Difference between revisions of "Past Meets (old)"

Revision as of 10:24, 4 February 2014

Use the wiki to put your tale or email it to the webmaster. For a colourful and glossy report of caving tales, see Cambridge Underground 2012, the CUCC journal.

Lent 2014

Peaks III

Cavers:

Yorkshire II

Cavers:

South Wales II

Cavers: Alex L, Claire, Smita, Alex B, Anya, Matt, Jess, Olly, Mark, Aiora, Sam, Stuart, Gareth, Adrian.

Saturday: An enjoyable few hours looking around Aggy, taking in the impressive Main Passage and The Southern Streamway.

Sunday: In an unguarded moment at the pub a week or so before this trip, a Caver of Larger Circumference had let it slip that he might be persuaded to try Daren Cilau. Being unable to think of a convincing excuse, he found himself walking up the hillside on Sunday morning with a jovial group of cavers who kept picking up (and being admonished to put down) pointy sticks, and soon was underground. He had secretly pinned his hopes on not fitting through The Vice. After a few minutes quiet contemplation followed by a few minutes of wriggling, however, he was horrified to find himself on the other side. There he was met by Another Caver, grinning from ear to ear in a manner that plainly said 'you've had it now, mate.' Another pair of cavers caught up in the entrance crawl, and the combined group proceeded through the cave to exit at Price's Dig - an impressive piece of navigation by Another Caver. The Caver of Larger Circ. was knackered.

Mendip

Cavers:

Michaelmas 2013

Yorkshire I

Cavers:

South Wales

Cavers:

Peaks II

Cavers:

Peaks I

Cavers: Nial Peters, Tony Rooke, Djuke Veldhuis, Adrian Horrell, Max Schinke, Lisa Volpatti, Lisa Johnson-Davies, Eva Yang, Rui Hao, Jess Stirrups, Alex Crow, Martin Green, Edvin Deadman

Summary: The first caving trip of the new academic year! Somehow we all managed to arrive in Derbyshire within 5 minutes of each other and in good time for a quick trip down Carlswark Cavern on Saturday afternoon. As everyone who has been to Carlswark knows, it is not much to write home about! However, it was a fun trip and served its purpose of working up a good appetite for fish and chips afterwards.

On Sunday, we split into two groups with one going to Peak Cavern and the other to P8. I was in the P8 party so I can't comment on the Peak trip really, but it sounded like everyone enjoyed it. The P8 trip was excellent! Our early morning start paid off and we had the cave to ourselves. With heavy rain forecast for the afternoon, we decided not to do the loop at the bottom - just down to the sump and then back out the same way.

Trip Report by Lisa Johnson-Davies: After our drive up to the Peak district we stopped next to a small hill and put on our caving gear, a surprisingly comfortable undersuit and an orange caving suit on top (which probably made us look like escapees from Guantanamo Bay to any passing locals). Our first trip was to a cave called Carlswark, and we were led to the hill and a tiny hole in the ground which I assumed was some kind of rabbit hole until we were told we had to go down the hole... Nial started rigging up a ladder, and then one by one we had to climb down the ladder into the dark depths of the bottomless pit below...

I managed to make it down the ladder in one piece, and then we continued down a very low-ceilinged passage; only with a combination of crawling, stooping and scrambling could we get through the passage. It was really hard work! I reckon this first cave was planned as a kind of test, and only the people that survived were able to progress onto the second cave the following day. :P (which was everyone luckily)

After our hard work we went to get fish and chips, and then continued on to the caving hut, where we had drinks and chatted in the hut, and got told stories about the really exciting trips the club goes on, as well as caving trips gone wrong to reassure us for the trip the following morning. The next day my group went to the cave P8, which has a stream that flows into the entrance and then continues throughout the entire cave. We had to climb down some rocks to get inside the cave which we discovered was the complete opposite of Carslwark, the cave from the day before. This cave had high ceilings but was quite narrow, and the stream meant all the rock faces were beautifully smooth and shiny. As an added bonus we got an educational geology lesson from resident geographer Nial about the formation of the rocks inside. :P This cave was really varied, and the obstacles involved climbing down a rope, doing tricky acrobatics on ladders (like climbing halfway down one ladder and then jumping to another ladder, with a scary 5-10 metre drop below! At this point I should probably mention that you are secured in a harness for all the dangerous parts), traversing which essentially involved straddling across rocks to avoid walking through the river, and climbing down holes by bracing yourself against the walls. We weren't able to get to the very end of the cave because that would have involved cave diving with scuba diving equipment and a lot more experience than us novices had!

The trip was a really enjoyable experience, and I definitely recommend caving to anyone interested in trying something a little different, and physically exhausting! The caving club are also very friendly, and if you are feeling a little nervous they can always be counted on to reassure you by telling you some caving horror stories. :)

Photos:

• 

  Changing ready for the trip into P8

• 

  The team at the entrance to P8

• 

  Djuke disappears into the darkness!

• 

  Tony showing his enthusiasm for caving

• 

  The first Lisa goes into the entrance...

• 

  ...shortly followed by the second Lisa.

• 

  Lisa waiting at the head of the first pitch.

• 

  Other Lisa also waiting at the first pitch head.

• 

  Max from above. Djuke is rigging the pitch in the background.

• 

  The team at the terminal sump (the bottom of the cave)

• 

  The team (minus Tony) at the terminal sump (the bottom of the cave)

• 

  Max ascending one of the ladder pitches on the way out.

• 

  Lisa getting wet posing for a photo in the entrance.

Lent 2013

South Wales

Cavers: Jess, Sam, Emma, Edvin, Kathryn, Adrian

Saturday: Ogof Draenen. All up for breakfast at 7:30am so we could make it to the Lamb and Fox just in time to piggyback on a digging trip. We were late. Fortunately, we appeased them by contributing Emma to the dig effort (actually, she just didn't say no quickly or convincingly enough). The rest of us were underground by 10am (surely some mistake? Ed), and dispatched the entrance series fairly efficiently, owing to gravity assist for the larger caver. We were soon signing in at Cairn Junction. After a side trip to Straw Grotto, and a stop for Edvin to test some rusted-to-crap in-situ gear, we made for Gilwern Passage via Wonderbra Bypass. Much tedious boulder hopping was amply rewarded by some spectacular formations. At the end of the passage, the more dimensionally blessed elements of the team went on to explore north of a bouldery squeeze. Regrouping, we walked, teetered, clambered and cracked our shins back south along Gilwern Passage and on for a look at the streamway before heading out. We bypassed the bypass, securing opprobrium for the navigator. The entrance series seemed much wetter and colder on the way out! T/U 6.5hrs.

Sunday: A few determined and hardy cavers (Jess, Emma, Sam) ambled into Daren Cilau while the rest of us went for a stroll and lazed about the hut.

Peak District (unofficial)

Cavers: Olaf, Matthew Watson, Olly Madge, Aiora Zabala. From OUCC: Thomas Leung, Rosa Clements, Thomas Spriggs, Oliver Robshaw, Tom Jones, Geoff O'Dell

CUCC joins OUCC in their meet to Derbyshire, staying at Orpheus. Pictures!

Sunday: one party to Titan, White River Series and Peak cavern. Another party to Giants. Saturday: Knotlow exchange

Yorks II

Cavers: ...

Peak II

Cavers: ..

Yorkshire (non-official meet)

Cavers: Cormac Doyle, Djuke Veldhuis, Tony Rooke, Nial Peters, Edvin Deadman, Kathryn Hopkins, Aiora Zabala. Also around: Mark Shinwell, Emma Wilson...

South Wales II

Cavers: Matt Watson, Mark Shinwell, Alex Crow, Jess Stirrups, Aiora Zabala, Simon Iremonger, John Bennetts, Tom Leighton, Henry Dawson (BEC), Adrian Horrell

Michaelmas 2012

Yorkshire I

Cavers: Adrian Horrell, Aiora Zabala, Alex Crow, Bela Dimova, David Walker, Matt Watson, Siobhan McGowan, Xain Jie Tay.

South Wales I

Cavers: Joshua Weiss, Rui Hao, Meekail Nasym, David Walker, Robert Wilson, Lara Spencer, Martin Green, Edvin Deadman, Jess Stirrups, Alex Crow, Stuart Bennett, Adrian Horrell

Saturday: Two groups for round trips in OFD I. Despite setting off on different routes, the parties ran into each other much more often than one might expect. Fun at Roundabout Chamber, some impressive formations and fine wet streamway made for an interesting and varied trip. Evening entertainment included a Saucepan and Sling friendly against UBSS.

Sunday: A combined group visited Llygad Llwchwr on the western edge of the Black Mountain, half an hour's drive from the hut. Wriggling into a little hole above the stream resurgence gets you into a compact and interesting cave where high-level passageway meets the streamway in a series of impressive chambers.

Peaks I

Cavers: Alex Crow, Mark Shinwell, Cormac Doyle, David Molnar, Tina, Carolyn, Edvin, Kathryn, Aiora, Adrian....

The presence of at least 200 cars in the layby near P8 indicated possible congestion in that cave. Fortunately, Edvin had the foresight to have obtained the access code for Bagshawe Cavern, near Bradwell. This is a curious cave, having been a lead mine c.1750, and later run as a show cave. Entering via a stone hut, and descending concrete steps in a mined out rift (don't spend too much time looking up - you'll just worry) brings you into natural cave. We split into a few small groups and explored. Entertainment on offer included a fine muddy slither leading down toward the terminal sump, an intimidating low crawl and a short laddered pitch. The farther reaches of the cave are gated off.

Mendip I

Cavers:

Easter/ Summer 2012

Yorkshire

Cavers: Siobhan McGowan, Nial Peters, Edvin Deadman, Adrian Horrell, Dan Stori, Alex Crow, Yves Moussalam, Cormac, Jan Lellman, Djuke Veldhuis, Tony Rooke, David Loeffler, Sara, Wafa, Aiora

Successful meet with a large group of cavers gathered in Greenclose for a taste of Kingsdale caves. Great and warm weather, excellent lasagna by Nial, and lots of caves visited.

Saturday:

• Bull Pot & Jingling: Djuke, Nial, Jan
• Jingling & Bull Pot: Dave L, Sara, Dan, Aiora - very enjoyable and picturesque shaft in Jingling, boht caves almost entirely vertical
• Somewhere in Easegill: Adrian, Edvin, Siobhan, Cormac
• Gaping Gill: Alex, Tony, Wafa, Yves

Sunday:

• Illusion Pot: Tony, Nial, Wafa, Adrian
• Swinsto: Alex, Djuke, Yves, Jan, Dan, Cormac, Aiora -a series of abseils down waterfalls linked with walkable shallow stream passages and pretty meanders: wet and fun!

South Wales - SWCC

Cavers: Siobhan McGowan, Nial Peters, Matt Watson, Edvin Deadman, Kathryn Hopkins, Jess Stirrups, Olaf Kaehler, Mark Shinwell, David Molnar, Aiora

OF1 - Cwm Dwr exchange on Saturday. Nial, Matt, Edvin, Kathryn & Jess visiting the Pompon on the way to Cwm Dwr exit (Pictures!). Siobhan, Olaf, Mark, David and Aiora on an epic 10hrs trip on the way to OF1 stream (Pictures!)

Pant Mawr on Sunday, glorious weather for the 1hr long walk. Cavers: Siobhan, Nial, Edvin, Kathryn, Olaf, Aiora

Mark, Matt, David somewhere else...

South Wales - White Walls

Cavers: Bela Dimova, Andrew Diver, Nial Peters, Dan Storisteanu, Tess Jones, Wookey, Gareth, Aiora

Darren up to the Time Machine on Saturday (Nial, Bela, Andrew, Dan, Aiora), 10hrs underground

[name here] on Sunday (Wookey, Andrew, Dan, Bela, Aiora), 6 hrs underground

Lent 2012

Mendip III

Cavers: Matt Watson and Alex Crow

First we were going to S. Wales, then at the last minute Alex was sent to Hastings with work, so we opted for driving to Mendip on the Saturday morning (the definition of morning might have been pushing it by the time we actually left Cambridge!)

We arrived at Priddy green just as most of the other cavers were coming out of Swildon's and heading to the Hunter's, and after an bit of faff trying to find someone who would answer their phone to leave a call out, we were off.

We did the short round with a couple of detours to visit the Shatter series and Swildon's 4 streamway (this is a fine bit of passage and definitely worth a visit, though the section by cowsh' avens does smell a bit like following Toby through a small passage after he's had night on the beers and a dodgy curry) via blue Pencil passage.

All in all this is a good trip, but hauling the extra tackle sack round the whole thing is a bit tedious. Especially when it tips it down the whole time you're underground and the streamway is a bit on the sporting side on the way out.

We finally managed to book some accommodation while en route to the Hunter's, where we bumped into some CHECC people and were invited for a picnic down Hunter's Hole on Sunday, but sadly we didn't have our SRT gear.

On Sunday we decided to have a fairly slack day and get back to Cambridge early. We headed over to Burrington and had a pootle round Pierre's pot, Sidcot swallet and Goatchurgh, before having cake in the cafe (highly recommended)and driving back.

Peaks III

Cavers: Anya ermakova, Nimrod Gileadi, Dan Stori, Siobhan McGowan, Stuart Bennet, Olly Madge, Kathryn Hopkins, Edvin Deadman, Aiora Zabala

Mendip II

Cavers: Matt Watson, Mark Shinwell, David Loeffler Guest appearances by: Clive Westlake (Saturday), Frank Tully, John and Rachael Kendall

Saturday 25th: Myself, David, John and Rachael were joined by Clive for a trip down to Sump one in Swildon's while Mark persuaded Frank for a rather more energetic trip: short round with detour to sump 4.

Sadly, our trip was cut short at the 20' (a pitch fabled to be 20' that clearly isn't) where we met up with two scout groups. After waiting for half an hour, the situation clearly hadn't improved so we decided to can it and come out the wet way. We met up with Mark and Frank on the way in who asked if any of us wanted to join them, but We'd done enough queuing for today so headed back to the hut. Myself and David were still keen to spend a bit more time underground, so we headed over to Eastwater, for a bimble around the upper series (as we couldn't be bothered to take rope and ladders).

In the evening we were treated to a slideshow by Clive and then headed over to the Hunter's

Sunday 26th: For once CUCC made an early start and after minimal faff we headed over to G.B. Once again, Frank had been persuaded that the wiring he was supposed to be doing at home could wait for another weekend, and so we were joined by him and Mark. We did a quick trip down mud passage and the gorge, then came back out along the gallery, over the bridge and back up mud passage.

A good weekend, though it would have been nice to have a few more cavers along from Cambridge.

Yorks II

We had a caving fail, due to the weather, so went for a curry instead.

Curryers: Stuart Bennett, Tom Handford, Tess Jones, Mark Shinwell, Tony Rooke, Djuke Veldhuis, Matt Watson and Aiora Zabala

Few beers in Live and Let Live and headed over to the Koh-i-Noor. Though much less glamorous than its namesake in the Tower of London, they do a decent curry at a reasonable price and have the added advantage of a fairly "relaxed" booking system, so it's not a disaster if you turn up with twice or half as many people as you told them.

South Wales I

Cavers: Tom Handford, Tess Jones, Jan Lellmann, Siobhan McGowan, Mark Shinwell, Jess Stirrups, Daniel Storisteanu, Matt Watson, Wookey, Aiora Zabala

Saturday 28th: Team keen consisted of Wookey, Jess, Tom and guest appearance by Olaf. They decided to go practice their cave flying skills in OFDIII and came back looking very tired.

The second party consisted of Matt, Aiora and the newbies (Danial, Siobhan and Jan), who opted for a more civilised bimble round OFDII.

Sunday 29th: Nobody was feeling ultra keen today, so we all went into Cwm Dwr down to the stream way - we split into two groups, one went via the wet way and the other via the dry way. Guest appearances by Olaf (who unsurprisingly didn't like the streamway) and Gareth.

Events of Note: Tess came caving!

Other useful stuff: We found a good curry house for a feed on the way back: Zam Zam, ‪24 High Street‬, ‪Ross-on-Wye, ‬ ‪HR9 5BZ‬,

‪tel:01989 764030‬

OFD III to Smith's Armoury (2012.01.28) (Wookey)

Wookey was on his first caving trip since expo, a mere 6 months ago, whilst Tom was on his first trip since October 2008. (he's been skulking in Cambridge all that time but apparently avoiding potholes :-).

We wanted/needed some proper exercise and the weather was good (too nice to go caving really), so we headed across the traverses in OFDIII to Smith's Armoury right at the top end of the streamway. Not quite hard enough for the full 'welsh trips don't need ropes' approach we took a 'welsh SRT' approach with a 40m rope and another shorter piece, but no ladders and one foot-jammer each.

This is a very fine trip, although don't come if your shinning and 'ignoring big drops' skills aren't up to scratch as it has a great deal of shinning up and down and the famous traverses over rather large drops. It is possible to do the whole trip with no gear (Wookey was taken there this way sometime in the early 90's but even he thought it was a bit 'keen'). The 9m pitch/climb at the end of the crevasse really does need a handline+jammer at least. And a sensible level of gear is: 40m rope for the crevasse (5m down, traverse over big hole, 9m pitch). It would be a great deal easier if you brought a 30ft ladder for the 9m pitch, but we all managed with 1 jammer+footloop. There is also one 4m climb further on (before the traverses) which is sufficiently tricky that a rope is very sensible. A handy boulder at the top means you can pull it through afterwards if you bring a 12m bit of rope, otherwise you need a competent victim to downclimb it.

We spent a good long time peering at the surveys to find the route and drew a very useful copy of the survey for the part from the Wedding cake to Bowhani junction, which is where most of the horizontal navigation is. The Wikipedia entry for the route from the crevasse to the streamway is really useful - we might not have made it without this as which level to be at is not totally obvious in places.

The shortest route is via Timo's table, but as we wanted to a) go a way we knew at least the start of and b) show the others the way we went via Salubrious streamway.

The two teams for the day joined up as far as the Salubrios junction so that Matt could remind himself what he was looking for on the way back. This caused a not-very-early start as everyone got sorted, lights were tied to helmets etc.

We got underground at 12:30.

So the route is in ODFII, through the brickyard, past the wedding cake, down the corkscrew climb to Salubrious then up Salubriuos through a lot of passage that doesn't really look much like the survey (we tried to turn right too early and were generally confused for a while), before finally popping out after a short crawly bit into Chasm passage. It's a lower-level of Chasm at this point, so remember to look out for it on the return.

Go left along the very high Chasm for a short distance, then right into Poached Egg passage, crossing a junction to get to Bowhani junction where 5 passages meet. We took a worthwhile detour for 20m or so to the left to look at 'Straw Gallery' which is indeed very nice. Turns out you can't go round the loop back to the passage due to a big drop, so go back the way you came.

Going down to the right at Bowhani the general up-and-downiness commences, with a tricky climb and some traversing over holes. There is one more right turn to remember otherwise you'll go all the way up Creek Alley, and you have reached the crevase.

This is an easy climb down made disconcerting by the 20m drop you could fall down, then you traverse over the hole and some false floor boulders to a 9m pitch. You can actually freeclimb this but it's really not very sensible, especially on the way back up as it's a slot you can fall out of into the big space, and it's very shiny and awkward. There are nice new stainless hangers+maillons on the crevasse climb+traverse and hangers on the pitch. We used a 42m rope which was plenty. This was handy in fact as when Wookey threw the tacklesack down (after being reassured that that was fine) it bounced off down the next drop to the bottom of the crevasse. Fortunately it was shinnable with a rope so was retreived without too much difficulty.

We continued over more climbs in very up/down passage to get to a big space with a small boulder hole in the bottom corner. The easiest way is between the rocks but we did a tricky climb over the top instead. Down the bottom here seemed to be a dead end at moonmilky flowstone. We had to resort to the instructions as it didn't look traversable or shinnable. It is in fact a tricky 4m climb out of the bottom of the hole. This is the other place you would much prefer a rope (mostly for the return).

Shortly after this the traverses proper are reached. The first move is most entertaining as you have to use a ledge on the left wall and teeter over, but it does have some very handy stal fingerholds which actually make it quite easy. Just don't think about the huge drop. There are no bolts anyway (that we saw) so a rope won't help. More traversing follows, with an unhelpfully wide bit at the end. Wookey did all of it about 6 times back and forth, showing the best route, and everyone made it.

The dead-straight passage ends at a hole in the floor. down there, then back under the floor to climb down an awkward canyon then back again to a upwards squeeze which would keep the fatties out. You can just feel (more than hear) the rumble of the streamway by now.

Not too long after comes the bit in the photo with the really scary-looking ledge of calcited crap. This is in fact dead easy as you just step across the corner using a handy stal handhold. You have also become largely inured to big drops and delicate moves by now. There are some notable pretties along the way. All that caving and climbing has been an effective numpty-filter so things are not trashed.

Next is the comedy maypole bridge (long scaf-bar over big hole with the streamway below, which is also easier than it looks. God knows who carried that 15ft bar all the way down here! Well done to you sir.

Despite having arrived at the streamway (it's just below through holes) you keep going along this passage in a rather confusing fashion until you really do come out at the streamway without climbing.

Jess had been desperate for a piss for hours now, so enormous relief took place.

We plopped into the streamway and waded on up, accompanied by wails from Olaf, who _really_ doesn't like getting cold and wet. The stream is quite 'canal'y here mostly knee to thigh deep and very calm, but it was bloody freezing and my knees soon went numb. Turns out that Olaf the wailer has those knee-length wetsocks which are popular with welsh cavers, and was still moaning! The deepest water was just above MSBL but it's easy to trip over a rock or slide on smooth sandy rock and get wetter.

We saw 4 white cave fish, the longest about 12cm. They have eyes, but don't appear to be able to see.

The streamway is beatiful with marble streakings, sandbanks, and all sorts of forms. It's much quieter than down at I and II. It took about 40 mins to get to Smith's Armoury where we had a quick snack and buggered off out again. Wading for over an hour gives you thigh-ache.

So then we wizzed back out, not getting lost at all and not hanging around too much. There was a certain amount of quiet concentration and ehightened pulserates from Tom on the way back over the traverses, and we all struggled up the crevasse pitch with our welsh-SRT single jammer. But overall an efficient return was made and we were out in 3 hours (it took nearly 5 to get in).

Tess had been a star and cooked dinner for all by the time we got back, so a huge plate of pasta +veggie+oxfords leftovers was scoffed.

A most excellent trip with a great deal of caving in it. It should be done more often than once every 20years. I was knackered though and had to go to bed by 11pm.

Oh, and Wookey and Tom had terrible body-ache the next day.

T/U: 8 hours.

Michaelmas 2011

• Fri 11-13 Nov: varsity [by OUCC]

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

CHECC

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

Mendip I

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

Yorks I

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

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

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

Michaelmas 2010

Lent 2010

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 :)

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

• 18th October 2009: Mendip -- one day meet (leave Saturday afternoon)
  • Hut: Mendip Nature Research Committee
  • Cave sunday: Swildons Hole
  • Meet leader: Serena Povia (cucc . dinner . lady at gmail . com)

• 25th October 2009: Peak -- one day meet (leave Saturday afternoon)
  • Hut: Orpheus Caving Club
  • Caves sunday: Peak Cavern, P8 or Giants's Hole
  • Meet leader: Jess Stirrups (jas235)

• 31st Oct-1st Nov 2009: Yorkshire Dales -- weekend meet (leave Friday evening)
  • Hut: Greenclose
  • Caves saturday: Bar Pot entrance of Gaping Ghyll and Pool Sink entrance of the Easegill system
  • Caves sunday: Short Drop and Gavel Pot
  • Meet leader: Kathryn Hopkins (kh311)

• 14-15th November 2009: South Wales -- weekend meet (leave Friday evening)
  • Hut: Westminster Speleological Group
  • Caves saturday and sunday: Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, Little Neath?
  • Meet leader: Adam Kessler

2008

2007

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

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.

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 :)