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 B
Trip Report & Photos: Dave B

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 B
Cavers: Dave & Jonny
Photos: Jonny B

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

OFD 1: Round Trip

Fairly mellow, quick & easy enough trip, is the best way I’d describe this one. However, is that because I’ve already experienced so much? Who knows! One thing I couldn’t have probably done sooner is the rigged traverse. As frightening as it was, I knew there was a drop but it was confusing because I knew I couldn’t fall. Think i need to do this one again. I did enjoy it, very good beginners trip I’d say and thoroughly enjoyed being the only ones in there (thanks to the weather 🤓). Loz is a great leader and i will look forward to her trips again!

Trip Report: Rebecca Guy
Cavers: Loz, Rebecca
Photos: Rebecca

Jingling Pot

The final trip of the Yorkshire club weekend was Jingling Pot. On the team this time were Paulina, Bartek, Dino, Roo, Dave and myself. After two days of caving the steep slog up to the pot seemed excessive, but it was interesting, as we quickly detoured to see Rowten and also had a quick look at the entrance shaft to Aquamole.

Dave was trainee rigger (under Bartek’s watchful supervision). While he was rigging the traverse to the Lateral Cleft Route, Dino sorted the Direct Descent, providing a nice round trip. This was great SRT practice, providing ample opportunity to have a go at a traverse, as well as some rebelays, deviations, and a good long prussik back up the main shaft.

Bartek choose to poke his nose into the dig after descending the rift at the bottom of main shaft. After going for a little way, he found himself under a very large block held up by very rotten timbers, and therefore beat a very sensible retreat.

I also had the opportunity to take part in my first cave rescue. The casualty was a very skinny frog who I hope appreciated the lift he was given up the main shaft to a nice pool; what's more, he was even brought dinner in the shape of a nice fat slug. After this rescue, we attempted to rescue Bartek and Paulina’s Volvo after it slid down a muddy bank when Bartek reversed onto the road. While our little Panda valiantly stopped it sliding any further, there was no way Bartek could reverse off, necessitating a call to a caver friend with a large 4x4. Overall, this was the end to a fantastic weekend, and I'm looking forward to another Yorkshire adventure soon.

Cavers: Paulina, Bartek, Dino, Roo, Dave & Anne
Trip Report: Anne Bell
Photo: Bartek

Lancaster Hole & Cow Pot

We had decided the night before that we will be splitting into 2 teams to do a transfer trip between Cow pot and Lancaster hole. We have looked at the rigging maps for both and realised that there is difference between the rigging maps we had for Cow pot. A 20m extra pitch appears on one of the maps. We decided to take a 20m rope in case we needed it. I have not been personally there before, nor have I seen the description of the cave. Last minute that morning we decided to switch teams so team 1 Bartek, Ann and Dave will go to Lancaster hole, while team 2 Dino, Paulina and I will rig the cow pot. Which means the 2 people who have properly looked at the 2 caves were now in one team. Paulina has been before long time ago at Eurospealeo where everything was pre rigged.

We started our trip with all off us walking for the Red Rose hut. All dressed up ready to go down. Aggi and Zeina were not caving that day, so they walked with us, a bit behind, until the track started going a bit inclined and muddy. Said our goodbyes and carried on till the stile. After the stile, Bartek had to call the three ahead to come back as we are going left beside the wall. Following the wall took us to cows pot first. Team 2 opened a gate on the wall to heading to Cow Pot. Team 1 went right at this point and heading to Lancaster hole which was few hundred meters away. As part of team 2, we followed the path around the bushes and trees where we suspected the pot would be. We reached the top of a big rock, clearly there was a long way down at the edge.

We could see the anchor points at the surface of the rock where we stood, which matched the rigging map we had. Dino and I started rigging. Then I took the rope and start the decent. there was a reply just few inches from the edge of the rock. Rigging this, i carried down looking for the deviation point which was on the opposite side of the big rock i was on. Threading a sling in the steel anchor and putting the deviation on the rope, after that it was a 20+ meters vertical drop in the middle of the shaft. I reached the bottom where it was properly lit with day light. Dino followed and when arrived, he directly followed the natural passage trying to find the way forward from there.

Paulina got down next. When she arrived, we started looking around for the other passage which she has used long time ago. In my mind I was looking for that 20m up and down passage on the rigging map that i have seen the day before, which was not with us that day. We saw a narrow passage on the floor going up and away from where we landed. It seemed the wrong way as it was too tight and we could not see any landing at the end of it, also it looked tricky if you get stuck there as there is no way you can pull yourself up.

There was a small climb opposite to that hole, which a thought it was the 20 m passage on the map. Anyway, we decided to follow Dino to see what he has found. Walking down that passage following the natural way the cave goes, reach a low celling chamber with a natural duct over, i went in the chamber where dino was looking down a hole with scaffolding, trying to access it. Paulina went up into that duct and came back as there is nothing up there. At that stage, we said that didn’t looked like the right way, so we thought we go back and this time with Dino to see if we can find the other way especially as Paulina thought that’s not the way she previously used.

Back at the landing area, we started looking again around, not much there except the hole on the ground level and that climb. I went up the climb and look around, nothing there except a very tight squeeze. Dino tried going down that tight hole, after naturally fixing the rope and using his hand jammer to slide down and threw a rock, we could hear it went down quite a drop. Then Paulina gave a go. Also, they both agreed it would be a risk if we go in and it was not the right passage, we could easily get stuck. I tried to give it a final go but had a similar conclusion.

So at that point, we thought we have spent more than an hour so far and it is too late to carry on, as Bartek was expecting us at 2 on the main chamber in Lancaster hole on the 60m rope. He was hopping to capture this mid celling 60m drop. It was 20 to 2pm already, so we decided if we go back now, derigging and try to follow them in Lancaster hole, to let them know what happens as they will be worried by then. Dino went up first, saying that don’t take the bag as he will pull it from the top. He reminded us few times and up he went. I followed, then Paulina. Paulina reached the deviation; a thought came to mind whether the rope was attached to the bag as i have not seen dino doing it an also I didn’t.

Dino asked Paulina if she tied the rope to the bag, she replied confidently that she thought Dino did, reaching the belay at this stage, she was double checking with Dino who was on top of the pitch at the edge looking worried and annoyed. Paulina at this stage starter to switch onto her descender as we will have to go down again for the bag. Dino did have a bit if shock until Pauling switched back and went up. Dino then started pulling the bag and us laughing. The bag finally at the top, we packed and started heading to Lancaster hole.

We reached the top of the hole, where we could see three ropes going down, its a busy cave. Dino went first, and then Paulina. While Paulina was midway, we heard voices, it seems Bartek has come back to the entrance as he was worried. I followed Paulina on our rope, it was tricky to get on the correct rope with 2 rebelays, especially the ropes were twisted over each other. Mid way down, I checked if I needed to carry on if they are coming up. Bartek said to carry on.

Reached the bottom of the first 30-4 drop, Bartek was there, while Paulina and Dino have gone ahead. There were three other cavers faffing around, waiting for me to get off the pitch to go up. I followed Bartek quickly as you need to with Bartek. He vanished and i had to call him back as i was not sure on the way, it was my first time in this place.

Walked for 10 minutes going in a stream at one point and going up muddy slops, over boulders and under till we reached a huge chamber, where we were supposed to emerge from the ceiling (the 60m pitch). Dino and Paulina waiting for us in the chamber, Dave and Ann were at the bottom of the chamber. There were few ropes already rigged at different placed to get to the bottom. Our ropes were rigged at the right-hand side wall of that chamber with a traverse to start with then a straight drop down. Bartek tried to see if he can take a good photo from that spot but after decided not to, and wanted to get to the incline opposite you where that starts from the bottom of the chamber all the way to the top of the ceiling for the chamber. I decided to wait there while the three of them went down on the ropes that Dave had rigged.

They all went up the incline, Bartek looking for photo spots, but then canned the whole way idea. I was not feeling great, so i said i will wait for them in the chamber and they can carry on from the top of the incline. After an hour of the gone, another team of four showed up from the same spot they banished from. When they reached the bottom of the chamber, one of them came up a rope that was rigged in the middle and the other three scrambler their way under the boulder then up two small pitches with ropes to emerge behind me near the entrance to that big chamber. They did stay long and vanished as well heading back to surface.

Still no sign of the team, I had couple of chocolate bars as i started feeling a bit cold, waited for another our, then thought they are late, they supposed to be back an hour ago. So, i decided to head out as if i stayed here i might be a liability. I was concerned if I will remember my way back, I started going back trying to trace my route, a lost my way once just for few meters and then found the way. When I reached the bottom of the entrance pitch i could see daylight. Wait a bit then stated prusiking up the rope. I reached the top, it was sunny and warm, I laid down on the grass and waited, at least now I’m warm and enjoying the sunshine. After 30 minutes, I heard some noise at the bottom of the pitch, it was Dino. When he reached the top, he suggested we go back to the hut and pass by the entrance of the Cow pot to collect the bag of ropes on the way.

We reached the hut and got changed, had a shower and sat down with Aggi and Zeina. The rest of the team then arrived. Waited for them to change then headed to the Kirkby village to get dinner.

Cavers: Paulina, Bartek, Dino, Firas, Dave & Anne
Trip Report by: Firas
Photo by: Bartek

Notts II

Our first trip of the Yorkshire weekend away, was to be Notts II. The seven of us lowered ourselves one by one into the entrance shaft, which really is an engineering marvel. The amount of effort, time, and sheer determination to shore it up with scaffold bars, wooden slats, bricks, breeze blocks, expanding foam and various other materials must have been huge. I'm glad the original diggers made this effort, though, as corkscrewing down (and later back up) the shaft was great fun.

Before long we joined the Notts II streamway, where a trip to the downstream sump was in order. This involved a couple of photos, with Zeina being the model par excellence. After that, it was up the streamway, with Bartek pointing out a few navigational markers en route. Before long we arrived at a junction, where we went left. This took us into a most beautifully decorated section of passage, where we met two cavers with clean suits that smelled of Febreeze (I don't know how either of those things is possible.) This passage quickly ended with a crawl and a sump, so it was back to the junction where we again went left (though it was right on the way in).

This passage led us to a canal section, where Anne didn't want to swim and get wet. She took up the offer of a shoulder lift, making it through the canal with her top half completely dry. This was quite lucky, really, as the water at the deepest part was between my mouth and nose; any deeper and she would have ended up experiencing a very cold bath. The canal quickly ended in another sump (a very attractive, clear, deep blue one), so it was time for Anne to have another shoulder lift back to the junction. After that, a quick stomp down the streamway (with a suitable photo opportunity, of course), led us to the main shaft and a climb up to daylight. Overall, a great start to the caving weekend.

Cavers: Bartek, Paulina, Zenia, Firas, Dino, Dave & Anne
Trip Report by: Dave B
Photos: Bartek Biela

CRIMS - The Movie

An Electronic Cave Rescue Incident Management System (CRIMS)

Traditionally cave rescues have been managed using a T card board along with a hand written incident log. This system has stood the test of time. So why change anything?

To gain an overview of the electronic system and find out its capabilities, here's a link to a short film.

Version 5.3 has now been released. This follows hot on the heals of version 5.2.

The shiny new feature in 5.3 is the Personnel Deployment Record.

Boxhead Pot

Today's objective was Boxhead Pot, with it's 70m main pitch. Not having done such a large pitch before (and not having honed SRT to perfection yet) I was unsure how hard I’d find climbing back up from the bottom. A good challenge is always fun, however, so three of us (Bartek, Jon and myself) set off after meeting up with several other club members for a good breakfast.

Bartek was up first, being the designated rigger, followed by Jon and myself. This was a great trip from start to finish: a lovely first pitch to a large floor covered in cobbles with the most impressive rock architecture (fluted columns in the rock - very beautiful). From there, the main pitch plunged down 70m, passing through a fair bit of spray en route. Add in a couple of rebelays and deviations on the first pitch, and it all made for a really enjoyable trip.

Landing at the bottom of the main shaft, I recall thinking what fun dangling over 70m of void had been, until Jon reminded me of the stiff climb up and out! Bartek shot up the 70m in what must have been 7 or 8 minutes, Jon took slightly longer (maybe 15), however I think I took at least half an hour. A fast and efficient caver I will never be, but I can plod till I get there. After Bartek and Jon’s patience, it was my turn to be patient, as Bartek engaged in a spot of photography with Jon dangling from a rebelay on the first pitch. The end result was definitely worth it, though, and before long I was prussiking up the entrance (exit?) pitch and struggling up the narrow sewer pipe to daylight. Here Bartek choose to engage in some more photography, successfully capturing my struggle and incompetence for posterity. This was a fantastic trip, and I’m already looking forward to the club’s next Yorkshire weekend in August.

Cavers: Bartek, Dave B & Johnny B
Trip Report: Dave B
Photos: Bartek B

County Pot to Wretched Rabbit

3rd Trip for me, saw me venturing into a Yorkshire Cave for the County Pot to Wretched Rabbit trip. It makes me laugh because before I'd even entered the cave, I freaked out due to the entrance after the slate being a straight vertical drop, requiring me to use full body weight to lower myself into it.

Once I got in with Mark's help, it was fantastic, he had mentioned that it wasn't exactly a newbie trip, I don't mind it though, it's good for me to experience caving as it is and I would feel guilty if the trip wasn't fulfilling for everyone else involved.

New experiences - ladders and tight spaces, not too bothered by these, so wouldn't mind some more tries at these.

Not so good with crawling though, I wonder if there's anything I can buy to help with these, I have had problems with knees in the past. And then there's the drops.. the dreaded drops, few times I found myself on the edge, travelling over an edge, traversing only once or twice which i powered through. And then the end finale, a 1-2m2 square hole to pass over with only a small stalagmite for footing and meant having to lean over and into the drop to be able to secure hands.. most frightening moment of the trip.

Mark, Jess and Mel we're all so supportive and on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's not going to defeat me, just making me more determined to up my fitness and confidence levels in any way I can, so I'm going to the gym and I'm going to take up rock/boulder climbing. I may still get scared, but if i can build external knowledge and confidence of how to deal with certain situations, it may help in the cave.

Cavers: Mark & Jess B, Mel B, Rebecca Guy
Trip Report & Photos: Rebecca Guy

Rowten Pot

Having never been caving in Yorkshire before, I was keen to get stuck into some of the classic trips. Bartek and Paulina were my guides for the day, and opted for Rowten Pot. The choice was an excellent one! After a quick lesson in setting up y-hangs, Bartek slithered over the edge of the pot, and shortly after shouted up to let me know that the rope was free. I dropped down to the second rebelay, relishing the void beneath my feet and the water spraying down the shaft. It was a good thing that the position was spectacular, since I managed to get hung up for about half an hour or so at this point. Not judging the length of the rope in the rebelay, realising I'd attached my ascending gear incorrectly, and getting in a tangle was an impressive number of mistakes, however with time - and more importantly Paulina’s advice - I eventually passed the rebelay and dropped down to Bartek.

From here on, I'm pleased to say, things went a lot more smoothly. There was an interesting abseil into a tight (ish) rift with another rebelay, a good swing across to the opposite wall as the cave bellowed out, and then another couple of pitches down to the bottom of the cave. Here we had a quick look at the sump, which is one of three. Apparently they are committing but relatively easy; nonetheless, they definitely weren't on the agenda for today. After poking around for a few minutes, we started the climb up out of Rowten. Fortunately the way out was trouble free, and before too long I picked my head over the top of the pot. This was an excellent trip, made even better by poking our heads into Yordas and Valley Entrance.

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

Mostly Mudlust

The Dudley were back at OFD, with their sights set on the Northern Lights (the subterranean version). Through the entrance series we went, into Gnome Passage where we picked up the start of Edward's Shortcut. Here Jonny went first, slithering down the polished climb with ease and aplomb, before I followed somewhat less gracefully. We made quick progress over the traversy bit before taking a detour into Frozen River, which has some very impressive formations, including a copper pillar - very beautiful.

Having ooed and ahhed sufficiently, we made quick progress towards Cross Rift where we took Midnight Passage and followed it up to the Skyhook. Being new to this part of the cave (and having forgotten a copy of the survey), I guessed most of the key navigational decisions, and got them consistently wrong. I was consistently put right by Loz, however, and before long we had found the wet grovel followed by a vertical climb up through a boulder choke which leads to the start of Lavender Way.

Having squeezed and crawled through this, we arrived at the tight squeeze through into the Vault. This was a bit of a struggle, as it was stepped upwards and had to be entered on one's side. Getting my hips over the steps necessitated pushing my torso up vertically; of course the passage got thinner the higher it got, making this somewhat of a challenge. Nonetheless, after 5 minutes or so, it was challenge met and I was through. Jonny was next; he too found the same problem as me and decided he wouldn’t defeat the squeeze. No bother: he and Loz went to find the bypass while Anne and I pushed on.

The next obstacle was the chimney climb with handline. I had heard this was awkward, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was simply a case of easy (but thrutchy) chimneying, with a good sideways push off the wall to force my body weight over the top of the climb. We waited for a few minutes in Mudlust Hall for Loz and Jonny to catch us up, however we quickly began to feel cold and pushed on, figuring that they would catch us up sooner or later.

The second section of Mudlust Hall has the most impressive moonmilk tide mark; this was definitely the highlight of the trip for me! Next we followed a crawl at the end of the chamber over some amusing slippy mud, to arrive at a sump. Back we tracked, and found the wet crawl that's the way on into the rest of Northern Lights. However, not wanting to get too far ahead, we went back to Mudlust Hall to see if Loz and Jonny had arrived.

We found Loz, who said that Jonny was waiting for us back at the squeeze. They had found the bypass, but after some deft climbing had decided not to push on. I thought this wise: looking at the traverse from above the squeeze, it involved a big stretch over a big hole with a big drop but without big footholds! Not a great combination.

Having all met back up, it was time to reverse our route, but this time at the Cross Rift we went out via Shatter Pillar and navigated the standard “tourist route” to the entrance. Having learnt this route recently with Caver Keith ( aka the Wily Cave Wizard), I'm pleased to report that Anne and I were able to follow it without error, and we all emerged after several hours underground.

Overall, this was a great trip, and some of the best bits of Northern Lights still remain to be explored on a future trip!

Cavers: Loz, Jonny, Anne & Dave
Trip Report: Dave B
Photos: Jonny B