Ian at the formations in Roundabout Chamber
(must be getting old ;)
Jess at the bolt traverses
Present: Jessica Harding, Ian Millward & Mark Burkey
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Ofd 1 Round Trip
Promising Ian a club trip it was decided that the round trip in OFD 1 would be a good introduction. Meeting at the burger van for the customary breakfast bap we headed of to SWCC to kit up and head down the hill.
Jess took the lead for this trip and we were soon climbing down at the step and hopping across the pots to Lowe's climb. After pausing for the pretty formations we moved swiftly through the upper series to Pi chamber, on to the bolt traverses and through the escape route, dropping back in to the stream we made our way out via Pluto's bath and finished the day with a plod back up the hill. On our way we met a group of Duke of Edinburgh students who wanted to know if we'd been climbing! Would have thought the head lamps, yellow PVC suits and wellies would have been a clue, but I guess the youth of today must use very different climbing gear to in my day.
(must be getting old ;)
(must be getting old ;)
Monday, 23 July 2012
Grimes Caving Tours Are Back!
5 Cavers, 3 SRT Trips, 1 day.
Water Icicle:
A quick cuppa at the Old Smithy Café in Monyash and the team set off for its first SRT trip of the day at Water Icicle Close Cavern. The road to the cavern turned out to be more like an off road rally course than a track and after a lot of mud and puddles (Carl even managed to go through a particularly deep puddle with his window open!) our 3 cars all looked an identical mud grey!
At the entrance Andy swiftly rigged and descended the 100ft pitch followed by Jess, Carl and myself. As I reached the bottom of the shaft I found I was struggling to catch my breath and Andy called me over to check if my lighter would light as his would not. Neither of our lighters would hold a flame so we swiftly decided to exit and leave the cavern for another day. With the lack of air the 100ft ascent felt somewhat arduous and I for one was quite glad to be out in the fresh air. Carl found out the hard way of the joys of getting one of your ‘Jewels ‘ trapped in an harness strap and would go on to complain of his bruising the rest of the day ;)
Upon exit we found Wal informing another group of the situation and they also decided a different trip would be in order. We found out from them that a large group had been in the day before which may account for the bad air in the bottom of the chamber.
Knotlow Cavern:
Next up was Knotlow, after a little more mud splashed all over the cars we were soon heading for the climbing shaft entrance where again Andy rigged the first couple of pitches and Jess, Carl, myself & Wal Followed. At the base of the second pitch Carl posed for the fallen caver picture with the bolted boulder on the floor and then we were off for Waterfall chamber. I took over the rigging and Andy instructed to me to do the Y-hang off the closer 2 p-bolts. Knowing no better I did what I was told and sailed down the line straight into the spray from the impressive waterfall. After a quick poke around the coffin passages we headed back up and out with Wal ensuring Andy getting a good soaking on the prussik back up.
Hillocks Mine:
Finally the most awkward of the 3 trips, and my personal favourite. The Hillocks entrance is a concrete tube which soon opens out to walking and stooping passage which again degrades to crawling and finally flat out wet crawling passage to the head of the first pitch in a coffin passage. After rigging this I dropped down the shaft to a smaller hole before (after a little jiggling around with the SRT kit) popping out in a low passage. After this there was an awkward climb before heading down the 2nd pitch and through for a quick look at the Climbing and Engine shafts in Whalf before heading back out.
De-rigging as I went Andy called out to let me know to pull up the rope bag as I went, as the angles of the pitch would make it impossible to pull it up after. Andy then went on to tell Carl of the time he did this and then knocked the bag back down the pitch and had to do the entire pitch again to retrieve the bag……..just as……yep you guessed it…….I had pulled the kit bag up, got to the head of the pitch and decided to undo the rigging before pulling up the bag. After undoing the y-hang, enough slack was given for said tackle bag to fall back down the hole and wedge tight enough that the only thing I could do was re-rig and go and retrieve it! Doh
Aside from Jess once again clambering all over me and giving me another set of bruises at the awkward climb out and another soaking in the flat out section, we exited without further issue and were soon back at the pub for a well-deserved drink before our drive home to wash the cars!
Present: Carl Knot, Steve ‘Wal’ Wallis, Andy Grimes, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey
Water Icicle:
A quick cuppa at the Old Smithy Café in Monyash and the team set off for its first SRT trip of the day at Water Icicle Close Cavern. The road to the cavern turned out to be more like an off road rally course than a track and after a lot of mud and puddles (Carl even managed to go through a particularly deep puddle with his window open!) our 3 cars all looked an identical mud grey!
At the entrance Andy swiftly rigged and descended the 100ft pitch followed by Jess, Carl and myself. As I reached the bottom of the shaft I found I was struggling to catch my breath and Andy called me over to check if my lighter would light as his would not. Neither of our lighters would hold a flame so we swiftly decided to exit and leave the cavern for another day. With the lack of air the 100ft ascent felt somewhat arduous and I for one was quite glad to be out in the fresh air. Carl found out the hard way of the joys of getting one of your ‘Jewels ‘ trapped in an harness strap and would go on to complain of his bruising the rest of the day ;)
Upon exit we found Wal informing another group of the situation and they also decided a different trip would be in order. We found out from them that a large group had been in the day before which may account for the bad air in the bottom of the chamber.
Andy about to descend in to Water Icicle Close Cavern
Knotlow Cavern:
Next up was Knotlow, after a little more mud splashed all over the cars we were soon heading for the climbing shaft entrance where again Andy rigged the first couple of pitches and Jess, Carl, myself & Wal Followed. At the base of the second pitch Carl posed for the fallen caver picture with the bolted boulder on the floor and then we were off for Waterfall chamber. I took over the rigging and Andy instructed to me to do the Y-hang off the closer 2 p-bolts. Knowing no better I did what I was told and sailed down the line straight into the spray from the impressive waterfall. After a quick poke around the coffin passages we headed back up and out with Wal ensuring Andy getting a good soaking on the prussik back up.
Jess in Waterfall Chamber
Hillocks Mine:
Finally the most awkward of the 3 trips, and my personal favourite. The Hillocks entrance is a concrete tube which soon opens out to walking and stooping passage which again degrades to crawling and finally flat out wet crawling passage to the head of the first pitch in a coffin passage. After rigging this I dropped down the shaft to a smaller hole before (after a little jiggling around with the SRT kit) popping out in a low passage. After this there was an awkward climb before heading down the 2nd pitch and through for a quick look at the Climbing and Engine shafts in Whalf before heading back out.
De-rigging as I went Andy called out to let me know to pull up the rope bag as I went, as the angles of the pitch would make it impossible to pull it up after. Andy then went on to tell Carl of the time he did this and then knocked the bag back down the pitch and had to do the entire pitch again to retrieve the bag……..just as……yep you guessed it…….I had pulled the kit bag up, got to the head of the pitch and decided to undo the rigging before pulling up the bag. After undoing the y-hang, enough slack was given for said tackle bag to fall back down the hole and wedge tight enough that the only thing I could do was re-rig and go and retrieve it! Doh
Aside from Jess once again clambering all over me and giving me another set of bruises at the awkward climb out and another soaking in the flat out section, we exited without further issue and were soon back at the pub for a well-deserved drink before our drive home to wash the cars!
Carl, Andy & Jess at the bottom of the 1st pitch.
Present: Carl Knot, Steve ‘Wal’ Wallis, Andy Grimes, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Croesor Rhosydd Through Trip
This wasn't a Dudley Caving Club Trip. We cave quite often with Richard and Rachel from WMCEG and they blog their trips on Sterling Adventures where incidentally you can read Rachel's account of the trip which is illustrated with some of Brendan's excellent photos. The Sterling Adventures bloggers meet up annually to have adventures. This year Brendan and I were asked to lead this adventure. The video tells the story of the trip.
Present: Brendan and Keith + Ian, Rachel, Richard, Pete, Tish and Dave.
Monday, 9 July 2012
Tunnel Cave
After having done the 3 highest peaks on mainland Spain last
weekend Jess and I felt somewhat prepared for the arduous hill climb to the
entrance to Tunnel cave in South Wales.
After an half hour plod up the hill we paused to regain our breath. I rigged the entrance series, down the shaft to the second pitch, and was soon at an impressive calcite slope. Here a hand line is in place part way down, this continues around a quite exposed traverse, and drops down another steep calcite slope to balcony ledge and on to Cascade Aven Chamber. Andy, Mel and Jess soon followed and here all SRT kit was dumped in preparation for the rift passages.
Straight ahead the route took us down a couple of climbs, one with a hand line in situ, although all were easily free climbable, though quite high, and on to some classic rift passage. After an awkward climb up we continued to traverse and crawl in the tubes and rifts following the description & looking out for Marble Arch Passage on the left to show we were on the right track. Eventually we came to a low sandy flat out crawl with a couple of squeezes. Deciding that I’d obviously missed something we back tracked and found that we should have dropped a little lower in the rift and we had actually taken Marble Arch Passage itself. Back on track we made our way to Saddle Corner and climbed up to a small left hand crawl into yet more traversing rift to Cross Junction. After more awkward climbs the passage began to open out and we eventually arrived at the air lock doors where we paused for a couple of pictures and a well-deserved break.
On the way back we tried to follow the rift at a lower route, which found us losing our way once again and after analysing the cave description Mel realised we had made our way to Xmas Grotto. We had dropped out of the rift at a very awkward climb down and wasted half an hour finding an exposed traverse to take us back on track. Mel bypassed this finding a very tight climb up that none of the rest of us could follow and Andy was in fine verbal form letting us all know his displeasure at having to traverse at high level again! Faced with yet another awkward climb down, around a corner and sliding down a tube with nothing to hold on to for the last six feet, Andy ordered me ahead so he could stand on my back to get down. Jess went next and rather than stepping off my shoulders wound up sitting on my head and pinning me to the boulders!!!
Back to the entrance series we de-rigged as we made our way out and were soon back on the hilltop looking forward to a drink in the pub on the way back.
Present: Andy Grimes, Mel Wakeman, Jess Harding & Mark Burkey
We had arranged to meet with Andy and Mel at the roadside
diner for Mel to fuel up for breakfast, but Mel had taken her car for a change
and as we didn’t recognise any of the vehicles, we wound up pulling in and out
of the stop thinking they had already made their way to SWCC only to get a call
telling us we needed glasses and had driven straight past a bemused Andy and
Mel J
Re-grouping we collected the key for tunnel and headed off
to Dan-Yr-Ogof car park.After an half hour plod up the hill we paused to regain our breath. I rigged the entrance series, down the shaft to the second pitch, and was soon at an impressive calcite slope. Here a hand line is in place part way down, this continues around a quite exposed traverse, and drops down another steep calcite slope to balcony ledge and on to Cascade Aven Chamber. Andy, Mel and Jess soon followed and here all SRT kit was dumped in preparation for the rift passages.
Straight ahead the route took us down a couple of climbs, one with a hand line in situ, although all were easily free climbable, though quite high, and on to some classic rift passage. After an awkward climb up we continued to traverse and crawl in the tubes and rifts following the description & looking out for Marble Arch Passage on the left to show we were on the right track. Eventually we came to a low sandy flat out crawl with a couple of squeezes. Deciding that I’d obviously missed something we back tracked and found that we should have dropped a little lower in the rift and we had actually taken Marble Arch Passage itself. Back on track we made our way to Saddle Corner and climbed up to a small left hand crawl into yet more traversing rift to Cross Junction. After more awkward climbs the passage began to open out and we eventually arrived at the air lock doors where we paused for a couple of pictures and a well-deserved break.
Jess At The Traverse
On the way back we tried to follow the rift at a lower route, which found us losing our way once again and after analysing the cave description Mel realised we had made our way to Xmas Grotto. We had dropped out of the rift at a very awkward climb down and wasted half an hour finding an exposed traverse to take us back on track. Mel bypassed this finding a very tight climb up that none of the rest of us could follow and Andy was in fine verbal form letting us all know his displeasure at having to traverse at high level again! Faced with yet another awkward climb down, around a corner and sliding down a tube with nothing to hold on to for the last six feet, Andy ordered me ahead so he could stand on my back to get down. Jess went next and rather than stepping off my shoulders wound up sitting on my head and pinning me to the boulders!!!
Back to the entrance series we de-rigged as we made our way out and were soon back on the hilltop looking forward to a drink in the pub on the way back.
The Team At The Air Lock
A very impressive entrance series with a fun high route to
what must be the only cave in the country to have a set of UPVC doors at its
heart!
As ever my thanks go to everyone involved, although I’m not
sure we’ll persuade Andy to do a return for the through trip!!!Present: Andy Grimes, Mel Wakeman, Jess Harding & Mark Burkey
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Will's Hole - Caving in the Sychryd Gorge
A day was spent in the Sychryd Gorge to explore Will's Hole and also one of the smaller Silica Mines.
The 11m pitch was rigged with rope to give Ben and Carl some SRT practice underground. Once down the entrance pitch we headed to the downstream end of the cave which is very muddy with high mud banks from when the water backs up in flood conditions. We then followed the passage to the higher level end having a poke around in the chokes at the end. Once out the cave we headed down the river and explored the lower Silica mine.
Present: Keith Edwards, Brendan Marris, Ben Marklew, Carl Knott
The 11m pitch was rigged with rope to give Ben and Carl some SRT practice underground. Once down the entrance pitch we headed to the downstream end of the cave which is very muddy with high mud banks from when the water backs up in flood conditions. We then followed the passage to the higher level end having a poke around in the chokes at the end. Once out the cave we headed down the river and explored the lower Silica mine.
Ben returning up the entrance pitch
Ben near the end of Will's Hole
Ben and Carl in a calcited grotto
Present: Keith Edwards, Brendan Marris, Ben Marklew, Carl Knott
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Upper Piccadilly and the Bridge of Rock
Upper Piccadilly is a area of very large high level passages that sit above the spectacular Piccadilly Passage in Cwm Dwr. Twice before we had tried to explore this area, but failed due to lack of tackle, this time we were determined to succeed and so we headed into the cave with some rather heavy bags.
A thin rope was used for the pull through on the first pitch that takes you up into Upper Piccadilly. The rope pulls through a rather old and rusty Rawl Bolt and was re rigged when Keith spotted how much it flexed as Mark prussiked up the rope.
After a short but muddy ascent a balcony was reached where a climb up the left hand wall led to a steep calcite slope overlooking a very deep hole. Mark removed his muddy wellies and put on his rock shoes to make the climb rig a handline for those who followed. The climb was easier than it looked and soon we were all on the the top of the calcite slope overlooking the tall and impressive Bridge Passage, with the rock bridge spanning the passage in front of us.
We spent an hour exploring this passage and taking photos. At the top of the calcite slope a continuation of the passage can be seen above with a very old and not to be trusted electron ladder running over the calcite flow and dropping down into the passage we were in. This passage rises steeply with an aven at the end. We may return some time with tackle to climb up to and explore this last section of passage, as it gets very close to the surface in te area of the Brickworks Dig.
See more Cwm Dwr photos here
Present:Keith Edwards, Brendan Marris, Mark Burkey and Steve'Wal' Wallis
A thin rope was used for the pull through on the first pitch that takes you up into Upper Piccadilly. The rope pulls through a rather old and rusty Rawl Bolt and was re rigged when Keith spotted how much it flexed as Mark prussiked up the rope.
After a short but muddy ascent a balcony was reached where a climb up the left hand wall led to a steep calcite slope overlooking a very deep hole. Mark removed his muddy wellies and put on his rock shoes to make the climb rig a handline for those who followed. The climb was easier than it looked and soon we were all on the the top of the calcite slope overlooking the tall and impressive Bridge Passage, with the rock bridge spanning the passage in front of us.
We spent an hour exploring this passage and taking photos. At the top of the calcite slope a continuation of the passage can be seen above with a very old and not to be trusted electron ladder running over the calcite flow and dropping down into the passage we were in. This passage rises steeply with an aven at the end. We may return some time with tackle to climb up to and explore this last section of passage, as it gets very close to the surface in te area of the Brickworks Dig.
Mark and Wal in Bridge Passage Upper Piccadilly.
Mark, Wal and Keith in Bridge Passage.
Mark near the end of Bridge Passage in Upper Piccadilly.
Mark and Wal in Bridge Passage Upper Piccadilly.
See more Cwm Dwr photos here
Present:Keith Edwards, Brendan Marris, Mark Burkey and Steve'Wal' Wallis
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Croesor to Rhosydd Through Trip
Keith and Brendan had blogged on a through trip they had done from Croesor to Rhosydd when I first joined the club, and after reading their account it became one of those wish list trips that I have wanted to tick off ever since. So when the lads (Ben, Carl & Grant) offered up a trip I jumped at the chance.
Jess and I had stopped the night before in the van and the boys had stayed in a bothy en route so we arranged to meet up at a car park in Tanygrisiau. Having become accustomed to the tradition of a hearty breakfast before a trip I had to smile (I’m not sure where you find a hotdog vendor on a Sunday morning in North Wales, but the boys had managed it! )
Jess and I had a quick cuppa whilst the lads finished their hotdogs and then it was off up Cwm Croesor. The boys had managed to convince us that full caving gear was overkill for the trip, so we went with walking gear and waterproofs rather than furry and over suit and after an hour and a half of trekking over the hills I was quite grateful that I was in the lighter weight gear!
Climbing in through the half barred window with the guys leading the way we were soon arriving at the head of the first pitch. Not knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised at quality of the fixed aids in place. For the lads this was their seventh through trip this year & using Fig 8’s they were at the bottom of the 80ft pitch in seconds. Myself and jess in full SRT gear took it a little easier, carefully making sure that the ropes were hitting their protection.
At the second pitch even the guys took a little more time making their way down over the sharp slate edges. Ben had caught a shin on the first abseil & not to be outdone I slipped over an edge and took a little skin off mine too, just a gentle reminder that although a terrific amount of fun, this disused mine should not be taken lightly. At the bottom of the pitch I paused to take in just how vast the place is, as well as just how much of the ceiling is now shattered on the floor!
At the bottom of the huge gallery we arrived at the zip wire. Grant was the first to go & told us you needed to get a bit of a run up to make it across in one go as they were using traxions. Arriving safely on the other side he called across to say that there was now a fixed pulley that could be pulled back over. As mentioned their pulleys drag a little and a big leap is required to get across in a single go. With the larger fixed pulley this was no longer needed and a simple step was more than enough to get you across, a fact that Carl nearly found out the hard way as he hurtled toward the opposite wall.
Everyone across safely, our next obstacle was a very rickety ladder bridge which literally had you walking on water as you swayed at its center. It was also our first good look at the deep, clear blue waters. It was hard to tell the actual depth but It certainly wasn’t something I was in any hurry to check first hand! The first of the bridges was next and although not much of a bridge it didn’t cause an obstacle as we each skipped across the decaying wooden beams. We were then on to some interesting traverses and through to the second bridge of death, with only a bent single rail and shattered wooden beam on the other side Jess made her way to the mid-section, only to find that the short cows tail she was attached to had become so short that she was unable to move any further. Standing on tiptoe and removing all protection she carefully made her way over the half-way point and safely to the other side. With everyone safely across it was on to my personal favorite…a 20ft abseil over ice cold deep black water, (hopefully) landing in an inflatable to paddle across the underground lake. As we made our way across the still water Ben pointed out where he had previously explored by boat across the other side. Looking over with my Scurrion, you could see the huge cracked slate roof just waiting to fail in to the cold waters and shivered at the thought of paddling beneath it. On the other side all that was left was a short prusik and a walk out through the flooded passage to daylight.
This is a trip I had wanted to do for a long time and it didn’t disappoint. I would just like to say a big thank you to Ben, Carl & Grant who were great guides and helped make the trip something to remember.
Present:
Carl Knott, Ben Marklew and Grant Wilkes, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey
Jess and I had stopped the night before in the van and the boys had stayed in a bothy en route so we arranged to meet up at a car park in Tanygrisiau. Having become accustomed to the tradition of a hearty breakfast before a trip I had to smile (I’m not sure where you find a hotdog vendor on a Sunday morning in North Wales, but the boys had managed it! )
Jess and I had a quick cuppa whilst the lads finished their hotdogs and then it was off up Cwm Croesor. The boys had managed to convince us that full caving gear was overkill for the trip, so we went with walking gear and waterproofs rather than furry and over suit and after an hour and a half of trekking over the hills I was quite grateful that I was in the lighter weight gear!
Climbing in through the half barred window with the guys leading the way we were soon arriving at the head of the first pitch. Not knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised at quality of the fixed aids in place. For the lads this was their seventh through trip this year & using Fig 8’s they were at the bottom of the 80ft pitch in seconds. Myself and jess in full SRT gear took it a little easier, carefully making sure that the ropes were hitting their protection.
At the second pitch even the guys took a little more time making their way down over the sharp slate edges. Ben had caught a shin on the first abseil & not to be outdone I slipped over an edge and took a little skin off mine too, just a gentle reminder that although a terrific amount of fun, this disused mine should not be taken lightly. At the bottom of the pitch I paused to take in just how vast the place is, as well as just how much of the ceiling is now shattered on the floor!
At the bottom of the huge gallery we arrived at the zip wire. Grant was the first to go & told us you needed to get a bit of a run up to make it across in one go as they were using traxions. Arriving safely on the other side he called across to say that there was now a fixed pulley that could be pulled back over. As mentioned their pulleys drag a little and a big leap is required to get across in a single go. With the larger fixed pulley this was no longer needed and a simple step was more than enough to get you across, a fact that Carl nearly found out the hard way as he hurtled toward the opposite wall.
Everyone across safely, our next obstacle was a very rickety ladder bridge which literally had you walking on water as you swayed at its center. It was also our first good look at the deep, clear blue waters. It was hard to tell the actual depth but It certainly wasn’t something I was in any hurry to check first hand! The first of the bridges was next and although not much of a bridge it didn’t cause an obstacle as we each skipped across the decaying wooden beams. We were then on to some interesting traverses and through to the second bridge of death, with only a bent single rail and shattered wooden beam on the other side Jess made her way to the mid-section, only to find that the short cows tail she was attached to had become so short that she was unable to move any further. Standing on tiptoe and removing all protection she carefully made her way over the half-way point and safely to the other side. With everyone safely across it was on to my personal favorite…a 20ft abseil over ice cold deep black water, (hopefully) landing in an inflatable to paddle across the underground lake. As we made our way across the still water Ben pointed out where he had previously explored by boat across the other side. Looking over with my Scurrion, you could see the huge cracked slate roof just waiting to fail in to the cold waters and shivered at the thought of paddling beneath it. On the other side all that was left was a short prusik and a walk out through the flooded passage to daylight.
Ben, Carl & Jess at the Traverses
This is a trip I had wanted to do for a long time and it didn’t disappoint. I would just like to say a big thank you to Ben, Carl & Grant who were great guides and helped make the trip something to remember.
Present:
Carl Knott, Ben Marklew and Grant Wilkes, Jessica Harding & Mark Burkey
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