Swinsto Hole, Yorkshire

Despite taking 1 hour to set the ladder at the cave exit, a successful and pleasant trip. Swinsto hole starts with a pleasant short pitch, but is soon followed by around a 1000 ft crawl in water. We developed a system, Mike C rigged, I carried the rope to the pitch head and Emma removed the rope behind us and passed it forwards. All went well until around the fourth pitch. When the knot in the bottom of the rope was not undone before starting to pull it up, fortunately this was noticed when the knot was only 12 ft from the floor, although under the waterfall. Despite fears of cutting the rope, it was recovered by climbing the pitch and being lowered on the rope. 

Present: MCl, ACr & EPo + Cara Allison (TSG), Mike Wilson (BEC) & Zot (BEC)

Dan-Yr-Ogof, South Wales

The standard round trip to The Rising - in via the Green Canal and out via the Lower Series pausing to take some pictures in Cloud Chamber. Unfortunately this gave another group the chance to overtake us, so by the time we got to the Green Canal the only buoyancy aids left were three life jackets all with broken zips and one small plastic container. Keith and Derek exited via the Lower Series while Brendan and Chris came back through the Green Canal to ferry some buoyancy aids back.

Derek and Chris in Cloud Chamber.

See more Dan Yr Ogof photos here

Present: KEd, BMa, DRo and CWe

Brickworks Dig, Penwyllt, South Wales

Weekend 12/13th August We now have 150, 13" x 30" sand bags - each one holds more than a bucket full. On Saturday we filled 100 bags (approx. 120 buckets) and stacked them at the bottom of the main railway track. With only 4 people we had to initially stack the bags in the cross-rift and then move positions to get them to the bottom of the entrance passage. On Sunday we pulled 80 bags out to surface before the front wheels of the main dig truck were worn so badly that they splayed out and came off the railway track. We took both trucks back to the workshop and swapped two wheels between the trucks. We were then able to drag out the remaining 20 bags. After this we filled another 50 bags and stacked them in the cross-rift. Over the course of the weekend we added approx. 10 feet to the system. Near the dig face we have lost the roof again, but we think that at the dig face we may have got the roof back. Also on the left there may be a side passage.

Keith Edwards with the stacked sand bags at the cross rift.

Keith Edwards below the cross rift.

The Dig Team:  JDu (Sat and Sun morning only), KEd, CJe (Sun only), BMa and DRo

Tatham Wife Hole, White Scar, Yorkshire

Emma rigging and great SRT practice. Quite a trek to get there, 2.12 miles to be exact!! With heavy bags, but well worth the effort. A pleasant mixture of everything for me, SRT (5 pitches) an interesting 'ramp' on third pitch, short climbs, crawls, ducks and waterfalls, just enough to keep us damp, with plenty to look at along the way.... and I was the only one who didn't have to lug a tackle bag round with me!! Approx 5hr trip, a 'sprint' back across the Dales and back in time for curry at 9:00pm in Settle. Great day and excellent caving trip. 

Present: MCl, EPo & DeWi plus Mike Peters (Craven Pothole Club)

Eisriesenwelt Werfen, Austria

The world's largest ice cave. 

See http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/ 

 Present: KEd & JRa + other members of the Edwards tribe.

Lathkill Cave, Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire

The idea was to attempt a through trip from the resurgence to top entrance.  This can only be done in drought conditions so we hoped that after many weeks of very dry weather it would be possible.

We rigged top entrance for our exit and then walked down the valley and entered the system at the lower entrance.  None of the cave is easy going.  Most of the passage is flat out crawling and everything is covered in a thick layer of sticky dark brown mud.  The cave feels gloomy and uninviting.  After about half an hour we were forced to turn back where the way on was flooded and would have required helmets to be removed and noses to be pressed to the roof.

We then went back and dropped into top entrance to explored the nicely decorated Waiting Room and Lathkiller Hall.

Present: KEd & BMa

Ogof Pwll Swnd, Black Mountains, South Wales

We found it this time after a 2 mile trek over the Black Mountains due to the advent of GPS technology! It's not the easiest cave to find and almost impossible if you only have the instructions in the guide book to follow. Also the description in the guide book appears to be incomplete. We explored most of the 'old series' and dropped the second pitch to explore some of the new. Lots of places in the cave to still explore next time.

In the chamber below the entrance pitches.

Keith Edwards in the chamber below the entrance pitches.

See more Pwll Swnd photos here

Present: KEd, BMa, MRo & CWe