To Squirm like a Worm...(or not)

The original plan for today was to visit The Score in Ogof Draenen and try and force our way through what sounds like a very unpleasant squeeze to see the White Wormery. However, as this trip involves 70m of flat out crawling in Back Passage and the possibility of flooding (thanks to Storm Claudia), we decided that the more sensible option would be an easy bimble through Gilwern Passage to Galeria Garimpeiros. This decision having been made, it was remarkable how much my mood lifted and I started to look forward to the trip! As Jas commented when I told him that part of me always feels that a trip isn't worth it unless it involves challenge, suffering and misery, sometimes you just have to tell that part of yourself to shut up!

With the thoughts of arduous and unpleasant flat-out crawls and doing an impersonation of a worm firmly banished from mind, we nonetheless decided that a high level of caution and conservative decision-making would be necessary given the very high water levels. It boggles the mind that we could even consider going into Draenen (which is - in the main - highly flood resistant) when just up the road a critical incident was declared in Monmouth due to flooding. Driving past and seeing the damage from flooding really does make you feel for people whose lives have been turned upside down overnight.

Cautiously we made our way into the new entrance: Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du, where we could hear running water bubbling loudly. Making our way through, it was clear that water levels were high and the stream was flowing quickly and making some impressive cascades. Nonetheless, the passage clearly hadn’t flooded recently and given the improving weather forecast and the large outflow for the stream, we made the decision that water levels couldn't really rise and it was safe to proceed. And if the worst came to the worst, the original entrance series is reported to always be passable, if somewhat intimidating.

Having dropped into the cave, we made swift progress through Cairn Junction, Wonderbra Bypass and Tea Junction to the start of Gilwern Passage. The stream that flows between Wonderbra and Tea Junction was very high compared to normal and in much of the passage big pools of standing water had formed. These didn't impede progress, but as similar pools can form in White Arch Passage we thought this was additional justification for not entering the flat-out crawls which lead from it to the Score.

We made rapid progress along Gilwern Passage past a remarkably beautiful calcite flow. Soon the pleasant walking gave way to typical Draenen boulder-hopping and we reached a junction where the way on was to the left. This immediately led into a wet crawl and a tight-ish squeeze all within a choke, and from there to the start of Galeria Garimpeiros. However, Loz and Jas decided that the crawl didn't appeal and having gone through first I spent several minutes waiting for them to join me. Eventually I gave up as they were evidently dead-set against getting wet (an effort which, as it was later to turn out, was completely in vain).

Crawling back through the choke, it turned out that they had climbed up it into a passage above. This climb sounded very spicy due to navigating a “boulder of death”. Having joined together again, we followed the start of Morgannwyg Passage and climbed up to Old Illtydian’s Chamber, which was worth a quick look around.

From here, we made our way back down Gilwern Passage to Tea Junction and then opted to exit through the original entrance. Here we anticipated a somewhat intimidating amount of water; indeed I had visions of partially waterboarding myself. As it turned out, although there was certainly a lot of water the waterboarding never materialised. In fact, the exit was great fun! It was very sporting and involved a thorough drenching without ever being difficult. Definitely the best part of the trip!

After exiting, all that remained was the trudge up to the car and getting changed. The Score - and more specifically the White Wormery - remain firmly on the agenda for a future trip!

Cavers: Loz, Jas and Dave
Photos: Jas
Trip report: Dave

Nearly given the Cold Shoulder by the Coldfinger

A trip into Draenen to see the Coldfinger had been on my radar for some time, and after a quick message out to the Dudley, three of us (Jonny, Anne and myself) found ourselves squirreling around Draenen’s labyrinthine passages. Having heard that the Coldfinger was quite difficult to find, we were unsure whether our trip would be a success; nonetheless we were determined to give it a go.

None of us knew the nav from Wyvern Hall; fortunately we were equipped with Tarquin’s description which helped greatly. This led us through walking passages, tight squeezes, over traverses and along various crawls to reach Ponderosa Chamber having successfully navigated through Isotonic Weird Ways. Up to Ponderosa Chamber, the route for the Coldfinger follows that of the Long Round Trip (a bonus, as learning the nav for this is something I'd wanted to do). From here on in, however, the routes diverged. Before long, we had picked up Pond Life which led us - after some unpleasant crawling over rocks - to a taped off section of cryostal. Here the description told us that the route to the Blue Room / Yanto’s Grotto could be accessed by a very tight crawl at the bottom of a hole in the floor.

Dropping down this, I poked my head into the crawl to find that it immediately went through a very tight squeeze into a passage that looked ridiculously narrow, and which evidently had to be travelled whilst lying flat out on one side. I couldn't fit my helmet through this squeeze, and the thought of traveling through this passage for 20 metres and becoming wedged part way along it was extremely unappealing. Deciding that caution was the better part of valour, I backed off and got Anne to have a look. After she turned a remarkable shade of white just looking at it, we decided that the so-called “Easier Route” would be the option to take.

This decision initiated about an hour and a half of hunting around trying to find its entrance, and led us into some rather unpleasant places. At one point, Anne shot down what was clearly a dig, and after a few minutes we decided this couldn’t possibly be right. Coming back up through a tight-ish squeeze, I reached up to pull on a rock to help me get through, only to find that it - and a small section of the wall - decided to come down on top of me. No harm done, fortunately, and it had the bonus of making the squeeze larger for Jonny! However, I've decided that I prefer not being buried by the cave.

More hunting around found me sliding down a sandy slope through a small, tight hole into a chamber. It was immediately obvious that this wasn't the way on (which should have been obvious by the fact that the route wasn't at all travelled!) and I spent a few anxious minutes trying to get back up the sandy slope. A bit of digging and a stiff struggle were required, but eventually I was out.

After this, we decided that time was up and we wouldn't see the elusive Coldfinger. Jonny started the return crawl down Pond Life with Anne and myself following, and quickly said “there's a passage on the right, here”. Sure enough, this passage (which was about as obvious as the sun) turned out to be the “Easier Route”, and after carefully crawling flat out under its shattered roof, we found ourselves at a traverse over a deep pit into the Blue Room. With a lack of confidence-inspiring footholds, this was a bit of a “squeaky-bum” moment for Anne and myself, though Jonny didn't even bat an eyelid.

The Blue Room itself was very beautiful, with big swathes of calcite on one wall and a collection of small, blue formations. To the left of this chamber, a route through a very loose boulder choke led via a hole in the wall into a dig. At this point, we were on the verge of having to turn around, but Anne spotted what she thought was the “awkward climb” up into a passage at roof height. Scrambling up this, she poked her head around the corner into the passage, before exclaiming “I can see it!”. Jonny and I had a quick butchers, and on seeing how bright blue it was, decided that the trip was certainly worthwhile.

After that, all that remained was finding our way back out. So it was back over the traverse above the pit, where the one inviting foothold decided to snap off as I put my weight on it (leading to double squeaky-bum time). Having successfully navigated the traverse, we passed through Pond Life (where time didn't permit us to visit any other beautiful formations) and on into Ponderosa Chamber and the maze of passages that led us back to Wyvern Hall. I was very grateful for Jonny marking the way with rocks at key junctions as it turns out that following the description in reverse is much harder than I anticipated!

All-in-all, this trip was well worth it, even if the Coldfinger certainly made us work hard for the privilege of seeing it.

Cavers: Dave, Anne and Jonny
Photos: Jonny
Trip report: Dave

Simpson Pot Pull Through Training

I was very much looking forward to today's trip, as I had booked onto a CNCC underground workshop on pull-throughs. Despite high water levels, given the improving weather forecast the decision was made that it was safe to proceed and after some initial instruction overground, the three of us (Ian (CNCC trainer), Charlie (another participant) and myself) wandered up the hill to the entrance of Simpson Pot.

Taking it in turns to rig the pitches, we made quick progress through the cave which involved a fun mixture of stooping, crawling, squeezing and scrambling, as well as a fun little duck before we reached the head of Great Aven. This was a superb pitch, with a tight abseil down a rift to the pitch head and then a wide open void dropping down 30 metres. This wasn't a pitch to be rushed, but one to abseil slowly so the fine position could be thoroughly enjoyed.

Having all arrived at the base of the aven, all that remained was to make our way down the Simpson / Swinsto stream to the Kingsdale master cave. I'd been wanting to visit the master cave for a long time, having only ever been to the head of the pitch in Valley Entrance before. It didn't disappoint and high-ish water levels added some spice to splashing downstream through the rapids.

Around 5 ½ hours after setting off, we emerged out of Valley Entrance having had a great trip and having practised some new skills. All credit to CNCC for putting on such excellent training workshops.

Cavers: Ian, Charlie & Dave
Photos: Ian
Trip Report: Dave

OFD: Return to the Tourist Trail

On Saturday 18th November the Dudley met at South Wales Caving Club. One CDG member was taking a trainee around OFD for the weekend, another photography trip was delayed due to a puncture. The rest of us went on a nice amble around the classic tourist route to reintroduce a lapsed caver into the swing of things.

We started off trying to sniff out the mini columns. Finding these turned out very successfully however we had difficulty locating Speedy Caver. After Jas heroically made the down climb near the entrance proving we'd gone the wrong way, we decided to press on and retrace our steps. We went into the Brickyard and past the Wedding Cake where we joined a queue of student groups all taking their freshers through the Corkscrew. We had planned to do the Sandy Crawls, but as the students were going this way we went straight down to Salubrious Streamway and then to Crossroads.

After this, we took a vote on whether we should find the beginning of the Midnight Traverses or Frozen River, the appeal of pretty helictites indesputably winning out. After sniffing around Cross Rift we found the right way and spent some time enjoying the beautiful decorations in Frozen River. This was even more enjoyable as the slippy slope back up wasn't anywhere near as difficult as we thought it might be.

Our route back took us by an orange crystal pool and then it was a gentle route back up via Shatter Pillar, President’s Leap, etc. The Sandy Crawls lived up to their name, and after some effort negotiating a big hole in the middle of the crawls it was nice to get back to walking passage. All in all, a great little bumble and it was nice to revisit the familiar top entrance landmarks.

Cavers: Becca, Jane, Jas, Dave & Anne
Photos: Jas
Trip Report: Anne

Hidden Earth 2025 Opening Video

This year's opening video for the UK's National Caving Conference, Hidden Earth.

It was shown to a packed house at the opening ceremony on Saturday morning, 27th September 2025.

This is the fourth Hidden Earth opening video that I have been privileged to produce.

Enormous thanks to all the cavers who supported its production in various ways, especially our own Jess, Mark and Bartek. I could not have done it without you.

Diccan-Alum Exchange Trip

Today's trip was a classic: a Diccan-Alum exchange trip, with Bartek and myself going into Diccan, while Dino and Paulina went into Alum via the Dollytubs.

Shortly after entering Lower Longchurn, we reached the head of the first pitch. Even with low water levels this was spectacular, with a jet of water shooting over the edge and crashing down into the abyss below. A rather long lean out over the head of the pitch was necessary to rig, but before long we were dropping down the pitch passing rebelays and deviations. The remaining pitches continued on much the same theme, although a couple involved some interesting traverses that tested my nerve in places. After messing up the rigging on the last pitch (which Bartek corrected for me), we arrived at the bottom of Diccan, where Dino and Paulina were waiting.

From there, we began the climb up out of Alum. I’d really been looking forward to this, and on arriving at the Greasy Slab I was in no way disappointed. The view of Alum was spectacular, with golden light playing against the mossy walls and water dripping down into the depths we had just climbed out of. The view was even better at the Dollytubs, and I got to enjoy it a little longer than Mr B as I was de-rigging.

Having done so, a few minutes’ caving brought us back to the streamway in Lower Longchurn. Whilst waiting for Paulina and Dino, we had a quick look around Upper Longchurn. This too was a beautiful cave, with Dr Bannisters’ Handbasin being particularly magical. Once explorations were complete, all that remained was to meet up with Paulina and Dino and grab some liquid refreshment after changing. All in all, a great trip; it's obvious why it's regarded as a classic.

Cavers: Bartek, Paulina, Dino & Dave
Trip Report: Dave

Swinsto Hole to Valley Entrance

A classic sporting wet trip in the Kingsdale valley. At least, not drenchingly wet after 2025’s very dry summer, but we were all significantly soggy by the end of the day.

Before we set off, Johnny and Dino went to rig the Roof Tunnel Pitch. Having made sure we’d be able to get back out of the cave again, we followed a rough track up the side of Gragareth. Dave joined us as far as the cave entrance, carrying one of the younger unofficial club members.

Inside we quickly reached the first pitch. All of the pitches can be rigged as pull throughs for the through trip route. I was apprehensive about this as it was my first experience of pull throughs but a quick look at the knots (and a test!) made it obvious which rope to descend on. After the first pitch we got to the Long Crawl, which all the team members who had done this route before had conveniently forgotten! 300m of easy hands and knees crawling later we were back to a satisfying rhythm of following the stream over relatively easy caving, then going down a pitch, and repeating (excepting one drier section to reach Spout Pitch).

Soon we met Swinsto Great Aven and followed a route through the boulder floor back into a crawly canal which led to the Master Junction. Bartek took us on a detour to take Johnny through one of the sumps, then it was a short way down the Master Cave Stream to our ropes to ascend out by Valley Entrance.

All in all a great fun trip, particularly with low water levels! A great place to get confidence with pull-throughs.

Cavers: Bartek, Paulina, Dino, Johnny & Anne
Trip Report: Anne

Victoria Aven and Echo Chamber

Today's trip was originally planned to the White River Series in Peak Cavern, however due to an event taking place in the showcave we opted for a shorter trip to ensure we exited on time. Keen to do an SRT trip, I suggested Victoria Aven to Echo Chamber, a plan which Loz, George and Anne all seemed happy with.

Unfortunately, Anne had to drop out as childcare plans fell through at the last minute (she’s booked onto a trip on Monday, though, so won’t have to wait too long for her caving fix). The second problem was that someone (not mentioning any names, but it wasn't George or myself!) forgot their SRT kit. Fortunately, Anne's had been packed before childcare plans fell through, so the person in question could scale the heights of Victoria Aven.

On entering the showcave, we charged through to Five Arches Passage where I thought how lovely and sandy the ground was. I was expecting sticky and slippery mud, but evidently it was a long time since the passage had flooded and I could stride out secure in the knowledge that I wouldn't slip. At least, I could until I found the only patch of mud in the whole passage and went flying, landing face down. Somewhat sheepishly I picked myself up, only to go flying again on the same patch of mud. George and Loz were both very tactful and didn't say anything; or perhaps they were wondering whether caving with me was such a good idea!

In any case, Victoria Aven itself is very impressive. I've never really noticed it before, and it's easy to stomp past it on the way to the Mucky Ducks. It's full of natural false floors and miners’ deads about twenty metres up, so its full height isn't appreciated until you've passed these. About thirty metres up, there's a choice of two routes. We choose the left hand route to Elephant's Head Chamber, which involved a bit of an airy pendulum off the ledge and then another decent ascent to a traverse with staples in the rock. (There was an even airier pendulum here onto the other route, but we left this for another time).

Following the traverse, we arrived at a climb (assisted by SRT kit as a slip here would lead to a very quick descent of the entire aven!) which topped out at Elephant’s Head chamber. Here Loz found the crawl to the Victoria Line which before long arrived at the head of George Cooper’s Aven and a striking twenty-five metre pitch I made a bit of a pig’s ear of rigging this, by not leaving enough slack before the y-hang (a mistake I would make repeatedly for the remainder of the trip!). My excuse is that I haven't rigged for a long time and everything was made much harder by having to use maillons not carabiners due to the resin anchors being very small.

Anyway, another couple of pitches led us to Echo Chamber which was covered in mud. While this included some interesting formations, it was impossible not to get coated in the stuff, and as the chamber sloped downward, climbing back up it was tiring work. In fact, Loz got more than she bargained for when she made a rather quick descent of the chamber, this imitating my earlier slide of the day.

Well after seeing Echo Chamber, all that remained was to make the return journey. This was made more interesting due to a few incidents which were the result of kit being covered in mud. These included jammers that kept slipping (this was a little unnerving!), maillons that were virtually impossible to open (nice one for sorting those, George) and twistlock carabiners that wouldn't shut properly (mine worked fine, Loz!).

By the time we reached the top of George Cooper’s Aven we only had an hour before we needed to be out. Fortunately, it's much easier abseiling sixty-odd metres than it is prussiking the same distance, so we ended up whizzing down Victoria Aven at speed. In fact, there was almost no time to enjoy the spectacular void beneath our feet and before long we arrived at Buxton Water Sump. After the obligatory wash-off, we exited the cave exactly on time (phew!) and trudged back to the TSG, where there was some disagreement about whether the trip had been a good one. It turns out some people aren't fans of mud!

Cavers: Loz, George & Dave

Hard Rock Cafe

Today's trip was to be a fairly tough one, involving roughly three miles of varied caving, reported to take 10 hours. This included the infamous Daren Entrance Series, the ladder up into Higher Things and a few “Velcro-mud” belly crawls for good measure. Having done the Draenen round trip with Anne and Loz two days prior, I was feeling a little unenthused about this trip. However, the thought of reaching Hard Rock Cafe - as well as it being George's first experience of Daren Cilau (despite several planned trips all of which had to be cancelled) - was sufficient encouragement to crack on with the trip.

We made good time through the Entrance Series which took us just over an hour carrying bags. From there, easy stomping led to Big Chamber Nowhere Near the Entrance, and before long we had completed the various crawls and squeezes into Preliminary Passage. Here we stopped to have a quick drink, and eye up the delights of the ladder up Welly Boy Aven. I went up first, swinging around as is inevitable, and got myself set up to belay George from the top. It was evident that George didn't enjoy this bit of the trip very much. It feels quite insecure climbing the wobbly ladder with a belt for safety rather than a harness. And I don't think this was made any better by my comment while George was halfway up that the lifeline didn't really add much safety as it was virtually impossible to take in the rope quickly enough as he climbed.

Nonetheless, we both made it to Higher Things and before long had completed the traverse and climbs down into White Passage. At this point, it really struck me how committing trips into the further reaches of Daren are. You head deeper into the cave with no easy way out, the thought of exiting through the entrance crawls in your mind, and the knowledge that rescue would be incredibly complex and protracted. These thoughts can transform Daren from a fun - if challenging - cave to one that is quite oppressive. Indeed, boulder-hoping through the Time Machine and Bonsai Streamway I was very aware of the possibility of a twisted ankle, and catching my feet on a few occasions didn't help.

After arriving at Hard Rock Cafe without incident, we started the long trip out. Somehow we managed to shave 90 minutes off our inward time, and make it back to daylight in just three hours. I have no clue how we did this; I was definitely feeling a lot more tired on the way out. However, it probably had something to do with George motoring through the crawls and dragging both bags behind him like a hero (does that man ever get tired!?). This meant I just had to try and keep up, and not cry or whimper too much about the Vice (my own psychological nemesis).

Of course, the problem with completing this trip is now I think that pushing on to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is possible, or even Spaderunner. It looks like a Dudley trip to the end of Daren may be on the cards in the future…

Cavers: George and Dave
Trip rerpot: Dave
Photo: George

Draenen Short Round Trip

Due to pregnancy I missed the Dudley’s recent excursions into Draenen. Keen to put this right, I joined Dave and Loz for the Short Round Trip. It’s called “short” but compared to other round trips (e.g. in Aggy) it certainly felt long. I'm not sure how they compare in distance; it could be due to Draenen’s draining boulder-hoping terrain.

A leisurely start meant we entered the cave around 11am. We hit the ground crawling in the entrance series through squiggly terrain before we broke through into the main cave passages. From this point on, a lot of boulder-hopping merged together, although I'm told we went via Cairn Junction, Beer Challenge, and White Arch passage to Indiana Highway. Here the traversing was good fun and before long we arrived in Megadrive before reaching the Nunnery and the start of Perseverance II.

From here, we sniffed out the route to St David’s Hall and then through Squirrel Rifts, although these rifts proved a little more challenging to navigate. At one point, Dave attempted to post himself through a small, highly-polished crawl, before backing out when it got too tight. It appears the polish was due to lots of other people making the same mistake, as the main way on was to drop down a rift immediately before this crawl, which we had traversed over.

After dropping down to the very bottom of this rift, we located the tight, elongated squeeze into Haggis Basher Number One. Here I discovered that breast-feeding makes squeezes a lot harder and more painful, and after grunting and whimpering for a few minutes, I was relieved to escape the squeeze into larger passage. From here we sploshed up the intriguingly-named Far Agent Blorenge streamway to eventually encounter the Sewer. The recent dry weather meant the water levels were fairly low, but we still got a good soaking (nice to cool off in an otherwise hot cave). The duck in the Sewer II was also fairly low and after this we encountered a fun little traverse which took a bit of oomph to climb up to. Next we did some more sploshing downstream to the Confluence where we joined the Beyond a Choke Streamway.

Here the description told us to go upstream, however the low water levels made it difficult to decide which way this was. After experimenting, we figured it out and began the long splash up the streamway back to Tea Junction. This streamway was very beautiful with some lovely decorations, cascades and pools. It would be a great place to visit in its own right, but we simply wanted to press on and complete the trip.

With some relief we reached Tea Junction and the unmistakable, familiar route out of the cave. Exiting was about as much fun as could be expected, but after tight, drippy squirreling we eventually popped through the gate into daylight. I felt pretty exhausted at this point, but encouraged that I could do a “proper” caving trip 3 months after childbirth. I'm looking forward to going back to Draenen and exploring some more.

Cavers: Loz, Anne and Dave
Trip reprot: Anne
Photo: Anne

Titan

 

Titan

It was a long-awaited trip to Titan for the four of us who had never visited it before. Since we weren’t planning to go far into the system but were only doing a bounce trip with a potential look into the connection, we weren’t in a rush to get going first thing in the morning.

After separating with the group that went to Moss Chamber, we made our way to the entrance via Cave Dale and were underground within an hour. Apart from a few moments of hesitation, the rigging went smoothly, and once we had all bottomed out, we began the exit slog on very bouncy ropes. Since we had taken the camera, we also decided for a couple of dangly shots on the way up. We established a rough plan for where to stop for the shot beforehand and came up with a whistling signal system to confirm readiness in position. Due to the distance and enormous echo, we didn’t really manage to communicate much up and down the pitches, so final micro-adjustments of positioning weren’t really possible (radios would have worked much better, but someone never thought about bringing them).

Considering the difficulties of the environment, exposure, and lack of planning, we still managed to get a couple of shots and all really enjoyed the cave, especially George. 

Cavers: Bartek, George T, Paulina, Pheobe 

A Weekend Trip To Parys

Anyone who heard that the Dudley were planning a weekend trip to “Parys” might have envisaged us all drinking wine by the Seine. No such luck this time: this was an excursion to “Parys” not “Paris”. But what an amazing trip it was!

A handful of Dudley members plus one extra, met at the surface workings of Parys copper mine on Anglesey. Before setting off, we spent a moment admiring the surface landscape which is a beautiful surreal place; full of heaps of multi-coloured rocks and minerals.Very fascinating and well worth a look.

We were ably guided by Tim, a member of the Parys Underground Group. The plan was to do the through trip from Mona mine back through to Parys.

Having changed, we went through the hidden entrance into Mona. Once underground we quickly came upon formations that gave us a taster of the unusual decorations to come.. Here, what looked like black calcite was actually formed from fragile rust. Tim explained that the mine is on a volcanic plug and contains just about every mineral going. This meant we were treated to the most amazingly coloured formations, from bright pink through to yellow and greens, and even bright blues (more of that later).

Naturally this resulted in much stopping for photos. The lighting crew and models were mostly very tolerant of this, although you can see evidence of the beginnings of a protest movement if you look carefully...

The route went up and down through different levels. Due caution was a necessity as much of the structure supporting the mine is in an advanced state of decay. Some of the water was also very acidic - as illustrated by these stainless steel bolts and a karabiner that have been left in a puddle. One particularly blood coloured pool also had arsenic and other nasties in it - not the best spot for a swim…

We learnt that much more of the mine used to be flooded, but because of the acidity of the water a concrete dam holding much of the water in, had gone worryingly mushy so the Environment Agency had to pump it out. This has opened up more levels of the mine for exploration and also resulted in a very beautiful geological phenomena:

As the minerals leached through into the newly drained chambers they started to form these bright blue crystals. They have formed over about 20 years and as the mineral all leaches out they start to disintegrate again. Or at least that’s how my non-geologically trained brain understood it. Tim said other areas in the mine have had these blue formations in the past but now they have vanished.

If that wasn’t enough scientific curiosity, we were also treated to a pipe growing iron-eating fungi...

...plenty of snottites...

...bits of non-corroded pink copper...

...iron formations that look like dragon eyes and a bronze age section of mine complete with the hammer stones that the miners had brought from some distance to help them extract the copper.

All in all an amazing mine exploration. I don’t think I’ve heard “Wow!” quite so often on a a Dudley exploit before.

Cavers: Bartek & Paulina, Dave & Anne, Firas and John
Trip Report: Anne
Photos: Bartek

Gaping Gill

An early start was in order to start the walk up ingleborough to the GG winch meet.

On reaching the makeshift town, we started to form a plan. My mom and dad would be descending the winch at 12:30 so the plan was to meet them in the main chamber for that time. We decided to go in via stream pot and out via flood pot.

Just before we set off we gained another member to the team. This took us to 4. Myself, bartek, Paulina and Craig. We set of down the entrance pitch, at the bottom there’s an awkward rock to squeeze yourself through to start your way down the second pitch. The way on was fairly easy going another two pitches with some deviations, saw us to the bottom. We started off with me leading to the main chamber where I lead us off into some tight crawly passage, missing the big black hole in front which was the correct way on.

After a little back track we were back on the correct route and soon found our way to the sand caverns and onto a balcony in the main chamber.

My mom and dad soon joined us and had a good look around. I think we may make cavers out of them yet…

We was soon joined by loz and we started out via flood pot, a little traffic Jam at the bottom give us a rest before the prusic up. The first pitch being the largest one. We then had a few smaller pitches and some crawling we soon surfaced to some sunshine.

Loz went off to pack her tent down and we decided to tackle another entrance, loz suggested that we do corkys pot.

A short entrance pitch put us into a crawl, and then a small pitch which is rather snug but free climbable. Then you keep crawling and it’s keeps getting tighter and tighter and tighter. Then you reach another pitch. I was head first and with no way of turning around I started reversing back to a place where I could squeeze my legs underneath me. This pitch was snug and a real pain to open your stop as it was jammed in your chest. On reaching the bottom of this pitch. Guess what…

More CRAWLING. It got tighter again with every bit of protruding rock grabbing at my srt kit if it didn’t Hook my cowstails it would get my metalware suck. I can say that there was a lot of swearing going on. Then I arrived at the head of pitch and slid my way between the slabs of rock pinching me from both sides. We then went into nemesis crawl. The swearing continued.

I then descended another pitch Into what seems to be a spacious pot, this was soon let down by a small opening at the foot of the pot. More crawling… the elephants arse into colon crawl. I think this needs no explanation.

Squeezing our way along we reached another short pitch,onto a very loose bolder slope where a rock was knocked off and clattered down, and then silence for a few seconds until it clattered on the cave floor below. A large black void lay ahead the final pitch.

Vindication pitch, a fantastic descent looking out over mud hall. On reaching the floor a scramble over the boulders put us on the side of a big drop the way on lay to some very slippery mud traverses. Once these was behind us we could see the glow of lights in the main chamber and a short iron ladder put us there.

We decided to go out via Barr pot which we tackled swiftly, and soon we found ourself in the makeshift pub clutching a pint. The heavens had opened up and it was time to tackle the walk back to the cars.

It was an excellent day of caving and look forward to attending another winch meet.

Trip Report & Photos: George

Thrown in at the Deep End: My First Time in Long Churn

When your son tells you he’s taking you on a “gentle introduction to caving”, you imagine something along the lines of a casual wander underground, perhaps a bit of scrambling, nothing too dramatic. What I didn’t expect was to find myself soaked to the bone and laughing like a maniac at the sheer absurdity of it all.

Welcome to Long Churn.

My son George is an enthusiastic caver. He talks about potholes and pitches the way most people talk about pub lunches—fondly and often. Over time, I’d listened with interest (and the occasional raised eyebrow) as he recounted tales of subterranean escapades, tight squeezes, icy pools and the peculiar joy of crawling around in the dark. I never quite got it. Not really. But then came the offer: “Come with me. Just once. You’ll love it.”

Reader, I think I was set up!

Long Churn is, I now understand, a classic beginner’s trip in the Yorkshire Dales. Classic, however, doesn’t mean easy. Within minutes of stepping into the cave, I was hit by a cold, wet reality—this wasn’t going to be a sunny stroll I’d planned. Slipping and sliding, ducking through passages. I began to wonder what I’d signed up for. And then something shifted.

Somewhere between clambering darkness, the mesmerising water fall and the wonder of finding a fish in the pool I began to see what George sees. The silence. The timelessness. The otherworldliness of it all. It’s a different realm down there—peaceful, challenging, humbling.

I wasn’t alone, of course. Alongside George was a brilliant little team: Paulina, Bartek and Roo—cavers through and through, each one endlessly patient, encouraging, and cheerful. Their camaraderie and love for the underground world were infectious. They never made me feel like the novice I so clearly was. Thanks to them, and to George, I wasn’t just surviving the experience—I was enjoying it.

By the time we emerged into the daylight, something had changed in me. I wasn’t just proud of getting through it—I wanted to go back. I got it now. The draw of the dark, the call of the unknown, the thrill of pushing yourself just that little bit further.

To Paulina, Bartek, Roo, and my lovely son George: thank you. I suspect you knew exactly what you were doing when you invited me. I’m glad you did.

Trip Report: Lorelle Tolley
Photos: George Tolley
Cavers: Paulina, Bartek, Roo, George & Lorelle

Moss Chamber

Four Dudley members joined forces with Grace and Jenny from Crewe Climbing and Potholing Club for a short, but sporting and fun trip to Moss Chamber. A couple of club members were keen to do a trip that helped them build confidence after not being underground for a while.

We slid down the slide beyond the show cave into Five Arches Passage, before wading through the Wallows and ducking through the Mucky Ducks to arrive in Upper Gallery. After a short while we climbed up into Pickering's Passage, which led to a good variety of different types of caving: some crawls, some squeezes and some simple climbs, all of which were coated or interspersed with liberal coatings of slippery mud to keep us on our toes (or off them!).

A final chest-deep wade through very cold water brought us into Moss Chamber. The formations are truly stunning, if overshadowed by the tragic history of the chamber. We spent a little while playing around with photography before deciding that we were getting cold and heading back.

On our return we deviated to the streamway to get some film footage for another Dudley member and enjoyed the dramatic phreatic passage - and the rib like structures on the floor. All in all a very photogenic bit of cave.

Moss Chamber was a fun little trip and well worth revisiting.

Cavers: Mike B., Firas F., Anne B., and Dave B., with Grace and Jenny from CPCC
Trip report: Anne B.
Photos: Dave B.

Lost John's

Monday 21st April 2025.

Lost johns & George.

We decided on an ambitious plan to do the centipede route and try and make it to the final pitch and having a crack at battle axe traverse.

We started by sorting the ropes this was a task in itself with two tackle sacks bursting with ropes and 42 carabiners.

We started off down the stream following our description we took the first left we seen which turned out to be a long rift with a few climbs up and down, battling with the tackle sacks at every obstruction. This soon turned out to be choked we explored all off shoots on the way back to the first junction with no luck in a way on.

We decided to go straight on at the junction, this soon brought us to some cascades that we traversed across and a large hole the foot and hand holds were large and plentiful. This was starting to line up with the description. Great news.

We soon arrived at the top of a pitch head, I rigged the first short pitch and we carried on soon reaching the head of a large pitch was this centipede. Jonny took over the rigging and started rigging the traverse line where the bolts are high up in the rift, I couldn’t work out why the bolts wasn’t lining up with the toppo but we carried on. Soon we had dropped the y-hang and into a little alcove onto a false floor, this definitely doesn’t line up with the toppo. This is when we realised we were actually at the monastery pitch. We checked the toppo now knowing where we were and realised we had enough tackle to make it to the bottom so we descended.

On reaching the bottom we had a nice spray coming off the waterfall we slid down a tight passage into a stream way and followed it down a few small, climbs and wet legs saw us at the top of the piscine pitch. I rigged this down and we had a short cave to the next pitch head pinnacle where we didn’t have the correct rope lengths to carry on. We turned and headed back out.

We reached the top of the Hampstead Heath pitch and had a study of the description to see if we could find the top of hammer which will give us the way on to centipede. We traversed over the top of Hampstead Heath where I thought it carried on due to polishing but couldn’t find my way on. We backtracked along the passage on the way out exploring any holes we missed on the way in but couldn’t find our way on.

We started our way out trying to keep our spirits high by saying we now know the way down monastery for a future exchange trip.

We need to revisit lost John and find our way on we are missing it somewhere… and take extra people to split the tackle sacks down as they got considerably heavier when they was wet.

An excellent trip nonetheless. With some unfinished business.

Cavers: George T and Jonny B
Trip report: George T

Aquamole

A quick jaunt down Aquamole by George and Jonny, after diving Joint Hole.

Cavers: George T. and Jonny B.
Photo: Jonny B.

Eldon Hole

Friday's Eldon Hole trip started with an uphill walk (including a short detour). Once we found the cave, Dave and George rigged two of the four pitches, North and South Gully. The descent was quite enjoyable as the weather was fair. Once we reached the bottom of the first pitch, we climbed down the ladder in the cave. Before heading up to Damocles Rift, we decided to explore the boulder choke just off the main chamber, which was too small for any of us to fit in and quickly completely closed off.

The pull through was fine and the up pitches were pretty. Once we reached Damocles Rift, we paused to take photos and then started to head back. Descending the pull through posed a few challenges as the ropes had twisted which resulted in some time going up and down the ropes and some detangling from Dave before I could finally descend. We learnt that it is maybe not the best idea to leave a tackle sack hanging off the end to the rope as the swinging had caused this issue. We then headed out into the sunlight to ascend out of the entrance pitch and de-rig.

Cavers: George T, Phoebe G, and Dave B
Trip report: Phoebe G
Photos: Dave B