Hello & I'm visiting the UK from the US....

[darwen dave]

If you fancy some Yorkshire caving, Northern Rail do a fairly regular service from Leeds to Carlisle. If you got off at Horton in Ribblesdale or Ribblehead you would be in caving country.

http://www.northernrail.org/travel/timetables

If you need company, PM me.

 

[Les W]

12th November is Wells carnival in the evening. This is a fabulous flood lit procession. If you are able to get to Mendip before about 6pm you will be amazed by this.

http://www.somersetcarnivals.co.uk/

 

[Allan]

Hi

Ignore these Mendip types, they will tell you anything, where you need to visit is South Wales, where we have a good selection of long and impressive caves.

 

[Les W]

Hi Allan,
There is no point in arguing with a region that has rather carelessly lost about 30m of elevation off of their deepest cave.  :tease:

 

[Elaine]

Ok then 12th is Swildons followed by Wells carnival. 13th is GB followed by the Hunters.

Can I come if it is evening? I want to meet someone who says "ya'all" !

 

[Amy]

Ignore these Mendip types, they will tell you anything, where you need to visit is South Wales, where we have a good selection of long and impressive caves.

Hehe well we'll see, it might be possible for me to swing over there. I've never been to Wales!

Ok then 12th is Swildons followed by Wells carnival. 13th is GB followed by the Hunters.

Can I come if it is evening? I want to meet someone who says "ya'all" !

Aww I'd love to meet you too! I really don't *say* ya'all that much though, I tend to type it more than I say it. I shall attempt to remember to use it just for you though! Actually, last year when I was over there, all the guys loved my faux soft Southern accent. Apparently it is "very sexy" (i quote)  (I'm from the Midwest, we speak Proper English here! teehee)

 

[Amy]

FLIGHT IS BOOKED!
I arrive Thursday the 11th in the morning, and leave Wednesday the 24th.

So...can we get some "be where when" dates set so I can book trains to get to where I need to go in advance?

13/14/15 Mendip? (Isn't this where the 5 pound/night cabin is too?)

head up towards Edinburgh, maybe 17/18th?

Leeds on the 20th for Thoughtbubble, so maybe 20/21/22 there and...Yorkshire Dales, right? (anywhere I can stay cheap? i don't mind couches >_> i don't make messes and I am rarely hungry so I eat very little! Well, caving makes me hungry I guess. Haha)

I do have Skype (amysrabbitranch is my username) so if chattin' on the "phone" is easier for people, that's quite fine, or I can pm my cell number, US cell numbers are landlocked so it's still only like 2 cents/min on Skype to call them just like a landline overseas would be.

 

[whitelackington]

I'm sure we can sort you some classic Mendip stuff that weekend. You can stay at our Club hut. 

Yers, if you ask Les nicely i am sure he would take on a classic Mendip trip into Beastwater.

 

[Amy]

I'm sure we can sort you some classic Mendip stuff that weekend. You can stay at our Club hut. 

Yers, if you ask Les nicely i am sure he would take on a classic Mendip trip into Beastwater.

That is an EPIC Name. <3 it! Sounds wet and fun! (I assume horizontal, too!) MUST DO THIS!

 

[estelle]

13/14/15 Mendip? (Isn't this where the 5 pound/night cabin is too?)

most UK caving huts are around this price for guests. 

 

[Amy]

I'm sure we can sort you some classic Mendip stuff that weekend. You can stay at our Club hut. 

Yers, if you ask Les nicely i am sure he would take on a classic Mendip trip into Beastwater.

That is an EPIC Name. <3 it! Sounds wet and fun! (I assume horizontal, too!) MUST DO THIS!

Umm so I put Beastwater in the search here....apparently it is nickname for Eastwater? And I looked at the trip reports andphotos here of it...uhhh. Hmm. I freak out with exposed climbs, and I'm seeing stuff with ladders and ropes even. Actually, being on belay would be easier than a simple exposed climb for me, but y'all do realize I have no training in any of that? And reading the reports...what the hell is "bridging" and such? I don' tknow what those techniques are. So...I worry about my ability inside that cave. Although, it seems to have a lot of story to it, so if there is stuff in there I *can* do (maybe I'm just reading about side passages of this and that) I'm up for it

 

[Les W]

Hi Amy,
Don't worry about Eastwater, I won't be going there. 
I recommend Swildon's Hole and GB Cave (Largest chamber in Britain  ) for classic trips on Mendip. 

How are you travelling our way? Hire car? Public transport?
Will you arrive during the day on Friday?
I am working during the day on Friday but we can cave in the evening.

The Wessex hut is well appointed and is ?5 per night for guests.

See you on Mendip in November. 

 

[Elaine]

Don't worry Amy - I expect you'll be taken down Swildons. A lot of people do Swildons as their first cave, so you can have a good trip in there which is not technically difficult. But it is nicely impressive.

'Bridging' means having one leg on one side of a gap and the other leg on the other side! Eastwater has a 'bold step' which isn't that bad if there is someone the other side prepared to give you a hand. I am sure I have got the longest legs on Mendip and I hate bold steps as they are scarily committing!

Post again if you have had no offers. Otherwise I will assume you are sorted.

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Have a good time Amy in the UK. How much warm caving gear are you bringing? You will need a undersuit, oversuit and waterproof footwear. The average cave air temp will be about 48 deg F and the water about 38 deg F. In fact if you're going to Edinburgh in mid-November how much warm clothing are you bringing? If it rained in August when you visited you can expect colder , wetter and more horizontal rain in November.

The TSG has a hut (a converted old chapel) in Castleton, Derbyshire which is a very atmospheric village with its Norman Castle, old pubs, and tourist caves (x 4). This is the only hut easily reached using public transport as it's in the village, round the corner from the bus station. You can even have a touch of luxury with a Jacuzzi and Champagne room in a couple of the pubs if you've had enough of caving huts. A good "tourist" caving trip in Peak Cavern (actually in the village below the castle, round the other corner from the TSG hut)  is horizontal with a short fixed ladder and you will find the entrance both awe-inspiring and historic (people lived there in medieval times and rope-making was carried out there last century). You will need to "speak" to someone at TSG to get on one of these. Peak Cavern has reverted to its pre-Victorian name of the Devil's Arse for the tourist trade.

Castleton Christmas lights switch on Saturday November 20th and there will be a choral concert in the entrance  of Peak Cavern- which seats 500 folk for these concerts - they hold Christmas Carol concerts there in December. There are a number of pubs offering food & drink in the village and a weekends only fish & chip shop.

Sheffield - Leeds about one hour by road/rail.
Sheffield - London 2 - 3 hours by road/rail.
Sheffield - Castleton about 30 mins by road/rail

This site is useful for all aspects of Derbyshire caving info - http://www.hitchnhike.co.uk/

Wishing you a safe journey and a good stay in the UK.

 

[mrodoc]

If Mendip was bidding for the Olympics it would win hands down. Perhaps the Mendip contingent are faster off the blocks than the Northerners as I would have thought the contingent near Leeds would have been keen to promote the vast number of horizontal cave systems in the Dales.  I see nobody has promoted the joys of Devonian caving

 

[Les W]

the joys of Devonian caving

An oxymoron surely.  :-\

 

[Mrs Trellis]

If Mendip was bidding for the Olympics it would win hands down. Perhaps the Mendip contingent are faster off the blocks than the Northerners

That's because they've nowt else to do - certainly nothing to discover on the scale of ..er.. titan for example. Just how many St. Paul's Cathedrals can GB accommodate? Titan can accommodate several areas the size of wales.

 

[Amy]

Hi Amy,
Don't worry about Eastwater, I won't be going there. 
I recommend Swildon's Hole and GB Cave (Largest chamber in Britain  ) for classic trips on Mendip. 

How are you travelling our way? Hire car? Public transport?
Will you arrive during the day on Friday?
I am working during the day on Friday but we can cave in the evening.

The Wessex hut is well appointed and is ?5 per night for guests.

See you on Mendip in November. 

Hehe ok so it was a joke I take it. Sorry, hard to know not knowing the caves! haha
Public transport is the way I did it last year, seemed to work fine. I got pretty good at the tube and rail systems
My flight gets in morning on Thursday and I'm staying with some family in London...I can kinda come/go as I wish. I'd be up for late Friday caving. I know it's dark at night, but I hear lights cure that. 

As far as gear...hmmm well we must use different stuff ha. Undersuit oversuit waterproof footwear?
Up here av cave temp is probably around 45f as well, down south it's closer to 60f.
I've always caved in pants/longsleeveshirt/warm jacket (all poly) and I wear my Vibram 5 finger shoes with socks (also poly). I plan on bringing my clothes as well as gear (gloves, kneepads, helmet, light, backup light, extra batteries, water bottle, camera...snacks...etc in my pack) it really doesn't take up much space. I use this clothing in the Hendrie River Water Cave here up north...water temps and cave temps about what you quoted. I was just in there for four hours today...feet *started* to get cold (basically, waiting for people, we had a group of geology students we were taking through, standing in cold water not moving at all does get cold after a while!) but I've always been perfectly fine with the setup. I HATE HATE HATE coveralls (I'm thinking coveralls = oversuit) they are so restricting. I've never tried on a pair that didn't kill my mobility. I'm not the strongest so I use agility and flexibility. I've never found coveralls that will let me keep my range of mobility, and I'm not claustrophobic at all but what I have noticed is I do get claustrophobic when I'm restricted in open space. Like, in coveralls that I can't have full movement range in when I'm standing in an open room. Mummy sleeping bags suck too for the same reason.

Oh hey just have a photo, this is what I wear and it's done well from dry warm caves (i'll just take the jacket off if I get too hot) to cold wet caves. I'm uh, the only girl in the photo.

 

[SamT]

Hmm- the problem with wearing 2 piece clothes - i.e. top & bottoms is that your pants can get pulled down/off when squirming through squeezes or your top pulled up over your head when dropping feet first down through slots.

Guess everyone else gets to enjoy the view though 

 

[Amy]

Hmm- the problem with wearing 2 piece clothes - i.e. top & bottoms is that your pants can get pulled down/off when squirming through squeezes or your top pulled up over your head when dropping feet first down through slots.

Guess everyone else gets to enjoy the view though 

Heh yeah that happened in the corkscrew and z-crawl in Pettijohn recently haha. You can probably guess by their names, but the corkscrew is on about a 45 deg. angle upwards and it's tight belly crawl with rocks jutting out into it so you have to spin your body as you go through, then there is a small spot to sit up and grab a breath if you want, then is the z-crawl, which is a backwards z actually, but it has two sharp bends like...a z...that you zigzag through. I did loose the pants a bit. Underwear never has been lost though...in fact it was commented how my underwear coordinated well with my gear  I dunno how it is there, but here it's common after caving to change to clean dry clothes right away when we get back to the car, so there are chances to see nakidity anyway but usually people are polite to not stare and busy enough changing themselves. Haha. Oh and I just recently learned if you see buttcrack you just yell "Pencil Holder!"  it's kinda funny though. I guess I just don't care if something ends up showing briefly. Heck, in Tumbling Rock there is a side loop full of chest-deep water, I didn't do it because, well, for one I had a migraine and was feeling horrible and also because it was a good idea to just strip down so your clothes stayed drier. Guys were down to boxers and girls left pants on sometimes, but were in sports bras and jazz. I knew my undies were cotton at the time though as well, didn't want to get them soaked. That lead to a search for a good sports bra and some short-like underwear that was poly so should the chance arise again (which, my friends and I are doing that cave again in January) I could join in.