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.