2025

29th March 2025 - Snelslow Swallet and Giants Hole, Peak District

After some above ground SRT training, it was time for Will and David to practice their skills underground. And what a good training/practice ground Snelslow Swallet is! In our opinion, it quite similar to potholes in the Dales, which hopefully has given the guys the bug to cave up north in the near future. After a couple of hours playing around in Snelslow, sandwiches were inhaled and off we popped into Giants. The initial aim was to explore everything above Garlands Pitch, as we typically head straight down for a round trip. However, the entrance series was full of adventure groups and and survey training groups. Instead, we decided to drop down Garlands and have a look for the climb up to the upper series. On finding this we climbed up, had a look about, climbed down, and headed for the eating house before returning to head home. All in all, a great day out!

Ciaran

8th February 2025 - Little Hull Pot, Yorkshire Dales

Some weeks ago Myself and some other cavers were "persuaded" that a trip down Little Hull Pot in Horton in Ribblesdale Yorkshire, would be a good move...Brian remarked "one of my favourites" ( He wasn't going down as he had an injured wrist, was that a cunning ploy?) . Tam said "Foul is a possibility but it might be tight for Steve's rib cage!" What is he trying to say?  When Tam talked about tight I  balked at that too , as " Tight" always means a lot of energy is consumed trying to get through and the "air can get blue!".  So Little Hull pot it was then. A grade four according to the 1991 Northern Caves 2, The Three Peaks, "explored in 1922 YRC Extended in 1939 BSA  1979 CDG.  So we were to be treading under hallowed ground! But be warned the topography mentioned tight bits in this one too! Is Steve off the hook?

Tam produced a rigging guide and with remote communication via "Whatsapp", a menu of equipment was produced! By Friday this had extended to a couple of ladders for Sunday, as well as a suggestion by Tam of  "You can tie the 60 and the 45 and do a " not pass" half way down Gaping Gill if you like " ( For Sunday's possible SRT ).  I thought to myself, "all very well IF I've still got energy left by Sunday ! It IS a grade four !".  Also at that point I thought, "it's a long time since I did a "knot pass ". I hope it's rigged for safety! Proves you need to keep up the "Training Sessions". So ALL this and we haven't even driven up to Yorkshire, never mind got the right gear on, bagged it up and added those little luxuries of flasks and mars bars to take down with us...! Stay tuned to see IF we even get there?....

... So Saturday morning came along and with a little apprehension, excitement and dogged determination. Four intrepid cavers and a convalescing Brian who had the dubious honour of being our safety man, met and walked up the lane away from Horton in Ribblesdale wondering what today would bring us? The description and rigging guides had been perused by everyone in the days, weeks and hours before the trip and now we were minutes from our "adventure".  The description in my Northern Caves 2 (published 1991) "Grade IV  , length 1097m , Depth 98m WARNING Flood conditions quickly make the pitches impassable. Low entrance leads to twisting streamway with roof lowering quickly to a crawl which passes through a deep pool"! Oh joy means we will be wet to start with!

It was a long walk to get to the entrance , building up the excitement. We looked like a load of pack horses with all our numbered rope bags. Thankfully we always seem to be able to "find" room in these for my battered stainless flask with it's mysterious hot content , which we would all appreciate some considerable time later. Typical of many Yorkshire caves, this one twisted like a snake, warming you up to the atmosphere yet not showing you the vastness to come! So once we'd walked a thousand miles we found the entrance , thankfully quite quickly. The Tigers were unleashed and raced ahead to rig the first pitch and we had what felt like a million bags, thankfully numbered beforehand. So off Karl and Tam went leaving the "donkeys" (Steve and John R ) to drag the other bags. Indeed it was an interesting curving passage "then slowed to a crawl"! Ever wondered where that saying came from? Well it was a caver, walking upright along a passage then the roof lowered and lowered eventually forcing the "monkey shape", that's bent over trying desperately NOT to get on his knees and get wet to..."Get on his knees and crawl and get wet" not particularly fast in fact... crawling!  (Remember you have to come out this way too)! 

Was getting wet worth it! Right at the beginning?  Wait and see....

The Donkeys eventually caught up to Tam and Karl who as always were doing an excellent job of rigging .( Practice ,practice practice).  The first pitch, according to the rigging guide was a "Y" hang with a short drop then a traverse along three hangers, then a Y with a 45 deviation ! ( Oh what joy they are ). You get half way down after getting onto the Y hang using your "Cow's Tails" to "Secure" you whilst ensuring you tie into the Petzl stop as high as possible AND after using the "Idiot's guide" helpfully etched into the product.. to make sure you are tying it through correctly. 

As an aside, isn't it interesting, as you are doing all of this SRT you "miraculously" forget about tonight's meal, last week's electricity bill or whether your essay will be good enough for the teacher!  Anyway there you are stopped in mid air desperately twirling, spinning and twisting like a maggot on a fishing line, to get that bl**dy deviation under control and reset above you... Why did Karl or Tam put this devil's tool in the way? Was it just to annoy you, make life difficult? No, they have a reason! The "Navigation " in the CNCC Rigging guide says, "An anchor half way down, which involves a considerable pendulum to reach, to help pull away from the water and avoid rope rub further down..."If it wasn't there you'd be;  A. Either very wet further down or, B. Practicing with your non-existent wings in free fall due to severe rope rub! So we take from this that reading the guides and learning the cave IS essential. Oh and silly me did I not mention the noise of the water crashing down is never far away and of course it's dark! So you manage that one okay you get down and shout to Steve, "Rope Free". You get the answer and it's his turn to curse and thank the Deviation at the same time!

A little further on the vertical walls to either side of you carry on cosseting you but surprisingly the floor falls away carrying the water with it! It's time to have your friends the cow's tails do their stuff again, as you espy the traverse helpfully rigged by the Tigers... The guide describes these as, "you must locate some overhead anchors a few metres back from the edge, for a high crawl/traverse leading through a "NARROW WINDOW" onto a balcony above the pitch". This IS an understatement as the traverse IS nice and the "Narrow window" IS diabolical.  As I'd mentioned already, we were a little concerned, due to Steve's build and bulky SRT whether he'd get through any "small" obstacles (Hence refusing the original cave!).  Steve had a try at the "window", but unfortunately it was "shut" and he struggled! So he backed off and I gave it a go somewhat slenderer but not helped by fatigue (which can appear a little too quickly, which is why I ALWAYS carry "snacks" down with me!) . I got "caught" the first time as there was a "lump" that got in the way! Chunering and grunting I reversed and tried again. I had the "joy" of squirming through like a greased toad in the hole!

Once through and getting my bearings whilst instantly having to "hook" on as I was on the "Balcony" very close to a rather large "drop" above the 60 metre pitch! It was inspiring. Now we HAD to get Steve through otherwise a good proportion of the cave would be lost to him! He tried again but you can't get a truck through a tunnel designed for small cars! I looked around and thought outside the box. The rigging guide/Navigation said you HAD to get through the window. It didn't suggest any other way or alternative! I thought and looked , then suggested to Steve he caught the rope I was going to throw back and under the block we were balanced on. He did and made a figure eight and locked it to the anchor on the traverse, then did the smallest SRT abseil and prusik I've ever seen, but it worked. I was chuffed we Donkeys had figured it out! It meant we could carry on with the next brilliant, inspiring pitch... 

Well there we were like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party balanced on a small shelf after an "interesting Traverse over a rapidly deepening rift through a tiny window" (Or round and under it). Looking across at the next "problem", a distant Y hang, the Tiger's made a good job of this one, good loops for protection. The "navigation" says, "From the balcony, you will find anchors for a Y-hang located against THE FAR WALL! Rigging and getting onto this pitch involves reaching across the deep shaft and quite a scary swing out; not to be underestimated! "Well that's an understatement", my admiration for the Tigers ( Probably Tam!) for rigging that. The technicality of the pitches gives it the high grade in my opinion. Don't forget what goes in must come out! Sooner or later. Why you need to be physically fit enough and psychologically absent! ( Just joking!) you do need to keep practicing your SRT so that manoeuvres become second nature.

This was the longest pitch of the day with two deviations further down (60m says the guide). The previous 45 was just a taster! Do you know deviations have a perverse mind of their own? They conspire to foul you and cause you to have immense trouble adhering to them, it's vital you keep them for the sake of the next chap down and your "dryness" on the way! Hence why you "capture" it with your very helpful longest cow's tail clipped into the anchor, whilst you wrestle with the rope you're on, cord, and spinning in mid air in the dark, all three conspiring to trip you up! (you've another one to go further down!).  So you manage to wrestle the anaconda and pass the deviation, remembering to have a good look around as suggested by the Navigation; which says "This is an excellent pitch". 

What a splendid trip this is turning into! Touchdown at the bottom of the pitch a large round chamber enables you to get free of the rope, shout Steve down and search amongst the bags for that "hidden" gem, the battered invincible steel flask. Out she comes, sweet nectar, hot chocolate with added sugar, made from high content dairy milk, added condensed milk and good quality chocolate. Just what your body needs for the return journey and a nice excuse for a  "pause". Once Steve gets down it would be churlish not to offer some! He accepts graciously. This is the point where (after reading the topography) in a worst case scenario I had decided to "Finish" and wait for the others to return from the rest of the cave. As it happened I did the next pitch ( a short 15m) and went a little further but did not complete the "squeeze" ( I have to always consider my stamina). Steve went a little further but if I recall, didn't go to the end as the passageway got a little tight and the sump narrow. We conversed with Tam and Karl, and me and Steve started making our way out whilst the "Tigers" finished the short section to the end with one more 25m pitch to do.

Never forget that what goes down must also have the energy and light to reverse! My usual mars bars were consumed and we slowly and laboriously retraced our steps. Ascending can be as much fun as the descent in some caves, reversing the deviations and awkward "windows". I got caught up on the window ledge just after the balcony this time! We reversed the pitches and once out dumped the excess tackle and went back in to meet up with Tam and Karl, so we could remove their "waste" caving bags from the other pitches...crawling back through that stony first section (but you have to do it)! Once we were all out, the Tigers got their reward, not only an excellent cave done but still chocolate nectar left. As Wallace and Gromit would say, "A cracking day out"

Would I go again? .... You betcha.

John Radburn

12th January 2025 - Wintery Mines near Calver, Peak District

Having never visited the old mines in the Calver area as a club before, Ciaran organised a trip to one of them having paid a visit two years ago with another club.  This mine included a not so typical "boat" journey across a flooded stope, and was also pre-rigged (bonus).  Meeting in Calver village, Ciaran was joined by Andy, Karl, Will and Angela.  After an icy cold change into caving gear, we made our way across to the mine entrance, knowing that we were going to have to wade through freezing water to get in.  Although the iced surface of the water looked to have already been broken, it had in fact frozen over again, but thankfully was thin enough to stomp through.  The adit was full of icicles for quite a way in, and were quite large in size which was a spectacle for all.

Once through the entrance adit and engineered supports, we were greeted with a knotted handline up and over a rising, which led quite promptly to the first pitch of around 5m. SRT equipped people popped down and a ladder and lifeline was rigged for Angela; which was left in situ for the return.  Going down slope, deeper and deeper, we then arrived at the flooded stope with a makeshift boat.  Ciaran pulled himself across first, which then meant everyone else sit back and relax as they could be pulled across.  Much fun was had here, especially thanks to Will's rather impressive sing song.

Moving on from the flooded section, we arrived at a small pitch heading up, of which Ciaran had totally forgotten about from his previous visit.  Rather than going back to get the ladder for Angela, a hauling system was rigged and Angela was raised to the top with ease.  Following some up and downing, a chamber was reached which appeared to have  a new SRT rope heading up into some upper levels.  We didn't venture up here, but it looks worth doing if we revisit.  So rather than going up, we squirmed through a hole in the floor, to a chamber with two water filled passages heading off.  Splitting into two groups, we ventured down each one and then swapped over.  It appears that this place must have been quite enormous given the high stopes, hanging death and a mysterious passage heading off on the other side of winze.

After some drinks, snacks and photos, we turned around and headed out feeling the crisp, cold wintery air the closer we got the surface.  All in all, a very good trip and one we may have to come back to!  Photos below.

Ciaran