Popular Gloucester climbing centre set to close

Popular climbing centre set to close A climbing centre is set to close at the end of November, after 30 years of business.

The Warehouse first opened in the centre of Gloucester in 1994 and at the time was one of just five dedicated climbing centres in the UK.

Owners say they have outgrown the old Victorian building, so they are moving to brand new facilities which they say will "allow us to become one of the best in Europe again".

The new climbing park is set to open in December.

Director Robert Stevens said it was time to move on: "We've almost outgrown our current facilities, so it's the end of an era for many of us that learned to climb in Gloucester and learned to climb at The Warehouse.

"We've had 300,000 people through the doors with memberships alone, but unfortunately climbing has evolved in that time so we're winding up and closing the business on the 28 November with a big party."

Robert said there is good news for climbers as they will open again a week later in a brand new climbing park: "Luckily we're also opening a new climbing centre, 270 climbing in Bentham, where the domes used to be.

"What 270 will do is allow us to become one of the best in Europe again."

Climbing has seen a huge growth in popularity in recent years, most recently helped by Team GB's success at the Paris Olympics, and the indoor climbing industry has changed beyond recognition since The Warehouse first opened.

Mr Stevens said the new facilities will be very different to the current centre, which was started as a labour of love in an old rundown warehouse.

"There was around 2,000 pigeons, most of the windows were broken and it was mostly done with semi-voluntary labour. It was a real passion of people in the area. It was almost crowdfunding before crowdfunding existed and we signed up over 30 shareholders who invested in the project."

The second phase of the £7m Climbing Park at Bentham opens on 6 December.

The new bouldering gym is over five times the footprint of The Warehouse.

Visitors will also be able to use a range of walls up to 4.5m (14.7ft) high.

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