Now on Amazon's Kindle

Get it here at Amazon UK
or here for the US store

We've eventually moved into the future with ol' Whip and made him available on Amazon's Kindle. Although I'll always be a dull old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud when it comes to books, even I have to admit that the pictures come out really well on electronic devices. Oh - and the pricing is great - especially without shipping of course!

N'old Skool.

Hadn't noticed this one...

"And it is in warm salutation to this long under-reported Cambridge tradition, yet one as integral as passing the port bottle to the left, that the Oleander Press have reprinted this gem of a guide..."


A rather nice review of the Trinity guide appeared back in January; thanks guys.

At last!!

Eventually I've managed to sort some T-shirts. I know, it's only taken a couple of years... But boy are they worth the wait. I've created an online shop called 3 Seconds to Live and it's now open. The extremely popular postcard designs have been tweaked to work on the shirts - to great effect I think you'll agree. Each design is available on a number of varieties of shirt - just click on the 'Designs' tab and then the design you like to see what's available. The site will also carry other fun designs we come up with - some from Oleander books, some not. Go check it out!!!

"For if the signs of our times are more trustworthy than the structures...

...an era is again impending when the Roof and the Wall shall be put to their proper purpose."

I'm extremely proud to announce the republication of a lost masterpiece of climbing literature. As you all know, the whole night climbing cannon was initiated by the excellent Roof-climber's Guide to Trinity, written by Geoffrey Winthrop-Young in 1900 whilst a student there. This spawned a small family of titles including two later editions of his guide, a guide to St John's and, of course, the infamous Night Climbers of Cambridge by Whipplesnaith in 1937.

What few people know though is that, before he started writing the legitimate climbing guides which would embellish his illustrious climbing career, he penned a remarkable tome whilst still a teacher at Eton in 1905. Called simply Wall and Roof Climbing, this exuberant book strives to map the literary history of this largely-subversive sport. Digging out references to the practice by leading authors and poets from the last 2000 years, he weaves an almost entirely believable tradition of written celebration in the sport.

Working from the author's own copy – probably the last copy in existence – and in collaboration with his family, Oleander has brought this complex, erudite and fascinatingly entertaining classic back to life. Obviously I'm going to say this but – every fan of literature or climbing, regular and roof, should have this in their library. It's an extraordinary achievement.

A Thing of (delayed) Beauty

"Then care- and rope-free, we may wander hither and thither; with the collective wisdom of the ages safely locked up and trodden under our feet, with the rival auspices of Cambridge creeds and cults opening out in vistas of unreal transparency about us and illuminated only from below,and know our own heads and dreams to be set high above them among the stars."

Considering it's not a mighty tome, there seems to have been an inordinate number of bugs and problems resulting in the tardy appearance of the 2nd Edition of The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity. But then, it's been gone 79 years so an extra month is probably no great shakes. And then, it arrived the day before Oleander moved to a land sans internet for two weeks so I'm only able to tell you of it now.

Including and supplementing the information from two chapters in the previous guide, the 1930 second edition is otherwise completely rewritten and incorporates new routes, quotes, illustrations and a new format.

Although barely granted publication permission by Geoffrey Winthrop-Young, the authors of the 2nd edtion rightly noted that 'The conquest of the Great Gate in November 1927 marked a new epoch;' and that 'so many fresh climbs have been discovered in the subsequent three years, that a fuller edition of the old guide was felt to be desirable'.

Available from the Oleander website now.

Student prank ends in police dog attack and hospital

"THE Night Climbers of Cambridge are famous for their clandestine forays up university colleges – but one intrepid undergraduate’s adventure ended in a bite from a police dog..."

From today's Cambridge Evening News. I'm not sure calling the police was the most expedient of moves...

By the way - the 2nd edition (1930) of The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity arrived (eventually) from the printers yesterday and is available from Oleander's site. I apologise in advance for any delay in delivery as I'm moving house/office today and tomorrow but I I'll definitely get them out to you on Monday.