A Priddy Good Trip In To Reservoir Hole For The Captains Number 1 Fan

As all of us at Dudley know, Keith is 'Captain' Chris Bindings Number 1 fan, so it was hardly surprising that when a chance to visit Reservoir Hole, on a trip led by Mr. Binding, came up Keith was the first to sign up.

We started our day with a Priddy good breakfast at the farm shop. Keith wouldn't sit still throughout breakfast and I just knew that there was a chance that he was going to be a very naughty boy if he didn't learn to contain his excitement, so he was sent to the little boys room whilst I sorted my kit out of the van and in to Brendan's car.

The girls were off to have a play in Balch Cave, so we waved them off with instructions to meet us in the gorge at 4pm with cake ;)

We arrived on time to find Mr Binding already changing...Keith began bouncing on his chair and Brendan had to give him a very stern look before he calmed down enough to let him out of the car.
We swiftly changed and made our way up to the entrance, this is a very unassuming metal plate that gives no inkling of the size of passage that lay below.

We made our way through to moon milk chamber, Topless Aven (Again Keith was restrained from stripping off and shouting 'Chris, Chris......I'm topless too........!!!') and up Golgotha Rift.

Brendan lit the rift from below whilst Keith, Chris and Myself climbed up to the decorated ledge to marvel at the view.
On our way back down Chris explained the safest way down a climb, but Keith shouted 'look at me Chris', and Tarzan swung down, bouncing around at Mr Binding's feet.

On we went crawling down slope to the pitch head where we rigged a couple of ladders and were confronted with the awesome Frozen Deep.
I hadn't realised until we were on our way to the cave, but Brendan had forgone taking his camera on this occasion and loaded his peli-case with flashguns in anticipation of the spectacular chamber.
We took a couple of shots of the rift section before continuing through the lower section of the chamber. Chris was great, not only a font of knowledge throughout the trip, but the way he handled Mr Edwards was nothing short of Saintly.
Again I was allowed on our way out to take a shot or two of the formations before we headed back up the pitch and made our way back to daylight.
Mr Binding made some excuse about having to get off, Brendan and I exchanged a knowing glance as we watched Keith waving his idol off. Just then the girls turned up with cake as promised.

As I got in to the van I could hear Keith in the front of Brendan's car chattering away.......Chris said this, Chris said that, My mate Chris said............Poor Brendan, it must have been a very long journey home for him ;)

Present: Keith Edwards, Brendan Marris, Mark Burkey & The Great Chris Binding

All Photo's Lit by Flashguns Supplied by Mr Brendan Marris

Reservoir Hole & The Frozen Deep

Reservoir Hole, situated a third of the way up Cheddar Gorge is a very special trip with a restriction on numbers entering the system and has to be led by a member of Wessex Caving Club.
So three members of Dudley Caving Club, Becca Kirkpatrick, Daz Long and myself were very fortunate to have been offered this trip, and even more so when we found out that our leader for today was Martin Grass one of the original six diggers who as recently as 2012, crawled, climbed and burrowed their way into ‘The Frozen Deep’, what a tenacious group they are when you consider that the cave has been dug by various members since 1951.

A suitable meeting place needed to be identified and an old favourite, the ‘Priddy Good Café’ was nominate, it just so happens that they do a stonkingly good breakfast as well.

 Changed and briefed we gathered at the gated entrance to start with a flat out crawl and trying to avoid the spiders and hibernating bats.
There were a lot of near vertical descents down well-built shafts that required upper body wedging whilst trying to locate out of sight footholds. A miscalculation here would have speeded the descent but with dire consequences, ironically they were a pussy cat to ascend on the return leg.
The various diggers have to be commended for the remarkable neat and tidy way they went about their work building ‘staircases’ and neatly stacking dead’s where ever possible, it is probably the tidiest cave you will ever visit. Martin’s knowledge of almost every rock, boulder and puddle meant he was able to give us a fascinating insight of the slow and sometimes frustrating progress of the dig as we moved through the various chambers and passages such as Moon Milk Chamber, Grand Gallery, Topless Aven and following an arduous dig they eventually broke through into a 20 metre long parallel rift and named it ‘Great Expectations’, so no pressure on yourselves there guys!
A large slab begrudgingly moved no more than it felt necessary despite the aid of explosives from the team, but did reveal a 15 metre crawl leading into a 25 meter high by 20 meter long chamber which they named ‘Resurrection’. Beyond this was a boulder slope and a 12 metre vertical pitch now split into a 5metre pitch landing on a platform and the final 7 metres into ‘The Frozen Deep’.

The enormity of this chamber, probably the largest yet discovered under the Mendip Hills is slow to dawn on you, its length and width is in the region of 60 & 50 metres and a height of 30 metres are overshadowed by white calcite flows down the walls. Stalagmites and stalactites abound, some soon to meet in the next million years or so, and there is a pure white pillar of 5 metres in length.
Massive lumps of wall and roof section larger than a Transit Van have plunged to the floor clawing at and scarring the remaining wall as if in a last desperate attempt to remain in situ, smashing and crushing formations that once hung from or sat beneath them.

As you explore ‘The Frozen Deep’ it is clear to see why with so much white calcite on show this chamber got its name, it could be mistaken for a snapshot from the ice age. The team and their colleagues deserve top marks for their conservation work in here (and the inward and outward routes) having marked with a great deal of tape, carefully defined and very narrow walkways to minimise the impact of human footfall on the millennia of undisturbed chamber floor.

An awe inspiring trip of about 4 hours and one to be highly recommended. Our apperception and thanks to Martin Grass who led the trip and was so informative and knowledgeable.

Trip report Ian Millward
Pictures: Becca Kirkpatrick

Present Becca Kirkpatrick, Daz Long & Ian Millward.