Rhinolophus
New member
Hello everyone, after all the negativity this particular hole seems to attract I just wanted to do a brief report for our little visit to Brightgate Cave at the weekend in the hope that a few people might read this and venture down there. When I spoke the farmer?s wife she said that months could pass without any visits and I thought this was a real shame considering its not a difficult cave and there is some nice stuff to see!!
Present were myself Dave and Jonny. We met at Brightgate farm and after a quick chat with the aforementioned farmers wife to get directions, headed down the track and through the semi frozen cow dung (harmless until the deceptively solid looking crust is broken by the unwary caver) to the cave. The entrance is easy to find being on the right side of the valley below an electricity pylon and once inside, the change in temperature from -3 winters morning to warm cave was what a penguin must feel like stepping into a sauna! The obvious climb down is dead ahead and after first going the wrong way into a muddy tube the route on was quickly established and we soon found ourselves at a bit of a squeeze where unfortunately after much wriggling, grunting and cursing the largest member of our party had to stay behind (too much time in the gym perhaps?). I offered to pull Jonny through but he didn?t seem too keen.
We now found ourselves at the start of a small maze of rifts and passages which possibly give the cave its reputation as being tight and awkward but after a quick look and a few experimental pokes I found an easy route through at the back and to the right. Some fun was then had as while Dave was squeezing through I doubled back round and tap him on the shoulder via a short section of passage I hadn?t noticed on the way past. If he had had the room he would have jumped out of his skin!
With Dave now in the lead we quickly emerged into a bedding plane chamber and the cave opened up appreciably. We headed right and deeper into the cave to soon come across a lovely pair of stalactite columns atop a 5 foot slope of flowstone. After pausing for a few photos and to admire the beauty we moved on only to happen immediately on a gour pool at the bottom of the cave where the bedding plane met the floor. It was particularly pretty being made up of shades of yellows and whites and even a little purple we thought. At the back a column of bright yellow flowstone rose like a frozen waterfall into the roof of the cave giving the impression of a strange subterranean winter scene. We took some photos but with my appalling photography skills could not get a shot that did it justice.
I was now on the lookout of the nearly famous ?partially calcited dog skeleton? which we found nestling between two rocks in the middle of the chamber. My first impressions were, ?who?s had a chicken dinner?? being particularly disappointed with what we found as it looked nothing like a dog. And as for it being calcited, I saw a few spots of white on one of the bones but nothing to suggest it was about to join the dinosaurs anytime soon. (I can post pictures if anyone wants to see!)
Being conscious of the fact Jonny was waiting on the surface we quickly explored the rest of the cave following a passage heading upwards in the opposite direction to the gour pool to an interesting stalactite grotto and then down to the far reaches where things were quite muddy and there was much evidence of a dig.
On the way back having retraced our steps to the ?maze? where we first entered the bedding plane chamber we were confronted with three ways on and for a second a bit of panic set in as the stories I had read of cavers getting lost for three hours came back to haunt me. Fortunately and after some discussion me and Dave picked the right passage and were soon back at the squeeze near the entrance. All that was left was for me to climb the route back out to the milky winter daylight and a shivering Jonny who for some reason had chosen to spend the time in the open rather than shelter in the cave after taking a nap in its coldest part. Perhaps he was trying to shiver a few pounds off for next time?
Overall I found Brightgate while being a relatively short trip, certainly of interest and without any of the discomfort and awkwardness its reputation lends it. Yes it is a little tight in places but not enough to be uncomfortable or to warrant some of the reports I have read before. I would highly recommend it as a trip for novices and experienced cavers alike and if you fancy an easy Sunday afternoon trip this is the place for you!
Ben
Present were myself Dave and Jonny. We met at Brightgate farm and after a quick chat with the aforementioned farmers wife to get directions, headed down the track and through the semi frozen cow dung (harmless until the deceptively solid looking crust is broken by the unwary caver) to the cave. The entrance is easy to find being on the right side of the valley below an electricity pylon and once inside, the change in temperature from -3 winters morning to warm cave was what a penguin must feel like stepping into a sauna! The obvious climb down is dead ahead and after first going the wrong way into a muddy tube the route on was quickly established and we soon found ourselves at a bit of a squeeze where unfortunately after much wriggling, grunting and cursing the largest member of our party had to stay behind (too much time in the gym perhaps?). I offered to pull Jonny through but he didn?t seem too keen.
We now found ourselves at the start of a small maze of rifts and passages which possibly give the cave its reputation as being tight and awkward but after a quick look and a few experimental pokes I found an easy route through at the back and to the right. Some fun was then had as while Dave was squeezing through I doubled back round and tap him on the shoulder via a short section of passage I hadn?t noticed on the way past. If he had had the room he would have jumped out of his skin!
With Dave now in the lead we quickly emerged into a bedding plane chamber and the cave opened up appreciably. We headed right and deeper into the cave to soon come across a lovely pair of stalactite columns atop a 5 foot slope of flowstone. After pausing for a few photos and to admire the beauty we moved on only to happen immediately on a gour pool at the bottom of the cave where the bedding plane met the floor. It was particularly pretty being made up of shades of yellows and whites and even a little purple we thought. At the back a column of bright yellow flowstone rose like a frozen waterfall into the roof of the cave giving the impression of a strange subterranean winter scene. We took some photos but with my appalling photography skills could not get a shot that did it justice.
I was now on the lookout of the nearly famous ?partially calcited dog skeleton? which we found nestling between two rocks in the middle of the chamber. My first impressions were, ?who?s had a chicken dinner?? being particularly disappointed with what we found as it looked nothing like a dog. And as for it being calcited, I saw a few spots of white on one of the bones but nothing to suggest it was about to join the dinosaurs anytime soon. (I can post pictures if anyone wants to see!)
Being conscious of the fact Jonny was waiting on the surface we quickly explored the rest of the cave following a passage heading upwards in the opposite direction to the gour pool to an interesting stalactite grotto and then down to the far reaches where things were quite muddy and there was much evidence of a dig.
On the way back having retraced our steps to the ?maze? where we first entered the bedding plane chamber we were confronted with three ways on and for a second a bit of panic set in as the stories I had read of cavers getting lost for three hours came back to haunt me. Fortunately and after some discussion me and Dave picked the right passage and were soon back at the squeeze near the entrance. All that was left was for me to climb the route back out to the milky winter daylight and a shivering Jonny who for some reason had chosen to spend the time in the open rather than shelter in the cave after taking a nap in its coldest part. Perhaps he was trying to shiver a few pounds off for next time?
Overall I found Brightgate while being a relatively short trip, certainly of interest and without any of the discomfort and awkwardness its reputation lends it. Yes it is a little tight in places but not enough to be uncomfortable or to warrant some of the reports I have read before. I would highly recommend it as a trip for novices and experienced cavers alike and if you fancy an easy Sunday afternoon trip this is the place for you!
Ben