Climbing Walls in Reading and the Thames Valley

Roped climbing in Reading

Parthian Climbing Reading, formerly Reading Climbing Centre, sits off Britten Road just outside the town centre, with plenty of parking. It has about 120 top-rope and auto-belay routes and 75 lead routes, reset quarterly, and more than 100 boulder problems from VB to V8+ across ten circuits, plus a competition wall. The training area has a big woody and circuit, finger and campus boards, and the free-weights gym is included for over-18s. Experienced climbers can boulder after watching the induction video; beginners book rope tasters and beginner courses.

The Climbing Hangar

The Climbing Hangar Reading is a bouldering wall near the Madejski Stadium, with routes reset weekly, a Kilter Board and other training boards, a strength gym and a coffee shop. Shoe hire is free with every visit, timetabled group classes are included in entry, and Para Peaks for para climbers runs on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Children must be at least 4, and under-14s must be supervised.

Oakwood

Oakwood Climbing Centre, on Waterloo Road between Wokingham and Bracknell, is run by a Christian youth charity that has used the site for outdoor activities since 2003. It has a long competition wall, an island and top-out areas for bouldering, 9-metre walls with top ropes, auto-belays and lead lines, a training area and a kids' area with a slide. There's no need to book. In 2026 Oakwood joined the Independent Climbing Wall Collective, so its members get a free visit a month at other walls in the network.

Around the Thames Valley

• Northway Climbing Centre in Newbury is independent and family-run, five minutes' walk from the station, with a large bouldering room, a rope room with top-rope and lead lines and a 2016 MoonBoard.
• Slough Climbing Wall, in the Ice Arena on Montem Lane, is a 7.5-metre wall with seven auto-belays and roped lines from F3+ to F7c, run by Kuluar Climbing. It has no bouldering area.
• Wycombe Leisure Centre at Handy Cross has 17 roped lines, eight with auto-belays, and you can lead on the fixed quickdraws with your own rope once you've passed the safety test.

Prices

In October 2026 an adult day pass cost £13 at Northway and Slough, £14 at Oakwood, £16 at Parthian and £17 at the Climbing Hangar, where shoe hire is included. Monthly memberships ran from about £38 at the Climbing Hangar to £48 at Oakwood, £50 at Northway and £60 at Parthian. Parthian charges a one-off £3.50 registration fee, and its memberships also cover its other centres, including Southampton (but not its London Font walls). Oakwood's off-peak entry on term-time weekdays was £9.

Beginners and children

Bouldering is the simplest start: the Climbing Hangar adds a 30-minute Intro to Bouldering for £5, and Northway books new boulderers on a 20-minute induction. For ropes, Oakwood runs a two-week beginners' rope course, Wycombe has Rock Start sessions working towards its safety test, and at Slough a 30-minute supervised session is the suggested first visit for anyone aged 6 or over. Parthian runs Wild Climbers for ages 3 to 6, tasters for 7 to 15-year-olds and NICAS, the Climbing Hangar's Rock Club Mini (4 to 6) and Rock Club Junior (7 to 13) follow the NICAS syllabus, and Oakwood has a kids' area for younger climbers.

Climbing outdoors

There's no rock in Berkshire. The nearest crags are the Southern Sandstone outcrops on the Kent and Sussex border, such as the BMC-owned Harrison's Rocks, where routes are top-roped from fixed anchors, and the limestone sport climbing of Portland in Dorset. For Oxford's walls, see our Oxford page.