Psyched Yet?

 

Ok folks and folkettes - we have been building for seventeen days now and this is what we have to show you!!!!

I apologise that my stitching of photos is worse than my photography but it does a quick glance of the good stuff!

It doesn't show the office, shop, plush shower room, heated changing rooms or the new stuff built downstairs - you know we love you!

Anyway as a point of OMG interest - the big monster thing in the middle was built upside down and rolled over!!!! It was a beast of an operation!

Also how do you fancy early January opening? You are probably excited as i am scared! Excellent!

The BIG questions

 

Now if you're anything like me, anytime you are at a dinner party or meal of some sort, a few bottles of wine get drained and people start dishing out the big questions to which there are never any real answers, life (meaning/purpose of), the universe and if two pigeons inhabited a 5000sqft industrial unit undisturbed for four years, and then you brushed up all their dried poo, how much poo would that be... and so on.... Well ladies and gentlemen, I can now answer one of these questions, the meaning of life is infact to go indoor bouldering, haa haa, my marketing skills are stealthly - did you see that blinder?

At keast I can finally put that tricky pigeon poop question to bed, that wheel barrow was over half full, while sweeping it all up - all i could think was 'Living the dream Ged, living the dream.'

Did I mention...

That we have planning permission and are able to move in whenever we want so that we can start building you good people a bouldering wall?

Relief would be an inadequate word to fully convey the sense of overwhelming release that this crucial decision brings.

All the phone calls and emails and harassing of Liverpool Planning Department - I think I know them all by name now..... Has been worth it to get the green light to build the first outpost of the empire, sorry I mean dream (mwah haa haa haa)....

Thank you everyone for waiting, soon there will be a brand new blog, all official and professional, we have almost decided on a logo/brand, the proper website is under construction and we are ordering some wood soon for the whole building of a wall thang!

I know, I'm exicted too! Anyway, when I'm not totally smashed from an insane day, I'll post some new pics up and crank this whole media machine into action.

Big Love.

There could be news in the pipeline!

Nothing official just now, but positive noises of a very positive nature have recently been made in the region of the last two hurdles. Very cryptic I know, but I'm excited so I thought I would share my excitement with you!

Hold your breath....

One down! Two to go...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One of the last big three hurdles is down, our bank has agreed the loan! Yippee! We now have all the funds required to build a monster boulder centre of justice or something equally insanely cool sounding.

Just planning and the lease to nail.

Also I would just like to thank those people who emailed to tell me to keep the faith after the last rant! Honestly that was a real boost to see that you're out there and you give a damn!

More as it happens in a sort of delayed way as opposed to say, BBC News 24 where there are constant updates. Nope, off to make a coffee now, mooch around and recover after climbing in Climb Newcastle's 2nd birthday comp. Dropped some silly problems that i felt daft about, but did manage to climb the legendary Byker Groove. The groove is an annual problem set by Chris Graham (aka Springer) a master of flexibility, dynamic power and sheer technical deviousness. A visionary setter and particle physicist - now thats an unusual mix!

Have a good weekend!

Cusp - what cusp? What is a cusp?

You know folks, I believed it when I blogged it, I really did. For some reason I thought the previous three month long pattern of a date being promised to me by someone and then being pushed back was going to stop.

I thought the bank manager was going to stick to giving us our decision on Wednesday.
I thought planning was coming on Oct 19th.
I thought we were in there with the lease.

I was in some ways wrong and in other ways naive.

The bank man is now saying tomorrow.
Planning now due next week.
Lease negotiations practically done (but still incomplete).

In fairness I should have known this would happen, but there has to come a point where somebody makes good on one of these dates otherwise no wall would ever get built. Planning has to be completed by Nov 15th by their own rules, so there is one final date. The bank wanted some extra figures, which they have now, so tomorrow should be a reality. The lease is with the legals folk now so we have done what we can.

The people we have been dealing with have generally been upfront and progressive, Liverpool Planning Dept, despite all the bad things I heard about planners on the grapevine, have been beyond reproach and have really outdone themselves (Vickie V deserves a medal).

I have nothing to calibrate this experience against, is this good, but feels bad because I'm in it? Are we making excellent progress for a startup in a severe recession? Who knows?

What is a blogger supposed to do? Should I just post saying 'nothing definite to report!'? Or should I should I give my opinion based on the best info I have at the time?

I nearly drank a bottle of red wine about midday on Tuesday such was the frustration. I went climbing instead and got on with coaching the young people of the North East at the wonderful Climb Newcastle. I like it there, good vibe, good staff. The value of good staff is immeasurable, not once have I walked in and not been greeted, owners Andy and Chris have been a source of brilliant advice and support and clearly owed some form of gin.

From here on in, the blog should perhaps be my ranting space and then BOOM! out of the blue, without warning (tautologous there!) I say 'People we build now!' and the Liverpool climbing community rejoice. Speaking of you instead of me, is anyone going to the Ron Fawcett lecture on Nov 10th? Quite fancy a look myself, Fawcett being a bit of leg-end!

Rant over.

On the very cusp...

So it's been quiet on the blog front. My hands are up, my head is bowed, my body language spells apology. However the silence on the blog front normally indicates that I've been busy like a bee, a notoriously busy insect.

The problem is with the nature of the business that has been going on, is that it leaves very little to actually report, phrases like, 'we might have sourced some excellent bouldering matting' or we have finalised the interior designs on our scale plasticine model etc don't really convey the progress that is being made. The progress is always inching forward, inexorably towards the point where something definite happens. Every single step before the definite is simply a possibility, no matter how possible it seems, until it is signed, dated and binding, it is nothing. Little undermines a man more than a promise unfulfilled!

What I can say for definite is that we have entered a critical phase, within ten days we will make an announcement. What it will be depends on the outcome of various processes over the next week. I am however very positive, but then you need to be an eternal optimist to support the peseverence to survive the string of setbacks and problems that befalls any project of this nature.

Your patience, you willingness to come back here and check to see if anythign is happening, is appreciated and I hope to rewards you soon with seriously cracking facility.

Hold your breath...