Caving & Exploration (1954-2019)
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"
Sleets Gill - Hyperthermia: Ian and Adele (19th January 2019). I felt totally deprived of caving having missed the weekend just gone, we had a quick evening trip to Redmire mid week - to stay familiar with the project. We fancied a superb weekend trip - so firm plans to visit Magnetometer Pot were made. A quick breakfast stop …
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"