Yorkshire Weekend: Shuttleworth Pot & Mayday

Shuttleworth Pot: Trip Report by George Tolley

I met Dave and Anne in Ingleton and we had a quick bite to eat in Inglesport cafe. We then made our way to leck fell. Where we parked in a lay by.

We made our way across the fell in lovely weather, following a stone wall on our left, over a little mound, then you start descending the hill and the cave is across to your right.

The trip started with a short descent down the manhole into a very wet puddle. Then out into the cave where we carried on down to the bottom of pitch 1.

Then a short hands and knees crawl over loose rocks to the top of pitch 2. This pitch consisted of a few small drops then a nice final descent to the cave floor, a fixed hand line helps to pull yourself up a loose rock bank.

We de-kitted from our srt gear and followed the passage leading to another crawl, along a mud floor passing some beautiful formations, of straws and helictites. Popping out in a large chamber, winding our way through with high mud banks either side of us. We come to a fork with the left path leading up for a short way until stopping. The right path takes you past some straws and then into a very muddy passage which comes to the end of the passage.

We then turned for home and made our way back to the surface, to find the weather was still lovely so a nice stroll back to the cars.

A very good trip, thanks Dave and Anne.

Mayday: Trip Report by Dave

Our second trip in Yorkshire was to be a major step up in terms of difficulty. Roo had suggested Mayday Hole as a way to test ourselves, and particularly my rigging skills. So after the obligatory breakfast at Inglesport, we started the trudge up to the entrance, carrying some planks for a dig a little further on that Roo is involved in.

The entrance into Mayday was blummin awkward: a tight squeeze down to the first pitch head, with very little room for a tackle sack. After getting in a twist, I eventually managed it and dropped down to the start of a tightish rift (Razor Traverse). Thrutching along the rift whilst rigging was interesting but short lived, and finished with a nice y-hang that allowed quick progress down the second pitch. This was swiftly followed by the third pitch (called The Nipper) which was the tightest of the whole lot. Gravity obviously helped on the way down, but George nonetheless made the comment that perhaps Roo’s recommendation of cave reflected a certain dislike of us!

A short crawl later saw us to the top of Doughnut Pitch. Coming down this, George had an interesting fight with a tackle sack. The tether snapped, and - fortunately for my head - the bag got wedged. After retrieving it, we all grouped together at the bottom, and here Anne decided that she was too tired to go any further.

Leaving Anne to have a rest, George and I cracked on with Frank's Pitch, and then Baby and Boom pitches. These last two in particular were very fine pitches. The cave changed character and became much more spacious, and easy rigging and abseiling quickly led to the boulder choke right at the bottom of the cave. All that remained now was prussiking back up 120 metres, and the first 70 odd meters (back up Boom and Baby) were very pleasant indeed.

In fact the whole outward journey wasn’t too bad, although managing the rope to avoid it snagging took some thought. At least the outward journey wasn't too bad until we got to the Nipper. After hearing Anne grunting and struggling with this, it was my turn to face it. It was pretty hard work, with one large bulge (ahem, I'm referring to the shape of the cave, not my physique) causing particular difficulty. At this point, I decided that George was wrong: Roo didn't dislike us, he hated us! To make things even worse, the tackle bag weighed a tonne, and decided to snag and catch on everything. Nonetheless, a good struggle later, and there was only the second and first pitches to go.

These passed without too much difficulty, and the nice dribble of water down the first pitch was very refreshing. Finally, all that remained was getting out of the cave. This proved as difficult as getting in, but fortunately George helped by taking the tackle sack off me.

To sum up, Roo’s recommendation was very good and Mayday Hole definitely didn't disappoint. It was testing but great fun. Had I realised how testing, I would have chosen another cave as it was only George's second SRT trip. Nonetheless, he did a great job, meeting every obstacle head on and making them look a lot easier than me!

Daren Cilau Through Trip

A repeat of the Daren through trip was high on Anne’s to do list (or at least a visit to the Urchins was) and foolishly I agreed to go with her. The entrance series was as tortuous as ever, particularly as I was carrying a bag this time. However, by cracking on we made reasonably light work of it and the calcite squeezes weren’t nearly as bad as I remember. There was an incredibly tight squeeze towards the end of the crawl which played the xylophone on my rib cage. I was about halfway though and on the verge of becoming stuck when Anne popped her head over and asked why I had gone under rather than over? The answer being that I was so used to putting my head down and squeezing that I hadn’t looked up to see the obvious (and spacious) route over the top. Fortunately I was able to push through and squeeze out the other side, which is just as well as going back would have been very, very difficult.

Once out of the crawl we made quick progress to the first boulder choke, making a quick detour to see the dried out crystal pool towards the end of the old main chamber. This was very impressive and well worth the five minutes it took to view it.

We wriggled through the first choke out into Jigsaw Passage where nice easy caving brought us to Big Chamber Nowhere Near the Entrance. More easy caving down Epocalypse Way took us to the White Company where we stopped to get a couple of photos of these very beautiful formations. Carrying on we managed to mistake the entrance to Urchin Oxbow, do a complete 180 and end up back at the White Company! This was no hardship as they are very beautiful 😊

We did a better job second time around and clambered up the climb into Urchin Oxbow where another couple of photos were in order. Shortly thereafter the long trudge along Antler Passage started. Antler Passage is rather interminable with lots of boulder hopping and regular obstacles to climb up and through, including 4 laddered sections.

Just before one of the climbs we passed a handline coming down from Man in the Roof. This is a route I’d like to go and see at some point, however making the exit using just the handline looks like sheer lunacy. It must be 6 to 7 metres high with just a thin cleft in the face of the rock for footholds. This route may require some planning, and going with someone who has prior experience of it…

We ploughed on and eventually reached the fourth laddered climb (with a very slippery approach!) which took us up into Busman’s Holiday. Thereafter easy caving took us through Prices’ Prophecy to the exit via Cnwc. While Cnwc is tight and crawly it is nothing in comparison to the entrance series and before long we arrived at the gated exit and emerged to a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Total time was 6 hours, which isn’t bad as my first attempt took over 7 hours.

Cavers: Dave & Anne
Trip Report & Photos: Dave

Ogof Craig a Ffynnon

Having missed the Dudley’s July trip to Craig a Ffynnon I was keen to finally make it through to the elusive Helictite Passage.

Water levels were extremely low; the first choke was dry and Gasoline Alley a mere puddle. But the second choke was as muddy as ever, and a very slippery corkscrew climb had to be squirmed up with great difficulty. This was by far the most arduous part of the route in, but a delight to slide down on the way out!

The entrance to Travertine Passage provided a few more specimens of mud (who but cavers truly appreciate the wide variations in mud?) with the treacherous welly-eating squelchy mud, fun mud-slide mud and just enough caked on mud to make boulder hopping a precarious pursuit. Travertine Passage and the Hall of the Mountain King were as stunning as ever, but we pressed on into Hurricane Highway (initially a slippery mud but increasingly more Velcro mud), and were back at the fourth choke where the navigation had defeated us on our first trip. The way on was embarrassingly obvious when you know where…

Then finally, into Helictite Passage! It was certainly worth the mud, the squirming and the squeezing. A stunning array of formations. I particularly appreciated the pom-pom. Definitely a must see for any calcite enthusiasts out there. 😊

On the way back we made use of the low water to wade through to visit the crocodile in North Western Inlet. He was cheerful as ever, welcoming unwary cavers in with gently smiling jaws. Needless to say we backed off hastily.

Back at the car park, we had the usual conversation with a passing motorist who couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to go caving. I’m sure if more people were introduced to the joys of calcite, and mud, mud, glorious mud, it would all make much more sense!

Trip Report: Anne
Photos: Dave

Peak Cavern: White River Series - Attempted

Today's trip was meant to be to the White River Series. On the roster were Mark, Jess, Mel, Johnny and Dave and after setting off we soon find ourselves deep in the bowels of the Devil's Arse. Jess chose to emphasise each hop, skip and jump between boulders in the Upper Gallery with a dainty “ooh”, which added some amusement, as I had visions of her dancing between the boulders like a ballerina. Before long, we were into the trenches which were thick with mud and very slippy. Here Jess’ dainty “oohs” were replaced with a less dainty “phwurgh” (you're not meant to drink the mud, Jess!) before we squeezed through a constriction to arrive at the start of Colostomy Crawl.

While this by no means lived up to the “colostomy” part of its name, it certainly lived up to the “crawl” part! Here bags that were being dragged got stuck in various rocks and in various crevices, and it was with great relief that we arrived at the fixed ladders leading down Egnaro Aven. Having all arrived at the Lower Bung streamway, we made quick progress via the bypass to the start of the White River Series.

First up the initial pitch was Mark, followed by Mel and then Jess, while Jonny and myself waited at the bottom. After a while, we saw people coming down again; unfortunately Mel's mind had decided (not unreasonably!) that dangling from a piece of string, over a huge void, several hundred metres underground was not a particularly sensible thing to do. This was a good thing in the end. While we may not have seen the White River Series, we did manage to be out of the cave in time by turning back, and this definitely wouldn't have happened had we pushed on.

However, we now had the delights of Colostomy Crawl to repeat! Fortunately, it was much easier in reverse as it sloped downhill, making dragging the bags much easier. Before long we were through the Trenches, Upper Gallery, Mucky Ducks and the Wallows, and back at Buxton Water Sump. Here the obligatory wash and scrub down saw us fit to exit the cave, and a quick trudge back to the TSG led to showers and then a pub meal. Both of these were a welcome end to a muddy, tiring trip, but one that was well worth it nonetheless!

Cavers: Mark, Jess, Mel, Johnny, & Dave
Trip Report: Dave

In Search of the Dragon

Our grandchildren (Ian and Keith that is) like caving. However, it's getting increasingly difficult to find new places to take them. They are now getting quite experienced so we need trips that will challenge them but don't involve anything too hazardous. We have done Goatchurch, Eglwys Faen, OFD (to the Trident and Judge) and Aggy. Ian suggested Ogof Craig A Ffynnon but I thought the pitch could over face them so I suggested we tackle North West Inlet.

Now those of you who have done this trip will know that the water is numbingly cold and one is in the water for quite some time, so we made sure everyone was wearing a wetsuit. To tempt our young explorers through this moist passage, I told them that the cave was home to a rare breed a caving-dwelling dragon.

This short film tells the story of the trip.

OFD Through Trip

Faced with the onset of the hottest week of the year, the only sane course of action was to seek respite underground. We'd been hoping to do the OFD through trip (bottom to top entrance) for a couple of years, but never quite got around to it. However, a quick email later, and we had Bartek and Paulina on board. Their stories about the Ario expedition made the trip seem incredibly tame, but also a much nicer (read less tight and committing) experience!

Water levels in the streamway were well below The Step, and Anne appreciated being able to make progress without falling over or fighting for balance (short people problems!). After stomping up the streamway and going through the choke into the Connection, Bartek decided it was time for a spot of photography and took several snaps of the impressive mini formations in the passage. We then remembered the right-hand turn by an obvious formation, and popped out into a chamber with a few options for ways on.

Here our satisfaction at remembering the nav ended, and Bartek had to come to the rescue by sniffing out the tube that was the way on. After this we made quick progress to the Letterbox, with only one further nav mistake, that Bartek and Paulina again corrected. At this point, Bartek shot off ahead, and we waited a while for him to return. This not happening, Dave decided to climb up to the Letterbox and yell for him to come back. Bartek, however, had other ideas. Pretending to be a vampire, he had perched out of sight just before the Letterbox and thought it great fun to make Dave jump as he climbed upwards. His cruelty continued, as on arrival at the streamway in OFD 2, he forced Dave to jump in and out of potholes so he could take photos. This was under pain of not telling him how to find his way out of the cave. Justice was done, however, as Paulina quietly filled his wellies with stones whilst he was engrossed in taking more photographs near top entrance. What was most impressive was the fact that he walked halfway back to the cottage before realising and emptying a handful of large rocks out of his boot (then discovering even more later).

The biggest highlight of the trip was definitely Marble Showers, where the combination of black limestone and calcite veins / swirls was stunning. Overall this trip was well worth waiting for and is definitely one to repeat before too long.

Cavers: Bartek, Paulina, Dave & Anne
Trip Report: Dave
Photos: Bartek

DRAENAN ENTRANCE IV – A NEW HOPE

DRAENAN ENTRANCE IV – A NEW HOPE

Part One - “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny,

consume you it will”

A long time ago in a cave passage far, far away…

A group of cavers

including Keith and Jess

endeavored to reach a beautifully decorated chamber

in the far reaches of Ogof Draenan…The trip entailed light years of

stumbling over greasy boulders…millenniae of thrutching, over sticky mud floors…many

tears and groans of agony and vain attempts to use the force…This mission was completed

in no less than 13 HOURS by the intrepid explorers, making it the longest caving trip and

hardest physical feat EVER in the life of poor Jess…

A few lightyears passed…

Lulled into a false sense of security by Mark,

(Who said he found our lack of faith disturbing)

Jess, Mel and Joe agreed to embark on a little “routefinding trip” into Draenan.

Some gentle exploring around the entrance, we thought! Tucking a choc bar and a capri sun

into our suits, we set off. 16 HOURS LATER we emerged into early morning daylight, with

broken bodies, bleeding knees and murder in our hearts. Mark had failed to mention that

the “routefinding” was to the Gerion – pretty much the same trip that Jess had done a few

years before (and sworn never to attempt again). Unprepared as we were, without any

dihydrogen monoxide, we had been reduced to drinking sludgy cave water, and eating some

weird thing made of sugar and peanuts, that Mel had brought back from some foreign

planet, just… to… survive.

So …

you can imagine my trepidation

when, after months of almost no caving at all,

my foray back into this dark world was to be another trip into Draenan…

I HAD A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS…

Part Two - “These are not the entrances you’re looking for”

Jedi masters,

Bartek and Paulina

came up with a plan to find the new entrance,

(Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du) mentioned in Descent Magazine,

go into the main cave, then go out via the traditional entrance. Maps were consulted and

terrain was surveyed. Teams were chosen and soon we were heading to parts unknown.

“This is the Way” called Mark,

and descended down a steep ravine, through dense vegetation,

only to be met at the cave entrance by those with a GPS and an obvious path.

Once inside, there were crawls – but nothing too terrible, and soon we were in bigger

passage, with conservation tape. Obviously we were in known passage…but just where?

Bartek, Paulina and Dino were in Draenan for the first time, and Loz, Joe and I had been

there only a few times. Out came the surveys, descriptions and compass, but to no avail. But

the force was strong with Mark, and indeed, this WAS the Way. To T Junction, anyway.

Greasy boulders to the left of us, greasy boulders to the right of us, stretching into the

distance. The potential for hours and hours of type 2 fun lay ahead. But all was not lost - An

early call-out had been set, so we could head out of the original entrance with heads held

high. The mission had been accomplished!

Draenan Entrance IV – A New Hope

CREDITS

Directed by Paulina and Bartek

Written by Jess

Locations Mark

Associate producer Dino

Soundtrack Loz

Archive material Joe

Photography Mark and Bartek

Starring Paulina, Jess, Dino, Loz, Joe

Dranen entrance passages. Photos Bartek Biela

White arch chamber. Photo Mark Burkey

Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du entrance ladder. Photo Mark Burkey

Caving Trip to Agen Allwedd in South Wales

Before embarking on our caving adventure to Agen Allwedd, also known as ''Aggy'', a renowned cave in South Wales, we spent days planning and deciding which section to do. There was six of us with mixed level of experience, including a novice on his 3 rd. caving trip ever! Equipped with appropriate gear, food and drinks we were ready for the underground adventure. 

For a change, the weather was clear and sunny. The entrance to Aggy was reached after 20 minutes’ walk, luckily for us the key worked at first try and we descended into the darkness. 

The first section of the cave, Entrance Series, was relatively straightforward in terms of navigation, consisting of collection narrow rifts, crawls to squeeze through, climbs and boulders to hop over. We navigated through the initial passages with relative ease, the thrill of exploration driving us forward. We quickly reached the Baron’s Chamber and continue down Main Passage. We soon reached a right-hand side turn onto Main Stream Passage. Once again we navigated crawling under boulders or climbing over another. The passage seemed to go on forever. Soon we reached Turkey Pool where couple of us decided to cool down a bit and unintentionally jump in up to our chests, brrrr. The Selenite Needle Passage was another noticeable place where lots words of amazement were heard. 

Turkey Pool

Selenite Passage

We continued to complete our objective of Inner Circle, through Eastern Avenu and St Paul’s Passage with its amazing Dome of St Paul’s. Soon after we were on our way back retracing our steps, carefully navigating the tricky sections once more, our fatigue counterbalanced by the exhilaration of our adventure. Emerging into the daylight, we were greeted by the warmth of the sun, vibrant green of the surrounding landscape and midges. 

Inner Circle Chamber

St Paul's Dome

Our caving trip to Agen Allwedd was an unforgettable adventure. It tested our limits, rewarded our curiosity, and left us with memories that will last a lifetime.

Report: Paulina

Photos: Bartek

Cavers:Bartek, Paulina, George T, Becca K, Dino, Loz

Craig a Ffynnon

We started our day with a breakfast at Greggs. To ready ourselves for a days caving. We decided that our aim for the trip was to reach helictite passage.

The trip started with a steady walk through to the first bolder choke where we climbed up the waterfall. We then progressed through gasoline alley with a crawl through some low water. Then the climb up through the corkscrew.

Then come the second choke which me and Dave battled our way through with the dry sack wedging on every rock. A great crawl with some level changes.

Travertine passage was our first photo stop with Mark, taking some excellent photos throughout the trip.

We carried on along to Hall of the Mountain King which was something special to see with some beautiful formations. This is where Keith and Mark left us.

We were down to three. George,Dave and Jas.

We had a long crawl (about 20minutes) through the third choke, which was great fun, and hard work. Along the Severn tunnel and into the fourth choke. We found our way through after going into a few dead ends and a little bit of searching we found our way on.

We then carried onto helictite passage taking in the beautiful formations before stopping for some lunch and a little rest.

Dave couldn’t resist taking me and Jas to the fifth bolder choke which we had a little look around before turning around and heading for the exit.

On the way back we couldn’t resist getting very wet and cold. In things to come which was a great opportunity to clean down our oversuits from a very muddy trip.

A great trip. Thanks all.

Trip Report: George
Phots: Mark
Cavers: George, Mark, Keith, Dave & Jas

Heron Pot

After several days of hill-walking, climbing, and some aborted mountaineering in the Cuillin (thanks to Scottish weather), Anne and I decided we had to finish off our active streak with some caving. Being in Yorkshire, we were spoilt for choice, and having been taught the basics of rigging by none other than rope aficionado Mr Bartek Biela, I picked Heron Pot as a relatively easy cave to rig unsupervised.

After the short entrance crawl we met the stream and followed this for 10-15 minutes to the head of the first pitch. From here I shimmied up to the start of the High Level Route and began rigging the traverse. I quickly found out why the description said that having long legs was helpful. So too did Anne, who discovered a hitherto unknown talent for doing the splits. Before long (in distance terms, not in time terms as I was pretty slow!) I reached the bolts for the Y-hang. After rigging this, I swung out over the darkness and enjoyed the great pitch (maybe 20ish metres) to the bottom of the cave.

Anne soon joined me, and instead of completing the through trip (and then coming back to de-rig), we decided to crack on with prussiking back up and derigging. Part of me was a little worried about how Anne would manage going back along the traverse with her little legs, but she managed fine and I thoroughly enjoyed working out how to de-rig the traverse while keeping myself safe.

With lots of time remaining, I rigged the first of the wet pitches and dropped down to the head of the second. A grunt from above made me look up to find Anne dangling from her cows’ tails, with her legs waggling in thin air. Apparently the tiny traverse to a nice ledge was just the wrong shape for her, so a controlled lower onto her cows’ tails was in order. After another couple of goes she had it sussed and soon joined me at the bottom of the pitch.

The second pitch had me completely baffled. Unless I was missing something, it involved an easy but very exposed traverse right across the pitch head to the second anchor. The anchor was quite high, meaning that when I arrived at it, I would have had to lean out over the pitch to clip into it and rig it. Risking a big fall and swing on a long piece of rope didn't seem a great idea to me, so I decided that caution was the best part of valour and retreated. (I later checked the topo again, and could see all the anchors marked on it in the cave, so I can't see that I missed anything

All that remained was for us to prussik back up the first pitch, and for Anne to struggle with the mini traverse before I derigged and we headed out of the cave. Once back at the car, we nipped into Yordas where we did the (very mini) through trip, before driving to Valley Entrance and going to the pitch down into the master cave. Being late in the day, we didn't go further and explore, but I'm looking forward to doing a through trip from Swinsto at some point.

This was a great day of caving: three fun caves, a great challenge and lots of variety. We shall have to come back and complete the Heron Pot through trip at some point.

Cavers: Dave & Anne
Trip Report & Photos: Dave

OFD 2 Again By George!

The old pensioner got dragged out of retirement again to take new member George on his first caving trip. 

We visited the Bedding Chambers first,

The Mini Columns

and then headed for Salubrious streamway

At the bottom of the streamway

to visit The Trident and The Judge.

The Trident

The Judge

After a short excursion to see Swamp Creek and The Nave, we then headed for the Crossroads.

The Crossroads

Our next destination was Maypole Inlet to show George the climb down to the Main Streamway. This was followed by Cross Rift, Shatter Pillar and then Selenite Tunnel.

Selenite Tunnel

Our final destination was President's Leap before the Old Git decided that he'd run out of steam. We headed out but the Old Git couldn't resist a quiet visit to the Club Dig on the way back to the hut. The water level was surprisingly low so we were able to get almost to the dig face.

Cavers: Keith Edwards & George Tolley

Fairy - Hillier's Through Trip

After finding myself with a spare bank holiday, I put the call out to Dudley members to see whether anyone wanted to join me for a quick caving trip. A lot of folk seemed to be helping with a project in Yorkshire, but Jonny was free, so the two of us toddled off for some Mendipian fun. I'd been wanting to do Longwood Swallet for some time, having been enticed by the streamway. Unfortunately, predicted thunderstorms put paid to that idea, so we opted for the Fairy / Hilliers through trip instead.

This trip started very pleasantly, with simple clambering over boulders and a short flat out squeeze into a small chamber. Easy caving led to a diversion off the main route, up through a loose choke to Disappointment Chamber. Here Jonny's time in the gym scuppered him from getting his chest through one of the squeezes, so I continued alone through the slightly unnerving choke (it was loose and poorly travelled), so that - as Jonny put it - I wouldn't be disappointed at avoiding disappointment. On reaching Disappointment chamber, I could see why it was given this name: a couple of uninspiring decorations make negotiating the choke not very worthwhile.

Next on the list was the wet crawl connecting Fairy and Hilliers. This was quite unpleasant, and involved getting a rather wet ear when ducking through the lowest point. A tight-ish squeeze followed, and having popped through this, we started down a descending tube. This lead to a narrow crawl which looked very tight to me. Jonny reassured me that it wasn't that bad, so off I went, not entirely convinced that it was the way on. To make matters worse, Mark and Jess had warned me of bad air in this part of the cave. After a few metres of crawling, I was a bit spooked; I was breathing hard, but told myself this wasn't due to bad air, but physical exertion. In any case, it was obvious it wasn't the way on as I turned a corner and it closed down.

Back out of the crawl, we retraced our steps and found the way on. Once in Hilliers, the different character of the two caves became obvious. Hilliers had a lot more boulder chokes with tight contortions and squeezes to complete. Following the polish was easy, though, and before long we were in Cambridge Grotto which was beautifully decorated. Shortly after this we turned around, and retraced our steps, before passing the connection and heading out to the exit rift where we’d rigged a handline before going into Fairy. This was a really fun, sporting trip, and I've that I'm glad I've finally got round to completing it.

Trip Report: Dave
Cavers: Dave & Jonny
Photos: Jonny

Mendips - Hunters' Lodge Inn Sink

Being in Bristol on Saturday for Rope Rescue Event with work team, we though that it would be a shame not visit Mendips once we are so close.

Our option was an easy-ish Sunday trip and we decided to visit Hunters' Lodge Inn Sink. The cave entrance is very conveniently positioned in a car ark of Hunters' Lodge. As we arrived the night before we though it would be sensible to arrange the key straight away since the pub doesn't open until mid day next day. Having arranged the key we also tasted the produce of a local brewery.  

Paulina in the entrance crawl

On Sunday morning, after a drive from Priddy to Hunters' Lodge via Wookey Hole (due to the road closure) we were ready to cave at about 9.30am and we opted for a photo trip. The idea was to explore it all the way to the end and take pictures on the return. Not knowing the way we managed to poke into all the dead ends and eventually found the correct way on. We decided to go full SRT as we were planning to get to the bottom of 18m pitch - Pewter Pot. Even though the cave is grabby in places we managed to keep our gear on throughout most the of it, but left the rope and harnesses by the pitch head and went on to see the end with the camera. The cave surprised us pleasantly with few decorated chambers and water features. 

Returning from Barmaid's Bedrooms

Happy Hour Highway

Cavers: Bartek & Paulina