History repeats itself - April 21st 2013

Fifteen years ago when Al was just a fresh-faced post-grad (and wearing glasses unlike today because of advances in lazer eye surgery) the TNC were exploring Easegill, much as we still do today.

Caving late 1990's style.  Dick, Tom and Bruce at Bull Pot Farm.

My activity record for 1998 showed that on

• 23/1/98 - Caving - County, Eureka Junction, Green and Smelly Passage looking for the way into the Borehole.  Tight squeeze but then found the 'easy' way in!  Return.  Tom.
• 31/1/98 - Caving - Tom/Phil.  The Borehole down to Green and Smelly Passage and link with last week. Returned back up the pitch.
• It then took us until December the same year to complete the through trip: -
• 4/12/98 - Caving - Tom and Ray.  The Borehole, Easegill, Eureka Junction, Wretched Rabbit.  Slow trip but good.

How the memory fades and so this week in April 2013 saw Al and I walking across the moor from Bull Pot Farm on our way to Easegill with the plan to explore the way into the Borehole from the bottom again.  My recollection of the bottom end of the Borehole was of a passage behind a fallen block somewhere (that missed out the tight squeeze) near the main drain of Easegill leading after some more blocky passage to the pitch and the Borehole ... how wrong can I have been!

As we were in the vicinity of the entrance of the Borehole in Easegill we decided first to go down and have a look at the pitch head first.  The entrance was an unlikely low bedding in the right wall of the stream but the  passage dropped steadily to the top of a 2m climb into a small chamber of clean, polished limestone. At the bottom we dropped into a T section stream passage and  knee deep pools of freezing water were met meaning wet feet and soon a junction is reached where another stream comes in on the right leading to more deep pools and a tight squeeze through a block. After a a low gravelly bedding plane, 30m of crawling and some more pools we arrived at the 15m pitch and the scaffold bar at the head of the pitch.  So after looking down to the ledge near the bottom, we returned to the surface, passing head high flood debris that didn't look too old.  Not a place to be in a flood!

So off down Wretched Rabbit we went but unlike the 1998 trip there was no need to go to Eureka Junction as Spiral Staircase has been opened up, which leads directly to Green and Smelly Passage.  A quick trip down here saw us at the junction with the Borehole off to the right and GandSP straight on. The route description is spot on for the Borehole but our interpretation was not.  As the passage we entered lowered to a flat out crawl and Al took off his helmet to progress I was trying to fit the image of this awful looking place to my memory of this 'walking size passage'.

Eventually, after admitting defeat and retreating to our last known point we found the way on to be underneath where we had been looking.  There followed what seemed like an eternity of crawling, flat out bedding, scrambling up and over mud slopes and through boulders until after a winding passage we suddenly saw a ledge on the right and up above in the light of Al's powerful Scurion head torch, the scaffold bar that we had been to earlier that evening.  We had linked the parts of the cave but not as my memory had recollected it, a quick walk up a passage with blocks!

Coming out of a cave never seems as long as going in, possibly because one is surer of the route.  Back at  the rift that led directly to the floor of the low wide chamber below Spiral Staircase Passage we knew that we were back just a few tens of metres from the WWP entrance.  Heaving ourselves up the fixed ropes at the top of the Big Rift was hard work as we were tired  from two quite strenuous trips but we were soon out in the dusk and the walk back to the cars in the light for a change.

Back in the Barbon Inn we enjoyed a pint in front of the open fire that the landlords have replaced the old gas fire with and discussed how in the next dry period we would link the two trips together and drag the camera kit down there for some photos for the blog.

11th April 2013 - Tactical nuclear penguin

First of all this was a light and lucky, fast and free trip so you'll need to have someone read the following to you, while you close your eyes and imagine the trip...

To go caving you need your caving gear and having had a great few days away, Dick offered to take me
 home to pick up my stuff on his motorbike.  Spending most of my time driving a heavily laden van, acceleration isn't something I'm used to and so it was with slightly fraid nerves we arrived at our house.  For some reason my key had let me lock the door behind me when we left, but it was not for being unlocked.  I've now a strong feeling that some of the things you see in films aren't actually true.  Whereas in most films, locked doors fly open with one kick, this just doesn't seem to be the case in reality, or perhaps it was just the tight leather trousers I was wearing.  Finally having gained entry and picked up my gear we headed back to Dick's.  Despite all the protective clothing, I still felt very exposed in the outside lane of the M6, though the available acceleration does make joining the motorway north of Lancaster slightly less fraught.

A chill wind was blowing as we headed over the moors from Bull Pot Farm, where a couple of tents in the garden signalled the presence of a few hardy folk.  The gill was dry as we dropped down to the County pot entrance and only a couple of short sections further up stream, had water flowing.  A great set of instructions from Descent soon saw us at the surprisingly snowy entrance to Boundary pot and for the first few metres we could make like penguins and slide on our tummies over the snow floored passage, so much better than crawling.  A daylight shaft brought a change to more conventional caving techniques, but the excellent guide continued to allow us to find the way on without any difficulty.

Fortunately the last few weeks of dry weather meant the passges of the entrance series were almost completely dry and the first real water encountered was in the impressive chamber, just before Fusion cavern.  Stepping across in front of the cascasde is quite exhilerating and the climb down into the chamber that follows maintains the interest.  After Fusion cavern the way on became slightly more aqueous before we imerged into the dry, silent, vastness of Hiroshima.  Crossing this, we soon arrived at the very impressively built Manhattan connection and the way through to the main Easegill system.

The short traverse and walk through Far East Passage led to our only navigational glitch on the whole trip, with me first beginning the scramble up to Nagasaki to early and then when we got there turning to speak to Dick and futilely arguing that "left" was in the opposite to his "left".  The description really is incredibly clear and you have to be a bit of a muppet to make either of these mistakes.

With each passing footstep now the route became more familiar, Easter grotto, the Assembly Hall, the White Way, Thackray's passage, Holbeck Junction and finally Stop Pot.  Now we just needed to return to the surface by Wretched Rabbit.  No matter how fit I'm feeling, this always seems hard work and I always head up the wrong inlet, so it's great when the smell of fresh air reaches your nostrils and today this was accompanied by the glow of daylight too.

Caving in the day definitely has it's downsides.  First of all the walk over the moor seems to be longer when you can see what you're doing and secondly it was too early for a pint.

Huge thanks to Sam Allshorn, Mike Cooper and the others involved for making this trip possible through their digging efforts and also for the truly excellent description.

15th March 2013 - Kerplunk with added spiders

After the failure of Petzl to design and build a caving suit that fits a six foot bloke there was nothing for it but to repair the old one.   Following the advice of Dave in Inglesport a tube of Sikaflex was obtained and the old Meander suit repaired.  

So here, in true Inglesports pose is the outcome of the repair!

Come on Petzl, this is what a six foot caver looks like, design an over suit that fits or Meander start making them again!

So, today's trip was down Kerplunk with Kate and Joe and Sharon making their second appearance of the season.  This is a better meet attendance than TNC members Phillips, Garner, Whiting and Jardine by 2 trips!

Kate thought that the climb down the Kerplunk shaft was one of the most exciting things she had done in a while!  On arrival at the main stream way we were unsure what to expect as the rain had been falling heavily right up to when we started to get changed when suddenly the sun came out!  As it was, although swollen the water level was OK.

Sharon enjoying the experience

Kate and Joe threatened by Vlad the Impaler .  The water was freezing due to snow melt.  Time to head out.

Despite concerns from certain members about the climb out, it went quickly and soon people were popping out of the entrance.  The references to cave dwelling spiders that are 'mildly venomous' while   climbing out gave Kate some added impetus to ascend quickly!

Waiting for the last members to exit.  A quick walk back to the car and change saw us sitting in front of the fire at the Snooty Fox enjoying a pint of Landlord.

15th February 2013 - Wetter than last week

Tom back at the van.

Incredibly it hasn't rained for a couple of days and some blue sky has allegedly been seen over Lancashire.  Having had a great trip last week in Yordas and needing a short and exciting adventure for my brother-in-law, I thought a pull-through trip would be perfect.

Driving up Kingsdale, I was quite surprised to see the river running relatively high despite having had a couple of dry days.  The remains of the snow on the flanks of the valley gave a clue to its source and potential temperature though.

A five minute uphill plod, made slightly more difficult than usual by the neoprene/PVC combo, soon saw us at the Middle entrance.  The two short entrance pitches were soon negotiated and we set off along the streamway. 

Arriving at the final pitch the waterfall looked and sounded awesome.  Descending first to make sure the rope ran clear, I tried to sneak my way down the side of the main fall.  Though this was partially successful, there was no avoiding a couple of refreshing showers, the biggest being saved for the last couple of feet into the plunge pool.

Waving my lamp at Tom, he began his descent through the maelstrom, again trying hard to avoid the main fall, and again receiving the biggest soaking just before the bottom.  Signalling to him to climb through the window, with fingers crossed, I began to pull on the abseil rope.  Fortunately it came through easily and we were both soon in the impressive hall of Yordas.

I pointed out the line of foam about 5 foot up the wall and told Tom that this indicated how high the recent flood waters must have been.  He then asked about the line of foam about 11 foot up!  It must be a truly incredible sight when it's in flood.

Two minutes later we were back at the van and not much later, sat in the warmth of the Marton Arms, the noise and power of the rushing water a distant dream.

1st February - Back down to earth

The rain had fallen steadily all day in Lancaster, while this is the usual state of affairs, it hadn't been forecast and so as the afternoon approached we decided to change our original plans.  A quick flick through the rigging guide and Dick decided we should go and have a look at Yordas pot.  

First though we needed to head to Ingleton, as the word on the street was that Inglesport had some of the long awaited Meander suit replacements.  The bush telegraph was indeed accurate, but Lyon's sizing wasn't and while Dick was able to adopt the customary Inglesport oversuit pose (see here and here), further movement wasn't going to be possible even in their largest suit.  (If anyone from Lyon's reading Dick is more than happy to lend his dimensions to help with the production of a new sized suit as, given the rave reviews, he'd very much like one still).  So with his old, leaky Meander we set off, at least this wasn't going to be a wet trip.

Road side caves are fantastic and within a few minutes we were descending down the first entrance pitch and shortly after the second, which brought us to a lovely streamway.

While I tried taking a couple of photos, Dick started off, rigging the traverse over a roaring waterfall.  With having taken the kids into Yordas, I had wrongly assumed that this would be a very simple trip, but the third pitch is very good fun as it first traverses out, before heading down to the waterfall plunge pool.

Pretending that daylight wasn't but a short walk away, we looked round the impressive main chamber, before once again stepping back through the window to the waterfall chamber.

Starting the climb back up, some strange force propelled you into the waterfall, before the force of the water spat you back out.  These are the type of conditions when a fully waterproof, PVC suit comes in handy.

Returning along the traverse we soon swapped the verticallity of the waterfall, for the pleasant stream way and began making our way back out.

Once again the road side nature of the cave came up trumps and we were soon back at the van and shortly after in the warm environs of the Marton Arms.  Worth visiting for the very good beer and also to contemplate the price of a steak dinner.

27th January - Carrock Fell Mine

So, what do you on on a weekend where heavy snow is forecast on Friday with a serious thaw on Saturday night, Sunday?  You reverse the weekend's activities and do a headtorch ascent of Galeforth Gill on Friday night (think http://www.gerrish.info/2013/01/galeforth-ghyll-january-2013.html but in the dark!) then go underground when it is raining on Sunday.  So, excited by some research online, memories of exploration 30 years ago and having seen those brave selfless members of CATMHS excavating the entrance to Carrock Fell Mine we decided that it was the target of our next trip.

First there was the little matter of finding the correct key to get in.  Farmers  Supplies had one for £1.52

Carrock Fell Tungsten Mine

The history of this mine spans a long time, finally shutting in 1982 when the price of Tungsten fell.  It was just after it shut that I went down it the first time when all the mining equipment, including the train was still in place!   See the history of Carrock Mine here

The vein of quartz that the adits followed were where the Tungsten was found

Al looks at some minerals forming on the wall

The purple mineral is Fluorspar

And this is a lead oxide waterfall

Exploring a ladder heading off up the stope

and on up it went for at least 30m

The quartz vein becomes huge in places.

Looking down from the stope into the passage below

.  Al missing Yorkshire caving ...  actually ... the lengths Al goes to to get a good photo

The amazing quartz vein

Ore chutes.  there were over 40 in the whole mine

So where was the main one we asked?

More ladders to ascend to the higher levels of ore extraction.

Up in the quartz vein

Ore hoppers in a row down the passage, a train truck apart.

Waterfall showing that we can't be too far from the surface! 

Back at the entrance

The superb entrance rebuilt by CATMHS.

What do you do with an English/French caver who won't get his wellies wet? - January 12th 2013

New Year has passed and the 2012/13 caving season has yet to get going properly due to illness and prior commitments of the dwindling members of TNC.  The visit from France of guest susperstar caver and TNC member Paul Mackrill  promised to liven things up but due to the fact that his left hand has been badly damaged big caves were not on the agenda.  What to do ... a visit to Coniston Copper Mine!

Once in the Hospital Level of the mine we arrived at the first intersection.  The draft blew strongly to the left so we decided to go down the right adit first.  Not long after we had set off Paul announced that the water was getting deep and was threatening to go over his wellies (this is the man who in 2012 completed the first descent of the Culiembro - Xitu traverse, the world's deepest diving traverse and third deepest through trip in the world .)   A few minutes later his whinning that the water was getting critically near the top of his wellies forced a turnaround and retreat back to the left adit, which luckily was dry.  With the danger of wet feet avoided an exploration of the mine followed ; -

The rat gnawed rope is not getting any better. 

Where does this shaft go to?  No water so it must drain.  Where are the bolts to fix the rope?

There must be copper down here somewhere.

The same pretties as the last time we did this trip!

Unusually it was still light outside and Paul's feet are still dry!