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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 21 October 2026

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Cavers: Jess, Steve, Chris, John, Toby, Grace and Victoria

We gathered in the layby for a trip down the aptly named Layby Pot. This was a new one for me, and when I asked Jess what to expect, she cheerfully described it as a typical wet, crawling Derbyshire cave. Excellent. 

Chris and John recalled having done the cave many years ago, although quite how many seemed open to interpretation. The plan was a round trip, entering via the pitch entrance and emerging through the oil drum. What could possibly go wrong?

After descending the short, tight entrance pitch, I found John removing his SRT kit. He had already decided he would be returning the way we came, having rather vivid memories of some particularly tight sections near the exit. The rest of us were feeling considerably more optimistic, although perhaps only because we didn't know what was coming.

And so began the crawling.

Initially, being on the smaller side, I made a valiant effort to keep myself off the muddy floor, carefully picking my way along while watching John shift himself through the passage ahead. This ambitious attempt at remaining relatively clean lasted approximately five minutes. Before long, we were all fully committed to the mud, employing an assortment of gymnastic moves.

We snaked our way through the passages, eventually reaching a slightly roomier section where we could regroup, check everyone was happy and prepare ourselves for yet more crawling. There was certainly no shortage of it.

Along the way, we stopped to consult the conservation survey and take a few photographs. Grace had brought her camera too, and despite the difficulties of taking photos while covered in Derbyshire's finest mud, we managed to capture some good shots. There were some lovely formations decorating the ceiling, including pretty curtains, a reminder that even the muddiest of Derbyshire caves can hide some beautiful features.

Eventually, we reached the larger chamber, where we could actually sit upright for a few minutes. A luxury not to be underestimated.

At this point, John announced that he would rather return the way we had come. We were, however, getting close to the exit, and the rest of us encouraged him to continue with us. There were plenty of willing hands, knees and assorted body parts available to assist. 

I'm fairly certain John would have preferred to stick to his original plan.

Pressing onwards, we arrived at a wall with a rope hanging down it. None of us had used this rope before, and with nearly everyone still wearing their SRT kits, we decided that we would completely ignore it. 

Instead we decided to launch ourselves into an extremely tight slit in the wall in front of us instead.

This required yet another impressive display of underground gymnastics. Various limbs were repositioned, bodies twisted into unlikely shapes, and progress was measured very slowly. I managed to help John through the final section by offering a firmly braced leg to give him the extra momentum he needed.

Once John was in mid thrutch we saw a light from above. Clearly the rope was an easier option hence why someone put it there. Did we change our plan? 

Of course not. We'd already committed ourselves to the unnecessarily difficult option, and there was no point spoiling the fun now.

Next came the infamous Cheese Grater.

This delightful obstacle allowed only one person through at a time and involved lying on your back and shimmying beneath a particularly sharp rock flake that seemed to have been positioned specifically to make life difficult for cavers.

Jess positioned herself across the top, bracing herself and directing proceedings while the rest of us attempted to negotiate the obstacle with varying degrees of elegance. Helmets off and make yourself as small as possible. 

It took time. Quite a lot of time, actually.

There was plenty of encouragement, a fair amount of patience, and more than a few strategically placed knees and legs to provide assistance. At times, it resembled a particularly cruel exercise designed by someone with a questionable sense of humour.

But one by one, we made it through.

Finally, all that remained was the short, slippery climb out through the oil drum. Compared with what we'd just negotiated, this seemed almost civilised.

And then, one by one, we emerged into the fresh air, absolutely plastered in Derbyshire mud but rather pleased with ourselves.

What struck me most about this trip was just how much we relied on one another. There were sections where an extra hand, a braced knee, some encouragement or simply someone talking you through the next move made all the difference. It's one of the things I love about caving. Underground, working together isn't just a nice idea; sometimes it's the only way you're getting out!

Everyone contributed, everyone helped, and despite the tight squeezes and muddy contortions, we all emerged just fine.

Better still, we were out early enough to make it to the Mechanics for a well-earned pint.

As I approached the bar, looking forward to that particularly inviting first drink, the very first words directed at me were:

"Where have you been?"

The mud certainly told part of the story.

But it didn't begin to tell the whole tale.

Another excellent Tuesday Nighters adventure. Good company, plenty of laughs, some beautiful formations and a reminder that the best bit of caving is often the people you're underground with.

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Written by: Jon Pemberton

Published: 20 October 2026

Hits: 70

Just Joe and I this evening on what turned out to be our last trip to our dig in the Doghouse (for now). We met around 6:30pm, outside the Haddon Grove camp site. With heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the day we fully anticipated beyond Figure of Eight chamber to be sumped and had zero to little intention of getting wet up to our ears! We checked out the sump, which fortunately was approx. the same level as on the previous trip (looks like a no-go for this year)! Thus we headed to the Doghouse to continue with our capping venture from the previous weeks. Clearly a lot of work had been carried out here previously, using some stronger methods of rock removal than we have to hand. The Doghouse starts an impressive aven with lots of digging debris scattered and shored throughout the base of the chamber. A flat out crawl heads to the right as soon as you climb through the choke, this leads for 20-30m (passing a draughting calcited, muddy tube on the right), the end of the tube breaks out into a banged rift which leads up a steep slope to an Aven which Dan Hibberts and myself blasted our way back into in 2009. The Aven is small with zero ways on at the top. A climb up and over stacked boulders leads to our dig – a continuation of the rift which unfortunately sits at around 10-20cm wide and lays at the base of a steep gravel slope and emits and outward draught.

Joe and I both had a good go at the sharp end, capping slices off the walls ensuring the working space always remained comfortable. We got to a satisfying point where we could see ahead for a metre or so but it remained hopelessly miniscule! Heartbroken (well I was…) we decided to give up aimlessly mining away and put our time and services to better use. We know there’s an Aven beyond the sump and Armoured Mudball Crawl which has a corresponding crawl heading this way but unfortunately it’s not on the survey. So when the sump does eventually next drop our first job is to survey the loop around to this dig and see exactly how close the two passages are from one another. If the gap is less than 10m then maybe it’s worth persisting with, creating a possible bypass to sump enabling the end of LCDC to be open most years? But for now, work has come to a halt on this project.

We left the cave and removed gear, post digging refreshments at the Bull’s Head in Monyash which tasted all the better after the steep hike back up the dale to the campsite.

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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 31 August 2026

Hits: 564

Tuesday Nighters 24.8.26

Team: John, Katie, Jess, Christine and Victoria

With England having experienced an exceptionally dry summer, we had the opportunity this week to make a trip into Garden Path to check water levels, take some photographs and have a look at the general condition of the cave.

July had been the driest on record for England, with just 10% of the long-term average rainfall. River flows were exceptionally low, groundwater levels were falling and soil moisture deficits were approaching historic highs. So, if ever there was a good time to see what was happening to the water underground, this was it.

We set out as a small group and, as we made our way down towards the dale, my phone pinged with the news that Dolly Parton had reportedly died. A real icon gone — and, rather unexpectedly, we had acquired our theme music for the evening. There are probably worse soundtracks for a caving trip.

On opening the lid, however, our attention was immediately diverted by Katie finding a slow worm at the entrance. Many of us have only encountered a handful of these lovely creatures in our lifetimes, so it was quite a treat. Our resident veterinarian and all-round stellar caver, Jess, gave our unexpected visitor a quick health check before relocating it to a rather more suitable environment than the top of a cave pitch.

The old ladders have now gone, but the pitch itself is excellent. Katie rigged and, with a few well-placed deviations, we made our way down and through into a glorious chamber.

The photographs I have really don't do it justice. 

 

We took our time here, looking closely at the speleothems and the composition and structure of the surrounding rock. One of the pleasures of a trip like this, when you're not trying to race towards a particular destination, is actually having the time to stop and look properly at what is around you.

From there we continued over a couple of the remaining ladders and down towards the section where we would normally expect to encounter flowing water.

There wasn't any. 
Not a trickle.

Given the extraordinary lack of rainfall, this wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was still quite striking to see somewhere normally associated with water completely dry.

Katie and Jess squeezed onwards to investigate the continuation. This apparently becomes a very flat crawl which ultimately connects into the rest of the Lathkill Dale system. Having established that it was still there, still flat and still requiring considerably more crawling, we collectively decided that could be an adventure for another day.

Sometimes good cave exploration is knowing when to leave something for next time.

We spent a little longer having a look around and taking photographs before beginning the journey back out. Then came the inevitable prusiking — that magical part of a caving trip where gravity, having assisted you so generously on the way in, suddenly demands repayment with interest.

With the nights beginning to draw in, we eventually emerged into a beautiful evening sky. There are few things quite as satisfying as coming out of a cave as daylight is fading, particularly when you know there is a pub waiting.

So it was off to the Bull's Head for a very well-earned pint, where the unanimous verdict was that Garden Path had delivered a fine trip.

Most importantly from the conservation point of view, the formations we observed appeared to be in good condition and the protected areas were being respected. The exceptionally dry conditions also gave us a useful opportunity to photograph and record parts of the cave under unusually low-water conditions, which should provide an interesting comparison when normal rainfall eventually returns.

A note on access 

Garden Path is not an open recreational caving site. The entrance is kept locked and access is permitted for scientific purposes under the conditions of DCA's licence from Chatsworth. 
This can include legitimate one-off photographic or monitoring visits such as this one, as well as longer-term research and exploration projects.

Cavers with a valid reason for wishing to visit should contact the DCA Access Officer, complete the required access form and provide evidence of current liability insurance. Once permission has been granted, key collection and the designated surface access route will be explained.

Please remember that access arrangements such as these depend upon cavers respecting both the cave and the conditions agreed with the landowner.

A beautiful cave, some fascinating observations, a surprise slow worm, absolutely no water and a pint at the end.

I'd call that a successful evening.