UKC

Evening UKC hive mind - an acquaintance is getting into trad, leads VD-ish, but a bit short on partners and knowledge of crags close to home in Preston. Not my neck of the woods either. 

Anyone have any favourite single pitch routes/crags they can recommend?

If it’s about leading rather than top-roping, why does it have to be single pitch? It's makes no difference.

Might not need to be, so if there are multi-pitch routes you'd recommend be great to hear them! I just don't think she's done any multi-pitch stuff thus far.

Splash Arete at Denham is a good V Diff , but for learning to lead at easier grades, possibly Cadshaw https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/cadshaw_rocks-1106/ is a good option for getting to trad leading or Hutton Roof is a friendly venue and easily accessible.
Give one of the local clubs such as Fylde or LC&CC a shout as well.

The obvious choice has to be Denham Quarry and particularly Splash Arete (VD). There are other worthwhile D to S routes as well. Take a midge net (standard issue for the quarries over the summer!).

I don’t know the Lancashire crags south of the Lakes, but a bit of Googling suggests that Cadshaw Rocks and Wilton 1 may be your best bet. Otherwise head a bit further to Trowbarrow, where there are a few V. Diffs including the 3-star, 2-pitch Jomo.

For those grades cadshaw is the correct answer. Then start looking at the Wiltons for the best HS and up

Although Cadshaw is a low grade crag, I feel it's not confidence inspiring. Maybe that's because all the holds seem to slope the wrong way, totally unlike Windgather where it all slopes the correct way - no elephant's arse finishes there.

I would go with the Hutton Roof recommendation - lovely atmosphere there and if it's clear you can always walk a bit further for the view over to the Lakes 

Are you sure about that, Gordon Stainforth? Please explain, without wallowing in nostalgia

Well, unless you’re doing alternate leads, leading each pitch on a longer route is like leading a single pitch, assuming there are reasonably good stances/ledges. The only difference is increasing exposure. The same applies for the second. The only other difference is that most climbs get a bit safer as you get higher up them in that, in the worst possible scenario of ripping all your gear if you fall off a single pitch route, you’re going to deck it, whereas on a longer climb, if it is reasonably steep, you’re just going to end up bouncing on the rope, with perhaps a few bruises at most.

Drive to Langdale or Borrowdale and enjoy one of the many crags they have to offer. Much more enjoyable and more likely to enthuse than spending a day scratching around with the glueys, doggers and joyriders in 'Nam.

I still get flashbacks.

Jomo is a terrible suggestion, in the latest Lancs guide it is given Severe and done in one pitch, and the start is described as feeling hard and bold, which as I did it on Sunday, I would agree with, and as there is no gear in the first pitch, not much use to learning to lead.
As to Langdale, which is my second home in the Lakes and a beautiful place and a great place to climb, but not super local to Preston, though we have climbed there of an evening.
Wilton 1 is a very poor suggestion, however Wilton 3 is a decent place for a novice with some easier well protected routes, and as I spent an hour chatting in the sun on top of the crag the other week, can say with certainty that the views from the top are very very nice, but in the quarry itself, not so grand.
Cadshaw is a sweet little spot, overlooking a stream, take a picnic, and easy to do several routes and get plenty of leading practice in, and as a natural outcrop, a little less usual for Lancashire.
Hutton Roof is gorgeous and gives stunning views into the lakes, and again easy to do several routes and get plenty of leading practice in.
Preston is a great place to live as a climber, with plenty of climbing for evening climbing available and some sublime countryside in the Trough of Bowland and elsewhere very close at hand.
Also if your friend fancies a bike ride, The Guild Wheel is excellent.

Denham, hmm, lovely views from the top, and Splash Arete is excellent, a contender for best V Diff in Lancs, but TBH Denham is not my favourite venue.

Been decades since I've been to Denham climbing, although I often see the top of it from the M61.

It might be some people's favourite venue, just not for climbing 😁

Well yes, but why would you not do alternate leads.

The only difference is increasing exposure. The same applies for the second.

Yes

The only other difference is that most climbs get a bit safer as you get higher up them in that, in the worst possible scenario of ripping all your gear if you fall off a single pitch route, you’re going to deck it, whereas on a longer climb, if it is reasonably steep, you’re just going to end up bouncing on the rope, with perhaps a few bruises at most.

Hang on a second, a moment ago you were speaking of big stances and ledges, and I cannot think of many Diffs to Severe Muti Pitch in the lakes where the a fall would involve bouncing on the rope, and possibly more than a bruise. Suggesting that tyro leaders on Diff to Severes can safely fall is not good advice and is an attitude that should be left in the climbing wall, until one is climbing harder and steeper stuff and has the experience to make risk assessments regarding gear placements and fall zones.

However I would say there is no huge mystique around Multi Pitch climbing and for me its the best type of climbing.

Personally... I think the Lancs Quarries are enough to put many newbies off climbing altogether! You need a particularly perverse streak of obsession to enjoy those midgey swamps, with their orange algae, jutting metalwork and loose blocks.

On a bright and fairly still weekend, make the 1hr 45 drive to Wrynose pass and have a good crack at Long Scar... beautiful setting, lovely rock, and loads of Diff to VS with obvious gear and intuitive and slabby climbing. Otherwise, the limestone craglets of Hutton Roof, Warton Upper and Pinnacle Crags, Fairy Steps, and (the wrong side of the border) Twistleton are enjoyable. There are a few good low-grade climbs at crags like Rylstone (Skipton area), too. Trowbarrow will be good when they are starting to find their feet, but it's quite intimidating to start with and p.2 of Jomo is the better one for a novice to lead.

If someone is trying to get into trad, try to avoid climbs that are steep, as being able to stand around fiddling with gear without pumping out is really helpful You can also do a lot of things to make this stage of their learning less stressful, e.g. mocklead a traverse along the bottom of a crag, with some "catches" where they (cautiously!) run downhill to simulate a fall for their belaying partner to arrest; mocklead with a TR; pre-place a few spaced runners to help keep them safe, whilst they plug gaps in between; ascend a rope next to them, so you can give advice and pluck them off the crag in extremis; have a good knowledge of the routes they are getting on, so you can give them calm and supportive beta where needed.

Bon chance!

For someone starting out as a single V Diff leader the descents on single pitch routes tend to be simpler. That's not to say that the practice of using proper descents on multi pitch routes is not a skill that needs learning at some point in a climbing education.

I lived in Chorley when I started leading so was often looking for these kinds of routes.

Agree with the Hutton Roof suggestion.

Chapel le Dale is also a great option (it's in the old Yorkshire Limestone).

With the quarries, I'd go for Wilton 3 but be very selective. Some of the vdiffs are way harder than others.

Jomo is a very bad idea for reasons already explained.

I'm probably at the same level as this acquaintence and I went to Wilton 3 for the first time yesterday.  Compared to Denham it's a dream in my opinion.  Far more VD opinions, with loads of gear placement options and with faces which are steep enough that a fall would hopefully not result in someone hitting ledges and breaking themselves, which was a major concern of mine at Denham (along with lack of gear placement options).

Hutton Roof is lovely as well but they are such short routes

That was my immediate thought when people suggested Cadshaw. It's a really disconcerting place to climb because of the slope of the holds, everything feels two grades harder than it is.

Thank you everyone, much appreciated thoughts.

Have climbed a lot in the Lancs quarries. Most are steep and the top-outs can be loose, Anglezarke Quarry is infamous for its coal bed. I agree about Cadshaw Rocks, the routes all feal harder than they are. A recent discovery (to me) has been  Blackstone Edge, easily reached along the Pennine Way and with many easier angled routes to practise gear placements on. Almost the local equivalent of  Windgather Rocks - The "burger van" just south of the M62, is almost worth a visit in its own right.