Manor Farm Swallet, Mendip

A wet trip into Manor Farm Swallet, Mendip which was curtailed due to the amount of water just after the curtain in Curtain Chamber when we reached the climbs at Fluted Pot. Still feeling enthusiastic, we went and cleaned our kit in Swildons with a quick trip to the Twenty and back. 

The Team: EmPo, MiCl & StWa

Tunnel Cave, Tunnel Cave, Swansea Valley Area, South Wales

This replaced the rained off intended trip to the main streamway in OFD and was organised as a SRT training trip for Del and Mark. After walking up hill to the cave Keith realised he had left the cave key in his car! Nevertheless 1/2 hour later we were ready to descend. This meant that the trip was shorter than intended and we didn't get as far as the show cave door.

Derek on the traverse in Tunnel Cave Top Entrance.

Derek on the traverse in Tunnel Cave Top Entrance.

Chris on the Calcite slope in Tunnel Cave Top Entrance.

See more Tunnel Cave photos here

The Team: KeEd, BrMa, DeRo, MaRo & ChWe

Giants Hole, Castleton, Derbyshire

The standard round trip arranged for Derek. A surprise member turned up while we were eating breakfast in the Woodbine and joined us for a rare sighting underground. The route was completed it just 2.5 hours.

The Team: JiDu, KeEd, BrMa & DeRo

Snailbeach Lead Mine, near Minsterley, Shropshire

A pleasant exchange trip via the Classic and Scenic routes, after a BCA Council meeting the previous day for some members of the party. A great place for training novices Dea and Steve on SRT, who both did really well. A trip to the Stiperstones pub rounded the day off with its excellent beer, food, tea and biscuits! Thanks to SCMC.

Mike Noble on the way back up.

The Dudley Team: PeAn, MiCl, KeEd, BrMa, MiNo, EmPo, GrSm, StWa & DeWi 
The Shropshire CMC Team: Steve Holding, Andrew Wood 
From SWCC: Idris Williams 
From Wessex CC: Dave Cooke, Les Williams

Ogof Pen Eryr, Llangattock Escarpment, South Wales

This had been arranged for some time as a Christmas trip for some of the newer members of the Club and the chosen cave was Craig A Ffynonn, but extremely wet weather on the day meant that we had to look for an alternative. We spent a highly amusing few minutes listening to Andy unsuccessfully trying to lead through the corkscrew squeeze before being shown the correct way to do it by Mel. Afterwards several members of the team spent a few minutes proving that it is possible to turn round within the few few metres of the Daren Cilau entrance crawl.

Chris negotiating the calcite corkscrew squeeze in Pen Eryr.

See more Ogof Pen Eryr photos here 

The Team: KeEd, AnGr, BrMa, CaNo, MaRo, MeWa & ChWe

Iles Inlet, Agen Allwedd, Llangattock Escarpment, South Wales

The return trip to retrieve the camera and take photographs of the formations in Iles Inlet and here is a taster of what we found.

Chris viewing the Courtesan formation in Corkscrew Chamber - Iles Inlet.

Keith viewing the Courtesan formation in Corkscrew Chamber - Iles Inlet.

The Courtesan formation in Corkscrew Chamber - Iles Inlet.

Keith viewing formations in Corkscrew Chamber - Iles Inlet.

Formations in Corkscrew Chamber - Iles Inlet.

Formations in Corkscrew Chamber - Iles Inlet.

This time the trip took ten and three quarter hours! 

See more Agen Allwedd photos here 

The Team: AnCr, KeEd, BrMa & ChWe

Iles Inlet, Agen Allwedd, Llangattock Escarpment, South Wales

A long and arduous trip taking in most of the length of Southern Stream Passage which had to be negotiated in both directions. We wasted a lot of time trying to find the way into Priory Road as our written laminated route description has suffered from water ingress and was virtually unreadable, and the survey seemed to imply that we should climb up above the stream and find a passage on the right. The route is actually much easier but requires a fair amount of hands and knees crawling. Eventually three members of the team got to see the formations in Trafalgar Passage but with two members left behind in separate locations we ran out of time and were forced to exit without taking any photographs. A rash decision was taken to abandon the photographic gear in the cave and to return during the week after Christmas to find Corkscrew Chamber and take the photos. A very tired team, regretting the decision to ditch the photographic gear emerged after ten and a quarter hours underground. 

The Team: AnCr, KeEd, CoJe, BrMa & ChWe