Caving & Exploration (1954-2020)
Ian and Adele, 27/05/2019 The quarry face - upper tiers are foreshortened - big bands of sandstones and shales above 15m of limestone. We decided to survey the inlet between Vein Chamber and The Choir, not having the energy to face 2 hours of crawling to finish off Myers' Passage at the moment. So …
Ian and Adele: Several trips (March, April, May 2019). We investigated Myers’ Inlet and quickly deduced the speculative notes in Northern Caves were incorrect and set about surveying it. In brief we have surveyed 400m so far and there’s plenty more to go. In 2 or 3 trips we had data collected up to a 3m-deep …
Shark's Tooth Cave: Ian and Adele (15/05/2019) Despite having endured far too much crawling in Fairy Holes over the past couple of weeks, Adele accepted the invite to try to complete this tortuous little horror after our previous frigid and painful experience. We decided to start off the trip with a pint in the pub …
Shark's Tooth Cave: Ian and Adele (2/5/2019) It begins. I like the obscure; climbing at Goldsborough over Stanage any day – the same with caving - no crowds and a guarantee of a quiet day, has led me to explore and enjoy such little gems as Elph Cleugh, Hazel Bush Hill Hole, Yad Moss and …
Yad Moss Cave: Ian and Adele (12/04/2019). This small cave had occupied my attention for several years, finding me combing the becks around Yad Moss, lying on the Durham Cumbria border, without success several times over the past 12 years. Turned out I had walked up every beck except the correct one! The perseverance of …
Mossdale Caverns: Ian and Adele (26th February 2019). It may have been a scorching day for February, but we soon learned that the water in Mossdale was still very cold. Most of my forays into this fine cave have been focused on the Marathon Crawl, Stream End, High Level Mud Caverns area, which had yielded …
Continue reading "Mossdale beyond Kneewrecker by Ian Cummins"
Swildon's Hole: Ian and Adele (January 2019). This place holds a lot of nostalgic memories for me, going back to my first visit back in 1979! On a visit a few years back with Leif in tow, I managed to get down to sump 9 and with Adele making good progress with the BSAC training, …
Ian and Adele, 5/01/2019 After many trips into Fairy Holes, this final section of the cave had to be investigated. A previous attempt at a surveying trip a few years previous had ended when my companions lost interest, so I felt fortunate to have the ever-keen Adele in support this time. I had a feeling …
Continue reading "Myers’ Passage, Fairy Holes, Weardale by Ian Cummins"
We had been talking to Steve Warren about gathering a few pictures together from some of the more obscure bits of Dow, so with an afternoon midweek trip in the offing, I suggested Albert Hall to Adele. I hadn't been to this far end of Dow for about 8 or 9 years, so a quick …
Leif had spent a lot of time sorting this weekend - and what fun it was! With a dryish trip led by Leif into the back of Smallcleugh, it fell to Adele and me to show Mick and Steve G the delights of the wet way from Caplecleugh to Smallcleugh - a favourite of ours …
Continue reading "Nenthead Weekend – Caplecleugh to Smallcleugh by Ian Cummins"
Ian and Adele, various trips, September 2018. Compass Pot had been off my radar for quite a while - maybe ten years or so since me and Simon had a look at its tiny downstream sump, deeming it to be too tight to dive and trying in vain to pump it out, so it was …
Continue reading "Compass Pot and Black Sheep Sink – Surveying and Sporting Trips by Ian Cummins"
Ian and Adele. After caving/mining for 3 days in a row, my week of rest from work was turning into anything but, although with the fire still burning, a short pleasant trip came to mind. With rain forecast, the trip to the Pippikin streamway and back seemed to be a good option, with its smooth, …
I felt the urge to have another look at this notorious spot to peer at the sump pool and wonder if sufficient energy can be raised to dive it again, 9 years after my first attempt. Like me, Adele prefers the short, sharp, shock style of caving, rather like comparing bouldering to mountaineering - no …
Adele and Ian, 24/07/18 For someone who apparently exists upon very little sleep, partakes in things that are deemed to be bad for you and has no exercise regime other than caving a lot, Adele always seems to have an excess of energy, so it was odd to see her looking a bit tired as …