack and a small pebble sticking out, for the feet. Then you reach your hands up to grasp the edge of the top and pull hard, wriggling your body gradually over until you can sit down. Descending from up there is hairy!