On that basis I think the Filton guy did the right thing, provided had they not been able to give climb they would have then kept you inside tha SMAC chart area. I can only summise that it was assured that you would get climb before the boundary.
Yes. There was little doubt in my mind that the level
was terrain-safe for the time being, and I imagine the controller allocated the level for the time being on the basis that he knew it was terrain-safe, whether I did or not. If I had been seriously worried about terrain clearance, I guess I could have asked to be on vectors until I was above the MSA I required. Does this aspect change in March with the new ATSOCAS? I haven't checked.
Sorry to have missed you there - saw your aircraft on the screen in ops, I was there between 11 and 1400 .
Likewise, sorry I missed you. I wasn't there long.