with Pangur Ban (HVS 5a), and Crib Pad Crack (E1 5b) (including the E3 6a Crib Direct), being the most popular routes. Marconi's Cove is a small crag about 500m away that gets a lot of afternoon sun, and contains about 30 shorter (by Fair Head standards) 20–25m single-pitch climbs from VS to E3, on more open face climbing, with Soundman (E3 5c) and Distant Voices (E3 5c) being the most regarded. Access Fair Head crag is on private property and is part of the McBride family farm, a working farm the McBride family has operated for over three centuries, but access is given. The eastern side of Murlough Bay is part of the National Trust. The McBride's "Sean's Farm" car park is near to the Ballycastle Descent Gully area, while the "National Trust" car park is closer to the Grey Man's Path Gully. From either car park, it takes about 15 minutes to reach the top of the crag. Fair Head's eastern end (the Small Crag, and the Murlough Bay bouldering area) can be approached from the Murlough Bay car park. The two main descent options to the base of the crag by foot are the popular Ballycastle Descent Gully, and the less popular Grey Man's Path Gully. Walking along the base of the Fair Head crag for any distance is not recommended as the terrain makes it time-consuming and very unpleasant, and therefore for routes in the middle of the crag that are far from the two descent gullies, a 100m abseil rope is advised (with a knot tied at the end of it for safety); several of the main routes have large boulders or metal stakes as abseil points. Climbers can stay at the crag in "Sean's Farm", where the McBride family offer basic temporary camping and some lodging facilities (including a camping barn) for a fee, while more extensive accommodation, including a hostel, can be found in nearby Ballycastle. Climbing history The first climbs at Fair Head were done in the mid-1960s by Belfast-based climbers and members of the Dublin-based Spillikin Club. Most of these climbs followed loose and dirty chimneys and are rarely repeated today, however, by the end of the sixties development of the crag had started in earnest. Development slowed during the height of the troubles in the early 1970s, but development picked up again in the late seventies, led by the husband-and-wife