Hanging Rock

Hanging Rock is a prominent limestone crag opposite Gortatole outdoor adventure centre in Co Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. At the base of the crag there is a nature preserve. Some of the trees in this nature reserve have New Forest beech-lichen (Enterographa elaborata) on them. This is a very rare lichen in the UK and it is known to exist in one other location, the new forrest.

The quality of the rock at Hanging Rock looks good. I explored some way along the base of the crag last saturday evening, but had to leave before nightfall.

There are some routes recorded on the face, but I have not yet managed to get any information about them, I intend to do this and then to explore the face for some unclimbed lines. It seems that there has not been much climbing there for quite some time and this gives me hope that I will be able to forge a new route or two up the main face. (I'll keep you all posted)

The face appears to be about 60 m in height.

Hanging Rock is also the name of a large basalt outcrop located in the vicinity of Woodend in Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 75 kilometres north-west from Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria.

Hanging Rock is well known to Australians due to a famous Australian movie called Picnic at Hanging Rock. The movie was made in 1976 and is directed by Peter Weir, with the screenplay by Cliff Green from a novel by Joan Lindsay. The story is based on fact and concerns a picnic at the rock by a group of schoolgirls, during which some of the girls disappear in mysterious circumstances.

Hanging Rock is also reknown for being the hiding place of Mad Dog Morgan, one of the more violent and notorious bushrangers in Australian history. It has been a popular picnic spot and tourist attraction in Australia for over a century.