Yorkshire Dales May Bank Holiday Adventure

Over the second May Bank Holiday weekend, a group of Dudley Caving Club members headed north to the Yorkshire Dales for a fantastic few days of caving, climbing, and underground adventure. Armed with enough caving gear to sink a small ship and optimism that the weather forecast might be wrong, we settled into our accommodation and prepared for a weekend of underground entertainment.

Saturday was designated as a training day, which meant everyone was expected to remember all the SRT techniques they learned on previous trips. Some succeeded immediately, while others required a little gentle encouragement, a few reminders, and the occasional shout from below.A bolt-climbing session followed, providing a chance to gain height, build confidence and, in some cases, gain a whole new appreciation for the effects of gravity. Fortunately, everyone emerged with improved skills, intact limbs and a healthy appetite for the evening's refreshments.   

 

Rigging practice - photos Zeina Y. 

Sunday saw the group divide according to preference and energy levels. One team headed underground to tackle Short Drop Pot and Gavel Pot. The caves provided everything Yorkshire potholes should: flowing water, sporting traverses, awkward squeezes and plenty of opportunities to become damp despite the best efforts of waterproof clothing. The trip through Short Drop and Gavel proved particularly enjoyable, with the impressive passages and pitches reminding everyone why these systems remain classic Dales outings. There was the usual exchange of route-finding advice, some creative interpretations of survey information, and the inevitable debate over whether a particular section was "quite roomy really" or "absolutely horrible". Meanwhile, the surface dwellers spent the day trad climbing on the limestone crags at Twistleton Scar. Reports suggest that routes were climbed, gear placements were tested, and egos remained mostly undamaged. Whether the climbers enjoyed better weather than the cavers remains unclear, but they were certainly cleaner by the end of the day.  Back at the hut at evening, wet gear was hung wherever space could be found.

  

Twistleton Scar climbing - photos Dave B

The highlight of the weekend came on Monday when everyone reunited for a trip into the legendary Gaping Gill cave system. Entering one of Britain's most famous cave networks is always a special experience, and the vast chambers, impressive formations, and sheer scale of the system did not disappoint. From the moment we descended underground, we were reminded why Gaping Gill remains such an iconic destination for cavers from across the country.
The trip provided plenty of memorable moments: navigating boulder-strewn passages, marvelling at the sheer size of the caverns, and trying to capture photographs that somehow never quite convey just how impressive the place really is. 
By the time Monday afternoon arrived, the group was tired, muddy and carrying slightly more Yorkshire limestone than when we had arrived. Another excellent bank holiday meet was in the books, with plenty of laughs, successful trips and a reminder that some of the best weekends are spent underground with good friends.
A huge thank you to everyone who organised the weekend, led trips, shared their knowledge, offered lifts, carried tackle and generally contributed to another memorable Dudley Caving Club adventure. We returned home tired, muddy, and already looking forward to the next trip.

The Rigger... 

...The Model

Gavel Pot

Gavel Pot

Mud Hall

Gavel Pot entrance - photos Bartek

Report: Paulina

Midlands Cave Rescue practice in Shropshire

A few members of the club who are also volunteering with the local cave rescue team, have taken part in an underground rescue practice in one of the Shropshire mines.

On top of the usual communication, search and route-finding skills being practiced, the team members had a chance to participate in a scenario of simulated mine collapse. Mine passage stabilisation and shoring took place in a real underground environment. The exercise was a great success with few new members joined the team. 

More info: 

https://www.midlandscaverescue.org.uk/

&

https://www.facebook.com/midlandscaverescue/

Photos: Bartek Biela

New and returning members trip to Aggy - Music Room

Very happy bunch of full, new and returning members got together on the 9th of May for a simple, easy and joyful trip to the Music Room in Aggy. 

The trip was attended by a record number of members, hence a split to 2 smaller and more manageable groups. Few people ventured further into the cave to explore the Cliffs of Dover and beyond. Overall the trip was enjoyed by all, and hopefully we'll see new members turning up for more advanced trips. 

Raport: Bartek; Photos: Bartek

Dudley Caving Club 60th Anniversary Dinner

On Saturday 25th April 2026, Dudley Caving Club as part of ongoing celebrations held a 60th Anniversary Dinner at the Lodge in Dudley. The event was attended by 47 guests. A wonderful mix of founding & original members, retired, current and new members plus partners and a welcome number from the Caving community to support us. 

An excellent 3 course meal was enjoyed followed by 3 presentations. John Smith an original founding member had put together a rolling slide show during the meal and now had the almost impossible task of condensing 60 years into 30 minutes with more slides and succeeded rapturous applause. 

John's talk was followed by Emma Porter and Mike Clayton who spoke about MCRO and it's long standing connection with DCC. They also squeezed into their very tight spot, information about BCRC and the Thai Rescue. A very polished performance and very well received. 

Finally it was the turn of our very own Caver Keith (Keith Edwards) with a light hearted complication of video clips taken over many years and featured many in the room, not always at their best caving  moments. What a wonderful way to end the evening. 

Thanks must go to all  the staff at the Lodge for the wonderful food, room layout and excellent service. Closer to home, thanks to our secretary Paulina Biela, for scouring club records and files to find and contact so many ex members. Likewise Emma Porter did a similar thing with MCRO contacts. Dave Jahn our Treasurer for collecting all the money and making sure the figures added up. All our guest speakers as above for making it such an informative and fun evening and all the members past and present for supporting the evening. And finally Bartek Biela for recording the event for the club blog and posterity.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FT8NvhkwYnZHqQHo6

Report: Ian Millwar

Aggy - Courtesane

After a tiresome unsuccessful attempt to find the High Traverses shortcut link to the Southern Stream a week before and having said that we won't be back in Aggy for a good while, by Wednesday we were ready to find this ''mysterious'' connection, that Mark previously described with 150% confidence: ''it's not this one, this is some old dig...'' 

One-week later Loz and I decided to make a ''quick'' photo trip to the Courtesan and find the ''missing'' link. We stormed down the Southern Stream Passage, Loz confidently lead us into the Priory Road, we went passed the Camp and dropped off to the Iles Inlet. With couple photographs taken on the way, it took us just under 3hrs to get to Courtesan, and what a spectacular formation it is. 

And we also managed to very easily find our missing link, week before we sat right next to it, with Mark repeatedly saying: ''it's just some old dig'', well, I suppose it was at some point... 

Lozed in Aggy - Grand Circle

It was supposed to be a nice and easy Sunday trip to Aggy. Loz and Mark already completed it number of times in the past, the only difference this time was to find the shortcut via the High traverses. Loz wanted to do a decent trip before her birthday a week after. Mark wanted to test his caving fitness. And we even managed to convince Joe to come and join us for this sensible trip. Joe hasn't caved for 12 months so the idea was to get him back in the game after his last trip to Redhouse in April 2025. I was just happy to be caving again after rather less busy caving winter. 

We were doing the route in the opposite way to the Chelsea SS description, so made an excellent progress to North-West junction and down the Main Stream Passage. Mark and Loz seem to have forgotten about the swimming bits in the Main Stream (brrr), but we were still on track for a good exit climbing down from Biza passage into the water again. 

 

 

We found the climb up to the High Traverse and found ourselves in the five-way passage/chamber, which Mark recognised immediately as the way on into Priory way (no it wasn't!). After good almost 2hrs of circling around within 50m on that place, having checked all the possible ways on (no we didn't!), we decided that it is now time to give up and climb back down to the Main Stream Passage and take the known route out via all of the Southern Stream Passage (bleh). We took some beating going up the Southern Stream Passage but eventually were out (with few more little getting lost misadventures that we shouldn't mention here) before the call out. 

After exiting the cave and walking back in the horizontal rain we all decided that we do have enough of Aggy for a while... (or do we: http://blog.dudleycavingclub.org.uk/2026/04/aggy-courtesane.html)

Cavers: Mark B, Loz A, Joe W, Bartek B

 

 

Coniston Copper Mines

Our first trip into Coniston Copper Mines which has been on the bucket list for quite a while. We met up with Dom from CATHMS, who was able to show us around the mine. Bartek brough his camera equipment, so we had to stop quite a few times for some shots, which was good fun. Incredible colours in the mine, with everything from yellows, to blues, to blacks. We only scratched the surface of the mine, poking around in the upper 1/3rd according to our guide. Apparently bottom 2/3rds are flooded - which is always intriguing for the divers part of the community.

Cavers: Jonny B, Bartek B, guided by Dom

Written by: Jonny