P8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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