Work begins on highest climbing wall in UK

Higher than both the Tower of London and the Angel of the North, the towering ROKTFACE wall at ROKT climbing centre in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, will see people climb routes up to 36 metres.

The climbing wall will be created on one of the faces of a sky-scraping disused flour silo, which sits alongside the Calder and Hebble canal. Around 2,500 anchors are being drilled to create up to 28 unique routes.

The £75,000 project is being led by ROKT climbing centre in partnership with Calderdale Council to help raise the profile and participation of healthy activity as well as tourism for the area.

It will give daredevils views of up to around 20 miles across Yorkshire when completed in spring. Bosses hope it could create around 10 new jobs.

Euan Noble, ROKT’s commercial director, said: “ROKTFACE will give people of almost all climbing abilities the chance to effectively climb into the clouds and go higher than ever before. Thanks to our partnership with Calderdale Council, we’re turning dreams into reality.

“We opened six years ago with a dream of creating something different and inclusive – for climbers of all ages and abilities – and this is another step towards that.

“On Boxing Day 2015, we were under several feet of water and some thought ROKT wouldn’t survive. Just over a year on we are bigger, better and stronger than ever thanks to our customers and the community.”