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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 15 March 2023

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Tuesday Nighters - Katie, Edvin, Chris, John, Jess, Hal and Victoria

Well time for more Tuesday night fun! Jess and Katie threw around some ideas and due to the snow and general deluge of precipitation the Clatterways levels arose as a good and promisingly dry trip out. We weren’t sure if we needed two ropes but brought them just in case. Once we arrived and parked up it was time to walk and climb up the muddy bank to find the entrance. It is a nice tight entrance which leads to a fun 6 m pitch. Once down it is followed by a fairly free climbing pitch with a knotted line. Due to my reduced stature and desperately lacking arm strength I used my downing gear and met everyone at the bottom. From there it seemed like endless crawling and stooping passages of mine in several directions. We all spent some time exploring the pipe-workings. Throughout the mine there were interesting calcite walls and speleothems. Jess, Katie, John and Chris made it down to find some historic graffiti while Edvin explored a nice upper route. Katie remembered crossing a plank before. We did find a nice shaft but no plank. A few taller participants ventured across only to find a dead end. Exploring more we eventually came across a metal bar that could pass for a plank and went across. This led to the now blocked lower entrance. We respected that this is the garden entrance of a local resident who doesn’t fancy cavers jumping up into their garden so we went back to explore. We eventually met up again and began the trip out. It didn’t take long until we gathered above. Katie modelled her new caving suit, made with cosmic love by Beth. A brief thought of a pint at the Miners but we didn’t make it in time. Fresh snow had been falling so we made our way back to the High Peaks happy from another fine night out with the Tuesday Nighters.

Chris, Katie and Jess

Clatterways levels piling in

Edvin in Clatterways level

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Written by: Ben Marks

Published: 05 March 2023

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Above: The rubbish freeclimbers unite! Jim Thompson (L), Ben Marks (R)

             A prompt 0830 start saw us meet Jim and his van on the lane up towards Titan, and we were soon parked, changed and stomping across the fields towards the shaft. Jim, with a renewed twinkle in his eye after being the recipient of 2023’s ‘most awesome caver’ award (courtesy of Team Awesome!) was excited for the trip, as this would be his first time experiencing the awe of Titan! Jim was first to lower himself into the comparative warmth of the entrance shaft, followed by myself and then Jon. Once I’d landed in the blasted passage at the bottom, I stooped my way over to the window and gingerly waited on the edge looking out into the abyss – it’s a view that never gets old. I had assumed Jim was on the pitch, so waited until I could hear a rumble of a “rope free!” from below. However, soon Jon was sat with me too, and after having a chat for a while we suddenly heard some clanking and a worried sounding voice exclaim “Jon!”. Slightly taken aback by this, we both stared back up the blasted passage, only to hear and see nothing! Weird… Until a rather confused and disgruntled Jim joined us by the window – He’d only gone and somehow turned the wrong way at the bottom of the entrance shaft, and walked in the complete opposite direction to the largest vertical cave shaft in the UK! Oh well, it was his first time…

            With all of us past the event horizon traverse, and making that ballsy step of unclipping from the traverse line halfway up Titan, we headed over to the inlet marking the beginning of the Titan Streamway. I’d only ever been to see the first few cascades and never beyond, so I was excited to head up into the streamway proper. It’s such a beautiful bit of cave. White scalloped limestone is clean washed by a lovely flow of clear water. I can see why nobody has ever had the heart to put some handlines in – it’s just so pretty. It’s fair to say that freeclimbing the cascades provided some real challenge for me, and Jim didn’t seem to enjoy them too much either. With gorgeous stream washed limestone cascades comes an extreme lack of hand and footholds, and getting up the cascades was very much dependant on bridging and chimneying up them (as well as some excellent leg ups from Jim and some killer wrist grabs from Jon!). I’d not caved properly for a month or so, and so it was a bit of a struggle to get up these! Worth it though.

            Once through what is one of the finest streamways in Derbyshire, a wet flat out crawl is met for a little way, and after some navigational cockups from Jon ‘you cant get lost, its dead straightforward’ Pemberton, we pressed on through ‘Wetsville’, followed by ‘Slopsville’ and then the thrutch up through some boulders to enter a fantastic aven with a handlined climb leading off up towards the Absolution boulder choke. Just fantastic, varied caving which feels completely alien for a peak district trip. I gave the handlined climb a go, but I just felt it was too much risk of me decking it before my physical assessments for the fire service on Wednesday! None of us had a watch either, so it was decided we would turn around. A shame really, as from what I’ve heard the cave really starts to get good from here. Oh well, another reason to return.

            The return journey was far more straightforward: It was great fun sliding back down the stream cascades, and felt like we were out canyoning! Jim headed off first back up to the window whilst I scoffed my strategically stashed Double Decker, and Jon and I got very cold whilst listening to the soft tones of Jim leisurely singing and prussiking back out at tortoise speed! As soon as his shout echoed around the void, I shot up the rope and was shortly back at the entrance shaft to find Jim still climbing. All three of us were quickly back up to surface, and chatting about how good the trip was – If only we’d taken some photos, but Jon had forgotten his SD card. Another trip back will be on the cards very soon…

All in all, a fantastic trip to top off what has been a brilliant AGM weekend - I've enjoyed meeting some of the people I've heard so many stories about, and of course being voted in as a full member! 

Ben Marks

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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 04 March 2023

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Katie, Hal, Bernie, Dylan, Mark and Victoria

Katie had organized the Titan through to Peak trip on the day of the EPC AGM. There is not much of a better day to be had and also to know that you will be with the rest of the club later on. After my trouble on a long pitch in Yorkshire recently, I knew it was time to jump back on the horse. Katie sent me a text on Friday night to confirm we were all coming…I had some hesitation but just needed the extra nudge. We met up at the TSG for a welcome cuppa and some banter with friends. Since there were six, we decided we could do the trip in one group and still make it to the Anchor at five.

You can’t be in Derbyshire for very long without hearing about Titan and it’s not a trip to be missed. Hal had worked with the original gang on the entrance shaft all those years ago and still had never been in. Once we drove up to the top we figured out our order and headed in. None of it disappoints, from the engineering of the entrance shaft until that first glimpse of Titan itself. Dylan listened to half the directions as usual and found himself on the traverse line heading to Titan Steamway. That was fine, he just had to wait. Katie waited at the rebelay and quelled any hesitation I might have had. Time to turn all the lights on to take a good look at this giant. Once Katie, Dylan, Mark and I were at the boulders we noticed it was taking a longer time for Caver number five to make it over the ledge…we waited.  We knew they both were very experienced…it was too big to shout…just a huge echo of unintelligible noise. We did the usual chatting until Katie started to think of a long prussik up…after about 40 minutes we saw a light make its way over the ledge and down. Caver five had found himself in a “bit of a bother” with the rebelay and was looking for another way to release his cowstail. Using his hand jammer, it had become entangled around his foot. The rope had a lot of play so he had to use his knife to cut it free (oh this is familiar) and sent it sailing up past Hal’s head. Hal again had to navigate down the rope to get the jammer off so he could descend (oh yeah this is wayyyy familiar).

Once we all were safely down we took off our SRT kits and set off on the long crawl and twisting routes through boulders to find Peak. This trip has it all-waist deep water in beautiful streamways- a swirling whirlpool and great traverses-climbing and the unforgettable mud of colostomy crawl. Once we arrived at the junction for JH I could see the incredible pipe system. Nothing in here is short of stupendous engineering and determination. The large stemples through the roof left from long ago were imposing over our heads. Up and down all the ladders and laying in pools as we crawled along took a lot out of me but it was a wonderful adventure at every turn.

The final push and here were the muddy ducks. Time to scrub up and head out. You do my back and I’ll do yours. We made it out in the daylight and headed back to the TSG for a warm brew. Time to wipe our names off the board as out and head to our AGM. I won an award later in the evening for my epic F**k up previously but really it means more that when we all cave together we help one another, every step and every climb…epic. Thanks guys!