H
Huw Groucutt
Guest
Anyone else been there?
Cantankerous surveyors is a side series off "Luck of the draw", LOTD was found by someone i dig with, really the classic lucky find. Oxford Uni had just broken through into Dollimore series (finding second largest passage in britain in the process), so in goes my mate, sees a fault line in the roof and follows it up into an alcove, well the alcove turned into 1km of big and incredibly decorated passage, lucky bugger! Cantankerous was found by Chelsea SS surveyors some time later.
Went on Saturday, what a trip! The highlight being the "Geryon" formation, see a piccy here,
http://milos2.zoo.ox.ac.uk/~oucc/draenen/pictures/cdw14-2-98/Geryon1.jpg
On the way passing the almost as good Medusas children,
http://home.freeuk.net/smk/caving/draenen/pictures/MEDC2.JPG
Despite having possibly the best formations (best helictites anyway) hardly anyone is visiting the far reaches of Draenen. Other than a few Oxford Uni trips the extremities have barely been visitied. There is a 'Geryon Log Book', the number of parties visiting over the past several is in single figures!
Possibly the 8 hours minimum (thats if you know the way) to get there and back puts people off? Took us ten and a half hours, but we were hardly moving fast and one of the party was ill on the way out.
Good old Draenen!
Cantankerous surveyors is a side series off "Luck of the draw", LOTD was found by someone i dig with, really the classic lucky find. Oxford Uni had just broken through into Dollimore series (finding second largest passage in britain in the process), so in goes my mate, sees a fault line in the roof and follows it up into an alcove, well the alcove turned into 1km of big and incredibly decorated passage, lucky bugger! Cantankerous was found by Chelsea SS surveyors some time later.
Went on Saturday, what a trip! The highlight being the "Geryon" formation, see a piccy here,
http://milos2.zoo.ox.ac.uk/~oucc/draenen/pictures/cdw14-2-98/Geryon1.jpg
On the way passing the almost as good Medusas children,
http://home.freeuk.net/smk/caving/draenen/pictures/MEDC2.JPG
Despite having possibly the best formations (best helictites anyway) hardly anyone is visiting the far reaches of Draenen. Other than a few Oxford Uni trips the extremities have barely been visitied. There is a 'Geryon Log Book', the number of parties visiting over the past several is in single figures!
Possibly the 8 hours minimum (thats if you know the way) to get there and back puts people off? Took us ten and a half hours, but we were hardly moving fast and one of the party was ill on the way out.
Good old Draenen!