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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 19 April 2025

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Jess, Julian, Steve, Grace and Victoria

I hadn’t been out in a few weeks so it was great the find the email for a Tuesday Nighters trip into P8. One of my favourites especially now that we have had some good weather. We met at the usual spot and paid our fee to the farmhouse.

Steve and Julian had gone on first to start rigging. How kind!! The rest of us girls headed over and headed in. The stream was low as we haven’t had much rain recently so it wasn’t the usual rush of water in the entrance. Once inside we clambered through. I always stop to take some photos as it really is a beautiful cave. It has a bit of everything, some climbing, some rope work and fun traversing.

Photos by Victoria Kocher

Grace points out she has the shortest legs but finds her way to climb everything. We made it down to the far sump and took a good look around. Some side passages were sumped but everything looked good inside. We began a steady pace back out and made it out into the darkness.

Jess had advised me to leave my car keys safely by the cave and not tucked under some random shrub where they might be detected. We walked across the fields with our head torches shining off the reflections from the sheep with their lambs. Nearly back to the road and *!!** who forgot their keys at the cave entrance!! So back I go…. With Jess’s last words to me being…” Sucks to be you!”. Thanks for the advice Jess. It was a good night….

Victoria

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Written by: Dylan Kocher

Published: 14 April 2025

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Chamber of Horrors. Dylan Kocher, SUSS Alfie(Alfie Burnley), Bangor Alex (Alex Johnson)

Chamber of Horrors holds court in many a caver's mind. This has certainly always been the case with myself. Stories and reports become things of legend. Tales of ever increasing water levels. A clock ticking away pulling young cavers in to test themselves against this UK classic trip. The actual Chamber of Horrors is rather a different experience altogether. When coming face to face stripped away from the daunting fables in reality it’s something much deeper and special entirely.

With reports from friends that a team had found out that the ducks were passable and SUSS (of course) were involved I knew the game was afoot. It took me 10 minutes to clear my schedule and call upon the Young and bold SUSS Alfie who promptly agrees to join. Weaselling ourselves in with a Cardiff booked out TSG hut, we were now in! The bounce trip through COH was sold to me as a great way to experience the ducks. Requiring less faff and double the experience and therefore was a quick sell to Alfie. Arriving at the safe haven of Castleton TSG’s the door opens to Bangor Alex, who with a brief exchange of hello is now also a committed member of the team . Arriving at an empty giants the trip to poached egg passage did indeed have us boiling as promised. Our wetsuits and oversuits plastered to our backs. Opting to go first meant that when I reached the crawl I was all too keen and jumped into the first crawl on the right wall (a common mistake). Realising quickly that this was not the correct way on I made a troublesome exit. By the time I was out Alfie had confirmed that he was in the correct crawl to COH. Myself and Alex followed in suit. It seems the cave gods had chosen Alfie as point man instead.

Approaching the ducks Alfie acclimated himself and rolls onto his back entering duck 1. Smooth and slow a body just shifting into what would look like just a tight sump. Calling out he’s through 1 and onto 2 i think jeez he's doing this in quick succession. Calling ahead he’s now at 3 and ready to go. The water levels just in front of my face quickly increase lapping against the walls agressively . A call back sounds that he is free, completing all ducks with zero hesitation reminding me there’s something in the water over there in Sheffield. Next I’m up, lowering myself in the water and rolling onto my back and relax my head into the cold shocking duck.

Entrance lips pressed against the rock. When entering the small airspace, the grove works in unison with the passage leading you to the right and before I know it I’m out and quickly at the face of duck 2. Duck 2 as described requires your face to keep to the air on the right however the passage leads to the left. This is quite technical but mainly pushing forward reveals all doubt to where the air continues. Head facing my right shoulder bow waves only slightly lapping against the corner of my lip and quickly regaining comfortable airspace However once past 2, 3 looks quite intimidating as it’s just a blank wall with no usable airspace however allowing for a good vocal connection with Alfie on the other side. Behind your head under the duck a jug can be reached with your right arm and then a committed descent below pushes you out completing the ducks. It definitely does not feel like an aggressive passage but rather comes off like a lazy river experience. - Bangor Alex

As the wetsuit keeps you quite buoyant. This description is great for so many reasons. Calling back to Alex to begin he is steady through making it all the way with very little issues. Champ. We’re are all it’s fair to say ecstatic with the ducks. And continue to push further on. From here a long and flat out crawl with little rest apart from a couple avens brings us to the squeeze. A short but intense passage filled with some water requires a steady crawl through. This section you usually have to dig out however the SUSS team previously had done so whilst successfully completing the through trip shortly after. Alex who unfortunately could not fit (it was really tight). After following the draft for a decent while we decided to turn around since leaving our buddy felt just all a little too good. But were probably only a few turns past Castle aven.

Coming back to the long crawl of COH I enter first in order to film the exit. With my right hand on the jug I pull and turn my left shoulder under, emerging in darkness. My head torch was loose below and after a few seconds of rummaging I was able to find and resituate it. Now light caked in mud it gave a great orange tint to the passage beyond, so opted not to clean it off for the Vibes. Duck 2 came across a little more technical due to some shoulder positions not feeling good requiring a double pump but then settled through nicely. Water felt a little higher. To duck 1 a calm and relaxed position assumed I used some notable crack features to judge distance. This time I opted to lean my head further back to get a better position with my lips and allow my eyes to sink below the water level. Only lasting a short few moments but was rather fun. Completed COH sharpish. With my phone and light position for the money shot set I called Alex through who did very well just as the way in and came out in style not skipping a beat. Alfie however probably skipped a few beats. Actually I think my heart was the one that skipped a few beats. With ducks 3/2 passed Alfie positions himself for 1 where I instruct that his light should be turned off to avoid camera glare. Alfie responded appropriately

“Fucking Hell Dylan”

https://youtube.com/shorts/5FHEn1U1FMg?feature=share

Then proceeds through. However quickly goes too far to his right, leaving the minimal airspace and proceeds to, well drown for a few seconds. But pushes on exploding out of the water hands windmilling presumably from an animal instinct to find air and coughs up a rather large portion of muddy water. Money shot indeed. Kids a monster and must have found it too easy on the way in so wanted to test out the free dive method. Happy he was alive I asked shortly after if he would do it again. The response was of course a resounding YES. With a quick group photo we zoom out of giants and back to the car park that is now filled to the brim with outdoors groups. Really showing how amazing giants is. A cave that sees our common caver enthusiasm fade offers so much. With the COH connection to Oxlow personally realised it’s now again one of my favourite caves, but perhaps it always was…. Good company for these types of trips can not be understated.

Highly recommend this trip even just to crawl the two minutes to see it. Intensely beautiful and a truly unique obsticle better yet when filled with good company. Big shout out to A_Northerner whose description on UKC was most useful and information like it should be spread not hidden. On to the next. -Dylan Kocher

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 10 March 2025

Hits: 578

It was only after working my first week in a dusty quarry in Somerset that I realised I was quite so close to the caves of Mendip (or lack thereof), so at the start of my second week away I rocked up at the Shepton Mallet caving hut hoping for some dirt cheap digs and possibly some digging. I met with a few of the local diggers who were younger than I expected of Mendipites. However I have to confess that their stories of a surface dig in its +20th year did not really enthuse me. Instead I opted for a lonely bimble around Swildons, which suited me better as I only had a wetsuit which I chucked in last minute. Unfortunately I had no ladder so this was going to be limited to the Entrance Series (above the 20ft ladder pitch), which they told me I could easily lose a good few hours in. A quick snap on my phone of the survey on the wall of the hut and off I went.

Heading across the field at dusk, totally alone and with a massive smile on my face, I realised I’m pretty lucky to be doing this on a work night. I’d not been in Swildons since 2008 so I head into the entrance and straight away have no idea where to go. I bumble along the Long Dry route, occationally checking the survey on my phone to stay orientated, and quickly end up at the top of the 20. I scout about a little to judge it’s freeclimbability (zero, when on your own!) then head off to explore some tiny little passages and oxbows, ending up doing some much harder pushing than I had ideally wanted in my wetsuit. After completing a few loops and generally getting a feel for the place I then returned to that stary night with an even bigger smile on my face! What a way to kill an evening while working away.

Selfie at the old 40

The next day was the start of SCHECC and the Shepton was going to be full of +100 drunk and probably partly naked students, and I was glad to be missing it entirely. How old and boring I am becoming. Little Ben was drip feeding me pics and vids of some of the shenanigans throughout the weekend, but I was pleased to hear he too had been down Swillies and even made it through Sump 1. Supposedly some UBSS fresher had made it to 9, a feat I achieved back in 2008 with my friend Stu Gardiner. However she had done it without a pony, whereas I had basically cheated.

Me n Stu cheating at Sump 2, back in 2008

The next week I packed a little more caving gear and arrived at the hut a little anxious that the sofas would be through the windows. I was a little disappointed to walk in to find the place as spotless as before; even some of the condiments were left in the kitchen! CHECC has certainly changed over the 15 years I’ve not been going. The new Marks Audio Solutions stickers dotted about the place were basically the only give-away that indeed the event had happened.

Proof CHECC did actually happen!

After the long drive down and then a hard afternoon on the ropes I was questioning whether a little digging session might be a more sensible (and sociable) option, but it sounded again like they would just be surface hauling 100s of pre-packed sandbags of shit so I decided Swildons would be my temple again tonight. Over my pre-beer I had a quick read of the guide book (hilariously bolted to the wall of the hut to stop if being nicked) so that I could find my way on beyond the 20. It is basically just follow the water so I skipped forward to Sump 2 and 3. Each were described in quite a lot of detail so I just skim read it, as I wasn’t planning to attempt them tonight.

After hilariously missing the entrance and ending up in the wrong field I eventually got in and navigated along the “Wet Way” to the 20 with ease. Unlike last week I hadn’t brought my phone but this route is basically following the water so a bit easier than last week. Descending the slightly overhanging wire ladder in the waterfall was very slightly more committing than I had anticipated, making me even more glad I didn’t try freeclimb it last week! I really enjoyed descending the streamway beyond, through the endless cascades and the Double Pots, and got the expected little buzz upon reaching Sump 1. I’d brought a mask and hood for this and enjoyed passing through the extremely short sump slowly and totally in control. It was tighter than I remembered but even if I had to dig a little I was easily ready for it. Seemingly those last few years of freediving in Cussey and SMMC have allowed me to approach these challenges relatively relaxed, and it felt great.

The other side the passages are more wide and aqueous, especially once you turn left and start to progress along the strike of the bedding. Just before Sump 2 a small alcove has 2 buckets full of lead weights, a helpful yet slightly ominous indication of what is to come. My enjoyable experience in 1 encouraged me to at least put a couple weights onto my belt and go take a look a 2. When I get there it was weirdly inviting and before I knew it I was laying at the sump taking deep breaths and preparing to go through. I mean, I’m all setup and ready to go. A female fresher did it only a few days ago. I had read the guide book a bit, something about 8m with the line in your right hand. Deep breath and I was in. So much for just taking a look.

I pop up in Swildons 3 feeling great, and find that it is basically two airbells separated by a short duck. The entry into Sump 3 looks good also, but I realise this is a bigger undertaking. 11m long and 2.5m deep, with a few obstacles in the way. Maybe I should have read the book a bit more. I remember hearing about possibly the last Eldon jaunt here back in 2003 which involved John Taylor freediving to this point from the other side of Sump 3. Hilariously that team had gone down Blue Pencil and thought they were at Sump 1! Obviously JT went through first. Realising he’d fucked up and unsure of where he was and what was the way on, and rather than repeat what was presumably a pretty scary dive, he sat (swam) and waited for rescue. Luckily some local divers were in the system and went in and evacuated him before he died of hyperthermia! Whilst not exactly the story I wanted to be thinking about right now, it proved that this sump is obviously possible even when you’re not expecting it, so I went for it. Probably about halfway along I rotated slightly onto my side which seemed to give me better visibility ahead, just in time to miss one of the fins of rock jutting out. After a few more pulls I surfaced. Wow! The guide book had suggested this would take about 15 seconds, and that felt about right, I think. I was ready to breathe, but not desperate.

From here I mooch along Swildons 4 feeling 90% ecstatic and 10% concerned. I pass the famous chain up into Blue Pencil passage but as I have absolutely no idea of the route up there I am committed to heading back through the sumps. I get to Sump 4 and whilst it looked quite inviting I hadn’t read this bit of the book so knew I had to turn around. With each step back to Sump 3 that 10% slowly increased but I told myself to stay relaxed and focus. I didn’t waste time getting into the sump, deep breath and I was in. The depth is more noticeable on the way back, but mostly on the way up the other side. I seemed to be ascending for ages but yet still not surfacing. I pull faster, staring ahead in hopeful sight of the reflective air surface, feeling my lungs starting to complain. Eventually I surface and shout out aloud “Well, that was long!”. The shorter dive through Sump 2 felt like child’s play now and I rose the other side now 100% ecstatic. Stupid grin on my face I float out the cave, nearly forgetting to take off my weights on the way passed. I can’t actually remember what route I took through the entrance series, but I once again emerged into a stary night and I can assure you that stupid grin lasted for a good few days more.

Me n my stupid grin