Good beginners cave - Bristol / Bath area ?

[whitelackington]

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.

Newcastle caver "Try Thorn's Gill - went in a few months ago there was a mangled sheep about halfway in - had no head.
A couple of years ago we went to go in Marble Steps, bloated sheep propped up against first "P" bolt, we tossed it over the edge, a spiral of maggots spewed out of it, like a catherine wheel, ghastly.
We then withdrew and entered by the other route.

 

[cap n chris]

Jobbies in Goatchurch Drainpipe
etc.

.... eh!? How on earth can you curl out a Tasmanian in the Drainpipe in Goatchurch?....

 

[Les W]

No one knows how  except perhaps the perpetrator, however it happened.

There was also a puddle of something nasty after the drainpipe in the first large(er) bit of the flat out crawl leading to the dexion extensions

 

[twiglet]

Personally I think Goatchurch is not ideal as it has been so heavily used by youth groups that is as slippery as an ice rink! Rods pot is probly better but remember to lifeline the novice accross the top of the pitch.

 

[cap n chris]

Personally I think Goatchurch is not ideal as it has been so heavily used by youth groups that is as slippery as an ice rink! Rods pot is probly better but remember to lifeline the novice accross the top of the pitch.

Surely the fact that it's so slippery, as a direct result of massive use by beginners' groups, proves that it is ideal as a beginners cave?!....

Also I'd be keen to hear more about lining in Rod's Pot - where do you belay, how do you attach novices etc.. - i.e. do you establish a traverse line and have them clip on using cowstails etc.?

 

[graham]

Personally I think Goatchurch is not ideal as it has been so heavily used by youth groups that is as slippery as an ice rink! Rods pot is probly better but remember to lifeline the novice accross the top of the pitch.

yeah, so having ruined that cave let's move on and recommend we ruin another one ...

 

[cap n chris]

Poor Twiglet seems to be getting in the neck and has only just arrived!

We're not getting at you personally, Twiglet! 

 

[Peter Burgess]

We all accept that Goatchurch has lost its virginity. But is it 'ruined'? If we accept the cave for what it is, a heavily used and abused underground site, then it still has a lot to offer the beginner. Small challenges, climbs, squeezes, crawls, and so on. As a beginners' cave it is great - I wish there were more like it, to add some variety to novice trips. And, for youngsters, it is FUN. And surely to make an activity fun is going to encourage them to take it seriously in the longer term. If we were to lose Goatchurch, the pressure would be put onto other sites to become as popular, and that would be a shame.

 

[whitelackington]

Personally I think Goatchurch is not ideal as it has been so heavily used by youth groups that is as slippery as an ice rink! Rods pot is probly better but remember to lifeline the novice accross the top of the pitch.

:alien:
What about smothering their hands with "Gecko Glue?"

 

[cap n chris]

We all accept that Goatchurch has lost its virginity. But is it 'ruined'? If we accept the cave far what it is, a heavily used and abused underground site, then it still has a lot to offer the beginner. Small challenges, climbs, squeezes, crawls, and so on. As a beginners' cave it is great - I wish there were more like it, to add some variety to novice trips. And, for youngsters, it is FUN. And surely to make an activity fun is going to encourage them to take it seriously in the longer term. If we were to lose Goatchurch, the pressure would be put onto other sites to become as popular, and that would be a shame.

Well put, Peter. When mentioning conservation to cavers visiting Goatchurch it is easy to make a point about why we need to look after caves - Goatchurch has much wear and tear on show but there are still plenty of formations worth looking after nonetheless.

See pics of Goatchurch in:
http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php/topic,2228.0.html

My personal view (and hopefully that of many others) is that Goatchurch Cavern is THE ideal beginners cave, containing as it does obstacles of enjoyable simplicity ranging up to those which even experienced and seasoned cavers would find challenging (if they got off their pedestals and bothered to revisit this marvellous cave)! (All IMHO, of course).

 

[graham]

Poor Twiglet seems to be getting in the neck and has only just arrived!

We're not getting at you personally, Twiglet! 

Correct, sorry if I gave the wrong impression, there.  :halo:

 

[whitelackington]

Tyning's Barrows Swallet is a good Mendip beginners cave.

You can't get lost
it is not too tight
it is not too wet
only very small pitches
but quite deep and a fair way from entrance to the bottom :

 

[andymorgan]

obstacles of enjoyable simplicity ranging up to those which even experienced and seasoned cavers would find challenging (if they got off their pedestals and bothered to revisit this marvellous cave)! (All IMHO, of course).

Which bits are challenging?

 

[andymorgan]

Tyning's Barrows Swallet is a good Mendip beginners cave.

You can't get lost

Heb in our club got lost on the way back from the sump as he went up Drunken Horse Inlet, causing a bit of concern to Capn Chris and myself as we wondered where the hell he was!

 

[whitelackington]

Well O.K. I'll give you that one, did he actually get into Mountbatten chamber?
Bit of a doddgy place, not a chamber for beginners but fine up Drunken horse as far as that.
Last time or time before in Mountbatten chamber, I was last out, just as i had carefully extacated myself a fairly lagre slab dropped, just where my foot had been.
Rest of cave fine for beginners though. :halo:

 

[Peter Burgess]

What have the Romans ever done for us? Apart from .......

 

[whitelackington]

Well The Romans may have started our latest dig, was called limekiln dig but some knowall from the Wesex claimed there already was one,
so we have renamed it Roman Rift/Rake.
Apparently the romans stopped digging in about ad 150
so might actually be Mendips oldest dig!!!!!!!

 

[cap n chris]

Rest of cave fine for beginners though. :halo:

So how do you organise your belay/lifeline on the second part of the ladder to assist a tired newbie on their way out?

How do you protect the bolt step over the Aardvark Trap?

How do you rig your assisted line/line/ladder for Pyramid Pot?

How do you spot your newbie in the calcited traverse?

How are newbies expected to deal with the frequent poor air problems here?

 

[Les W]

Rest of cave fine for beginners though. :halo:

So how do you organise your belay/lifeline on the second part of the ladder to assist a tired newbie on their way out?

How do you protect the bolt step over the Aardvark Trap?

How do you rig your assisted line/line/ladder for Pyramid Pot?

How do you spot your newbie in the calcited traverse?

How are newbies expected to deal with the frequent poor air problems here?

...but apart from that ok? 
(quote from Fawlty Towers - "The Health Inspector" - Just in case you didn't recognise it )

 

[whitelackington]

I have heard that The M.C.G. use to train newbies on ladders, wait for it, in Cow hole