Popular climbing centre to move to new site

The Warehouse in Gloucester will hold its final climbing competition on Saturday

A popular climbing wall will be closing its doors after 30 years and moving to a new site.

The Warehouse will be holding its final climbing competition in Gloucester on Saturday.

It will remain in use for climbers until new "state of the art" facilities are opened at 270 Climbing Park in Bentham by the end of the year, owners said.

Director Andrew Glassford said: "We look forward to welcoming a new generation of climbers."

When the Gloucester site opened, owners said it was only the fifth dedicated climbing centre in the UK.

Mr Glassford said the move was necessary if the team wanted to carry on being a "beacon" for climbing in Gloucestershire.

'Ticks all the boxes'

"There’s nothing like what we’re building in Bentham - which is going to have international standard walls, international standard speed walls and bouldering walls.

"You could have the world’s best climbers rocking up in Gloucestershire, that wouldn’t happen where we are now.

"It’s nice not to have a Victorian warehouse where the wind whistles through it, it ticks all the boxes", he added.

Mr Glassford described climbing as a "turn based sport", in which everyone is involved and supports one another.

"Part of climbing is helping other people.

"The base level of climbing is you’re holding other people’s lives in your hands so that’s going to build a bond of trust," he added.

The Warehouse's final competition on Saturday will have categories testing a range of ages and climbing abilities.