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Michaelmas 2011

  • Fri 18-20 Nov: Mendip 1, Wessex. Meet leader: Matt


CHECC

CHECC
Meet leader Aiora Zabala
Dates Fri 25-27 Nov 2011
Hut Dalesbridge
Caves Easegill (County / Wretched Rabbit) Saturday and Short Drop Cave on Sunday

Cavers: Jess Stirrups, Anya Ermakova, Nimrod Gileadi, Tay Xian Jie, Olaf Kähler, Aiora Zabala (Emma Wilson digging)

Mendip I

Mendip I
Meet leader Matthew Watson
Dates Fri 18-20 Nov 2011
Hut Wessex
Caves Longwood/August and Eastwater on the Saturday and G.B. on the Sunday

Cavers: Jessica Chatwin, Mikaela Ediger, James Hickson, Adrian Horrell, Ramana Kumar, Gareth Phillips, Fareeha Safir, Mark Shinwell, Jess Stirrups and Matt Watson

Yorks I

Yorks I
Meet leader Matthew Watson
Dates Fri 28-30 Oct 2011
Hut Bull Pot Farm
Caves Permits for County Wretched and Lancs both days.

Beautiful caving weekend in Bull Pot farm. County Pot - Lancs exchange on Saturday, where one of the parties did comb some parts of the route up to three times (to make sure that we learnt the way properly) and finished an epic roundtrip by going back to Lancs from County aboveground to derig the entrance. The team lose one of their exhausted members after six hours caving which had accidentally brought the team back very close to the entrance.

Short through trip in Heron Pot on Sunday, all the way down a pretty meander with a couple of wet pitches in between, where photos were taken. For the finishing touch, a fully soaking crawl right at the very end of the meander. Unfortunately we didn't arrive on time for a well deserved tasty cake & tea at Ingleton.

Cavers: Kathryn, Olly Madge, Adrian H, Yves, Matt W, Martin Green, Aiora (reporting), Mark S. And Edvin, Becka and Julian in separate trips 'creating' new cave


". . . but when they got there, the T-store was bare”

D’oh! Not to worry. After a quick head scratch and a thumb through the CNCC rigging guide, we managed to find some maillons, a few crabs and some ropes that were almost but not entirely the wrong length for any of the caving we were planning to do.

Cue some last minute transport-rearrangement faff and we were finally off to Yorkshire only an hour and a half behind schedule. Several hours, and a portion of fish and chips later, we arrived at the farm to find Edvin, Kathryn, Martin and a rather large pile of empties huddled up in front of the fire. Not wanting to be antisocial, we decided to add a few to the pile and come up with a plan for Saturday’s caving. For the first time I can remember, we came up with a plan that actually involved the caves we had permits for: County-Lancs exchange.

Saturday 29th October: Lost in Lancs (by Matt)

Next morning we were up bright and early. Due to an error in the decimal place when calculating how many people do the shopping for, we had enough food to provide everyone at the farm with at least two breakfasts, and still have leftovers for the next day! Replete, we then split up into our respective teams: Team efficient and team keen-but-incompetent, and set off across the fell.

Team keen-but-incompetent were set to go down Lancs. Being quite a few meters shy of the suggested rope length, Martin took frugal rigging to a new level, and after rigging two rebelays that were tighter than a ducks arse, arrived at the bottom of the pitch with the rope bag still half full. So far so good. The plan was to go down to the the streamway via a loop round Montague West and Wilf Taylor's passage, climb up into the high level route at Stop Pot and then make our way over to County. That was the keen bit, now for the incompetent part. . .

Rather than a blow-by-blow account of our navigational incompetence, which would be quite challenging given the number of unintentional detours, let's just say that nine hours after leaving the surface myself and Martin emerged into the mist and drizzle at county pot having successfully completed the traverse. This was quite a feat, given six hours into the trip we met team efficient 15 minutes from the Lancaster Hole entrance. . .

Heron Pot, Kingsdale. 30th Oct 2011. By Adrian

An early start at Bullpot Farm and perfect coordination brought us to Kingsdale at around 2pm (+/- 1hr). We changed and kitted up at the roadside and headed off across the valley floor with a few members of the party holding 'phones at arms length and pausing to squint at them from time to time. We continued over the beck and up the hillside in this manner, then fanned out along the ridge. Shouts of 'I've got it!' would be followed seconds later by 'damn! It's gone.' We had, of course, managed not to leave a call out.

We had a peep in the exit and decided it would go, then 'got it...damn, it's goned' our way to the entrance. Fortune smiled on us and we got a message through to the Fenland Control Centre. After a few minutes discussion with our director of photography, Olly descended the entrance. 'Do I get a sherpa, then?' he called up. With a sigh I grabbed the rope bag and followed. The first few metres are best approached by crawling in the bottom of the rift. Olly dragged the bag and I helped it past constrictions. Soon we were walking in fine meandering passage.

I sensed a presence behind me. Looking over my shoulder I saw Matt's lamp approaching, carried, I assumed, by Matt. 'They've found us! Hurry!' I shouted to Olly, who then sprinted off down the passage. I followed at best speed, wishing I was thinner (more running, fewer pies). I arrived panting at the pitch head to find it already rigged, and our fearless rigger standing around the corner ready to descend. The others caught up and we had a debate about who would carry flashguns and where they would put them (I should have fled at this point, but I did not).

'Pitch free!' I made a minor spectacle of myself by getting my leg stuck as I part climbed, part thrutched on to the pitch head. I touched down on a short, rather wet horizontal section before the next pitch. Olly went off to rig the next pitch and Aiora was soon on her way down the first - rather more elegantly than your narrator.

Now the Director of Photography was in charge. Yves got on the rope, abseiled a few metres down the pitch and tied off his stop. Matt was stationed above the pitch head with a flashgun. I heard someone above bellow 'Cow! karabiner! waterfall! spanner!' I might be mistaken about that - the water was making a lot of noise. Eventually, through shouting, gestures and arcane lamp signals, I was positioned in the plunge pool, more or less under the waterfall, pointing a flashgun up the pitch. Here I remained for 20 minutes while the DoP composed the perfect shot. My good cheer deteriorated. I might have uttered an oath. Presently, the job was done. Yves unlocked his stop and descended to the bottom, complaining cheerfully about his numb legs.

Olly and Aiora had gotten restless and gone off exploring during my refreshing 20min frigid shower. They retured and Matt joined us at the bottom of the pitch. The DoP set about the business of re-rigging the pitch as a pull through. Descending the pitch, he asked Olly to hold the rope clear of the waterfall. Olly obliged and was rewarded by being yanked into the plunge pool. He kept his footing and avoided a soaking (or, at any rate, postponed it).

Soon we were on the move. The passage toward the exit is nicely sculpted, good splashy fun. There are a few flowstone formations to stoop under. After a while, it closes down to a longish, wet hands-and-knees crawl. Mostly this is on smooth rock, but occasionally on cobbles. Trying to keep a dry-bag full of flashguns out of the water made this much harder work than it might otherwise have been, and the others disappeared into the distance. Eventually I reached the exit duck. I fiddled with my SRT kit a bit, ostensibly to avoid getting snagged in the duck, but really to play for time. I gritted my teeth, laid down in the murky stream and pushed myself into the constricted passage, emitting a strangled squeak as I got a gallon of freezing water down the front of my oversuit. I pushed the flashgun bag ahead of me to the DoP and squeezed out of the exit. The outside world was dark and the evening air mild. We walked back to the cars, sometimes chatting, sometimes in companionable silence.

We changed again at the roadside. I was advised to be circumspect when admitting to 'spannering Matt's maillon.' Mark showed me a preview of the pictures of Yves on the second pitch - they looked good, promising to be well worth a few minutes freezing. Soon we were in Ingleton, just too late for tea and cake at [insert name of your favourite gear shop/cafe here]. Doughnuts and drinks from the co-op sufficed and after chatting for a while we got in the cars and dispersed.

A thoroughly enjoyable Sunday afternoon trip.

Cavers:

  • Aiora, Mme. President
  • Olly, rigger, cynic
  • Matt, stalwart, meet leader
  • Mark, director of photography
  • Yves, novice caver, model
  • Adrian, dogsbody, narrator

Time Underground: Not sure. I was a bit drunk when I adjusted my watch from BST to GMT. A few hours.

Peaks II

Peaks II
Meet leader Nial Peters
Dates Sat 22-23 Oct 2011
Hut TSG
Caves Peak

Cavers: Sarah Gales, Keshav Thirumalai, Alisdair Bolger, Tay Xian Jie, Matthew Morgan, Yves Moussalam, Eliza Prettyman, Jessica Chatwin, Ramana Kumar, Olivia Espy, Jess Stirrups, Nial Peters!, Tony Rooke, Emma Wilson, Martin Green, Bela Dimova

Caves: We did Carlswark on the saturday evening and then there were trips to Peak Cavern and P8 on sunday.

Peaks I

Peaks I
Meet leader Jess Stirrups
Dates Sat 15-16 Oct 2011
Hut TSG
Caves

Cavers: Jess Stirrups, Stuart Bennett, Adrian Horrell, Olly Madge, Serena Povia, Kathryn Hopkins, Edvin Deadman, Martin Green, L.J. Young, Mikaela Ediger, J.J.A. Walker, A. Funke, Alex Broekhof, Nhan Dao

Caves: Carlswark Cavern (Saturday); two groups to P8

Lent 2011

Mendip (one day meet)
Meet leader TBC
Dates 28th /30st January
Hut Wessex
Caves Booked on 28/01: St Cuthbert's Swallet // We can get permits on the day for: Longwood, GB, Rhino // Still to arrange: Charterhouse, if needed // Always a good option: Swildon's short round


Yorkshire III
Meet leader TBC
Dates 11th/13th February
Hut Brackenbottom
Caves Booked on 12/02:Little Hull & Washfold. Do we want anything else from the F.Fell area? or the GG/Allottment?


South Wales
Meet leader TBC
Dates 25th / 27th February
Hut Whitewalls
Caves To arrange keys: Agen Allwedd & Ogof Craig-a-Ffynnon. If there is interest for DYO & Ogof Capel, I can try to arrange access to those as well.


Peak district
Meet leader TBC
Dates 11th / 13th March
Hut TSG
Caves Titan/Peak or Titan/JH


Michaelmas 2010

South Wales
Meet leader Matthew
Dates 12th / 14th November (two nights)
Hut SWCC
Caves OFD I & OFD II (leader for OFD I arranged)


Yorkshire II
Meet leader Olly
Dates 26th / 28th November
Hut Bull Pot Farm
Caves Easegill


Lent 2010

South Wales
Meet leader TBC
Dates 15th / 17th January
Hut Whitewalls
Caves Agen Allwedd & Ogof Craig-a-Ffynnon. If there is interest for DYO & Ogof Capel, I can try to arrange acces to those as well.


Peak District
Meet leader TBC
Dates 29th /31st January
Hut TSG
Caves Peak Cavern, Titan, JH


Yorkshire
Meet leader TBC
Dates 12th / 14th February
Hut Brackenbottom
Caves Not decided yet!


Mendip
Meet leader TBC
Dates 26th / 28th February
Hut Wessex
Caves St Cuthbert's Swallet, Charterhouse


New Year Meet 2009/2010

Our annual New Year's trip to Yorkshire. We will be staying at BULL POT FARM and it isn't mandatory to come for the full week. It's an excellent way to do some out of term caving! The plan below is just a list of the permits we got so far but there are plenty of non permit caves in Yorkshire and endless possibilities of caving :)

New Years' Meet
Meet leader TBC
Dates 26th December - 3rd Jan
Hut Bull Pot Farm
Caves
Day Easegill Gaping Gill & Allotment Leck Fell Fountains Fell & Penyghent
Sat 26 Dec Pool Sink Bar Pot/Flood Entrance Notts 2 --
Sun 27 Dec Top Sink Car Pot -- --
Mon 28 Dec Lancaster Hole Newby Moss -- --
Tue 29 Dec County Pot Grange Rigg Pot -- --
Wed 30 Dec Cow Pot Juniper Gulf, Jean Pot -- Washfold
Thu 31 Dec Sylvester Pot Long Kin West Lost Johns/Boxhead - Notts 1 --
Fri 01 Jan Wretched Rabbit Marble Sink Notts (?2) - Rumbling Hole --
Sat 02 Jan Lancaster Hole Rift Pot/Long Kin East Short Drop/Gavel --

PIPPIKIN POT, LINK POT, BYE GEORGE POT can all be arranged on the day, by stopping at Leck Fell House (http://cncc.org.uk/caving_access_three_counties_system.html)


Michaelmas 2009

2008

SWales II 2008
Meet leader TBC
Dates 19th-20th January 2008
Hut Whitewalls
Caves Aggie and Daren (Saturday), Ogof Craig y Fynnon (Sunday)


Yorks II 2008
Meet leader Kathryn
Dates 2nd-3rd February 2008
Hut Brackenbottom
Caves Juniper, Long kin East and Rift pot


Peaks I 2008
Meet leader TBC
Dates 16th-17th February 2008
Hut Orpheus
Caves JH / Titan (Saturday), Peak (Sunday)


Yorks III 2008
Meet leader TBC
Dates 1st-2nd March 2008
Hut Brackenbottom
Caves Stream Passage and Flood Entrance Gaping Ghyll (Saturday), Hurnell Moss (Sunday)


2007

Mendips Novice Meet
Meet leader Edvin Deadman
Dates 13th-14th October 2007
Hut Shepton Mallet
Caves Swildon's Hole

The first meet of 2007 will be a one day introductory trip to the Mendips. Leaving on Saturday afternoon, we will go caving in Swildon's Hole on Sunday and return to Cambridge on Sunday evening. Swildon's is an excellent introductory cave, as its extensive passages provide opportunities for more or less challenging trips.

Total cost for the trip will be £25, but you will need to bring extra money for food on Saturday and Sunday nights (see the Costs page for more details).

Swildon's Hole involves one short ladder descent, so there will be a training session on the Saturday afternoon before we leave Cambridge. It is advisable to attend, but not compulsory if you can't make it.

If you went on the trip, some photos are available here: Novice Meet October 2007: Swildons Hole, Mendip


SWales I 2007
Meet leader Serena Povia
Dates 26th-28th October 2007
Hut WSG
Caves OFD, others TBC

The second meet of this term will be a week-end trip to South Wales. Leaving on Friday afternoon, we will go caving in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (OFD) on Saturday, have a delicious meal in the hut on Saturday night, go caving or hiking on Sunday and return to Cambridge on Sunday evening.

(http://ogof.net/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogof_Ffynnon_Ddu)

OFD is is an excellent introductory cave, it is the deepest cave in the UK and the second longest in Wales.

For a novice renting a basic gear set the cost for the trip will be £29.50, but you will need to bring extra money for food on Friday and Sunday nights (see the Costs page for more details), and for eventual beer. This trip in particular will not require any vertical gear but please make an effort to come to the training on Tuesdays as we will do more ladder training and perhaps SRT training.


Yorks I 2007
Meet leader Aaron
Dates 9th-11th November 2007
Hut Greenclose
Caves Easegill (County Pot, Lancaster Hole)


Mendips II 2007
Meet leader Kathryn
Dates 23rd-25th November 2007
Hut Wessex
Caves Longwood august, Swildons hole, GB cave, Manor farm swallet


New Years' Meet
Meet leader TBC
Dates 26th December - 3rd Jan
Hut Bull Pot Farm
Caves


Day Easegill Gaping Gill & Allotment Leck Fell Fountains Fell & Penyghent
26 Dec Pool Sink -- -- --
27 Dec Top Sink Car Pot -- Penyghent
28 Dec Lancaster Hole Juniper Gulf -- --
29 Dec County Pot Bar Pot/Flood Entrance Rumbling Hole --
30 Dec Cow Pot Newby Moss Short Drop/Gavel Washfold
31 Dec -- Long Kin West Lost Johns/Boxhead - Notts 1 --
01 Jan Wretched Rabbit Rift Pot/Long Kin East Notts 2 --
02 Jan Lancaster Hole Marble Sink -- --


Our annual New Year's trip to Yorkshire. It isn't mandatory to come for the full week. And it's a good way to get in some out of term caving! The plan above is just a list of the permits we got so far but there are plenty of non permit caves in Yorkshire and endless possibilities of caving :)

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