Online Log Book 2007

[Andy Sparrow]

Saturday 7th July
Ogof Pwll Swnd
Andy, Rachel, Neil, Judi and Megan
Caves of South Wales says OPS is not difficult to find and has a cairn at the entrance.  Neither statement is correct.  Actually we didn't too bad considering we found the cave within about thirty minutes or arriving in the  approximate location zone but, be warned, it's one very small entrance in one very big moor.   We only had time to visit the 'old' series but found it quite pleasant and worthwhile.  The passages are mostly quite spacious and pleasantly decorated in places.  We left the '71 extensions for another time after 2 hours in the cave.  The view across the Black Mountain from the entrance has got to be one of the wildest and most panoramic that any UK entrance can offer.  We enjoyed the walks, both ways, taking only an hour to get back.  A very pleasant day on and under the finest wilderness in S Wales.

Sunday 8th July
Ogof Pasg/Foel Fawr
Andy, Judi and Neil
The link between the two caves is a squeeze not passable by anyone over 'average build' according to Caves of South Wales.   I know I've put on a bit over the years so thought it prudent to recce the squeeze on a quick solo from the FF end first.  So, there I was stripped down to my fleecy, trying it this way, that way, on the front, on the back, feet first, head first without any success.  Oh well, I thought, maybe it's easier in the other direction so we set off into OP.  What a nice cave!  How can I have caved this long in S Wales and not done this before?  The pitch was rigged which meant an easy escape route for me if I couldn't get through.  The canal is wonderful and the even the crawls beyond are pleasantly arched and decorated.  It didn't take too long to reach the squeeze where I repeated my stripping off and various tactics to no avail - guess I'm not average sized anymore.  Neil and Judi, of course, slipped through without touching the sides.  It was a pleasant solo out for me and some fun and games getting back up the rope armed only with a tibloc and a prusik loop.    A great little cave - well worth another visit soon to see who else in the club is 'average' size.  About an hour.

Andy Sparrow

[anfieldman]

Good weekend. Thanks Andy & Rachel for arranging it.
 

[whitelackington]

If you've got it, flaunt it! That's what I say!

Alternatively, perhaps you shouldn't!!!

Do Cheddar still go caving 

[Andy Sparrow]

Do Cheddar still go caving 

We certainly do.  Actually we have been very busy with a project for several months and if you go to Hidden Earth you'll find out exactly what we've been up to...

[anfieldman]

Gouffre du Friouato in Morocco.
11th September 2007.

It was our honeymoon but I suppose as we are both ChCC members it also counts as a caving trip!

We started off later than we wanted but the first train to Taza was about 11:30am. A wonderful journey of 2and a half hours through some beautiful scenery.
I was previously warned about the inevitable case of Delhi belly which I had got so I made sure I dosed myself up with plenty of Imodium. It was scorching when we reached Taza and we took a short stroll to the Taxi rank to get a lift to the cave. A bit of hard haggling and we managed to get the 25 minute journey (with the driver obviously waiting for us for 2 hours) for about £8. How many English taxis would accept that??
The drive was jaw dropping in more ways than one. The winding hairpin bends were hairaising while the views from the top of the mountains were incredible. We could see for tens of miles. We got to a flat plateau and then we spotted the sign for the cave. There was a road that went right up to the cave now. No walking in the heat for us!
At the top there was three small buildings, one of them was the souvenier shop / ticket office. Literally as we got out of the taxi a couple were walking back down the steps from the cave entrance to the shop. They had a liberal daubing of mud on their trousers and boots. They were English too. The guide was with them, a young lad named Abdullah. I think this was the fifth or sixth Abdullah that we had met so far. We asked if we could have a guided tour and he said we could go whenever we were ready as we were now the only people there! We both thought that the place would be heaving in mid afternoon. Lucky or what?
It cost 10 Dirham entrance each (about 60p). We took our head torches but the guide persueded us to hire some hand torches too. Good job we did as someone accidentally left my head torch turned on when it was packed so the batteries were as dead as a Dodo. A short climb up the steps led to a bunker type building and a few feet through this we came to the most gobsmacking sight I have ever seen in caving. The entrance shaft is huge. Sorry I mean HUUUUUUUUUGE!! You just cannot get a real sense of the scale of it just by pictures.
My apologies in advance for the quality of the photos. We had purchased a very good camera for the trip but we obviously did not want to take it caving so we took our crappy point and shoot.



There are 520 steps down to the bottom. All nice safe concrete ones with a handrail. Each step however is about 18 inches high. Great going down but bloody tiring coming up!
We got to the bottom of the shaft and the taxi driver was sitting there waiting for us. He had come down while we were getting our boots on etc.

We stood at the bottom and admired the view back up to the top.



Then Abdullah took us down through the part that was described as a 'squeeze' by one holidaymaker. It was a crawl sized hole. Then more concrete steps. I learnt on this trip never to wear walking boots caving again. No bloody grip at all! At the bottom of the steps we looked up for the roof of the chamber, and up and up! It was massive. Abdul had a more powerful torch than ours so he could show us the highlights and even his light did not show the roof.
We then went from one large chamber to the next. Each one decorated with enormous stalagmites and stalagtites. Sadly some have been broken by vandalism, some by what seems to be ferocious floods in the winter.
The curtains we came across were really impressive too. 3 or 4 inches thick and 6 or 7 feet long. Abdul played them like church bells.





One chamber had beautiful rose coloured crystals all around the walls to a height of around 7 feet. These are created just from the chamber flooding in the winter. Here is Meg and Abdul stood in front of them.



The guides put scaffold boards down for the tourists to cross the mainly dry gour pools and muddy dams. Abdul took great pleasure in leaping across these like a mountain goat and taking the piss when we gingerly inched across them. Bear in mind that on a couple of occasions there was a 20 foot drop on one side. We ventured to the end of the tourist section but could go no further due to not having enough equipment.
Bloody good fun though and worth all the effort to get there just to see that amazing entrance shaft!

I then posed for a photo with Abdul and our very patient taxi driver.


We then had the exhausting 520 steps back up. A quick drink and the purchase of some postcards then we were back on the downhill run to Taza. All the time we looked at the decrepit old Mercedes we were in, wondering if the brakes were good or not.

One mistake was not checking the train times. The next one back to Fes was 11:30 that night.
Very late return but it was great. Go there if you can.

[mrodoc]

Some day I will  have to post my old Friouato pics. They've ponced it up since 1976 - we actually had to rig safety lines on parts of the shaft. Some of us also abseiled the pitch from the daylight hole. I won't forget it as I got my beard caught in the rack halfway down - ouch!  Some team members dived the static sumps into the Exeter University Speleo Soc extensions but not enough to attempt the Chiker link. We did Chiker - deep hairy and long static sump free dive to a massive choke which might link with Friouato one day. It's all reported in old Descents and Cerberus Journals.

[whitelackington]

Do Cheddar still go caving 

We certainly do.  Actually we have been very busy with a project for several months and if you go to Hidden Earth you'll find out exactly what we've been up to...

Very well done The Cheddar, I am very impressed.

[Andy Sparrow]

TRIP REPORTS FROM CHRIS LANK

Swildon’s Hole – Upper Series
Monday 27th August 2007
Chris Lank & Alun Williams

The objective of this trip was to explore the layout of the cave using
the survey as a guide.  Much useful time was spent in the entrance area
exploring all possible nooks, crannies and circuits.

After thoroughly investigating all such features and the start of the
Long Dry (Pretty) Way, we took the Wet Way down to Twenty Foot Pot via
Water Chamber and Forty Foot Pot.  On the way down we had a good look
at the many dig sites and tunnels (for future investigation).

On the way back, after making sure we knew where the Long Dry (Pretty)
Way ended, we took the Short Dry Way from Old Grotto, finally climbing
Jacobs Ladder into the now familiar entrance area.

In summary, an enjoyable and rewarding trip was had by both of us.

Chris Lank


Cwm Dwr & Ogof Fynnon Ddu (OFD) II
Sunday 9th September 2007
Andy S, Rachel, Dani, Martin & Chris L

After a much needed mind & soul refuelling stop at the Asda Café in
Merthyr Tydfil, we arrived at the South Wales Caving Club cottages
ready for the day ahead.

The cave system was entered at Cwm Dwr.  After a short “diversion” by
some members of the party, we made our way through the pebbly crawl and
boulder ruckle then into the larger passageways beyond.

We eventually made our way into the OFD II streamway and had much fun
seeing the shortest member of the team getting swamped by the deep
circular pools.  After attempting to stay dry by traversing many of
pools, most of the group opted for the “wet” but fun method of
negotiating the aforementioned pools.  Needless to say, there was much
merriment.  The Shower Bath looked spectacular in the light of our
caving lamps – even better than the photos on the Flickr website.

After climbing a fixed ladder we entered into what appeared to be a
high-level oxbow.  We exited this by a fun climb/traverse and during
this exercise we were treated to an entertaining although minor
disagreement between two of the party.

There was a short moment when the author of this report thought that
he might be staying in the cave for somewhat longer than planned. 
Happily he managed to free his foot from the painful hole from which it
was extremely well wedged, without too much panic and bone crunching.

On the way out we paid a flying visit to Selenite Passage, which was
most impressive – although a little blurry due to the speed at which we
passed through.

Our trip was completed by the exit through Top Entrance.  After a well
earned rest and Lucozade top-up, we made our way back to the cottages.

Thanks to Andy S for organising this excellent trip and for
confidently navigating his way through the cave.  Thanks to Martin for
driving and thanks to all for coming along.

Chris Lank


Bath Swallet
Saturday 15th September 2007
Chris Lank & Alun Williams

The purpose of this visit was to explore the various interesting
features noted on previous visits.

After abseiling down the 20m pitch, we commenced our exploration at
the Southern end of the main tunnel, this being blocked by a large
sediment bank.

We climbed into the ceiling of the main tunnel and to the left we
found various nooks and crannies.  At the highest point a vertical
squeeze was found leading to an unknown chamber.

Alun kindly volunteered to get through the squeeze first.  This was
achieved with a minimum of fuss.  It took me (Chris) 20-minutes of
effort to get through due to my slightly larger stature and fatter
backside.  This effort included various unprintable bad words, a rather
unpleasant back spasm and a ripped caving suit.  Nevertheless, the
price was worth it.  We had entered into a pristine chamber that we
called Tall Chamber (in the absence of any known name).  Although the
chamber was not large in plan view (about 10’ x 15’), it was over 30’
high.  We climbed up a mostly-dry, old waterfall to the roof and found
a horizontal tube feeding the ex-waterfall.  Progress was stopped by
the dimensions of the 12” tube.  We had gravity on our side upon
exiting the chamber, and consequently exit was considerably faster than
entry.

During the short climb back to floor level of the main tunnel, we
stopped off and checked-out several useful looking small crawls, all of
which quickly closed down.  On the left of the sediment bank was a
cemented, vertical tunnel leading down to a short horizontal tunnel
full of small stones.  The horizontal tunnel looked well cleaned by
water and as if it would link up with the base of the Digger’s Tunnel
further along the large passage.

At the Northern end of the main tunnel we made a short exploration of
a boulder filled rift adjacent to the 20m pitch.  While looking
promising, it did not feel particularly safe due to the precarious
nature of the suspended boulders so we decided to leave it for another
time (depending upon advice given).

Finally, we dropped down the Digger’s Tunnel to get to the main target
of our trip – the Aven and its associated tube.  For reference, the
Aven points towards nearby Rod’s Pot.  We had previously and
individually attempted to climb the Aven to get to the tube, but had
repeatedly failed due to not being 7’ tall.  I (Chris) used Alun as a
human ladder and finally managed to get to the tube.  Unfortunately, it
terminated after 6’ but fortunately it was joined by a rather promising
and splendid looking flowstone tube leading upwards at 45-degrees.  It
took 10-minutes of wriggling to get into a position where progress
could be made upwards within the flowstone tube.  The tube quickly
straightened out and ran upwards for 10-15’ before closing down to a 9”
tube.  For future reference, there is an excellent flowstone feature at
the base of the tunnel that could be used to secure a handline to
assist vertically challenged cavers up the Aven and into the tunnel.

Our mission complete, we returned up the Digger’s Tunnel and back to
the 20m pitch.

After passing through a swarm of vicious flying things at the entrance
boulders, and after 4-hours of caving, we finally returned to the land
of light.

Excellent trip!

Chris Lank


St Cuthbert’s Swallet
Wednesday 26th September 2007
Chris Castle, Brendan Handley, Lucy Murawski, Chris Lank

As this was the first time that Lucy and Chris L had visited the
cave, the tour was conducted at a leisurely pace by our leader (Chris C) so
we could fully appreciate the nature of the cave.

After dropping down the Entrance Rift we reached the appropriately
named Arete Chamber.  We continued into Upper Mud Hall (not very
muddy) and stopped for a short time in Pillar Chamber to admire the suitably
large Stal Column.  Note No 1 – Take a camera next time!

We moved onwards into the impressive Boulder Chamber.  We were
spoiled for interesting cave features – Kanchenjunga Boulder, the Cascade and
the Stal Floor Drip Pockets to name just a few.

Continuing deeper, we reached the Rabbit Warren with its delightfully
slippery mud and Calcite floor before finally reaching our turnaround
point at Plantation Junction.

It was agreed to return to the surface in a slightly more hasty
manner so that we could undertake our essential debrief at a certain local
hostelry in good time.

On the return we paid a visit to the Railway Tunnel to view the
Cascade from below.  We then returned to the Entrance Rift via Harem
Passage.  The climb back up the Entrance Rift was somewhat sporting
and exciting.  Note No 2 – Leave a bit more energy in the “tank” next
time for the climb up the Entrance Rift!

After changing at the Belfry, we determined that (1) we were too late
for our essential debrief and (2) it was way past bedtime.  Hence, we
decided to return to our respective homes, tired but pleased.

Many thanks to Chris C for organising and leading the trip.

Chris Lank

[Andy Sparrow]

Wednesday 26th September
Swildons
Andy S, Rachel, Zoe and Danni G played rigging on the old Forty.
Meanwhile Robin, Barry, Steve W, Danni B, Martin, Dave Murphy, and 3 guests went to Sump 1.

INCLUDING THE CUTHBERTS TRIP THIS MEANS A TOTAL OF 17 MEMBERS AND GUESTS UNDERGROUND!

[Sumpy]

Ooh on line log book!! last time I filled in a log we were still using chalk on a slate!

[Andy Sparrow]

3rd October
Fairy to Hilliers
Barry, Danni B, Danni G, Ellie, Martin, and Barry's mate whose name we have temporally forgotton.
Advance party heading in through Fairy meeting up in Cambridge Grotto with....

Hilliers to Fairy
Andy, Rachel, Karen, Rowan, and guests/prospective members Tim and Tricia
Headed in down Hilliers enjoying the easy bit before the gymnastics in the boulder chokes.  Came out through Fairy.  Squeeze is no tighter, I am pleased to report, and duck was low.  A good workout with much hysterical laughter from Karen and Rachel at every thrutch - obviously not taking their caving seriously enough!

Then off to the pub at Oakhill for some banter and distribution of Cheddar Caving Club T-shirts.

Only 12 underground this Wednesday - must do better next week.

[anfieldman]

I hope you kept 2 T-shirts for me & Meg. It's taken long enough for them to arrive.
Sorry. Off topic.

[Sumpy]

3rd October
Fairy to Hilliers
Barry, Danni B, Danni G, Ellie, Martin, and Barry's mate whose name we have temporally forgotton.
Advance party heading in through Fairy meeting up in Cambridge Grotto with....

Hilliers to Fairy
Andy, Rachel, Karen, Rowan, and guests/prospective members Tim and Tricia
Headed in down Hilliers enjoying the easy bit before the gymnastics in the boulder chokes.  Came out through Fairy.  Squeeze is no tighter, I am pleased to report, and duck was low.  A good workout with much hysterical laughter from Karen and Rachel at every thrutch - obviously not taking their caving seriously enough!

Then off to the pub at Oakhill for some banter and distribution of Cheddar Caving Club T-shirts.

Only 12 underground this Wednesday - must do better next week.

Twas a great trip. Glad to be back under ground, its been a long time coming. The squeeze was telling me that to many pies doesn't give an advantage in this sport!! It took a few mins of repositioning before i popped trough.

[Brendan H]

leader: Danielle Gorman
Ken Passant, Chris Lank, Alun Williams, Brendan Hanley; guest Amanda Headley-White

The pointy end of Priddy Green was busy with cavers that evening as there were two trips to Swildon's upper series. After the throng of cavers had sorted themselves into two neat piles, the group led by Dani headed off across the fields.

We paused briefly in the dell next to the entrance, then ventured in; it was the first time Amanda had been in a cave.

Dani led us into the first chamber, past the turn-off for the Wet Way, past the top of Jacobs Ladder leading to the Short Dry Way, and slowly and gently through the ever-lovely Long Dry Way (the Pretty Way), which gave Amanda a taste of some proper caving. Turning right at the cairn, we went to the top of the chamber , to the entrance to the keyhole passage. Ken disappeared into the keyhole passage, went all the way to the end, then came back, looking accomplished. Dani, Chris, Ken and Alun ventured forth likewise. Brendan eventually plucked up his courage, used the technique Ken had recommended (which seemed obvious with hindsight) instead of wedging himself tight on the floor, and went all the way through the keyhole passage and a little way beyond, joining the other three on their way back.

Afterwards, there was a discussion on the etymology and semantics of the colloquial expression “dogging”, and the merits or otherwise of dogging as an activity. However, it should be noted that no actual dogging took place underground that evening. 

The group proceeded to the great meeting of the ways at the Water Chamber, then started down the towards the top of the waterfall which leads to the lower series. As we moved off, stoically uncomplaining Amanda was asked how she was, and when offered a quick return to the surface, accepted. Leaving the others to the rest of their adventure, Brendan and Amanda left the cave via the Short Dry Way, with Amanda gamely shimmying up Jacobs Ladder, her first ever underground free climb.

Having reached the waterfall, the limit of the evening’s trip, Dani, Alun and Chris raced to the surface, goaded to ever higher speeds by Ken, and completing the exit in under 15 minutes, which is amazing.

Re-united on Priddy Green, we got changed and went our merry ways.

Thanks to Dani for organising and leading the trip, and thanks to Ken for looking after Amanda.

[Dani]

Bath Swallet/Rods Pot Through Trip - The Return
Wednesday 10th October 2007

Barry, Danny, Dani, Chris L, Martin - Rods to Bath (or Rods to Rods via a bit of Bath)
Mark & Meg, Andy H & Zoe, Steve P & Karen, Swampy - Bath to Rods

Equal to last weeks numbers, but not beaten due to a very nasty outbreak of man flu.

Yet another great turnout from the club to do the through trip for those that hadn't done it before (and a repeat for some of those that had)

The hordes gathered in anticipation of the pep talk from Andy S while Rachel handed out more of the highly desirable, autumn collection ChCC t-shirts.  Once we'd finally agreed who was going which way, the troops kitted up (not in their very nice t-shirts) and set off for their respective entrances.

Our group headed for Rods, to rig up a ladder for the group abseiling down Bath Swallet.  We reached the main chamber fairly quickly and decided that we had time to have a quick jaunt down to the bear pit to have a nose around, before needing to drop the ladder down to the others.  Once back out we set off for the connection, dropping the ladder down to assist with the climb back up (although we might need a slightly longer ladder next time ).     

With still no sign of the others approaching from the Bath Swallet end, we took the opportunity to do a bit of what I like to do in my spare time - writhing around in mud.  The connection is still a bit of a quagmire, so we spent a good half-hour (with assistance arriving from the Bath Swallet side) clearing several more buckets of mud to try and open out the passage a bit more.  Chris then reminded us of the time, hurrying us all to the Hunters, so whilst he and Martin headed out via Bath Swallet to retrieve the rope, the rest of us took the route out of Rods. 

After emerging on the surface, finding Chris and Martin changed, the rest of us donned our t-shirts and headed to the Hunters.

Yet another great evening, thanks to everyone who came - I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

[anfieldman]

Yeh, fantastic evening! Good trip report Dani. You obviously were not as tired as me judging by the time you wrote this.
Good little trip that will be all the better once the majority of the liquid mud is out. We even made it back in time for two pints. and I also managed to meet Hughie and the lovely Anne.
This week I'll be mostly wearing my ChCC T-shirt.
 

[anfieldman]

Swildons Black Hole Series / Eastwater Cavern
Sunday 14th October 2007

Ken P, Chris L & Mark W

Plan A:
Ken to pick me up from home to rendevous with Chris on the green @ Priddy @ 11am. Then to Swildons to go through Sump 1 and on to the Black Hole series which I was really looking forward to having never done it. Others were going to turn up to go round Swildons easier parts.

What really happened

Ken arrived at 10:30 (half hour late) and off we went via Shit 'n' Smellit speeding along in the caving Swarzenegger van. I'm now convinced that only a BIG FWD will do for my caving.
Chris was there waiting patiently with Brendan (no skirt) and about 6 minivans, 11 cars and God knows how many other types of vehicle. It was obvious that it was a busy day. We were hoping that quite a few were walkers not cavers. Brendans team of newbies for the easy trip did not materialise so Brendan did the decent thing and went to see more of his other half. (Hope you enjoyed yourself Brendan)
So, suitably kitted up in the snuggly wetsuits and oversuits we were about to go. Except I wanted to go. What a bloody pain wetsuits are when you need a pee!
Ok, so we trudge off to the entrance where we were very politely requested to pose for photos by a long blonde girly (who was accompanied by her boyfriend I presume). Pose, pose & pose then off again down the wet route. We encountered people after only a couple of minutes and by the time we reached the Twenty we had met what seemed like half the caving population of Mendip! At the Twenty there were 13 cavers waiting to go down, each having to wait in turn for others coming up. We also noticed about 10 sets of ladders at the top too. If we ever managed to get down we would probably surface the next day!
So we decided the best course of action was retreat.

Plan B:
Off to Eastwater Cavern.
Back to the Arnie van, quick strip in front of the rest of the world and over to Eastwater. Not a bad decision by Ken as I had not been in Eastwater before. However I was told that a wetsuit would probably be a bit too warm for this cave. Not expecting to come here my fleecy was being washed after Rods/Bath last Weds. So it was pants, T-shirt and oversuit. Bit rough but I can take it. Grrrr!
Down through the scarily precarious boulder ruckle and into what I found an awkward 45 degree rift polished like my dining table should be. Very little in the way of footholds so wedging was the order of the day. We then met two more people going out, one with a bad knee. Carrying on down past Hallelujah Hole and into the Lower Traverse Ken then decided that it had been a while since he came here and declared that 'We might get lost a bit but it will be alright'.
I must point out here that we never lost faith in Ken.
We eventually found our way to the Crossroads. I know this only because the sign says so. Would'nt it be great if all caves were signposted??
Our ears then detected some voices. I'm glad that we all heard them or I would have started to worry.
A swift clamber up to Dolphin Chimney and we met a lady caver from the UBSS just about to decend into the forboding blackness. We chatted for a while and discovered the reason for mass caving. Freshers weekend. It turns out that there were approximately 8 or 9 uni's split between Swildons or Eastwater.
Sooo off she went after enlightening us (Thanks for that BTW, never did catch your name) and we then scuttled back to the Crossroads, fell down on my knees, down to the Crossroads, fell down on my knees. Asked the Lord for mercy, save me if you please..............Sorry about that, came over all Clapton for a minute there. Urrgh, that sounds dodgy.
From the Crossroads we clambered to the bottom of Bakers Chimney where Ken shot up it like a rat muttering something like 'difficult at top,squeeze,don't try to come down again,awkward,don't fall on Chris'.
I got about 6 feet up and I'm afraid that I was afraid to say that I was afraid. This being the 2nd trip since April due to the foot incident my level of fitness/confidence/foot workability was too low to attempt the aformentioned Bakers Chimney and I bottled out. I don't think Ken was too impressed having now reached the top but like the trooper he is he made his way down again.
Chris then attempted to tame the Bakers beast. Ken and I looked for the alternative route round to the top of it and after some curfufflin found our way there. By this time Chris had done it! Squeezing himself through a tight squeeze at the top to meet us.
We then made our way back up to the top of the upper traverse via a very tight squeeze in a bedding plane that I cannot remember the name of (if it had a name). Chris really struggled but made it through, Ken pushed himself through with a bit of effort and I flowed through it like water. Glad I can do something right! Squeeze machine at HE 2008 here I come.
Back out through 't' entrance and off to the pub in time for Butcombe Gold,coke & shandy. Scrumdiddlyumptious day!
Many thanks Ken & Chris. Maybe the Black Hole series next time.












 

[Ellie]

"We then made our way back up to the top of the upper traverse via a very tight squeeze in a bedding plane that I cannot remember the name of (if it had a name). "

That would be Hallelujah Hole then!!  Out of interest  - do you think it is better done on front or back - I went through on my front on Wednesday and had to be pushed though by my boots!  Good job I wasn't last.

Glad you had a good trip though it sounds like Mendip was a tad busy today.

Ellie

[anfieldman]

Hi Ellie,

Chris went through on his back legs first, Ken on his front feet first and I did the same as Ken. To be fair I watched Ken very closely so I knew how to go through quite quickly. Being a skinny runt helps too!
We must have bypassed Hallelujah Hole on the way in without me knowing it.
Think I will have another try on the next trip in December. Great cave with lots of variety.
See you soon.

 

[Chris Lank]

Rod’s Pot
Tuesday 16th October 2007
Chris L & Martin

Having visited Rod’s Pot on any number of occasions with groups, we felt it was finally time to give it a thorough exploration.

It had rained all day and a small stream was running through the entrance of the cave, dropping down into the first of the twin 14m pots.

A mini-through trip was made via the twin 14m pots – climbing/abseiling down the first pot and free-climbing up the second pot.  There were some interesting features at the bottom of the pots, not to mention a fair bit of rubbish.

The tube to the right of the second pot was investigated and found to lead to an attractive blind Aven.  The tighter tube to the left of the second pot was left for another day.

We pushed onto the Main Chamber.  After a short diversion to the head of Purple Pot (entrance to Bath Swallet) we made our way down to the almost vertical tube that leads upwards to Hanging Rock Chamber.

The climb up the tube was quite interesting and energetic.  Once at the top we crawled along and dropped into the muddy and hazardous-looking chamber.

As our call-out time was approaching, we made a swift exit - the highlight was making our way down the tube from Hanging Rock Chamber.  This is definitely not a route for the faint-hearted.