DYO

DYO

It was Loz's trip to get familiar with the Dali's Delight series of the cave. Water level in the Lake 2 & 3 were lower than usual, barely a belly level. Getting through the cave was straight forward following fairly know route. On the way there Loz had a look into the entrance pool to the Mazeways only to realise that it was completely open, but we proceeded to our objective. We found the climb to the Dali's Delight more of an SRT that the anticipated handline but we were geared up for it so once we were all up there the exploration begun. We proceeded left passed the Mini Pinnacles to the Chamber Pot where we turned around and went looking for the Tubeways. We also looked into another side passage that spat us out half way up an aven with the 12m drop below (unrigged) and slightly suspiciously looking rope hanging from the ceiling (some 15m above us), not knowing the age of this rigging we decided to leave it until next time. The Tubeway passage also presented us with more ''active'' leads, ropes hanging from above and another one going down few small pitches. We explored what was sensible and turned around with enough time to visit the Mazeways - what a spectacular part of the cave, scalloping even better then the in the Bakerloo Straight. 

Cavers: Loz, Mel, Paulina, Bartek

Ogof Draenen

After finding myself with a free day, I sent out a message to The Dudley to see if anyone was available for a caving trip. Loz "the machine" Appleby replied that she was, and after discounting the Far North in DYO (for reasons of time and less familiar nav) we opted for a trip in Draenen. This was great, as I've been wanting to learn the nav from the Main Entrance to Elliptic Passage, for a future trip to the Geryon and Circus Maximus.

We didn't actually use the main entrance, however, and opted for the newly-dug entrance (Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du) instead. Despite Loz telling me to fill in the sign-in book that was on the right just on the way in, I managed to miss this totally, and carried on caving through the entrance. (Incidentally, this involved passing through a very civilised plastic tunnel put in to stop water trickling over you in a tight crawl; I was most impressed). A few minutes later, Loz joined me in a little chamber and asked me why I hadn't signed the book and why I was so daft. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a convincing or realistic answer, so I just told her to brace herself for a trying trip caving with a wally.

This came in the form of the song “Daddy Cool” by Boney M. Now that Clara has arrived, I have become that loathsome creature - the smitten father - who for unfathomable reasons thinks it's a good idea to sing to his daughter, particularly while changing her. As I do this exactly 437 times a day, this song tends to come out whether I intend it to or not, although the lyrics have somehow morphed into “Daddy, I did a poo”. (As Loz said, I should probably be mindful of where I sing that). Anyway, after humming it for the umpteenth time, Loz understandably threw a (verbal) rock at my head, and that shut me up.

In terms of caving, from the new entrance we quickly arrived at Cairn Junction before heading through Wonderbra bypass into White Arch Passage and Lamb and Fox Chamber. After this, we followed Indiana Highway, with its traverse over the 22m pitch into Destiny adding a bit of spice. We then spent the next hour and a half getting confused and trying to find the way to Megadrive. We explored Canyon East and other tight bits of passage before eventually realising we needed to climb up a pile of boulders and crawl along a ledge above a deep trench. Problem solved, we stomped along Megadrive to the Nunnery, where we picked up Perseverance 1.

This was a pleasant sandy crawl, which before long terminated at an abrupt drop down into passage below. There was a steep hole bypassing the precipice, however, and shimmying down this, Loz found where we were on the survey. Before long we had picked up Elliptic Passage, so it was mission accomplished, and all that remained was caving out to daylight. Hopefully Loz enjoyed the trip and company as much as I did. All in all, it was a great day's caving

Cavers: Loz and Dave
Trip report: Dave

P8

Today’s trip needed to be a quick, short trip, partly because I was sleep and energy-deprived and partly because George needed to be back for work at 3.30pm. We settled on P8 (Jackpot) which was new to both of us, and which has the reputation of being fun and a little sporting.

Finding the cave was the first challenge, as the description we had very helpfully said “follow the path to the cave entrance”. It turns out that the path we needed was a faint one off the main track into the field. After a few minutes of head-scratching, George got us back on track and we could quickly count off the shakeholes until we found the final one with the entrance nestling in it.

Water levels were very low, and only a dribble of water went down our necks as we dropped into Cascade Chamber. From here, it was quick work to follow the stream down Idiot’s Leap to the head of the first pitch. Here George did a sterling job of rigging the route around the corner and onto the Traverse. I think we now have another leader for future club trips to Yorkshire.

Having polished off the first pitch, we continued via Stalagmite Passage and the High Level Route to Mud Hall. Following this route to its conclusion, we reached a short climb down and traverse along the main streamway, before dropping down into it and splashing along until we came to the sump. This section of stream passage was very well decorated and it's a shame we didn't have time or the kit to take some photos.

Retracing our steps to the bottom of the first pitch, we opted to follow the stream down this to the second pitch. Again, George rigged this efficiently and we started to follow the water down a rather tight passage. This involved a few contortions and grovels in the water before we arrived at a tight, gravel squeeze. Once through this, we quickly reached a sump and it became obvious that much of the passage we had come through would sump completely in higher water levels.

Passing back through the passage, we noted a tight crawl off to our right and decided to have a quick explore. Inching through on your side with rock pressed into your back and chest and your lower leg getting stuck reminded me somewhat of coming out through the Vice in Daren Cilau. Before long it popped out into more passage which sumped to the right but which to the left connected with the streamway opposite the climb going down from the Upper Level Route.

Learning that - despite its small size - P8 is a quite complex cave, we decided to retrace our steps to pitch two and then out via pitch one. Looking at a description of the cave, I’ve ended up quite confused about which areas we visited and which we didn't. Although we had a good root around, there's evidently more to discover in P8.

Cavers: George T and Dave B
Trip report: Dave B
Photos: Mark B (from an earlier trip)

Derbyshire Weekend

Saturday.

The club weekend started with me and Jonny heading up to Bakewell Saturday afternoon for a dive in Holme bank chert mine.

The drive was lovely until I reached the Peak District which is where the rain started, at the entrance of the mine I encountered a rather wet Jonny who had ran back from the town after being misled by the earlier sunshine.

We entered the mine and after a short walk we submerged into the water, having a look in all the nooks and cranny’s of Holme bank. After bumbling around for 75minutes we resurfaced and headed for the pub!

Sunday.

Sunday started with a drive to oxlow house farm, where we were joined by bartek and Paulina.

The tackle was organised and stowed away into tackle sacks ready for the exchange trip from oxlow cavern to maskhill mine.

It was decided bartek and me would tackle maskhill, and Jonny would rig oxlow with Paulina meeting us half way.

A short but steep walk put us at the entrance to maskhill, we started our decent down the first pitch and soon reached trebuchet corner on the second pitch. I was looking over a drop on murmuring churn when bartek announced we had run out of rope a short way from the floor. A change over was made and after a short discussion it was decided to tie onto the rope. This made things interesting to pass the knot.

Small problem sorted we carried on, soon sliding along with our cows tail whilst abseiling sees you across waterfall chamber and into west chamber.

We could now see the lights of Jonny and Paulina. One short abseil left, saw us at the exchange point. Summary of maskhill, lots of Rebelays.

A short break with some videography and photography by bartek, testing out some new gear. We all had a go at modelling… however something makes me think we’re not going to make vogue magazine.

Jonny and Bartek headed back out of maskhill.

Me and Paulina headed out of oxlow. A series of short pitches and slopes saw us out into daylight.

Our day didn’t end here tho after we all reunited it was decided to go and have a look at Poole’s cavern in Buxton. John showed us around the cave, pointing out the different items of equipment that is being used to monitor the cave for scientific research.

A very beautiful cave with some interesting formations, the one formation has got an orange tip on them and they can’t find out why… a huge formation, Snow White in colour signalled the end of the show-cave.

The last stop a Thai restaurant in Buxton a bite to eat finished this weekend off just right.

Cavers: George Tolley, Jonny Bellman, Bartek Beila, and Paulina Beila.
Trip report: George Tolley
Photos: Bartek Biela

 OFD 1-3-1 Attempt

After the OFD 3 trip back in December 2024, an idea was sparkling in Dave's' head, a super adventurous traverse of the Ogof FFynnon Ddu, starting from the bottom, the OFD 1 entrance, visiting the Smith's Armoury in OFD 3, and turning back the same way. Early in the year the planning started and the date was set for the International Women's' Day 2025 (8th March). Four of us met up in Penwylt the night before and decided for an early start at 7am. We weren't far behind the timings but the nightly disturbance at SWCC hut didn't allow for easy sleep for some of us. 

We marched into the cave at 7.45am and within first half an hour we learned that Jas decides not to continue. After emotional 'good bye' three of us remaining manage to keep fairly good pace all the way to the Traverses before OFD 3. To get there we have taken the traditional well known by us route following the steamway to the Maypole Inlet, through the Arette Chamber and Poached Eggs. We reach Smith's Armoury in just under 6hrs, which was really decent since we have allocated 16hrs for the whole trip. After quick refuel we turn around and get back to Maypole Inlet where we come across another group of cavers going opposite direction. The tiredness is about to kick in, for some more then for the others but we bravely march on since it is all downhill now (mostly) and being propelled by water (kind of). There is a brief moment (that probably lasted one hour) were we stopped talking to each other but another refuel helped to lift the mood and obviously energy levels. We exited the cave after 12hours and 30 minutes of caving and since it was in a shorter time then originally planned and we weren't gonna cave next day anyway we all decided to drive back home. 

Short video from the trip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dZnJIA7KU

Cavers: Bartek B, Dave B, Jas S, George T

Nettle Pot: Muddy and (sometimes) tight

The club's February trip was arranged for the Peaks, and specifically a trip to Derbyshire Hall in Nettle Pot was the objective. Much has been said about the entrance pitches and how difficult they are due to being so tight. In reality, though, they really weren't that bad. George said that parts of Mayday Hole were tighter and I reckon he's right. That doesn't mean that it wasn't a bit of a struggle - particularly going back up - but progress wasn't that minimal, nor that hard to make. 

Having dropped down to the Flats, we crawled along these past a few deep pots. This crawl is absolutely covered in thick mud that gets everywhere. By the time we reached the next pitch down, we were covered in it. There's no point trying to avoid a complete covering, nor any point trying to remove it. In fact, a particularly large piece got stuck under my nose and - not having any part of my body that wasn't also covered - I couldn't wipe it off. Instead I simply ended up smearing it across my face. The only other cave that comes close to being so muddy (in my experience) is Otter Hole. And at least there you can have a good scrub in a streamway after you've negotiated the entrance series.

Anyhow, at the end of the Flats, there were a few more pitches: down, up, up, down (if I've remembered correctly), all of which continued the theme of being muddy. Before long we arrived at the infamous Freeze Squeeze. Dave J. was the first to give this a go. Being behind George in a narrow passage, I couldn't see how much progress he was making. However, the grunting, groaning, and puffing told me that he wasn’t finding it that easy. Before long, he admitted defeat and it was George’s turn to have a go.

George also made a valiant effort, and was determined not to be beaten easily. Despite his best attempts, however, he just couldn't fit under the low bulge that makes up the roof of the squeeze. Finally, it was my turn to give it a go.

The best way looked to be on your front, over to the right of the squeeze, where the roof was a little higher. However, the floor also sloped up here, which meant that I tended to slide back towards (and under) the low bulge. What made things worse was that my left shoulder got progressively bent back against itself as I tried to enter the squeeze. As I didn't like the idea of a dislocated / fractured shoulder, I decided to back out and try on my back.

This time, I realised it was impossible to avoid the large bulge, and ended up going more or less directly underneath it. I had to back out fairly quickly when I realised the zippers on my over and under suits were getting pressed painfully into my ribcage. Having rectified this, I gave it another go, but it was clear I wasn't getting through. The roof was pressed tight onto the upper part of my ribcage, and I couldn't make any progress. With difficulty, I wriggled my way out and acknowledged defeat. 

After this, all that remained was to complete the journey back out, negotiating the liberal coatings of mud on the way. We emerged after five-ish hours underground to the satisfaction of competing another classic caving trip. Although George is already planning a return to Freeze Squeeze, this time with a wetsuit and a slim companion to show him how it's done!

Cavers: Dave, Dave & George
Trip Report: Dave
Photo: Mark B

I Hate You Edwards!

Cwm  Dwr Quarry Cave in South Wales is entered via a vertical rift which has been stabilised by lining it with sewer pipes. Getting in is easy, but for some cavers getting back out can prove more than a little challenging.