Caving & Exploration (1954-2019)
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, …
Thursday 10th January 2019 Marble Steps Pot Jack, Fay, Bob Reilly (Earby), Martyn Soliman (Bradford, ex WRPC) We’d expected the pot to have been de-rigged since our trip in November so it was a bonus to find a rope still on the Gulley, making it a quick journey down to the Lower Main Chamber. …
Lancaster Hole: Jack, Fay, Bob Reilly, Alf Latham (both Earby) (12th December 2018). A chance to look at a less-frequented bit of Lancs (actually, totally un-frequented by me, at least – 10 trips down Lancs and I’d never been into the Master Cave). First stop, The Chasm - left off the trade route to Fall …
Continue reading "Mid-Week (Christmas) Caving by Jack Upsall"
Marble Steps Pot: Jack, Fay (22nd November 2018). There seemed to be quite a lot of water in the Ireby entrance, so I wimped out in favour of a look into Marble Steps – which we had been told was partially rigged. So a few minutes after exiting Ireby, we were following rope down the …
Fairy Holes To the sump. Ian and Adele. The stories, tales and sagas regarding this place go back a long way. I first visited in September 2017, armed with many stories gathered from friends. Fairy Holes holds a certain joy for me - Ian’s enthusiasm is often infectious. At that time upon reaching The Choir, looking at …
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 …
Roaring Hole: Jack, Fay, Gen, Bob Reilly (Earby) (25th October 2018). Cool, overcast and windy, so it was a pleasure to drop down the diminutive entrance. The CNCC website now included a warning about the scaffolded chokes, but enquires suggested that just the usual care was needed to pass them safely. And so it proved, though …
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"
Wednesday 12th September 2018 Gingling Hole I’d gone along with Phil, to join the others on a trip to Stalactite Chamber. Unfortunately he wasn’t feeling too good when we got to the entrance, so he went off looking at shakeholes, while I joined the others. All went ok until we got to the canals. …
Wednesday 12th September 2018 Gingling Hole (Stalactite Chamber) Jack, Fay, Bob Reilly (Earby) What a lovely cave! (Even if it did have teeth…) A beautiful Autumn day, and a level walk to the cave. Down the entrance pitch. Dropped down into the canal – only percolation water, so quite low despite the heavy rain …
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"
About time I told some more White Rose tales. My memory is not what it used to be, and I never keep logs or diaries, but as the paparazzi say don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story! So many years in the White Rose, and funny 2 names always crop …
Continue reading "Fun With Smoke, Lights… and A Kipper! by Phil Ryder"
Thursday 9th August 2018 Lancaster Hole – Wretched Rabbit Jack, Bob Cockeram, Bob Catteral (both Earby PC) There should have been a brace of WRPC cavers, but orthodontic necessities intervened, so it was just me and a couple of Earby cavers (one ex-WRPC). Abbed down Lancs and into the High Level Series. Bone dry, nothing …
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, …