Formed by James W Puttrell and friends in 1906 “for the pursuit of Rock Climbing, Cave Exploration & Hill Walking”.
The DPC continues to support its members in these activities and our hut in Stoney Middleton is the perfect hub from which to pursue them.
If you’d like to get in touch, please view our Contact page.
Prospective members should ideally be experienced in at least one of the club’s three activities:
Climbing
We climb every Wednesday evening from March to October on the limestone crags and gritstone edges of the Peak District. In the winter we switch to Sheffield’s bouldering walls.
Away meets stretch from Cornwall to Scotland, with North Wales and the Lakes visited regularly.
Caving
We primarily cave in the Peak District, with weekend trips to the Yorkshire Dales.
Recent digging projects have been close to our hut in Stoney Middleton or slightly further afield in the hills above Castleton. More information can be found in our latest news or archives sections.
The club has a well-maintained selection of ropes, SRT kit and ladders available for use by members.
Hill-Walking
The club’s hill-walking activities ranges from the moorlands and hills of the Peak District on day meets, to the rocky ridges of the Isle of Skye and fells of the Lake District on weekend meets.
Some recent trips include a round of Snowdon and the Moelwyns (37km with c. 3000m of ascent), The Buttermere Round (35km with c. 3500m of ascent), the Skye Ridge, and the Marsden to Edale.
Starting out?
Unfortunately the club cannot provide formal training for those new to outdoor sport.
If you’re looking to learn the basics from qualified instructors, introductory courses can be arranged via the BCA for caving or through the BMC for climbing and hill-walking.
Origins
The DPC’s roots go back to the 1890s when the Kyndwr Club was first formed to climb, walk, and cave in Derbyshire, a long time before the Peak District National Park was created.
History dictates that the final decline of the Kyndwr Club was due to the argument that occurred after James W Puttrell’s ascent of High Tor Gully in Matlock. E. A. Baker questioned the validity of the first ascent and it was not long before indignant letters were being written in the national press between Baker and friends of Puttrell. The Kyndwr Club disbanded soon afterwards, and Puttrell and his Sheffield companions went on to form the Derbyshire Pennine Club in November 1906.
Puttrell was the leading pioneer of cave exploration and climbing in Derbyshire in the years before the First World War, and his name, alongside Henry Bishop, can be found in the first ascent lists of almost every crag within the Peak. Caving was also an important activity of the Club and many of Derbyshire’s popular caves and mines were discovered or re-explored during this period.
Nearly 120 years later, the DPC continues to support its members in the three founding disciplines of “Rock Climbing, Cave Exploration & Hill Walking”.
Derbyshire Pennine Club 