W
Walrus
Guest
I arrived at Speedwell Cavern car park just after 1pm Saturday; traffic was ok until I got to the M1 going north and just got past 4 accidents in a row before the queues built up - I hate driving on a Bank Holiday! Root was waiting for me so we parked up and decided what to do. He phoned Joker who said he would be there in a bit so we headed off to Hitch'n'Hike; Root bought 50m of rope & a plastic spork & some wetsocks, and I bought some wetsocks & a compact metal knife/fork/spoon set. Joker arrived at the shop mid-purchasing so we all went back to Speedwell with the intention of doing Suicide Cave.
Suicide Cave has an opening on the side of the road within easy reach of all sheep and walkers who apparently use it for a toilet - it stunk! Once past the urinal entrance you climb up some slippery boulders to the cave proper and the first Y-hang which Root, with a bit of stretching & jamming himself in, rigged. We descended about 4m then set about having a mooch around. The cave itself is basically a large rift with collapsed roof/boulders filling it (a boulder choke?). It has been set up with P bolts at various points for SRT practise. We had fun squeezing thru bits; Root & Joker climbed up the boulders into the rift above the entrance and we set up a pull-through which Root came down on but Joker climbed down instead. At one point while looking for a sling Joker had left behind I heard girlie voices - apparently a group of Girl Guides poked there heads in to see what was there and what we were up to! Once out we headed for Jokers camp site to pitch our tents, then onto a pub in Castleton for dinner and an early night with the prospect of doing Oxlow in the morning.
Morning arrived and Joker had done a runner! Apparently his arms were a bit sore from yesterday so he had decided to take the day off. Wuss! Oxlow seemed less appealing with only two of us so after some consideration we set off; it looked like someone was there already as we drove past the lay-by so Root carried on down the road and pulled in by a farm - we were doing P8 instead.
I had heard all sorts of stories about this place and didn't know what to expect - I was not happy! Root describes it as a bit like Swildons with SRT and I had visions of huge vertical drops! Once inside though I was pleasantly surprised! Root tied off his new rope to a rock to use as an assist down (and up) some of the waterfalls and we descended into the cave. It was great fun! The pitches were nowhere near as bad as I thought they were going to be - all were easy take-offs and landings. I'd describe it as a cross between Swildons & Giants with some light SRT - I really enjoyed it! We got as far as a 30 foot pot (with steps - it looked sooo simple!) but we had ran out of rope by that point so had to turn back. We'll remember next time, and there will be a next time! Back to camp for a snooze then I headed home to miss the traffic jams on Monday. Root stayed another night and from what I read in his journal arrived home Monday afternoon.
A good weekend - Oxlow is still on my to-do list and having been to Derbyshire & back in a weekend I now know it can be done without being too knackered the following day. A good trip chaps!
Suicide Cave has an opening on the side of the road within easy reach of all sheep and walkers who apparently use it for a toilet - it stunk! Once past the urinal entrance you climb up some slippery boulders to the cave proper and the first Y-hang which Root, with a bit of stretching & jamming himself in, rigged. We descended about 4m then set about having a mooch around. The cave itself is basically a large rift with collapsed roof/boulders filling it (a boulder choke?). It has been set up with P bolts at various points for SRT practise. We had fun squeezing thru bits; Root & Joker climbed up the boulders into the rift above the entrance and we set up a pull-through which Root came down on but Joker climbed down instead. At one point while looking for a sling Joker had left behind I heard girlie voices - apparently a group of Girl Guides poked there heads in to see what was there and what we were up to! Once out we headed for Jokers camp site to pitch our tents, then onto a pub in Castleton for dinner and an early night with the prospect of doing Oxlow in the morning.
Morning arrived and Joker had done a runner! Apparently his arms were a bit sore from yesterday so he had decided to take the day off. Wuss! Oxlow seemed less appealing with only two of us so after some consideration we set off; it looked like someone was there already as we drove past the lay-by so Root carried on down the road and pulled in by a farm - we were doing P8 instead.
I had heard all sorts of stories about this place and didn't know what to expect - I was not happy! Root describes it as a bit like Swildons with SRT and I had visions of huge vertical drops! Once inside though I was pleasantly surprised! Root tied off his new rope to a rock to use as an assist down (and up) some of the waterfalls and we descended into the cave. It was great fun! The pitches were nowhere near as bad as I thought they were going to be - all were easy take-offs and landings. I'd describe it as a cross between Swildons & Giants with some light SRT - I really enjoyed it! We got as far as a 30 foot pot (with steps - it looked sooo simple!) but we had ran out of rope by that point so had to turn back. We'll remember next time, and there will be a next time! Back to camp for a snooze then I headed home to miss the traffic jams on Monday. Root stayed another night and from what I read in his journal arrived home Monday afternoon.
A good weekend - Oxlow is still on my to-do list and having been to Derbyshire & back in a weekend I now know it can be done without being too knackered the following day. A good trip chaps!
