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Written by: Chris Hibberts

Published: 16 May 2025

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15/05/2025

Team: Joe, Jon & Chris

Following a trip into the Merlins 2 days prior Katie Eavis had reported that...

"On the way out whilst crawling past the connection crawl to Gimli's dream/ through to Carlswark a microwaved sized boulder fell out of the roof and landed on one of our group. With some wriggling and assistance from the person behind we managed to get the rock off the caver.

However it was now blocking the crawl for the 4 people behind!

The only way to get past it was to drop the offending rock into the low crawl through to Gimli's dream, and it is still there.

It may be possible to wriggle it out of the hole, and back to the base of the climb or a couple of caps would make the problem more manageable.

So for now the way to the Merlins streamway is passable (keep an eye on the roof though!) however the way to Gimli's dream/ the Carlswark connection is blocked.
After getting passed the fallen boulder I had a reasonable look at the remaining roof, and in my opinion, it looks ok - this rock moving doesn't seem to have de-stabilised the surrounding rocks - however keep a close eye on if passing that way!"

Enter Team Awesome!!

Jon, Joe and I met in the Flower Pot layby at 6:15 with the plan to rectify the boulder issue then explore the upstream sumps at the end of Merlins. A quick fashion parade from Joe showing off his new furry suit and pre beers had us right in the mood and after kitting up and sorting the capping gear we were off.

Joe's new duck furry - Photo by Jon P

The route down to the connection was straight forward with Joe leading the way, he was soon into the thick of it trying to kick the large boulder out of the roof with great determination. After a couple of minutes and with some convincing from Jon and myself Joe admitted defeat and decided it needed capping. It really was a stubborn boulder taking 5-6 double caps to obliterate it into manageable chunks. Some of these were still rather sizeable and the electron ladder we bought had to be used to haul them out.

Now with only 4 caps left Joe had to take care of the rock that had previously fallen into the Crawl to Gimli’s Dream.  Fingers crossed he could break it up enough to get it out as TA don’t do failure and a return trip would defo get some criticism from the rest of the gang. Joe drilled the hole set the caps and with a couple of whacks of the capping bar….. ‘one bombed it’!! “It was a good Job I put 3 caps in” Joe chirped up.

With the way on clear and impending doom removed from the roof we could now go and have some fun. The period of dry weather allowed us to pass sumps 1 – 4 and allowed us to explore some incredible passage in between, if felt very much like Carlswark in places and the shell-bed and formations were fantastic. We had a mooch up some small side passages which lead to nowhere, Joe tried to post himself up an extremely tight rift off to the left after sump 3, which looked to open up above, this turned out to be too tight and he retreated. Maybe a return with some caps could allow him to get through. We finally reached Sump 5 which Jon informed us was quite low but was not free diveable, so we turned back and took the opportunity to get some photos of the passage in between the Sumps (photo’s to follow).

Merlins Streamway, photos by Jon P

Photogay done, if was time for the pub and with the route clear it didn’t take long to get out, even though I did have a bit of a wobble at the top of the climb up on the way out and had to be coaxed over the rift by Joe.

It’s always nice exiting in the warmer months and makes getting changed much more pleasant. Post beers and snacks (including the last bag of out of date display pork scratchings) were enjoyed by all in the Moon Inn.

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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

Hits: 807

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