Good beginners cave - Bristol / Bath area ?

[bubba]

Can anyone recommend a good cave to take a novice down in this area. He has previously been into Goatchurch with a candle :shock: and I'd like to show him how things should really be done before he kills himself.

Is Goatchurch a good venue? Anything else in the area - preferably nothing super-tight and minimal srt.

It'll also be my first cave in the area so something interesting would be nice.

 

[bubba]

Helloooo! Anyone there from Mendip

Please let me know, even if you can't be bothered registering for the board, you could drop us a mail.....

 

[puppet]

I decamped from the field outside Priddy's cafe when I had the invitation obtained from anyone in the Wessex club and soon after I was thrilled to enter my first cave in this UK. Actually i was treated to another next day and equal for magnificence. The first was GB and later Swildon's. I don't know the rating ratios but within ten of difficulty i remember them as being 3 and 7 ( less to most ). Swildon's hole is a challenge to stamina when you leave from the bottom and it is very enticing that far. No SRT required, only one ladder. GB is cavernous. My guides were Nigel Graham and Tav. I hope you meet one of them.
Bye, regards..kevin

 

[bubba]

No SRT required, only one ladder.

Cheers for that info - how big is the ladder pitch and is it natural belays, p-bolts or hangers?

What's the free-dive of sump 1 in Swildons like? Would this be a bad idea without having wetsuits?

 

[bubba]

Well, we decide to have a look in Swildon's and was surprised to find it firstly quite dry, and secondly almost empty - met a couple of other parties near the entrance but that was all. All in all, a great trip in a really nice cave. I'll do a better trip-report but I really liked the place - I'd love to see the main streamway with a lot more water in it, and to explore a little.

I found Sump 1 quite intimidating (only my second free dive to speak of) but very exhilerating. Geoff, my companion and a complete novice did himself proud by following me through - here's a couple of sump 1 from other websites:

Respect to those who free-dive the other sumps down there - I don't think I'll be doing that in a hurry!

 

[bubba]

Here's my full trip report:

http://www.eldon.org.uk/reports.html#Swildon2003

 

[whitelackington]

You could try Manor Farm Swallet, none of it is tight, you can either ladder or s.r.t. it, all easy, cave mostly walking size or bigger, some good false floors/stal/streamway.
You can't get lost and for mendip, it is quite deep.

 

[cap n chris]

Manor Farm Swallet - ah, yes, a suitable candidate for a beginners' caving experience, along with St. Cuthbert's Swallet, Longwood August, Thrupe Lane Swallet and Rhino Rift. I remember them well, doing all four in one day when I were a novice. 

 

[cap n chris]

I was thrilled to enter my first cave in this UK.  The first was GB and later Swildon's. My guides were Nigel Graham and Tav.

And there was I thinking that it was off limits to introduce people to caving in GB.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Eh? Puppet (i.e. "Kevin") may not have been a novice when he went to G.B. The wording of his posts have the 'flavour' of someone from outside the UK, and the post you quoted says it was his first UK cave, not his first cave. So perhaps he wasn't a novice. We can't start accusing people of doing naughty things without good evidence, now can we?

And how come this old thread has come back from the dead after 3 years? Just curious.

 

[wormster]

Rod's pot, then goatchurch followed by a squirt round Swildons. that was my first intro, really good fun

 

[mole02]

Just read your trip report followed by the one by Jim Thompson of Nettle pot. He was disgusted to find the carbide dump, but then proceeded to 'roll a fag'!
When are you smokers going to realise what a disgusting and possibly harmful thing this is to do in a cave?

 

[Peter Burgess]

When are you smokers going to realise what a disgusting and possibly harmful thing this is to do in a cave?

Sounds like a subject for a new thread.

 

[cap n chris]

harmful thing this is to do in a cave

.... using explosives?

No, seriously, I am a great disliker of smoking underground; in fact, I even gave up smoking to increase my caving ability.

 

[whitelackington]

Caving is disgusting
Nearly all people I cave with these days won't let people who smoke, smoke with them underground.
Surely any desparate smokers can wait till after the reach the surface

 

[Les W]

Caving is disgusting

Surely you meant to type "Smoking is disgusting" 

However, you may be right:-
Cowsh avens
Cowsh crawl
Sh*t sump
Manor farm (in the summer)
Stoke Lane sump 1 (often has "stuff " floating on /in it)
Various parts of dead sheep in various 'oles
dead rabbits - see other thread
Jobbies in Goatchurch Drainpipe
etc.

 

[whitelackington]

Yes Les, I really messed  that posting.
Of course caving can be disgusting, as could many activities
but u r right Smoking is DISCUSTING but especially when combined with caving.

 

[Slug]

If I might just play "Devils Advocate" for a bit.
  Many years ago I was caving up in Yorkshire, and, was quite shocked when the "Tykes" all stopped for a fag break. Imagine My (Our) surprise when the smoke, rather than choking us all, rapidly vanished through a small crevice  :-\. More puffing and blowing then revealed where it was going. A frantic half hour of poking and prodding led to a bigger crevice. We all returned the next day with more tackle and ended up with 80+ feet of passage culminating in a nicely decorated grotto .

I don't condone smoking underground,and I don't do it, even though I'm a smoker.
But, had we not stopped for that fag break, We wouldn't have found what We did, and compared to some of the chemical testing smoke devices fag smoke is less nasty.

As for the original thread, Bubba, why not ask the BEC if You can have a look in Rose Cottage. 15 yards from the Belfry, minimal ladders (8' at the entrance) and, as its an ongoing Dig, Who knows You might be the one who finds those elusive " Caverns Measureless to Man"

 

[whitelackington]

Manor Farm Swallet - ah, yes, a suitable candidate for a beginners' caving experience, along with St. Cuthbert's Swallet, Longwood August, Thrupe Lane Swallet and Rhino Rift. I remember them well, doing all four in one day when I were a novice. 

Hi Captain, when you were a novice could you count, I make it five caves you did in one day 8)

 

[cap n chris]

Yes, that's right. Six caves.
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