23rd April 2026 - an under appreciated classic

One of the things I hate about my job is that you think you've a bit of free time, plan to make the most of it and then it's suddenly whipped away from you with an emergency cover for a last period of the day, year 9 Spanish lesson. Luckily one of the things I love about my job is that I work with some amazing colleagues who then bail you out.

So it was that I arrived at Mike's in time for Fat Rascals and a brew before the three of us headed for Horton. What a difference a weekday makes. I'd been here at the weekend and it had been packed with Three Peakers, now we could park right next to the start of our footpath.

It was a beautiful evening as we walked up the Pennine Way to the cross roads, Curlews calling their mournful cry. Taking a route intersecting the two paths through a bit of tussocky moorland then brought us to Little Hull pot.

 

A short stooping section inside the entrance brought us quickly to the crawl. It's not a bad crawl as these things go and without tackle sacks you'd hardly notice it. Unfortunately we all had to navigate a bag along it but, dues paid, we were soon enjoying an increasingly impressive streamway. At the pitch Mike had tied into the first bolts but then extremely kindly asked if I'd like to rig. Having read that there were some interesting situations ahead I quickly accepted his offer. The pitch became interesting straight away with a swing through a window into a parallel rift followed by a short traverse to another y-hang. Up to this point things had been flowing well but search as I might I couldn't find the next deviation. Fortunately as Tony descended he was able to rectify this for me. It's on the same wall as you're descending and out to your right if facing said wall.

Approaching the second pitch I was glad I'd read the, as ever, excellent CNCC description and ignored the lower bolts, instead following a rising line up to a shelf. Through a window from the shelf I could see the y-hang and rigged the traverse line to a an intermediate bolt just the other side of the orifice. Secured by my cowstails I was then able to defenestrate myself and reach across the void under tension to rig the main hang. And what a hang. This is a great pitch. Beautifully fluted, stunningly proportioned and with a couple of dazzling white formations to finish it off. The fact that there was no way I was going to make it to the second deviation didn't bother me at all, I was just awed by my surroundings. 

Tony soon arrived and at the base of the pitch with the next rope and we were soon down the next short pitch to the streamway. A quick scuttle brought us to a decision point, to duck or squeeze. The CNCC description for this pot has a few phrases that are pretty Cooperesque (those who've ever followed a Mike Cooper description in Not for the Faint Hearted will hopefully know exactly what I mean) and of the squeeze suggest that, "Cavers who are big-boned, gym-addicted, or over-enthusiastic about food may struggle". I wouldn't describe myself as big-boned, I haven't been to a gym in years and though I'm quite partial to a bit of cake, thought I'd give it a go. For me there were three tight sections, one straight away lead to a flake that then then needed to be stood up on. A second on a downward traverse from this point and then on a final drop back into the streamway. I was definitely glad I'd limited myself to a single Fat Rascal earlier.

With the full team through we carried on down stream to a section that reminded us of trips in Cantabria with any "up" points pre rigged with extremely handy rope of dubious provenance. The exposed traverse that followed one of the climbs also benefited from an in situ line and brought us safely to the final pitch. It's worth noting that unlike the rest of the cave so far, this pitch does have some loose material on it.

Following the stream again and with one final up, again with fixed rope, we emerged into a chamber where the character of the cave changes. The clean, solid and pale limestone is replaced by black and yellow shale and a sloping sandy floor that leads back down to the stream and the final ominous sump pool. I'm always in great awe of the people for whom this point marks the start of their journey, the cave to this point merely acting as a prologue.

With the sump marking the mid way point of our journey it was time to turn around and retrace our steps. It does worry me that from the sump back to the final pitch the only foot prints were ours, all sign of previous travellers having been washed clean by flood.

At the downstream end of the sum we decided we were going to go for the full Little Hull experience and having enjoyed the squeezes on the way in we wanted to sample the duck on the way out. It is significantly quicker as it allows SRT kit to remain on and, for suitably attired cavers, not too bad at all.

 

 

1st April 2026 - Christmas at Easter

 

8th April 2026 - Echo chamber, Gavel

 

5th March 2026 - High Hull pot

With one of Mike's nephews visiting a short action packed trip was required and High Hull Pot didn't disappoint.

18th December 2025 - End of term

 

No, not a star to follow but Tony about to ascend Centipede

Mike knows how to put on a quality trip, there were even brand new bolts

Tony descending Vestry

4th December 2025 - The best just got better...

 ...and not just because we had Tony back again this week.

Despite it being the second time we'd done it, we'd loved last week's Mancunian themed trip and with the weather not quite being right for other trips on our list, it seemed a perfect opportunity to get to know it really well. 

Being drier than last week, rather than taking the Manchester bypass to get to Mainline Terminus, we opted to go via the Trident series. I'd also asked if I could try navigating, under normal circumstances this could lead to a potentially very long trip, but knowing I had Mike just behind me meant we wouldn't be missing last orders.

Having successfully found my way to Battle of Britain chamber I pointed out where I thought the way on to the Bypass lay and Mike sagely nodded in agreement. We then headed up the slope to the start of the Trident, explaining to Mike what I expected to see next and having my fairly loose and sketchy description turned into something actually useful by the Easegill oficionado.

The route to Eureka junction through Trident is fantastic, clean washed streamway interspersed with interesting rope assisted traverses and drops. To try and help link things together we passed the junction where the Wretched Rabbit water joins and went down to see the junction with the main drain before retracing our steps.

This isn't a section of Wretched Rabbit we use very often and despite finding "a" way up into Four Ways Chamber, I'm sure it wasn't "the" way. A moment of befuddlement followed and thanks to Mike we were quickly heading via Depot chamber to Stop pot, rather than back out of Easegill via a return to Wretched Rabbit.

With an ascent of the Stop ladder and a relatively easy ride around the boulders that follow we were soon at a junction with last week's route at Mainline Terminus. The silence and darkness of the gaping caverns now ahead in stark contrast to the loud and light coloured streamways we'd recently left behind. 

In my head I'd completely missed out one of the big chambers and at the sight of a rope ascending into the gloom I thought I'd gone to far, but no, I just hadn't noticed it when I'd walked right by it 7 days previously. Even when I saw a likely looking boulder on the left I convinced myself it wasn't the right one until Mike headed behind it and into the Mancunian way.

The next bit to Easegill aven seemed to pass without too much issue and at the top of the pitch Tony looked a little bemused. "I bet he's now wondering why we bother with harnesses and descenders too", I thought as I wrapped a sling around me and clipped an Italian hitch into my krab.

Once again the navigation seemed to flow, but it was reassuring to glimpse over my shoulder and see the glow of Mike's lamp not far behind. A quick up and over at Molluscan hall and we were back at the streamway contemplating the slot from which the stream flowed. Things would be better this week. One, I actually knew which way to go this time and two, I took my fantastic Aunty Liz knitted merino beanie from my pocket and put it on under my helmet. This meant that it wouldn't be getting wet and I was now significantly warmer for the short and aqueous crawl of Dismal junction.

At Platypus, Tony took over the navigation as he's wanting to fix the shorter County round in his memory and he soon had us back at Broadway. Last week the ladder was throwing a bit of a strop at it's infrequent use, but today after it's second outing in the same number of weeks it was much more compliant.

Adding the Trident start made this even more of a cracking trip than last time and is highly recommended. If you've a visiting, competent caver who's never been in Easegill then this would be fantastic, pretty much tackle free, trip to take them on - though we do have another plan...

27th November 2025 - A Manchester round

 An aligning of planets meant that I was able to get to Kirkby a bit earlier than possible offering the opportunity for a trip further afield. Unfortunately planetary alignment doesn't seem to affect atmospheric conditions on Earth and with the weather not playing ball we opted for a more local trip that could be completed in slightly damp weather. 

We'd been on a Manchester themed Ease gill trip before and really enjoyed it. It's a trip that has a bit of everything, an edited highlights trip to showcase what the system has to offer. With this in mind Mike wanted to reacquaint himself with the navigation so that he could take friends and family in the future.

County laddered we set off downstream from Broadway past a shower bath in full power shower mode. The step up to the right was taken and the usual, "Which way is it to the Manchester bypass?" rigmarole undertaken.

A few years ago I bought a very lightweight caving under suit. Not for trips to warm foreign climes (though it has since come in useful for that), but for ensuring that I don't suffer from severe dehydration as I sweat out litres of water trying to follow Mike through Easegill. As soon as Strava makes it to the subterranean world I'm confident he'll be at the top of the leaderboard for quite a few Ease gill segments. Sadly the suit in question was tucked snuggly away at home in my caving drawer.

A sweaty mess with stingy eyes I arrived in the expanse of the Main line terminus and Mike was off already weaving an optimal route through the boulder strewn chambers of the high level series. We're getting quite good at locating the boulder behind which the Mancunian Way is secreted and the floor of the crawl quickly became reassuringly sandy, we were definitely in the right place. 

At the end of crawl, next to the lovingly built clay brick wall, complete with model workman our memories failed us (or at least mine did). Fortunately this route is covered by one of the excellent Braemoor descriptions and we knew we wouldn't be puzzling over the way on for long.

Reassuringly there wasn't a dribble of water going down Easegill aven, an indicator that the return to County should be possible, so we donned our Brooks's Finest (a lot better than Tesco's Finest) slings and HMS krabs to descend the short pitch. Oscillating between passage we remembered and passage we didn't recall, the description kept us true till we arrived at a slot on the left from which the stream ensued. "Just follow the water, the first bit's the worst", said Mike and off I went. After a few metres the roof did rise a bit, but ahead it lowered ominously once more, the foam on the roof doing little to ease my nerves. Well it is quite damp I thought so the water'd be a bit higher and so I pressed on.

Trying to breath just out the corner of my mouth and ignore the foam tickling my nose I tried to keep my breathing steady, the water running down stream towards me now starting to back up and narrow the useable airspace even further. Could I roll onto my back and "ceiling suck"? Just as things started to get silly, the roof began to rise and soon I was able to kneel and get things back under control. With air no longer a concern I now began to worry about how cold I was.

A few years ago I bought a neo fleece. A fantastic invention, your core wrapped in thick neoprene and your limbs unencumbered but kept warm by thick fleece. Perfect for situations such as this. Sadly the suit in question, along with my neoprene boxers, was tucked snuggly away in a bag in the van.

OK, chilly but not freezing and the passage now beginning to open up, a quick stomp would soon have me back to normal. "Al?", was faintly heard from back beyond the aqueous passage. I've known Mike long enough now to read a bit more nuance than just the word might suggest. I didn't think I'd like the next bit. "Wrong way". There was no nuance in this, it was back into the water. Thankfully going downstream there was more airspace as the water wasn't backing up. 

The cobbled passage now on my right  suddenly came into recollection, Dismal junction. It wasn't pleasant but so much better than the continuation in the main stream. Time for a stomp. Platypus Junction, Toadstool Junction all flew by and we were soon up the little climb from Broadway and at the foot of our ladder. The climb increased my temperature further and Mike had soon tamed the ladder back into a manageable coil for our now rapid exit from County.

Our conversation as we crossed the moor was slightly more reflective than the new posts that have appeared, the older ones seemed significantly easier to see, but we were soon back at the farm. On the drive too and in the pub much of the chat was about what a great trip this is. The evening was finished to perfection by the free hand moisturiser outside the posh shop in Kirkby and by Mike getting the pizza in.