Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 3583

Report by Pete Pollard
Cavers: Pete Pollard (EPC), Nige Strong (EPC), Jase Rider (EPC), Dave Gledhill, Bill (RRCPC)

Me and Nige got a lift with Jase and we met up with Dave Gledhill at Inglesport. Over breakfast we had a quick chat with Bill who went through details of the trip. We entered Ireby Fell via a relatively new route called Bubbles, the reason for the name is interesting and very funny. Our aim for the day was to pass the sump at the end of Duke Street . When we arrived we found that ‘The Dingles’ had been hard at work building a large dam and installing a system of pipes and a brilliantly simple but effective pump. They had already been pumping for quite some time when we arrived and we got stuck in to give them a rest. There were about 13 of us all together and a great team effort paid off in getting the sump low enough to then pass a pipe to the far side and siphon off the dammed up water. The Eldon crew were amongst the first 10 ‘dry’ cavers ever to enter this new passage and we felt very privileged to have been given this opportunity. We were fairly restricted for time but did have chance to have a good mooch round the cave. Back at the Wheatsheaf we met up with some of the party we had entered with and had a bit of a chin wag. I know we all enjoyed it and would like to say a big thank you to Bill, Dave, The Dingles and all the others involved in making a thoroughly great days caving.

 
1. The team in Ireby Fell.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 3412

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Jase Rider (EPC), Chris Schofield (EPC).

Very enjoyable evening tourist trip down Oxlow to the bottom of Maskhill. Arrived at the parking around 7.15 pm to find that one team was already on their way down Oxlow and a Masson team were kitting up for Maskhill. We decided that since Oxlow wasn't too constricted we'd go in there after the other team. Short walk to the entrance and rigged the first and second pitches. Starting a big (100m) rope at the top of the third pitch gets you all the way down West Swirl Passage to the top of the pitch that leads into West Antechamber. Down the third pitch with some great ginging at the top and then the pitch with the deviation which lands on the col between East Chamber and West Swirl Passage. The deviation cord that's on this at the moment is much shorter than it need be so we added our own piece of cord to the in-situ stuff. At this point the other ropes disappeared off into the East Chamber so we had West Swirl Passage and the last two pitches to ourselves. Jase pointed out the wall that he and John Taylor had built years ago which keeps the passage below Pilgrim's Way from running into the slot that leads to West Chamber proper. We met the Masson team in Pearl Chamber and continued on to have a look at the sump and then set off out. We caught up with the other team on the last few pitches but were out by 10.30 pm leaving time for a drink in the Wanted Inn.

Really enjoyable trip! Good exercise and the start of training for the PSM in August!

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 3672

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Chris Schofield (EPC).

Chris and I were looking for a quick evening trip with some decent SRT and had thought about Oxlow, Lathkill Head top entrance and Knotlow. Since Chris hadn't been in Knotlow before we went for that. I did the cave as one of my early SRT trips and remember being more concerned about whether I'd threaded my Petzl Stop the right way than enjoying the trip. Left Sheffield at 6:00 pm and drove over to the Knotlow Triangle. Nobody else at the parking so it looked as though we were going to have the place to ourselves. We wandered over to the entrance, got sorted and abseiled in. The first pitch down the ginged climbing shaft is a straightforward descent which landed us on a sloping floor with the way on under a low arch. An easy traverse to the head of the second pitch and we dropped down that without any problems. We had a good look at the deviation P-bolt that's lying on the floor at the bottom of the second pitch and then moved on down the series of short scrambles that leads past the window into the 210 and down to the head of Waterfall Pitch. I'd never rigged the waterfall pitch traverse and it's a great thing to rig with well-positioned bolts and a Y-hang in a brilliant airy position. There wasn't a lot of water coming down the waterfall pitch inlet so we didn't need either of the two deviations. Once at the bottom of Waterfall Pitch we had a brief look down the coffin level that leads down to Fourways but turned round before getting too wet. Chris de-rigged the whole cave which meant I could enjoy being a passenger on the way out and have a good look round. We were back at the lid by 9:00 pm and arrived back in Sheffield at 10:00 pm.

We're both keen to go back and do some more in the Knotlow-Hillocks system including the connection. Will probably be an evening trip. If anyone fancies joining us for that please get in touch with me or Chris.

    
1. Chris abseiling down the second pitch.
2. Chris in the coffin level on the way to Fourways
3. P-bolt lying at the bottom of the second pitch.