Mabley Green Boulder project

I’ve been wanting to shoot a story on bouldering and rock climbing for quite a while and having witnessed the community that has developed and grown at the local Mabley Green boulder during the pandemic, I decided this was a good focal point.

In 2020, just before Christmas, the UK went into yet another lockdown, this time, for a very scheduled 4 weeks. I took that onboard as my deadline and spent most days taking my exercise and the inability to work from home as a photographer as the catalyst to document the boulder, it’s surrounding space and the wide range of people that adopted Mabley Green as their daily escape.

When it was first installed, a sculptural piece by local artist John Frankland, 13 routes were figured out, taking you from the ground to the top via various combinations of holds.

The route count now stands at around 47, some totally new, others just a variation of previous lines. Quite a few of these new lines have gone up during the pandemic as it’s visitors explored the surfaces in greater depth and creativity.

No matter you opinion on the current global situation, you have to agree that it has been a unique time and I hope the book will stand as a visual record of the importance the Mabley Green boulder has had during this time.

Keep an eye out here or over on my Instagram for updates on the book’s progress.