Thursday Night Club

20th March 2009 - Lost Johns

2009-03-21T23:55:00.002Z

It was quite an evening in Yorkshire. Wonderful light provided by a sun on an early Spring afternoon. Waiting at Devils Bridge it seemed that the whole world was in their cars, but driving up onto Leck fell we surfaced into a halcyon landscape which we had to ourselves as per usual. We headed off down into Lost Johns again, this time the whole team knew where to go, and travelled down four abseils to the sump. We negioatiated the duck en route which seemed the only unpleasant part of the whole system. Back in the Snooty Fox we saw that next Friday is disco night. Something to look forward to at last.

13th March 2009 - Lost Johns

2009-03-14T09:45:00.003Z

With a combined age of over 200 years (when will these guys grow up), the team assembled on Leck fell with an assortment of rope lengths (with a combined age of at least 200 years thanks to Johns museum piece). As usual, some of the team tried to look like they knew what was going on and where the cave was whilst Dick effortlessly put the correct ropes into the correct bags and headed off. We choose two routes down into Lost Johns and had a near faultless trip, meeting up at the swopover for a break.

Phil in New Roof Traverse

Phil's lights were on there way out and Tom's resourcefulness was never challenged as he arranged a jury rig which got the job done and saw him out.

Phil exploring the cave - without a light!

As usual, it was nice to stand out amongst the posh lot in the Snooty Fox where they had matching glasses for each brew of beer. There was talk of an end of season bash but as usual, no driver could be thought of. John tried to engineer an early end to the season but it seems trips up until Easter, not the spring equinox, will have to be tackled.

CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW

5th March. Mistral Hole to Link Pot.

2009-03-09T17:15:00.005Z

The ice gleamed blue in the sunshine and high above a Condor wheeled in the warm air high above the South Patagonian Ice Cap. The horses, grazing quietly on some scrubby grass were glad of the rest after the tough going of the last few hours as John had struggled to find a way around the glacier moraine ... or so he wished. Why was he standing at the top of the Mistral he wondered, on a Thursday night of all nights, facing the next few hours of darkness, wetness and tightness when the rest of the world was beckoning and anything was better than this.

No Comment

The Mistral/Link connection is the remaining section to be checked leading to the linking of sections to become what was at one time the longest underground trip in England, Pippikin to Top Sink. Mistral entrance leads to a drop down to a left hand bend and continuing rift passage that seems less strenuous after having done it a few weeks back. At the top of a 3.7m climb the way on is to the left over a boulder and into a rift which changes to a flat out crawl under a cross rift to emerge in The HOBBIT, a flat roofed chamber.

At the far side of The HOBBIT a fine walking sized passage passes two ropes, past these a large boulder in the middle of the passage at a right hand bend is met, down a trench in the floor the passage changes to a phreatic tube carrying a stream, eventually a slide over calcite on the right drops to a low passage which degenerates to a wet and muddy crawl. Soon drier passage is met and a tall rift in a wide bedding is followed its around two bends up a slope into the low wide flat-roofed chamber of DUSTY JUNCTION with cairn straight ahead. On entering Dusty Junction the draught which whistles through Mistral can be followed around to the left to enter Trowel Crawl which is the way through to Link Pot.

This route is described as Trowel Crawl and the Muddy Wallows! Setting off down the passage the roof quickly came down and the water rose up. Crawling through cold water with gloopy mud underneath it and the roof lowering to flat out crawling eventually led into the roof going up. We had done the wallows! After more crawling the passage opened out and we sort of thought that we had done it but caves have a way of tricking you and immediately, after some photos the roof came down again and we were flat out squeezing through a shingly crawl. On the other side taking another photo Tom realised he had left his gloves behind so he had to go back and through again!

In the Wallows

Beyond this a chamber opened up with a scenic tube heading down at an angle. At the bottom of this the roof came right down onto a wet looking squeeze, this really was 'the wallows'. With head to one side, breathing through the side of the mouth and lots of hiffing and blowing the tight bit was passed. The others came through with helmets off that made ot slightly easier. We were very wet and cold by now and we pushed on towards Pybus By-pass. An awkward squeeze, well John and I made ot awkward but going face down Tom made it look a lot easier, and we popped out into Hylton Hall and our SRT gear dropped down the pitch earlier.

It was freezing at the bottom of Link as the cold air was sinking. The rift that you climb out of on SRT gear is narrow and constricted and with cold hands the change over of ropes was really hard as ones hands were so cold they didn't work. Eventually we were all out on the surface , cold, wet and looking forward to the pub or ... was it Patagonia.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SCREEN SLIDE SHOW

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF TRIP

27th February 2009 - Top Sink to Wretched Rabbit

2009-02-28T16:04:00.006Z

After a couple of weeks break for half term it was time for the TNC to get back into action. John had also returned from South America after an epic 3 month expedition and was chomping at the bit to get back underground.

Having spent the afternoon getting his gear together, John was suddenly called away on business and though he met us at Devil's Bridge, he wasn't able to join us on the trip. The look of disapointment on his face made all our spirits sink. He had been waiting for this trip for so long and had now had it cruely snatched from him.

The low cloud engulfing the moors on the way to Bull Pot farm did little to dry out our dampened enthusiasm, but at least it wasn't actually raining as we changed outside the farm. We took the well trodden path across the moor and were soon passing the familiar entrances of County and Wretched Rabbit. Top sink though, as its name implies, lies far beyond these and we located it's covered entrance just before night took hold.

Walrus Pitch

Dropping down the entrance climb brings you into a fine meandering streamway whose proportions keep passage with a tackle bag interesting. The first pitch, Walrus, is well formed too, with an interesting move around a corner onto the pitch head and a well deviated hang to avoid the water. Once again the way on is along the streamway before the second, Penknife, pitch. Once along Bradshaw's passage the route finding becomes more interesting, though fortunately Tom always remembered the way on at the trickier points.

Bradshaws Passage

We stopped to take photos of the huge perched blocks in Nagasaki, I hadn't been expecting caverns of this size this far up the system. Back in the more defined streamway we soon found ourselves looking down into a chamber I finally recognised. There was the rib we'd climbed a few weeks previously on our visit to Easter grotto. Another short climb brought us down into the Assembly hall and the well decorated Whiteway that links it to Thackray's passage.

Nagasaki Cavern

The water level in Thackray's was much higher than on our previous visit and we were initially unable to locate the slot through to the dry oxbow that allows further progress down stream.
Having found it and carrying one set of SRT gear, on arriving at Holbeck Junction we decided to exit via Spiral Staircase passage to bypass the lower reaches of Wretched Rabbit.
Though Tom probably didn't see what all the fuss was about, I was definitely glad of the security of a pair of jammers on the second climb. Almost happy to be drawn into its confines by a tight rope rather than fearing being pushed out of it had I been relying on chimneying up it.
The streamway that followed was reminiscent of the passageway below Top Sink, though we were also rewarded with some fine formations.

You think it's been a long week when you find yourself slithering back down the rope on the final climbs out of Wretched Rabbit and you know it's been a long week when your companion has to point out to you that you can stop crawling as you're outside the cave.

A really good trip out and highly recommended, especially with the exit via Spiral Staircase.

Click here for video of the trip

Click here for full screen slideshow

23rd January 2009 - Destination damnation

2009-01-24T13:01:00.007Z

Easegill again ... but this time it was to be one of the many caves that link into the main drain via miles of small passages and sumps. This trip saw us dropping down another RRPC dry stone walled shaft into the tortuous rift that is called Mistral Hole. Twenty minutes of crawling and manoeuvring around left and right angled bends leads one to Dusty Junction, where a left turn leads to Link Pot and straight on goes towards the HALL of TEN.

Hall of The Ten

In there we dropped down into the Pippikin Streamway and followed a meandering passage back towards the last pitch in Pippikin for a while. Retracing our steps to Hall of Ten we ascended the south slope to a silt balcony and a junction of tunnels. To the left a route descended into the fantastically gloopy mud of the HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING where we found an amazing piece of mud art!

We then followed the Wellington Boot Traverse and a scramble up a mud slope to gain the high level passages of GOTHIC SERIES and the HALL OF THE DAMNED with a huge fill of boulders and avens.

Back at the junction the main route continues straight on from the wide chamber as a wide and low passage into the vastness of CROSS HALL where an aven inlet sank in a mass of boulders. At this point we thought we were in Gour Hall (but queried why there were no gour pools!!). We hadn't actually got there so ... we will have to return again! Alistair descended a hole down in the bottom NE corner of the hall which lead through a squeeze to a 7m pitch followed by a 3m climb, then an unstable boulder slope and 4m pitch into a small chamber. It was a bit grim and 'out there' so he came back out!

The return journey was tiring as the passage consists of a lot of flat out crawling through sticky mud but once at Dusty Junction the out trip through the Mistral was quickly over, enticed as we were by the breeze blowing in our faces (that is why it is called the Mistral) and out into a fantastic starry night.

Click for full sized slideshow

16th January 2009 - Another fine evening in Easegill

2009-01-19T13:21:00.005Z

11 years ago in 1997 the TNC had an 'exciting half an hour' misplaced somewhere below Easegill Aven and underneath Molluscan Hall ... could we find the way through ... well we must have done because I am telling this story now (read about the 1997 trip here). The plan tonight was to start to re-explore the two ends of the trip with a view to linking it again.

We set off in slightly wet and muddier conditions than last week when the ground was well frozen, across the moor to County Pot where the familiar passages soon gave way to the ladder pitch that leads to Broadway. A quick trip down the classic streamway led to Spout Hall where a climb up into the roof gives the way into Ignorance Is Bliss, which is a bypass leading into Pierce's Passage and the route into the main drain at Eureka Junction.

In the main streamway there was evidence of very high water levels (froth in the roof up to five meters!) that must have happened when the snow and ice melted in the rain earlier in the week. A cold duck through Stop Pot saw us heading up the ladder into the High Level Route and eventually Main Line Terminus. From here the next twenty minutes were a bit frustrating because although we found the Sideline Passage where we wrongly went back in 1997, we could not find the way into the Mancunian Way and the route to Easgill Aven (just like the last time!).

A rest in Carrot Chamber in absolute silence and darkness was broken as we retraced our steps to Mainline Terminus where the Manchester Bypass was taken back to Battle of Britain Hall in County Pot. An exciting route and a useful one to learn as it affords as escape route out of the high level series if Stop Pot is flooded.

A quick return out of County and the soggy plod back across the moor saw us changed and heading towards the Barbon Inn for a pint.

More research needed on Mancunian Way next week I think.

9th January 2008 - A fine evening in Ease Gill

2009-01-11T15:54:00.006Z

Not only are the Red Rose busy above ground, renovating their Bull Pot Farm Headquarters (or are they creating a direct access from the changing rooms straight into Bull Pot of the Witches?), but they've also been busy underground too. At the bottom of the Wretched Rabbit climbs there now sits a dry stone walled entrance into the upper reaches of Spiral Staircase passage. Descending through it we were almost instantly met with the first formations of the evening, a series of pristine straws.

Spiral Staircase Passage

Photos taken, we carefully continued down via a couple of climbs with fixed ropes into Green and Smelly passage, another climb and finally to Lower 'T' Piece passage. Dick and Tom were now in terrority they recognised from years previously and trips down through the Borehole or up to Top Sink. Instructions such as "follow downstream" were harder than usual to follow as most of the water that usually flows down through the Ease Gill lay frozen on the surface. Despite the drought like conditions not helping navigation we soon found ourselves at Holbeck junction, a point we would be returning to later in the evening. We were once again surrounded by impressive decorations as we made our way up the Thackray's Passage streamway and up into the White Way.

White Way

This opens out into the Assembly Hall and the first of the climbs that lead up into Easter Grotto.

Easter Grotto

While the floor is no longer pure white and some formations have been destroyed since its discovery back in the Easter of 1951, it is still an impresive place to visit and the rusty, pineapple like features on some of the stal were a new sight for me. The taped route takes you through into a parallel and slightly less well decorated passage before an ominous looking hole appears in the floor. Dropping through this, the way on is via a 30m long crawl. The crawl is not overly high and a couple of stalagmite stumps restrict movement further. Its floor however is made of calcite and with a bit of water on top of it, progress can be made quite easily by sliding your body along. Over enthusiasm for this means of propulsion needs to be curtailed before the end of the passage however as it appears from a slot about 2m above the floor at the end of Gypsum Cavern. Tackling this obstical headfirst would probably hurt. The cavern is higher than Easter Grotto so its stalagtites hang a safe distance above cavers' heads in all their glory.

Gypsum Caverns

Climbing out of the cavern up another fixed rope soon brought us back to Holbeck junction and the route through to Stop pot. From here it's possible to return directly to Wretched rabbit but we took advantage of the low water conditions and made our way down the trickle of a stream to Eureka junction. Standing with the water barely lapping over our feet it was sobbering to see froth on the roof of the passageway. Then it was 'just' back up Wretched Rabbit to the frozen moor.

CLICK HERE FOR SLIDE SHOW

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THIS TRIP

31st December 2008 A Yorkshire Classic

2009-01-01T12:48:00.001Z

One of the wonders of our technological age is the speed with which news can travel around the globe.
Barely had the dust settled from the Skylight Passage breakthrough before word had made it across the channel and members of the overseas contingent of the TNC were heading from the cave bereft Vercors to Calais and the first ferry to Yorkshire.
After driving through freezing mist, Ingleton was reached where a recent copy of Descent and a pair of Wellingtons (obviously given the person they're named after they can't sell these in France) were quickly purchased. The survey was then hastily photocopied (it's worth knowing that the very pleasant lady in the Ingleton post office has a copier for these sort of occasions) before we headed up and out of the fog onto sun drenched tops.
The walk over the fell was superb with just the tops of the Marble steps trees poking out of the fog with the shapely summit of Ingleborough behind. Cresting the hill, the majestic Lake District fells too appeared island like above the sea of cloud.
Dropping into the depression that surrounds the cavern we said goodbye to the sun for the last time this year and made our way down through stalagtites and columns of ice before reaching the first of the pitches.
With Ding, Dong and Bell behind us we passed the bottom of Bubble's route before packing away the SRT gear and climbing up into the Glory Holes. The crawl leading away from these had a sauna like quality and a brief break in the Lounge allowed us chance to adjust clothing before pushing on through the Turtle crawl and its green, half shelled inhabitants.
Struggling with a tackle sack along, first Cripple creek and then Numpty rift, Paul cheerily reminded me that not far below us was the huge stomping tunnel of Duke street - not much consolation. This was however provided by the formations and generous dimensions of Womack chamber.
Beyond this point is a true Indiana Jones style adventure with in situ rope ladders taking you up and down through a series of relatively tight crawls before the final fun and games of the breakthrough point pop you out at a traverse across a wall high above the passage floor. A final climb down then drops you into the vastness of Jupiter cavern.
After a brief explore it was time to drop down into Escalator rift and finally a piece of passage way I recognised from our previous visit to Ireby II. Paul stepped into Duke Street II finally fulfilling a long held dream of visiting this side of the sump.
The Skylight passage crawl felt far more spacious than previously, though I think this is in comparison to what had gone before rather than further excavation since our last visit. The passageway to the bottom of the first pitches seemed longer than ever and by the time we passed the entrance to the Glory Holes once again I was beginning to feel the effects of the journey and happily passed derigging duties over to Paul.
Under clear skies the temperature on the surface had dropped even further and Paul's bare hands stuck to the first rung on the metal ladder in the entrance pipe. Avoiding touching the higher rungs we emerged onto the moor to a stunning display of stars and a sliver of the moon, having completed what must become one of the classic yorkshire caving trips.
Huge thanks have to go to those who pioneered both the dry routes through to Ireby II making this trip possible and to Dave in Inglesport for his helpful advice on completing the trip.

23rd December 2008 Through to Ireby II

2009-01-01T12:44:00.003Z

As previously reported the epic dig from Whirlpool chamber in Ireby has now gone so it was now time for the TNC to see what lay beyond. After a visit to the sump we retraced our steps and headed up into the aptly named Skylight passage.

far side of Ireby II sump

Fortunately in the week or so since the breakthrough, substantial further widening had taken place and Dick was soon climbing down the ladder into Ireby II. Making our way along the canal brought us into the magnificently proportioned Duke Street II which joins the small number of sequels such as the Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II which are actually better than the original. Arriving at the sump we finally got to see the other end of the blue pipe that took water from behind the dam in Duke Street and allowed it to drain back through the sump, a truly ingenious solution. Passing incredibly stratified mud banks we then followed the streamway up through the continuation of Duke St. Had our flash guns recieved a little more tender loving care we would probably have been able to capture the fantastic proportions of the tunnel, but my neglect left Tom very little light to work with.

Duke Street II

At the end of the large passage way there are two obvious ways on. To the right led to a low crawl who's aqueous nature soon put me off and to the left the way on to Escalator rift. After a short recce we retraced our steps to the canal and the short climb up to the Skylight passage. Then back up the ropes to the entrance.

Click here for Video of the trip

Ireby Fell Cavern Entrance

19th December 2008 Lancaster Hole

2009-01-01T12:43:00.002Z

While the end of the Autumn term is always worth marking, today also marked Dick's retirement so it was off to Lancaster hole to celebrate. Dick's a popular man but I don't think even he could believe the number of cars already parked at Bull Pot farm and the number of teams already chalked up on the board. This on one of the wettest days we've had.

Bull pot Farm Changing rooms - now being revamped

Sheltering under the eaves of the farm house we debated our options, standing waiting at the top of Lancaster on an evening such as this, as lots of people make their way out isn't a very pleasant experience. Our indecision paid off however as one by one groups came and rubbed their names off the board and we decided to change and head across the fell. Timing it to perfection we arrived just as the final member of a party was coming out of the entrance on their "last caving trip" (if you reconsider and go again and would like the items you left at the top of the pitch back, please leave a comment).

Wet day in Lancaster Hole

The normally dry pitch was in full flow and it was with relief we headed into Bridge Hall and down into Kath's Way.

Kath's Way

With the amount of water about we had decided on more modest objectives and after a trip to the edge of Fall Pot, made our way into Wilf Taylor's passage.

Wilf Taylors Passage

After visiting the water coming through from Bull Pot of the Witches we made our way back to the ropes with a short Champagne stop on route. Heading up the ropes when we arrived were a party who'd made their way from Top sink, an impressive achievement given the amount of water about. The climb up allowed sufficient opportunity to clean all our gear, as the spray exploding off the ledges fired water at you from every direction. From the top of the pot we set off to enjoy the rest of the Christmas holidays and for Dick the start of a new chapter in life- here's to you.

Bubbles down Ireby Fell Caverns 12/12/08

2008-12-13T12:38:00.014Z

Bubbles ... soft, light, colourful, floating on a gentle breeze... who the hell named a narrow small stream passage 'Bubbles Route' someone called Bubble I assume. Well, this recently opened route led Tom and I down into Ireby Fell Caverns on a wet, cold night. Descending the bottom pitch of Bubbles we turned right to go down to the mainstream way and Dukes Street.

'I don't recognise this' said Tom after we had crawled for a few minutes through a muddy though well decorated passage (it turned out later to be an area called the Glory Holes) that ended in a dig. A few photos later we decided to return to the main passage to find another way on when below us through the rift we heard voices, we were in the roof of the stream way in a fossilised stream passage.

Tom in the Glory Hole area

Dick sitting over the rift where the voices carried up from the lower stream way

A couple of minutes later we dropped down where we had previously gone on and were in the stream way heading for the large passage of Duke Street.

Just upstream of the sump in Whirlpool Chamber (previously reported and photographed in the annals of the TNC) we caught up with the other cavers as they were ascending the electron ladder to the roof entrance of the newly opened link to Ireby ll (bypassing the sump). This had been broken through last Sunday following an epic dig led by the Misty Mountain Mud Miners. Easy crawling through well excavated passage led to a closing down of passage size as markers on the walls showed progess towards Ireby ll. When the breakthrough area was reached the ferrets who opened it showed their size as it was a bit squalid and small and lacking moral fibre I called Tom to a halt and we retreated vowing to return another time when we would bring more courage to push on with.

The return was quickly completed, the decision made to come out via the main route (which was rigged much to my relielf as I didn't want to go up Bubbles thrutch!) Getting to the bottom of the first pitch was interesting as we could see the rope but the way on was a slot that was quite snug! We climbed over the top and did rock moves rather than the squeeze, only to find a cobble crawl under the wall that we had missed in the streamway!

A while later and we exited the well engineered entrance pitches into the rain once more. We will return soon to explore Ireby ll (when Ali gets out of his Bubbles Route bed duvet and joins us once more! Get well soon mate!).

Kerplunk 27/11/08

2008-11-30T17:00:00.008Z

-2 degrees, frost getting harder and light snow on the ground. Must be time to go caving again. A reduced team Sharon, Tom and Dick changed in the gathering dusk to make a descent of Notts II.

The two minute walk to the well engineered shaft entrance was bitter but as soon as we dropped below the manhole cover the temperature rose to a balmy 8 Celsius. For those of you who have never been down Notts II the first 150 feet is a dug shaft expertly glued together with a mixture of expanded foam, concrete, breeze blocks and scaffolding bars.

The bottom of the excavated pitches brings one out at Mincemeat Aven where my namesake Dick Gerrish made the famous breakthrough into Notts II after years of digging (read about it here) where a short walk bring you out of Inlet 13 into the mainstream way, previously only accessible to divers from Notts 1.

Walking upstream we arrived at a muddy bank, the start of a crawl to Estonia. Who would have thought that such a small, muddy crawl would bring you to a pristine chamber with beautiful flowstone formations. Long may they remain such spectacular formations and not befall the vandalism that so many Yorkshire Caves have suffered by foolish cavers who destroy the very features they go to see :(

Back in the mainstream way more wading upstream led us to Curry Inlet and more spectacular formations that the TNC had visited earlier in the year .

At the far end of Curry Inlet we followed a muddy tube that is obviously being pushed by those troglodytes of the caving world, those strange beings who spend the twilight hours between the end of work one day and the start of work the next day digging in the mud. Through gloopy liquid mud, through a flat out section in said mud we arrived at a vertical tube up into the the floor of a mud chamber. Technical bridging up the muddy tube led to a flop into the mud chamber with a small muddy passage leading off under the wall. Tom's sandbag was that the formations were as beautiful as Estonia, we fell for it!

Once back into Curry Inlet the water ran muddy as we tried to clean our gear and then take a photo of a beautiful thin white fin of calcite that ran off the wall only centimetres from the mud bank.

The return down the stream way was accompanied by the muddy water we had made. Several side passages were explored but no new pretties were found so at Inlet 13 the turn out was made to start the re climb of the shaft know to the TNC as Kerplunk (you know that game where balls are held up behind bars wedged across a cylinder ... see the imagery?).

Back on the surface, out from the balmy warmth of Notts 2, well, enough said, the temperature was even lower! A quick change and then off to warm up in the Snooty Fox in Kirkby Lonsdale.

21st November 2008 - Where there's a worm, there's a way

2008-11-22T09:25:00.010Z

Ray en-route to 88' pitch

In preparation for a traverse of the Easegill system later on in the season, this evening we made a return to Link pot.

There's something I like about snow flurries lit by the beam from your headtorch. It's possibly as it reminds me of when the Millenium Falcon makes its jump to hyperspace, the stars flying past at unimaginable speed. Soon though the real stars crept through the clouds and we made our way across the fell under a nothern winter sky, Orion just rising over the horizon.
While half the resident bat population of Hilton hall has decided to settle in for the winter, the other half was still very active, navigating its way at high speed around the complicated nooks and crannies of the chamber.

We dropped down through boulders into an awkwardly sized vadose rift, before another skwirm through boulders brought us to more solid streamway and the pitch in Echo aven. While the pitch seems to be permantly rigged for those completing the traverse, Tom thought he recognised the rope from when he had done the trip 15 years previously and so we rigged our rope too. Some of the older bolts and the karabiner on the deviation are certainly showing signs of having been underground for a good number of years.

As Tom arrived at the bottom of the pitch, the warm, soft glow of Ray's carbide lamp appeared at the top. Caving with LEDs is a bit like central heating; efficient and economical, but it does make you miss the glow and crackle of a real fire.

The way on lies under a shelf in an innocuous little streamway that Dick was quick to remind us, "fills to the roof in even moderate rain". There are signs of flooding everywhere, foam in the roof and every surface covered in mud deposits in which the eponymous worms of the Wormway live. An aven gives brief respite from the streamway. The colours in the formations a stark contrast to the omnipresent mud of the tunnel. Tatters of bang wire evidence of possible further exploration and clawed scratch marks on the walls evidence of more sinister activities?

In the Wormway

Back in the sewer a right and then a left brings you to another aven, which in turn leads to the bottom of the 88' pitch, our goal for the evening. Once again we found this rigged and though it held Dick and Ray's combined weight, we're probably going to have a trip to see what it's attached to at the top.

The 88' Pitch

The return took Ray in search of a waterfall down one of the previously unexplored passageways only for him to find himself at a sump, the sound of falling water being the sound of him crawling through the passage!

Once again Tom, our directeur de photographie managed to convince members of our party to lay in cooling pools of mud in his continuous search for the shot to epitomise the sheer joy of caving (it will have to have John in it).

Dick enjoying the Wormway

Throughout the whole of the return journey I was thinking about the last few awkward meanders and weaving the tackle bag back through them. It came as a very pleasant surprise therefore to be moving easily through a high bedding plane, looking down on the trench that had previously caused such grief.

On the way out

Out on the moors once again, the skies had cleared and we made our way back to Bull Pot farm under a stunning array of constilations and a lone shooting star, streaking its way across the sky.

click for video

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SCREEN SLIDE SHOW

14th November 2008 - Buy one get one free

2008-11-15T09:15:00.007Z

Not one cave this week but two. Getting changed on a cold windy evening by the side of the road in Barbondale came as a welcome relief for Dick. For most of the last year he's been staying in a series of luxury hotels ("I'm sure it said hostel" said Sharon) on his round the world trip. We were planning a trip down Crystal Cave, roadside caving at its best, lying only 91m from the road. After about 500m making our way up a streamway we realised we must be in the wrong beck.

Returning to the car and driving about 1km back down the valley, we headed once again up the hillside and soon arrived at the cave entrance. If you were to ask a child to draw a picture of a cave entrance, they'd probably draw something fairly similar to the dark opening now in front of us. They might not include quite so much water pouring out of it though. Not wishing to share its home with three damp cavers a tiny dipper flew out of the cave as we entered and we were left alone with the spiders and streamway. After only a few metres the cave roof begins to descend and we soon found ourselves lying prone in a babbling brook with no way on for mammals unable to hold their breath underwater for prolonged periods of time. Having only been underground for less than ten minutes we decided we hadn't yet deserved our pint and so returned once again to the car.

Driving ********* ** *** *** *** ***** *** *** **** **** *** ******. ******* ** *** ****** ** ******* ***** ** and arrived at the now beautifully engineered entrance to Cave X.
Making our way through the sporting entrance series we soon arrived in the large chamber offering a choice of ways on. We headed first of all upstream admiring the stunning helictites that were so fine they looked like moss.

Helictites in Cave X

For the second time of the evening we were halted by sumped passageway and so after retracing our steps began the journey through jumbled boulders, following the water deeper into the cave.

Dick at pitch head - without ladder :(

With no ladder on the pitch we briefly explored up another streamway before Dick was given a lesson in using the camera and a return to the surface.

Dicks first go at "proper" cave photography

Phil now has this caving lark completely worked out and he was just moving onto pudding as we joined him in the pub.

CLICK HERE FOR SLIDE SHOW

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF TRIP

7th November 2008 - A new season begins

2008-11-08T09:32:00.012Z

The clocks have gone back and there's a chill in the air so John has declared the TNC caving season open.
As a nice opening trip we decided upon a gentle, SRTless return visit to Notts II.

First trip of the year

No matter how many times you descend through the patchwork of building materials that make up the dug entrance to Notts II, I don't think you can fail to me impressed by the commitment and tenacity of its instigators.
The scafolding, breeze blocks and ladders soon bring you into the natural passageway of Inlet 13, which inturn connects with the main streamway. Heading up stream following the deeply cut vadose trench we meandered up to the Tay Bridge which, not heeding McGonagall's advice, seems a little short on butresses as it spans over the down cut trench, just before the nick point.
Leaving the trench the passageway takes on a much more open appearance and the fast flowing stream is replaced by more slowly moving water that requires wading in places.
Having safely negotiated Vlad the Impaler, we took a brief but worthwhile detour to see the fantastic formations in Curry Inlet (Inlet 6).

Beautiful cascade in Curry Inlet

Continuing up the main streamway once again soon brought us to the junction with Inlet 5 which begins as a 190m tunnel which almost seems as though it was mined. It's worth keeping an eye out for the pockets in the roof, some of which contain small groups of helictites.
Though the sump at the end of the passage way looks inviting we chose instead to turn right along a short crawl into a chamber with some fine and unusual formations.

Unusual formations in Inlet 5

The way on lead up a short climb with an in situ rope. None of us having been to stay in a Spa hotel before, we couldn't be sure, but from the passage beyond we felt we had idea of why people go to them. Under subdued lighting, fine mud oozed into every pore and our bodies were massaged by the stumps of stalagmites hidden within it. All the while we were surrounded by truly majestic surroundings. Tom had even torn open the seat of his caving suit to allow the theraputic mud to penetrate even deeper.

Just like a spa break

As with all good things though, the passage finished to soon at another, larger chamber, the limit of our evening's exploration.

The furthest point of our exploration

Back once again in the main streamway, the crystal clear water was soon muddied as we washed off the acumulated mud. Tom even produced a sponge!

View a 4 minute video of the reality of this trip! Click Here

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Click Here for a video showing the full reality of this trip!

Would you go down a cave with this man?

2008-05-04T14:50:00.001+01:00

20th Mar 2008 - Stop Pot , Minarets

2008-03-21T16:24:00.009Z

The last trip of the official TNC season saw Phil, John Tom and Alistair make a quick dash to the classic photo location of the Minarets before Phil's 50th Birthday meal.

Phil at the Minarets

Thursday seems to be getting a popular night for caving as we actually had to wait for a team of two to come out of Wretched Rabbit before going into the cave, and several other groups were chalked up on the board at Bull Pot Farm. As we were limited for time we just took a few photos today, as we passed Eureka Junction, and a few in the large silent caverns of Snail and Cornes Cavern before reaching the Minarets on Phils time limit. It only took an hour to get back to the entrance from the Minarets, and that included 5 minutes searching for the connection at 4 ways chamber/depot passage. So this is the last post until the Autumn Equinox (is it John?).

Watch www.w-o-w.com/blog for a variety of summer activities!

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6th March 2008 - Cave X

2008-03-06T23:46:00.005Z

One of the fine chambers in Cave X

A real treat this week as we were lucky enough to find the location of a newly discovered cave. Although only short it had a bit of everything. Small entrance passages, large chambers, ladder pitch, streamway, waterfall, beautifully decorated chambers, a duck (that made John happy!) and a dirty sump (that made Alistair happy!)

The route finding always felt like it was going to be tricky, especially after the rather small entrance passages and the horizontal tube that had been enlarged/excavated to gain access to the main chamber. In the end you could go far wrong, although care was needed through an area of huge boulders, where you had to clamber under, over, and around to weave a way through to the fine ladder pitch.

Dark rock below the ladder pitch

The nature of the cave changed here with very dark rock and a fine waterfall. Then just around the corner a fine chamber with curtains and straws. (see above).

Through another chamber with unusual calcite formations was a cold "duck" where you had to avoid sucking in the cold water! (watch video to see John sampling the water!) Some more great formations made it worth the discomfort though and just a short way further was a dirty foamy sump, that even put Alistair off.

On the way out of the cave we briefly checked some of the other passage ways leading off the large chamber: a wet rocky passage with a gravel floor and fine helictites, a rope leading up to a small inlet amongst others. Then back up into the entrance series and our exlporation was over.

Thanks to the guys who gave us permission to check this cave - we trod very carefully!

Click here for a full screen slide show

Click here for a 7 minute video of the trip

28th Feb 2008 - Rumbling Hole

2008-02-29T12:22:00.004Z

Phil on 2nd entrance pitch

At last we (full team turn out!) made it to the bottom of the final pitch of Rumbling Hole! After a few goes in recent years where we ran short of gear on the last (8th) pitch. Today was also very dry so virtually no water anywhere in the cave.

Sporting new tackle bags quick progress was made to the tricky squeeze on the 4th (?) pitch. Then to a rather smelly section of cave and onto the final pitches which come in quick succession. The final pitch of around 20 metres is in a large chamber, but all exits are rather torturous apparently so we headed straight back out from this point. Phil and Alistair de-rigging all the ropes on the way out.

We didn't have time to look at the new series of recently opened pitches (accessed via a traverse from the main pitch) which is a lower series under the main route. Although by the reports from the Misty Mountain Mud Miners who we met later in the "muddy fox" I'm not sure that we want to!

Click here for a video of the trip

Click here for full screen slide show

21st Feb 2008 - Rumbling Hole

2008-02-21T15:14:00.003Z

With Tom in Spain and Phil not caving because "no one else wants to", a rather diminished team set off for Rumbling Hole. Many TNC members have tried on many occasions to get to the bottom of Rumbling, but to date none had succeeded. This was going to be the night.

With the rope securely belayed on a fence post we descended the steep grass slope to the edge of the open pitch and the first of the p-hangers. As I began to rig the first of the Y-hangs on an undercut ledge John dropped down to the first bolt and turned on his lamp.

Unfortunately no light was forthcoming from the main bulb but all was not lost as the back up lamp did work. To make life brighter John decided to swap the back up bulb into the centre of the reflector, but turning the bezel resulted in a tinkling noise as the rotating reflector decapitated the one good bulb. Carrying a knife is regarded as a neccessity on SRT trips but we didn't relaise that this was to enable you to unscrew the remanents of a bulb from your lamp.

A ledge next to the traverse line served as a handy work bench for John as he tried all possible combinations of bulbs we had spare and switch settings but to no avail. Feeling there was no need to go in seach of an epic trip we erred on the side of caution and made our way back to the van, for once dry and warm. Once again Rumbling had repelled the TNC.

14th Feb 2008 - P4 Castril

2008-02-15T15:58:00.002Z

A Spanish treat for one of the regular UK members (Tom) who was making a visit to Andalucia, Alistair was making his 4th visit to the cave. We made our way down the dry stream bed to the well hidden cave entrance just marked by a small aluminium tag. After a few initial boulders a nice entrance chamber with bats. (see video) Stopping every few minutes to photograph some of the amazing formations, we made our way steadily through the large chambers, connected by climbs, short ladder pitches and the odd easy squeeze. The cave seems to follow a huge fault line, imagine yourself inside a Toblerone box with a slightly undersized Toblerone in it! The sloping side wall was an almost permanent feature, and sometimes you were forced up the to triangular roof by huge boulder collapses. even a few 100 metres into the cave there are tree roots coming into the cave, so it must stay close to the surface for quite a while.

formations in P4

There is evidence of their being pools or water a few metres deep in places, although perhaps not in the last couple of years, although it does get damper further into the cave. We turned back at the far end of Easy Street, with still several kms of cave beyond apparently. It would be an exciting projet to try and get into this cave at the far end and make a through trip, surely a possibility!

This trip certainly made up for a frustrating couple of hours spent earlier in the day wandering around a cold windswept hillside looking for another cave, and failing!

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7th Feb 2008 - Trident Series

2008-02-07T13:52:00.000Z

Upper Trident Series

Due to limited equipment we made a trip down the trident passages in Easegill. These are a series of active stream passages leading into the master cave streamway at Eureka Junction.

We only had one camera flash, and that gave up after a while so we only got a few photos, and failed to get one of White Line chamber, a spray lashed chamber with the waterfall shown below falling into it. Eureka Junction showed signs of recent flooding and the water was cold. For once it actually felt warmer outside the cave due to a very mild and calm spell of weather.

Oddly there seemed a lot of activity in the caves. A big group had been down county and on the board at bullpot farm the "Lesbogay" cave club had chalked up their entry into Bull Pot of the Witches.

3rd Feb 2008 PB4 Spain

2008-02-04T08:28:00.002Z

Don Alistair and Don Bruce returned to the thin electron ladder that stopped forward exploration last week. Now armed with a rope forward progress resumed down a short slippy climb that lead onward along comfortable rift passage until another home made ladder appeared heading upwards.

Climbing this lead into a maze like jumble of huge boulders. Some squeezing and trutching rewarded us with another large chamber bedecked with a fixed rope traverse high up on the left wall. Obviously the original way on before the sump pool it bypassed dried out. The obvious way on through the dry sump soon brought a halt at a norrow rift with another home made ladder hanging from it. The effort to climb up and exit the narrow rift was well worth all the huffing and puffing.

"Calle Facile" is full of the most astonishing formations. Huge columns stretching over 20 m up into the darkness above, fangs of countless stalagtites decorating the roof and white crystalised flowstone seeping down the walls. "Fantastic"

It was time to return from this point. The way on for next week continues on along good sized walking passage. No problems finding he way out this week. Usual dos cervaza's serveed with tapas of pork cracking and mince on bread. Not the ideal veggie feast, but Don Alistair made the most of it.

31st Jan 2008 - Notts II

2008-01-31T23:21:00.000Z

Phil admiring the main master cave in Notts II

A biting cold wind made us rush into the relative warmth of the cave, although the water in the main stream way was pretty refreshing! We explored one of the recently excavated inlets which took us to some amazingly pristine formations.

Enjoying the rewards of a rather muddy crawl!

The chilling water leading to the upstream sumps was enough to make us turn back, pausing to photograph the big stal of "Vlad the Impaler", and then back up the chaotic scaffolding of the entrance shaft. There is plenty of cave to come back to again, in many places there are ropes leading of into side passages and avens, and I'm sure some good photographic opportunities. Click here for a full screen slide show.

Click here for a short video sequence showing a variety of passages in the cave

27th Jan 2008 - PB4 TNC(spain)

2008-01-27T21:20:00.000Z

Sunday saw the Spanish branch of the TNC heading back into Cueva PB4 hoping to find where they got to last week. This week Alistair has brought enough lighting power to see where he was going so it was easy to follow the obvious fault with it's complex levels through boulder chokes into various impressive chambers. All containing majestic formations.

The nature of the cave very reminiscent to Lancaster hole, only drier and warmer. A perfect place for this little fella to hang out for winter

From last weeks furthest point the cave continued like a quality rock route, obvious passages interspersed by cruxy route finding leading on to more caverns full of unique formations. Eventually the way on lead down a rift equipped with a short length of rope with a ( very old and thin) electron ladder tied to the end. Though enticing enough, consensus was to return next week with a rope for further exploration.

We only got lost twice this week on the way out. Still managed to get to the pub for the obligatory dos cervazes and tapas of squid and sardines. No pickled eggs and Canadian ham crisps here.