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Written by: Jim Thompson

Published: 04 December 2022

Hits: 1577

Team:  Jim T, Sam P, Jon P, Dave G

With a free weekend on our collective hands, and an offer of driving from Sam, hasty plans were made for a quick overnighter. Sam, Jon and I headed to Horton after work on Friday night, stopping briefly in Settle where the chip shop was closing and the mushy peas were off the menu.

We met a perpetually available Dave at the Craven PC cottage where it appeared we had the place to ourselves, selected bunks in the fantastic wood-clad bunk room, and settled down for an obligatory brew and chat about the plan for the morning. Being right next door to the Crown, we nipped over for a pint, whereupon we bumped into a couple of cavers walking down from the Sell Gill track.

On entering the pub, the distinctly unwelcoming atmosphere was heightened by the entry of a friendly couple accompanied by two massive fluffy dogs. With no time wasted on mere pleasantries, the landlord simply uttered ‘no dogs’. They attempted to clarify – no dogs in this room or just no dogs. No dogs. Amazingly they reappeared a few moments later minus dogs. We’d felt warmer outside so quickly drained our beers and chose not to spend another 20 quid and retired to the warmth of the cottage. The cavers from earlier appeared so we had a nice chat before hitting the bunks ready for a dawn start and return home the same day.

It was still dark when the alarm went. I hit the snooze and hoped no one else had heard it. A futile exercise as I knew I wouldn’t sleep any more but I was just not quite ready to get out of the cosy cocoon of down yet. Jon settled matters asking if we were in fact getting up to go caving, and without further ado we were dressed, kettle on and Sam did the business with his homegrown sausage butties. Suitably fortified and dawn just lighting up the morning sky, we got ourselves sorted and headed up the track onto the Allotment towards our designated target for the day, the Thornber entrance to Nick Pot.

Such a diminutive entrance to a massive underground chasm, we got on with rigging the first pitch whilst Dave tussled with a harness that appeared to have taken on Escher-esque characteristics. Whichever way he held it, was the wrong and opposite way to the right way for donning. Eventually he had it about his person but I wasn’t convinced. He seemed happy enough and with more cave under his belt than the rest of put together I suspected, would probably be OK.

Sliding into the entrance was a welcome relief from the biting wind on surface. The first awkward pitch head gave way to a nice shaft, landing in a wide bedding full of cobbles and a tiny stream trickling along and guiding us on.

A miniature canyon plunged into a black void, whilst on the left a rigged handline along a ledge appearing to be a mere body width revealed the ‘traverse in the gods’, the exposed way on to the big pitch and looking rather committing at first glance. Once on it, it’s actually massive and not really feeling exposed at all; although I was very grateful to be working along the rope with two cowstails and not having to rig on the sharp end.

It was so exciting to be perched at the next pitch head, this huge shaft top yawning out from the ledge with the stream crashing down into it and no real indication of what awaited in the depths. Jon was already off on the rig and with a rebelay only a few metres below, I was soon following Sam over the edge. Once the first rebelay was passed and the pitch head had faded above, I made my way down in a bubble of darkness and crashing water. 40m of descent, and in spite of the cooling water I could feel the heat radiating off my rack. A wide flaring of the shaft revealed a big Y hang seemingly miles away, although the transfer wasn’t a problem. Soon at the bottom and calling rope free to Dave, we marvelled at the size of the place and did a couple of photos before the warnings in the CNCC guide came true; it was pretty cold!

Jon gave instructions before my ascent, I was to get past the Y hang and ascend until he told me to stop and await Dave’s arrival. Once in position I hung in space observing the pin pricks of light below and watched Dave fly up the rope. Once he was in position Jon bellowed instructions through the spray and I could barely tell what they were but managed to get a few metres higher and illuminate Dave on full power. The flash flashed and flashed again, and after a while Jon was happy and I made tracks to the top. No sooner was I off the rope and a short way along the traverse, Dave appeared behind me so I continued on to the bedding, expecting a quick exit… I hadn’t accounted for Dave being a total racing snake and the rigours of a de-rig however, so I sat for an age in total darkness as my backside got colder. Eventually however we all regrouped and Jon wanted some more photos so Sam and Dave hastened for surface while I hung around on the rope posing. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love the fact that photos now seem to be a standard memento of the trips we do and am always a willing subject.

We surfaced to chilly sunset, and for a fleeting moment the clouds had parted, painting Pen Y Ghent in an amazing, warm light, a band of cloud above shining orange, beneath a bright, huge moon whilst off in the distance a rainbow slit the leaden sky. Utter winter perfection being the crowning glory to what had been an amazing, exhilarating, fun day on the rope from start to finish and made the drive and early start so worthwhile. In minutes the clouds returned and we trudged down the hill as the light faded…

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Written by: carl bergmann

Published: 26 November 2022

Hits: 1803

Eyam Dale House Cave

Team: Jon P, Sam P, Chris H, Jim T, Bog.

A Nice pleasant social photo trip ,and a chance for Jim to give us a running commentary as usual.

The barrel entrance is snugger than I remember and was enhanced by Sam P timely piece of advice to grip the correct rope , cheers Sam.

After a bit of a photography time with Jon, we headed straight for the Pearly gates . Global warming has really speeded up the calcification of the gates, as they were two inches narrower than last time I went through them.

The final photo shoot was an opportunity for Jim to proper ramp up the commentary , but thankfully I was sat aloft admiring the view.  We await with bated breath Chris's go pro footage, and hope it includes Jim's exit from the crawl after the  Pearly gates.

A pleasant amble of a short evening trip, followed by a pint in the Mechanics club . 

Bog

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Written by: Fabian Ehlers

Published: 17 November 2022

Hits: 1775

Team: Jon, Jim, Bog and Fabian

Just over a month ago I undertook a solitary caving day entering Snelslow Swallet as well as a Giants Hole Round Trip to place Radon meters on behalf of the DCA as well as PICA. After asking if someone would like to come along when I would collect these meters after a month, I luckily had three willing volunteers… or victims.

We met as usual on a cold breezy evening at the Giants Hole car park, whilst enjoying a lovely cold beer we prepped the kit and put our caving gear on.

The first item tonight was to enter Snelslow Swallet, now the three have never entered this cave before so it was a pleasure showing them this little hidden gem which I would class as a beautiful SRT training ground because you have the facility to rig a couple of pitches in the main chamber including a re-belay or deviation for training.

We opted for a simple deviation and very shortly after found ourselves at the bottom of the Main Chamber. Now although it’s not a particularly deep cave I am always amazed by the geology and sediment layers you are able to see in the Main Chamber. This cave only contained two meters, so we completed this in less than an hour.

A quick re-group at the cars and deposit of ropes Jon and Bog shot off into Giants Hole to start rigging Garland’s Pot. Jim waited for me to catch up and we started heading up hill.

As soon as we reached the entrance we heard the stream being slightly louder than usual, we both knew this was going to be a little more sporty than your usual Giants trip. The more you entered the cave the more you realised this was going to be a lot of fun. The false floors which were usually dry were now completely covered with fast flowing water. The left turn at the first sump which usually is ankle deep was now knee deep.

Walking down the Giants Highway was impressive, the low thundery vibrations became louder and louder the close you got to Base Camp Chamber. On entering you could see the whole floor covered in water which was being forcefully ejected from the upper series creating quite a lot of foam in the process. Following this route past Boss Aven towards Garland’s Pot required careful foot placement as slipping here would have certainly knocked you off your feet and given you a good soaking. Up ahead we noticed two headlight lamps and Jon had rigged Garland’s and was on the way down. Communication proved rather difficult due to the sheer amount of water thundering over the edge. Descending the rope gave us a lovely, good soaking and got the circulation pumping.

Ditching the SRT kit at the bottom of Chert Hall we decided to continue light and enjoy this sure to be wet round trip. Now I appreciate the tedious left and right turns of the crab walk which after the 400 odd meters does start twisting your back. Having knee deep water dragging your feet forwards with strong force added a different feel to this. Any slip into any of the deep pools would cause problematic, as Jim found out. He decided the pick the deepest pool to see how much force the water can apply to your body, let’s say it was a lot!

If the water wasn’t enough of an added obstacle the upcoming “vice” certainly was. A couple of years ago I was able to squeeze my way through but since a two-year Pandemic and lack of fitness I need to take the wet route through the bottom to pass this obstacle. I was glad to see that this applied to the others as well, so we all got a good dunk through this duck followed by a slip and slide down razor edge cascade and another shower down comic act cascade.

The guys had a quite interesting ascend up the Eating House climb with me assisting from the bottom placing feet into foot loops. Only when it was my turn could I appreciate the added difficulty of not being able to see your feet whilst the waterfall is giving your privates a non-consensual pounding. Holding for a few moments to grab the obligatory “mid-climb shot” I was able to collect my first meter at the top of the hand line.

The way onwards through Maggin’s Rift and through the North East Swallet was pretty uneventful. The next meter was quickly located at the junction with the poached egg passage with us joking if we should just continue into Oxlow via the Chamber of Horrors. It surely couldn’t get much worse? 

Well, then there’s the Giants Windpipe… The warning of it being a 20ft long dive if sumped always makes you worry if you have to turn around and retrace your steps. Jon offered to reccy and after a few moments we followed and heard a reliving “there’s around 5 inches of air space” if you could class this as relief. Jon and myself opted to tackle this section on our back whilst trying to not to have a couple of sips of “Giants water” resembling the result of a tasty Indian meal. Jim and Bog decided to take this on their front which yes… worked somehow.

For the return way Jim and myself continued the high travers for as long as possible whilst Jon and Bog climbed down just before the calcite window and continue at stream level. After another 50m we saw their lights below and we joined for the remainder of the streamway.
Ascending a wet Garland’s would have one bonus, the mud from all the crawling and climbing was going to be washed off. It also went into every little hole in your caving suit soaking you one last time.

The way out was once again uneventful with Jon and Jim heading off to get the van heated, Bog de-rigging and me following behind.

Cold beers were enjoyed in the comfort of Jim’s van were we regained feeling in our hands and feet and stopped looking like a pair of Parkinson’s patients who have missed their evening medication.

The Giants Hole Round Trip is a great Derbyshire must do! But if this would be your first time I’d recommend a calmer, drier trip. But then again hearing the thundering water of Base Camp Chamber and Garland’s Pot is something NOT to be missed!

Fabian