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Copyrights Mark Savage, Ian Birtwistle, 2026 | All Rights Reserved
PREVIEW
This is a landmark, coffee-table book celebrating over a century of rock climbing in one of Britain’s wildest landscapes, known to climbers simply as 'The County'.
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Written by Steve Blake and John Spencer, and illustrated with photographs by award winning photographer Mark Savage, the book is both a comprehensive history and a love letter to a unique landscape and the people who shaped it. The book explores not only the routes and achievements but also the traditions, community and understated spirit that make climbing in Northumberland unlike anywhere else.
Now, for the first time, its full climbing history has been brought together in a richly illustrated and deeply researched new book: Northumberland – The Story of Climbing in the County.
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Mark Savage’s extraordinary photographs, taken over more than two decades, capture the essence of climbing in Northumberland with rare intimacy and atmosphere. From bold ascents on remote sandstone outcrops to solitary moments of stillness in the hills, his images reveal not just what climbing here looks like, but what it feels like to be there.
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The book takes you on a journey through Northumberland; eastwards along Hadrian's Wall, then up through the central crags until we get to the granite crags in the Cheviot Hills and the sandstone outcrops scattered throughout the north.
The book also contains chapters on the coastal crags, the geology of the area and the archaeological history of the rock.
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Northumberland – The Story of Climbing in the County is the most complete record ever produced of this overlooked but deeply cherished corner of British climbing. Whether you’re a seasoned climber, a lover of outdoor photography, or simply drawn to the rugged beauty of Northumberland, this book offers a lasting journey through stone and time.
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This book is a landmark tribute to one of Britain’s wildest and most quietly compelling landscapes, known to climbers simply as ‘The County’. Through stunning photography and evocative writing it brings to life more than a century of climbing history.
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Authors Steve Blake and John Spencer have poured heart and soul into a richly textured account that honours not only the climbs, but the people and traditions that shaped them. For over twenty years, photographer Mark Savage has documented both the climbers and the raw, windswept landscape of Northumberland.
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By revealing the true spirit of climbing, the viewer can experience not just what it looked like, but what it felt like to be there. Whether you’ve climbed every crag or never touched the rock, this book will leave something with you — something lasting. It is a journey through stone, time and memory, carved into the edge of a forgotten wild.