L
Langthwaite Pot
Guest
22/03/08 ? Priddy Green Sink ? Swildon?s Long Round Trip
Tom and George (RRCPC)
Jude, Tom and I had decided to take a break from caving in the Dales and so headed down to The Mendips over the Easter weekend for a bit of a ?holiday?.
Tom and I fancied visiting as much as possible of Swildon?s on Saturday so decided on doing a slightly reduced ?Grand Tour?. As usual we managed to get underground by the crack of midday and agreed to meet Jude in the pub at 6.00ish, which in retrospect may have been a bit optimistic. Anyway wetsuits were pulled on (in Tom?s case a fine ?70?s vintage number). SRT kits were also put on at the entrance. This was also a bit of a mistake as the tight crawls were made a bit more arduous than they should have been. Despite this we used the tried and tested ?following the polish? technique of route finding which soon led us to the start of the pitches. These were far more impressive than I was expecting and good fun was had sliding down into Swildon?s 4 ? not even any cow shit in sight! Priddy Green Sink would have made an excellent trip in its own right, but we knew that the best was still to come.
We decided to ditch the vertical kit at Sump IV for collection later ? probably a good idea! The sump didn?t look too bad on this occasion ? but as with all free dives I wasn?t particularly looking forward to it. Tom disappeared through first and 3 tugs on the line meant that it was my turn. As usual I tried to take my time, and as usual panic began to set in shortly after submerging! Never the less I could soon see the glow from Tom?s light through the murk and with much relief popped out into Swildon?s Five. This soon turns gloomy with a gloopy muddy floor and low airspace leading to the ducks of Sump V. This would have been really good fun if it hadn?t been for the dodgy air and cowsh floor.
Beyond this we made the detour into the damp link to set the siphons running before heading to Swildon?s 9. The following section of the cave was by far my favourite part of the trip. The large bouldery chambers were something that I had not been expecting at all and had a remote feeling about them ? the thing I enjoy most in caving - the contrast with the higher parts of the streamway was something that we both felt. On the way back through the Sump 6 bypass we met some familiar faces from the Craven. I joked that if we didn?t see them in the pub later than we had probably hadn?t found our way through the Shatter Series.
Once back at Gloop Sump in the Damp Link we found ample airspace and we continued up the awkward ascending crawl to Grit Sump. We set the siphons going and did a bit of bailing with the broken buckets to stay warm. After a while we got bored and passed the sump as an entertaining duck. We now began to feel rather committed due to the way back being shut behind us. We soon found the next sump in the Shatter Series and quickly opened up a reasonable airspace. It was beyond this that the wisdom of not checking out this part of the trip beforehand became questionable. By following the obvious route we arrived at a very low duck. Neither of us fancied it so we spent 30mins looking for another route ? doubts began to set in about whether we were even in the right part of the cave. The prospect of a callout was playing in the back of my mind so after ruling out all other possibilities Tom went for it and was soon in roomier passage once more. We were both rather glad to reach the bottom of our ladder in Shatter Pot!
Unfortunately we now had to collect our kit from sump IV via blue pencil ? a bit of a pain in the arse. We had wanted to finish the trip through The Troubles and Sump I, but lack of time meant that we opted for the Mud Sump route instead. We managed to make it back to the entrance from Sump IV in 50mins, a respectable pace with heavy tackle I feel. The rush did result in me slipping from the top of the lower of the Double Pots ? The embarrassment was soon overcome on being told that I was now a fully baptised son of Mendip!
Eventually the entrance was reached after about 6.5hrs underground. This was easily one of the most exciting trips I?ve don yet. I can?t wait till summer so that we can do Watergate and sumps II and III as well.
George.
Tom and George (RRCPC)
Jude, Tom and I had decided to take a break from caving in the Dales and so headed down to The Mendips over the Easter weekend for a bit of a ?holiday?.
Tom and I fancied visiting as much as possible of Swildon?s on Saturday so decided on doing a slightly reduced ?Grand Tour?. As usual we managed to get underground by the crack of midday and agreed to meet Jude in the pub at 6.00ish, which in retrospect may have been a bit optimistic. Anyway wetsuits were pulled on (in Tom?s case a fine ?70?s vintage number). SRT kits were also put on at the entrance. This was also a bit of a mistake as the tight crawls were made a bit more arduous than they should have been. Despite this we used the tried and tested ?following the polish? technique of route finding which soon led us to the start of the pitches. These were far more impressive than I was expecting and good fun was had sliding down into Swildon?s 4 ? not even any cow shit in sight! Priddy Green Sink would have made an excellent trip in its own right, but we knew that the best was still to come.
We decided to ditch the vertical kit at Sump IV for collection later ? probably a good idea! The sump didn?t look too bad on this occasion ? but as with all free dives I wasn?t particularly looking forward to it. Tom disappeared through first and 3 tugs on the line meant that it was my turn. As usual I tried to take my time, and as usual panic began to set in shortly after submerging! Never the less I could soon see the glow from Tom?s light through the murk and with much relief popped out into Swildon?s Five. This soon turns gloomy with a gloopy muddy floor and low airspace leading to the ducks of Sump V. This would have been really good fun if it hadn?t been for the dodgy air and cowsh floor.
Beyond this we made the detour into the damp link to set the siphons running before heading to Swildon?s 9. The following section of the cave was by far my favourite part of the trip. The large bouldery chambers were something that I had not been expecting at all and had a remote feeling about them ? the thing I enjoy most in caving - the contrast with the higher parts of the streamway was something that we both felt. On the way back through the Sump 6 bypass we met some familiar faces from the Craven. I joked that if we didn?t see them in the pub later than we had probably hadn?t found our way through the Shatter Series.
Once back at Gloop Sump in the Damp Link we found ample airspace and we continued up the awkward ascending crawl to Grit Sump. We set the siphons going and did a bit of bailing with the broken buckets to stay warm. After a while we got bored and passed the sump as an entertaining duck. We now began to feel rather committed due to the way back being shut behind us. We soon found the next sump in the Shatter Series and quickly opened up a reasonable airspace. It was beyond this that the wisdom of not checking out this part of the trip beforehand became questionable. By following the obvious route we arrived at a very low duck. Neither of us fancied it so we spent 30mins looking for another route ? doubts began to set in about whether we were even in the right part of the cave. The prospect of a callout was playing in the back of my mind so after ruling out all other possibilities Tom went for it and was soon in roomier passage once more. We were both rather glad to reach the bottom of our ladder in Shatter Pot!
Unfortunately we now had to collect our kit from sump IV via blue pencil ? a bit of a pain in the arse. We had wanted to finish the trip through The Troubles and Sump I, but lack of time meant that we opted for the Mud Sump route instead. We managed to make it back to the entrance from Sump IV in 50mins, a respectable pace with heavy tackle I feel. The rush did result in me slipping from the top of the lower of the Double Pots ? The embarrassment was soon overcome on being told that I was now a fully baptised son of Mendip!
Eventually the entrance was reached after about 6.5hrs underground. This was easily one of the most exciting trips I?ve don yet. I can?t wait till summer so that we can do Watergate and sumps II and III as well.
George.
