Alum Pot......a Sunday trip?

After a good nights sleep we headed to Inglesport for a full breakfast to start the day and also to pick up some 60m of club rope.
I had chosen a real classic for the days play, Alum Pot.
Kay wasn't over keen on doing any longer pitches and so we headed in with two rather full kit bags each plus my camera.
Unsure if it was the couple of pints (I'm such a light weight!!!) or just a bit of dehydration but I was feeling quite rough for this one. I'd forgotten to take my sunglasses off and so could hide my heavy lids behind them on the walk across.
We entered via Long Churn. Normally lugging kit doesn't bother me but my head was thudding away and obstacles that I normally skip over were causing me bother. I didn't even try to traverse around the pots and simply sploshed my way through.
We met an adventure group at the Cheese Press and I encouraged Kay to have a go, insisting that I'd made it through with a bit of help so she'd have no bother. After 5 minutes of grunting and squirming she eventually wriggled back out and I admitted I'd never actually been through at all, but it was fun to watch her try :)
Dolly tubs was already roped so I decided to rig the alternative down to the balcony.
Here the sun rays were so impressive I completely forgot about my headache and grabbed for the camera.
After 10 minutes play we rigged down the greasy slab, across the traverse and down the bridge. The 45m was again already rigged so I continued along the traverse and rigged us down the 25m. On the way to the sump we met up with some guys from Manchester Uni and chatted for a bit before heading down to the sump to recce for a future shot of the last pitch on Diccan before we headed back out.
At the entrance we dumped the kit and headed through Upper Long Churn to exit via Dr Banisters. I grabbed the kit bags and my sunglasses and headed back to the van.

Job done all that was left was my 4 hr journey home, hampered by a brake down just in front of us as we were about get on the M6!

The Balcony View to Alum Pot

The balcony View to Alum Pot

The greasy slab

Alum pot sump area at the foot of Diccan

The Steps en route back from Upper Long Churn

Present: Mark Burkey & Kayleigh Wood

Brendan feels a bit Blue in Long Churn

After a rather manic couple of weeks at work our boss asked if we fancied a couple of extra days off to make a long weekend. Jess and I contacted Brendan and so a plan was hatched to finish off our route finding in Ease Gill of the main routes. After a bit of faff Friday morning we eventually left late and arrived at Inglesport gone 11am.

As we hadn’t managed a lot of sleep in the last week, and we had some new toys to play with, it was decided we would just start the weekend off gently with a trip into Long Churn to have a play with the new flash guns and bulbs.

This culminated in a shot being taken from the top of Dr. Bannisters hand basin.

Looking down from the top we needed a little more reflection coming off the walls and Brendan began using his boot as a bucket to throw the water. After one successful go he slipped and nearly fell so I told him I would continue. Filling a welly I went to toss the boot full over the wall , slipped and tossed the whole lot over Brendan’s head. His response was to curse me loudly, turn, slip and fall in to the pool behind him! 

Once we had all stopped laughing, Jess climbed up onto the water chute so that I could get the shot, while Brendan waded into the pool with flash bulbs. One shot led to another, as these things do, and a few bulbs went off prematurely, so by the time I was fairly happy with the camera angle and lighting, Brendan had been in and out of the pool so many times his teeth were chattering.

With a bigger trip on the cards for the next day, we were quite happy to leave the water behind and set off to the Bradford hut to eat and relax.

Upper Long Churn (Photo Brendan Marris)

Upper Long Churn (Photo Brendan Marris)

Upper Long Churn (Photo Mark Burkey)

Dr. Bannisters Hand Basin (Photo Mark Burkey)

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Brendan Marris

Dudley do Yorkshire: On a slippery slope to nowhere

November's caving meet in Yorkshire attracted 5 of the usual suspects, all agreeing to meet at Inglesports for breakfast on the Saturday morning. After breakfast there was the compulsory fondling of kit in the shop, with Mike kitting himself out completely with shiny SRT kit and Jess insisting on matching cowstails for her caving outfit.

After yet more shopping in the local Co-op, with Brendan panic buying food to replace the delicious lasagne he had left on his coffee table at home, we finally set off to the Red Rose hut, to sign in and actually do some caving.

Unfortunately the Yorkshire weather and road conditions had other plans. As we headed uphill the road became icy and slippery, until all 3 vehicles became stranded at the side of the road, unable to continue. After some pushing and panting to avoid sliding back down the road sideways, we had no option but to abandon our trip.

Luckily we were able to find the Bradford hut open and welcoming, so accommodation was sorted, but where to go caving? Mike, of course, was desperate to try out his new SRT kit, and the options boiled down to a dry, but boring, Sell Gill trip, or a prettier but decidedly wetter Long Churn trip.

Having only brought one rope with us, as that was all we needed for the original plan, we had to cobble together enough ropes from kit we carry in the van. This made for an interesting set of pitches but in the end Mark managed to rig Long Churn right down to the bottom of Alum Pot. With 5 of us in the group it was quite slow going so Brendan opted to stay at the Window, and Loz and I decided to forego the last pitch with only Mark and Mike going right down to the sump.
Mike dealt well with all the SRT challenges including rebelays, but by the time we were on the way back up we were all freezing, especially in the more exposed Alum Pot. Getting back underground through the Window into proper cave felt almost tropical in comparison!

We exited the cave in good time to get back to the Bradford where Brendan produced a great impromptu dinner.

Long Churn Entrance

Looking out in to Alum Pot

Loz at the window to Alum Pot

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Brendan Marris, Loz Appleby, Mike Bonner