Wet Wellies

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Umm. Sounds interesting ---- :-\

WetWellies offers adventure caving trips in the South West and Wales. Groups, clubs, hen and stag parties, couples all catered for.
 

graham

New member
Cap'n Chris said:
The proprietor is experienced, capable and professionally qualified so probably very little.

Bit like this chap then?

captain.jpg
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
Just waiting for the first Reservoir Hole hen night booking. Begs me be leader. Yes the individual involved sounds very much like an experienced and competent  caver. I wonder if Graham will do the Chippendale's strip for them.
 

jonnyrocketboots

New member
Fair play and all the best to all involved with Wet Wellies adventure, I've had a quick mooch at their website and it looks like a lot of effort has gone into this project!  I hope it works out well for them, Might encourage one or two others to get involved in our niche sport.

JRB

 

grahams

Well-known member
She's certainly well qualified but dragging flabby managers around on 'team building' exercises aint my idea of a fun day out, although there's plenty of money in it. Good to see that she's organising a Chesil Beach clearup.
 

Ship-badger

Member
A clean up of Chesil Beach at 13km long, would be quite an undertaking. Christine is cleaning up Chesil Cove, which is a little smaller. Good on her though, and her website looks good. We need more female caving instructors, so good luck to her.
 

christine

Active member
;)
Well well - we're finally famous  :clap:

Many thanks for the nice and supportive comments.  (y)

I've been caving since I was a kid and was 'brought up' in the caving world as my family have been heavily involved, my Uncle's been caving since he was at Uni and still digs every Wednesday. My Mum was Hut Dragon at the Wessex CC for 7 ish years.

It was a tentative venture, aimed at widening my horizons and finding out exactly what this 'commercial caving' lark was all about - and why it got so much stick. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised - and even impressed - at the level of instruction I've received and the genuinely nice people I have met along the way.
As you'll gather, I'm something of a cave diver and I believe it's important for peope like me (and Chris et al) who are actively involved in exploration to be 'out there' to show others what its all about.

I'm lucky (?) that I have a full time career as a Paramedic, so I can pick and choose my 'clients' (I prefer to call them cavers, because by the end of their experience, they are) carefully. I have to say I've never come across the flabby businessman type yet. Quite the opposite  :eek:
All my cavers seem to have quite a lot of natural ability, very few need any help and most help carry the kit quite abley. So far, every group or individual I have taken wants to come back and go again if they haven't already.
Some have bought their own kit and others have asked to join caving clubs.
What could possibly go wrong indeed  ;)

I've adopted one of our sites as a conservation project, so in addition to the education on caves, formation and conservation that they get prior to every trip (complete with slideshow) they are offered 'conservation' trips, where they can monitor, recognise and understand the local flora and fauna. We were jammy enough to get to photograph an albino trout in LNRC - they thought that was the dogs wotsits (and so did I TBH!)

The aim was originally to make a few quid to help fund my diving, which is getting progressively expensive where helium is involved, but what I have found is that I actually love taking people underground on their first excursions. Every group is different, they make me laugh til it hurts and it is a world apart from the extensive club caving I had become used to.

Great you all spotted the Chesil Beach clean  :clap: We have another BIG event in May (18th) in conjunction with the Marine Conservation Society, Plastic Oceans and Scimitar diving. If anyone is interested, keep an eye on my website (or I can post a link here) as the Beach Clean website is due to go 'live' very soon with loads more info.
 

christine

Active member
Oh yeh, I forgot - WetWellies just got shortlisted for the Wiltshire Business awards  :D

I have to go to a Gala dinner and wear a frock and everything! It's 5k to the winning business, so those of you who took the time to say something supportive - thankyou - and you can tap me up for a beer if we win  (y)
 

simonsays

New member
I must admit that when I read the bit about stag and hen groups I had a bit of a flashback to my own stag night.... You really wouldn't have wanted anything to do with us!

It sounds like you're running a great business and getting folk hooked on an underground life.

Outstanding  ;)
 

christine

Active member
Thankyou :)
Funny, actually, I wasn't getting any interest in stag or hen do's so I took the specific page down only yesterday.
I think each instructor has a certain type of person they attract. Mine seems to be divers. I don't really like children so I leave them to others  :yucky:
I may regret that comment one day.... ;)

My T&Cs are quite tight about things like drugs and alcohol and they don't get to go near the cave if I even suspect either is involved. I have my Paramedic nose highly tuned  ;) But I just seem to get really nice people along anyway. I'm lucky I guess  :confused:
 

And

New member
The sort of people who want to do caving for a stag/hen party probably want an alternative to the traditional city centre night piss up. It's unlikely that they will be in a cave vomiting everywhere and flashing their knob/tits. Unless they join the BEC  ;)

If it introduces a few people to caving, then it's a bonus. Good luck Christine!
 

christine

Active member
Thanks And.
And yeh, you're right - I get people along who want something different.
Even if they decide that they don't want to take it up as a pastime, I really want to make sure they go away with good things to say about caving.
It gets far too much bad media press as it is.
And as for the films..... :eek:
 

The Old Ruminator

Well-known member
As tongue in cheek OP I was a bit worried about the response from the hardened cavers on here ( ? ). With schools and other groups doing less caver intro Chris is doing a great job to popularize caving. I can say that two folk I know have started caving with Chris and now seem to have caught the bug. They are going to buy their own kit. Chris's background in diving should bring folk from that area as caving and diving make two great related activities. Summer diving, winter caving. Anyway see you at RH soon Chris and hopefully I wont be in trouble. :halo:
 

christine

Active member
The lengths you will go to for a free beer eh Nick  ;)

If I spent my time worrying about what people thought - hardened or otherwise - my business would fail overnight.
So I don't let that sort of thing bother me.
If you thought I was doing a crap job, I'm sure you'd have said so in your first post.

Sure, there are folk who will be vehemently opposed to 'commercial caving' until the day they die. And they will have a pop at those involved regardless of who they are and will never see the value in it. There is nothing I - or anyone else - can do about them.
So we just crack on and have fun. That's what its all about  :)
Really looking forward to Reservoir Hole. Been so long since I've been there so I hope my next log report about the place is somewhat different than my last  ;)
 
Good luck on the new venture...and fair play to anyone making the effort to set up their own business...I wish you well!

But I can't help but feel the OP

Umm. Sounds interesting ----

WetWellies offers adventure caving trips in the South West and Wales. Groups, clubs, hen and stag parties, couples all catered for.

Feels like a plug for a commercial ventre IE, an advert...something we all tell off our esteemed book selling friends for ;) LOL...

And should it really be posted in the New to Caving section...which is surely for helping people into our wonderful hobby through free non-commercial means!

 

christine

Active member
Really? When I read the OP I wondered if it was the exact opposite.
I've never met Nick before in my life and only realised it was him after my partner saw the handle and recognised him from diving forums!
I believe a mod called Paul moved the thread here. I don't know where the OP was originally put?
I should mention that WetWellies has been running a year now, so not exactly 'new'.
 

paul

Moderator
It was posted originally in the "UK Caving" section.

As it may be of interest to some who may want to give caving a try, it was moved to the "New to Caving" section which is meant for "for beginners or those just thinking of having a go". I know of several cavers who were introduced to the sport through a commercial caving experience.
 
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