The Castle is run by climbers for climbers and as the premier indoor climbing centre in South East England, we receive more annual visits than any other climbing centre in the U.K. It is constructed within a magnificent Victorian building, formerly a water pumping station.
Climbing is perceived as a dangerous sport and can be unless participants understand the risks and behave accordingly. Individuals are expected to take responsibility for their own actions and follow advice from Castle staff.
Climbing is a unique sport and delivers exciting rewards, both physically and mentally. If you are adventurous and want to push yourself in new ways, learning to climb is the challenge you need. If you are bored of the television, the gym or the pub and need a more stimulating alternative, climbing can keep you fit, strong and exercise your mind.
The Centre
The Castle Climbing Centre is characterised by its vibrant social atmosphere, its friendly and efficient staff and a supportive membership base. The constant flow of new climbers keeps the energy levels high, and because most climbing activities are about working together many new friends are made.
The Castle provides a comfortable and controlled environment in which to practice, challenge and excel as a climber. Indoor rock climbing is an excellent way to develop the fundamental skills required to climb safely. You'll also be laying the foundations for a full and varied climbing career should you want to pursue more advanced outdoor activities.
The Facilities
The Castle has an extensive range of facilities for beginners and advanced climbers alike. The Centre houses over 450 routes serviced by more than 90 roped lines. The extensive range of bouldering surfaces display some 250 marked problems. The climbing areas are spread over two floors of the unique atmospheric building.
The Castle Cafe
The Castle Cafe is open from 12pm to 10pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 7pm on weekends. Whether you’re looking to stay fuelled during your climbing session, eat a healthy meal or just chill out and watch climbers, the cafe is a friendly place to relax. We serve organic and fairtrade teas/coffee and a variety of snacks including homemade cakes, brownies and flapjacks.
There is always a choice of 2 main seasonal dishes produced in our own kitchen, including soups, curries, pasta, pizza and pasties. Many of the vegetables, fruits, salads and herbs used in our recipes are grown in the Castle’s very own garden. We also provide a variety of sandwiches made fresh to order.
If you are running a training event, social climb or team-building session at The Castle we can provide lunch or coffee breaks for your meeting.
If you find the terminology too much like jargon, visit the glossary page.
For a closer look at the Centre click The Tour to browse through each of the areas.
Climbers Clinic
Sports Massage, Shiatsu, Osteopathy and Pilates at The Castle Climbing Centre. Monday to Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Visit www.climbersclinic.co.uk for further information.
Learning to Climb
There are a couple of ways to start climbing: you can come with an experienced friend who must show you the core skills that climbers have to know; or take one of our novice courses.
For concise information on who can supervise novice climbers at the Castle follow the path to "Who can climb here".
Alternatively, The Castle runs several novice climbing courses, each requiring different time commitment & depth of subject coverage. We run a Four-Week Introduction, a Two-Week Introduction, an Afternoon Introduction and an Off-Peak Introduction, all aimed at novices. For more information on these and to book a course, please look at our Adult Courses.
Once you've learned the basic skills of climbing, your journey has only just begun and after finishing your course you have a myriad of options:
You can join any of the many climbing clubs operating in the London area.
You could consolidate your climbing and then take one of our more advanced courses focusing on movement in climbing, or lead climbing.
The Castle also operates Women With Altitude, a free service offered to registered female climbers and hosted on an informal basis by a female member of staff.
We also run The Session which is a co-ed facilitated free session for all members of the Castle.
Whatever you choose to do you will not fail to find plenty of people willing to chat and share tips on routes or specific problems that you're working on. Discussions get more involved and animated over a few post-climbing beers at the Brownswood Park Tavern, the local watering hole.
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About The Castle 
