Well, we met in the Bagshaw carpark at our usual time just not our usual day. At the Eldon AGM it was raised that the gated sections of Bagshaw be removed. This was a little trip out to see the Full Moon Series and see what we could. It was Kat, Bernie, Tim, Hal and myself, Katie was busy with lambing so she stayed on the ranch.
Once we slid over that nice big boulder and made it into the crawl we hoped it would be worth it. Not a hard crawl just long and typically just enough of a puddle to feel a bit like a penguin. It was good to see Kat out again as she just become a mother again. she said it was the first workout she had. Good for the core for sure!
Once we reached the chamber, we were pleasantly surprised to see so many features. The flowstone does not disappoint and we had to be careful at times not to knock any stalactites off the roof. I was questioning why it was gated in the first place and now I know why. I don’t think anyone who isn’t really interesting in caving would crawl in a tightish tube for that long just for the heck of it but as far as caving goes it was some of the prettiest I have seen in Derbyshire.
We reached a bit of a dig (Dead Ahead dig on the way to the French Connection?) and hung out for a while, someone had a piece of chocolate. I always forget that bit of caving survival kit. None of us took any amount of decent photos I am sorry to say. That probably means I need to go back ….
In my humble opinion it needs to stay gated. It is a matter of conservation and if you know Bagshaw it is not difficult to obtain permission to enter the gated sections. The Bagshaw Conservation Plan written in 2008 notes that this part of the cave is extremely sensitive. Keep the idiots out.