cap n chris
Well-known member
Here's a new thread for a New Year. Haven't been caving today (yet) so I've got nothing to put in it at the moment....
-
Descent 302 is published on 15 February and it will soon be on its way to our subscribers.
In the newsdesk, read a review of the underground events at Kendal Mountain Festival, plus tales of cannibalism and the Cavefish Asteroid.
In regional news, we have three new connections in Ogof Agen Allwedd, a report on the iron mines of Anjou, an extension to Big Sink Cave in the Forest of Dean, a new dig in Yorkshire's Marble Steps Pot, student parties, an obituary for Tony Boycott, a tight find in the Peak District and a discovery in County Kerry with extensive formations.
Online Log Book: 2006
- Thread starter cap n chris
- Start date
- Status
T
The Badger
Guest
Lionel's Round Trip with a slight deviation to look at potential of old Moody dig off Stick in the mud.
The sump requires further attention. It is reported to have been dived for 5m to an airbell yet I was able to reach into air space from Sump chamber....
The sump requires further attention. It is reported to have been dived for 5m to an airbell yet I was able to reach into air space from Sump chamber....
T
The Badger
Guest
Tuesday evening in Swildons.
After drinking much tea at 9pm we decided that if were going we ought to go. Managed to stay dry down to the sump which required a few interesting moves on route. After much water slinging and welly pouring we exited via the wet way so we were all as wet as each other - well all most.
:wink:
After drinking much tea at 9pm we decided that if were going we ought to go. Managed to stay dry down to the sump which required a few interesting moves on route. After much water slinging and welly pouring we exited via the wet way so we were all as wet as each other - well all most.
:wink:
cap n chris
Well-known member
Hi Mr. Badger... Happy New Year. Apart from you, which CHCC members went? :wink:
T
The Badger
Guest
....none. Last time I asked if anyone wanted to come out and play there were no takers. 
I havent met that many CHCC yet, just Dani. I'm sure I'll meet folks soon...
Looking forward to seeing the meets list, especially the dates for the trips I'm leading.
Mr B.
I havent met that many CHCC yet, just Dani. I'm sure I'll meet folks soon...
Looking forward to seeing the meets list, especially the dates for the trips I'm leading.
Mr B.
Andy Hebden
New member
Thursday 5th jan. St Cuthberts Swallet.
Chris Castle, Andy Hebden, Andy Morgan.
Morgs last trip before moving to Germany so thought we'd better make it a good one, and good it certainly was with Mr C taking us to view the sights of September seris.
For me the balcony in September chamber was the highlight of the trip, loads of beatiful and brilliantly white formations. September boulder ruckle was also fun, in a sporting kind of way.
A good trip followed by food and beer at the hunters
.
Chris Castle, Andy Hebden, Andy Morgan.
Morgs last trip before moving to Germany so thought we'd better make it a good one, and good it certainly was with Mr C taking us to view the sights of September seris.
For me the balcony in September chamber was the highlight of the trip, loads of beatiful and brilliantly white formations. September boulder ruckle was also fun, in a sporting kind of way.
A good trip followed by food and beer at the hunters
.Andy Hebden
New member
Saturday 7th Jan. Loxton Cavern.
Chris Binding, Andy Hebden and lots of others.
Me and Chris represented the club on a leader induction trip to the lost cave of loxton, or Loxton Cavern as its called now its been found!
The story of the cave is fantastic. It was found by miners in the eighteenth century, not finding any ochre or other minerals they took the stal away (lots of evidenvce of this) and the cave became lost. An early visitor to the cave was the Revd. Dr Catcott, he saw the place as evidence of the great flood and wrote detailed diary descriptions of it. From studying these still surrving descriptions the cave was rediscovered.
From a caving point of view their's a good variety of things to do, some squeezes (one especially tight one off of Glisson's Chamber), a pitch up to the original entrance, some upright walking, and a good ammount of crawling. But the real magic of the place lies in the evidence left by the early miners. Foot prints, a clay pipe, scratchings on the walls even a set of knee prints from which its possible to deduce that the miner who crawled through the mud over 200 years ago was wearing cordory trousers! The sense of history is positivly tangible!!
A fantastic cave. three cheers for Nick Richards and Nick Harding for finding the cave and roll on the BEC sorting the keys out so we can organise a club trip .
More details and photo's of the trip are given by mr binding on the mendip bit of this forum.
Chris Binding, Andy Hebden and lots of others.
Me and Chris represented the club on a leader induction trip to the lost cave of loxton, or Loxton Cavern as its called now its been found!
The story of the cave is fantastic. It was found by miners in the eighteenth century, not finding any ochre or other minerals they took the stal away (lots of evidenvce of this) and the cave became lost. An early visitor to the cave was the Revd. Dr Catcott, he saw the place as evidence of the great flood and wrote detailed diary descriptions of it. From studying these still surrving descriptions the cave was rediscovered.
From a caving point of view their's a good variety of things to do, some squeezes (one especially tight one off of Glisson's Chamber), a pitch up to the original entrance, some upright walking, and a good ammount of crawling. But the real magic of the place lies in the evidence left by the early miners. Foot prints, a clay pipe, scratchings on the walls even a set of knee prints from which its possible to deduce that the miner who crawled through the mud over 200 years ago was wearing cordory trousers! The sense of history is positivly tangible!!
A fantastic cave. three cheers for Nick Richards and Nick Harding for finding the cave and roll on the BEC sorting the keys out so we can organise a club trip
. More details and photo's of the trip are given by mr binding on the mendip bit of this forum.
T
The Badger
Guest
14th Jan - dropped Alum direct before breakfast!!! Had an unexpected vist from 'Elvis' on the second Y hang - derigged Dolly Tubs and off to Bernies.
22nd Jan - dived Llygad Llwchwr resurgence to 'dive base' in the mother of all flows, perhaps a tad too sporting but out for tea and medals without incident.
...maybe I should take up knitting.
22nd Jan - dived Llygad Llwchwr resurgence to 'dive base' in the mother of all flows, perhaps a tad too sporting but out for tea and medals without incident.
...maybe I should take up knitting.
Andy Sparrow
Active member
OFD Top Entrance 29th January 2006
Andy S, Mel, Steve Lodge, Liz Freeman and Dave Holmes.
This was an introductory trip intended for members unfamiliar with OFD. For Steve and Dave it was a first visit; for a Liz a second. We started off with a look at the big survey in SWCC to give an overview of the whole system. Ken and Andy P turned up on their own mission to visit Top waterfall; they walked up the hill with us and vanished into the cave while we were still kitting-up.
Planning The Route
We did our usual sit-down just inside to let the eyes adjust and I took the opportunity to plot the proposed route on a survey of the Top Entrance area. It was a busy day and a couple of other groups filed past before we finally set off. Steve took on the role of navigator and successfully led across the Big Chamber to the Mini Traverse.
The Mini-Traverse
A right turn from here took us along a pleasant sandy corridor to another junction, where turning left led us in to the top level of Arete Chamber. From here it was into the relatively unknown. If you study the survey you can see a passage leading over, and then connecting with, the Chasm. I had previously had a solo look at most of this but not followed it right through. It begins with an unusual feature or OFD – a long pool deep enough to fill your wellies. This can be traversed over, but not that easily which created a bit of entertainment.
Traversing The pool
Steve on the Three Metre Climb
Beyond the pool is an awkward 3 metre climb and then a walking size rift. The rift opens out at a cross-joint and to the left is an impressive gulf into the Chasm. From here it was on into unknown territory. The route continued as sideways walking in a pleasant winding canyon before emerging on a ledge about 3-4 metres above the floor of the Chasm.
Mel on the route to the Chasm
We descended using a handline and strolled on down to Salubrious Passage. A rather serious and sombre crowd of cavers were met here and we followed them down to the Trident. Liz and Mel decided to head back from here while the boys, being boys, went for a quick look at Selenite Tunnel.
I was really curious to see how Mel would get on finding her way back so we crept up behind the girls to monitor their progress. Mel missed the climb up first time but quickly realised she was wrong and corrected her mistake.
Mel and Liz
We caught the girls up by the ‘Wedding Cake' but Mel continued as route-finder and successfully led us to the surface without too much trouble. It had been a very pleasant amble round for just under 4 hours.
The Navigator Surfaces!
The Team
As we were driving away from SWCC Ken and Andy appeared so we arranged to meet up in the Copper Beech. They were not destined to join us there because their sat-nav took them in the wrong direction! We enjoyed a drinks and nibbles and a final look at the OFD master plan before going our separate ways.
Debrief!
Andy S, Mel, Steve Lodge, Liz Freeman and Dave Holmes.
This was an introductory trip intended for members unfamiliar with OFD. For Steve and Dave it was a first visit; for a Liz a second. We started off with a look at the big survey in SWCC to give an overview of the whole system. Ken and Andy P turned up on their own mission to visit Top waterfall; they walked up the hill with us and vanished into the cave while we were still kitting-up.
Planning The Route
We did our usual sit-down just inside to let the eyes adjust and I took the opportunity to plot the proposed route on a survey of the Top Entrance area. It was a busy day and a couple of other groups filed past before we finally set off. Steve took on the role of navigator and successfully led across the Big Chamber to the Mini Traverse.
The Mini-Traverse
A right turn from here took us along a pleasant sandy corridor to another junction, where turning left led us in to the top level of Arete Chamber. From here it was into the relatively unknown. If you study the survey you can see a passage leading over, and then connecting with, the Chasm. I had previously had a solo look at most of this but not followed it right through. It begins with an unusual feature or OFD – a long pool deep enough to fill your wellies. This can be traversed over, but not that easily which created a bit of entertainment.
Traversing The pool
Steve on the Three Metre Climb
Beyond the pool is an awkward 3 metre climb and then a walking size rift. The rift opens out at a cross-joint and to the left is an impressive gulf into the Chasm. From here it was on into unknown territory. The route continued as sideways walking in a pleasant winding canyon before emerging on a ledge about 3-4 metres above the floor of the Chasm.
Mel on the route to the Chasm
We descended using a handline and strolled on down to Salubrious Passage. A rather serious and sombre crowd of cavers were met here and we followed them down to the Trident. Liz and Mel decided to head back from here while the boys, being boys, went for a quick look at Selenite Tunnel.
I was really curious to see how Mel would get on finding her way back so we crept up behind the girls to monitor their progress. Mel missed the climb up first time but quickly realised she was wrong and corrected her mistake.
Mel and Liz
We caught the girls up by the ‘Wedding Cake' but Mel continued as route-finder and successfully led us to the surface without too much trouble. It had been a very pleasant amble round for just under 4 hours.
The Navigator Surfaces!
The Team
As we were driving away from SWCC Ken and Andy appeared so we arranged to meet up in the Copper Beech. They were not destined to join us there because their sat-nav took them in the wrong direction! We enjoyed a drinks and nibbles and a final look at the OFD master plan before going our separate ways.
Debrief!
Andy Hebden
New member
St Cuthberts - Rabbit Warren extension 1st feb.
Chris Castle, Andy Hebden and Sissel.
We entered the cave and followed the old route down to the top of the boulder chamber where at the impressivley large Kanchenjunga boulder we turned left to enter Upper Traverse Chamber and then High Chamber.
From High Chamber we went through September Squeeze then down a much tighter squeeze to gain the top of Cat Gut Rift.
From the far corner of the chamber at the end of Cat Gut Rift we made our way into some fine phreatic passage. A short diversion was made to spy the stream in continuation chamber, then we made our way on down to the vice.
We entered Chain chamber then into the Rabbit Warren from which we made our way up to the Railway Tunnel up Harem Passage and back into Upper Traverse Chamber. From here we re-traced the first part of the trip to the exit.
I think this is roughly the route we took!
A great trip to yet another part of this fascinating cave system, finishing at the hunters with food and beer.
andy h
Chris Castle, Andy Hebden and Sissel.
We entered the cave and followed the old route down to the top of the boulder chamber where at the impressivley large Kanchenjunga boulder we turned left to enter Upper Traverse Chamber and then High Chamber.
From High Chamber we went through September Squeeze then down a much tighter squeeze to gain the top of Cat Gut Rift.
From the far corner of the chamber at the end of Cat Gut Rift we made our way into some fine phreatic passage. A short diversion was made to spy the stream in continuation chamber, then we made our way on down to the vice.
We entered Chain chamber then into the Rabbit Warren from which we made our way up to the Railway Tunnel up Harem Passage and back into Upper Traverse Chamber. From here we re-traced the first part of the trip to the exit.
I think this is roughly the route we took!
A great trip to yet another part of this fascinating cave system, finishing at the hunters with food and beer.
andy h
cap n chris
Well-known member
GB Cavern, Sunday 22nd January 2006
Johnny, Keith, Gary, Andy, Sissel & Chris
An introductory trip to this magnificent cave for Johnny, Keith and Gary who had not visited it before; Andy was the trip leader and Chris just went along (to admire A's leadership style and occasionally wade in) after having lent out knees pads, belts and some other assorted items of gear.
L-R: J, K, A, S (G at rear)
An uneventful journey took us through the usual obstacles on the approach to the slightly more spacious chamber.
Johnny rattles through the cavernous tunnel crawl alongside the grotto
Allowing the newbies to enter this part of the cave first, as is the standard GB etiquette, we wended our way downstream around the various corners, admiring the place until we reached the bridge whereupon we set off crossing over and having a look-see at the helictites on the ledge before going up White Passage to continue oggling the pretties; the short slide into the loop route past the curtain....
And then down towards the Gallery whereupon we met Mr. S M with a bunch of KUCC students. Had a break at the marvellous viewpoint to take in the blackness of the gorge before continuing down to stream level, using the rope to assist on the somewhat awkward short climb to the streamway nearby ladder dig (which we would leave for another day). Allowing the others to visit the bitter bottom of the cave, I made for the waterfall accompanied by tackle bag and rope to rig it with a line for safety's sake and, on completion, the first caver made her way up. No sooner had the assembled gang arrived at the first stance, I set about doing the "out and over" manoeuvre holding the rope which for some strange reason had been untied from its belay by the intrepid S who apparently considered it superfluous. A short wait ensued while the rope was retied and then we could continue.
Gary approaching the gallery, standing aside a wall of flowstone.
We regain the bridge and make our way back out, with the newbies leading (to locate the route marking cairn) and assisting each other spotting etc.. All in all a very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon's trip.
Johnny, Keith, Gary, Andy, Sissel & Chris
An introductory trip to this magnificent cave for Johnny, Keith and Gary who had not visited it before; Andy was the trip leader and Chris just went along (to admire A's leadership style and occasionally wade in) after having lent out knees pads, belts and some other assorted items of gear.
L-R: J, K, A, S (G at rear)
An uneventful journey took us through the usual obstacles on the approach to the slightly more spacious chamber.
Johnny rattles through the cavernous tunnel crawl alongside the grotto
Allowing the newbies to enter this part of the cave first, as is the standard GB etiquette, we wended our way downstream around the various corners, admiring the place until we reached the bridge whereupon we set off crossing over and having a look-see at the helictites on the ledge before going up White Passage to continue oggling the pretties; the short slide into the loop route past the curtain....
And then down towards the Gallery whereupon we met Mr. S M with a bunch of KUCC students. Had a break at the marvellous viewpoint to take in the blackness of the gorge before continuing down to stream level, using the rope to assist on the somewhat awkward short climb to the streamway nearby ladder dig (which we would leave for another day). Allowing the others to visit the bitter bottom of the cave, I made for the waterfall accompanied by tackle bag and rope to rig it with a line for safety's sake and, on completion, the first caver made her way up. No sooner had the assembled gang arrived at the first stance, I set about doing the "out and over" manoeuvre holding the rope which for some strange reason had been untied from its belay by the intrepid S who apparently considered it superfluous. A short wait ensued while the rope was retied and then we could continue.
Gary approaching the gallery, standing aside a wall of flowstone.
We regain the bridge and make our way back out, with the newbies leading (to locate the route marking cairn) and assisting each other spotting etc.. All in all a very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon's trip.
cap n chris
Well-known member
Slaughter Stream Cave Trip, Saturday 11th February. I've put this under a separate heading for some strange reason so here's the link....
http://ukcaving.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=1789
http://ukcaving.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=1789
cap n chris
Well-known member
Shatter Cave, Sunday 19th February 2006
Andy C, Gary A, Danny B, Naomi D, Martin T and Chris B
Click link below for relevant soundtrack...
http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/themes/bennyhill.mp3
Twas horizontalish rainyest so the day-wise plan twas sensiblest groundunder whiling longtime. Meetings carparktime and changequick walkrunning. Keyeasy crawlnice. Martin also Danny photoexpertness. Andy, Gary and Naomi neverbefores so amazemently commongasps. Talkytwaddle guidenonsense I pointwalk. Danny snapclicking and Martin photocatching.
Caverpeeps rambleslow gawpdribbling
Erratic Passage soonreachy crawlhurting biglargeness gawpingblack Tor Chamber; crystalshiny stalforests curtainfactory. Drippiestplops waterwetness muchly moistrubbings. Moreshiniest. Pisa Passage flashgunner luminousness, sooner Angel Wing whitepurity lushygert. Ring Road climbscary trembleknees crawlystoop tapepathings. Crushcrawl wormliness poppingstand Pillar Chamber. Floorsparklings murmurs. Flashypops cameraflourish.
Hotbrows eyepopping wowshouts stalagmitefrenziness
Z-Bend contortingfun twistybirthings gaspingniceness morely flashbang. Staloverloadings, bouldersteppy; “Fabulousycavey!â€. Poppypics moreso. Steadyflow lookhearing sweatycool progressbits.
Eventualwhen crawlout upstand foulshiteweather runcar changequicker byeshout gofast. Fabgood againsoon.
Andy C, Gary A, Danny B, Naomi D, Martin T and Chris B
Click link below for relevant soundtrack...
http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/themes/bennyhill.mp3
Twas horizontalish rainyest so the day-wise plan twas sensiblest groundunder whiling longtime. Meetings carparktime and changequick walkrunning. Keyeasy crawlnice. Martin also Danny photoexpertness. Andy, Gary and Naomi neverbefores so amazemently commongasps. Talkytwaddle guidenonsense I pointwalk. Danny snapclicking and Martin photocatching.
Caverpeeps rambleslow gawpdribbling
Erratic Passage soonreachy crawlhurting biglargeness gawpingblack Tor Chamber; crystalshiny stalforests curtainfactory. Drippiestplops waterwetness muchly moistrubbings. Moreshiniest. Pisa Passage flashgunner luminousness, sooner Angel Wing whitepurity lushygert. Ring Road climbscary trembleknees crawlystoop tapepathings. Crushcrawl wormliness poppingstand Pillar Chamber. Floorsparklings murmurs. Flashypops cameraflourish.
Hotbrows eyepopping wowshouts stalagmitefrenziness
Z-Bend contortingfun twistybirthings gaspingniceness morely flashbang. Staloverloadings, bouldersteppy; “Fabulousycavey!â€. Poppypics moreso. Steadyflow lookhearing sweatycool progressbits.
Eventualwhen crawlout upstand foulshiteweather runcar changequicker byeshout gofast. Fabgood againsoon.
Andy Sparrow
Active member
It's an age thing isn't it? You either recognise the unique dialect or just think Chris is burbling nonsense.
cap n chris
Well-known member
It's not one or the other. It's just the other. I was totally burbling nonsense the whole time; there's no doubting it. It's true. I specialise in nonsense.
Andy Sparrow
Active member
Anyone confused by this exchange should probably visit...
http://www.stanleyunwin.com/
http://www.stanleyunwin.com/
cap n chris
Well-known member
Chris Castle, Matt Blount and Chris Binding; just a short trip to visit Lloyd Hall - a first trip there for Matt B. This last minute, emailed, trip was not fantastically attended but what do we care? - it made life easier and quicker for those who were able to make it. A VERY COLD day meant it was a case of change before turning into an ice block at 10:00am. A very straightforward journey made more entertaining by Castle forgetting the hanger for the deviation and saying something like "F**k I've forgotten (insert object here)".
Anyho, Castle rigs the descent for SRT and although I take my gear I decide it would be nicer to guide Matt along the somewhat daunting traverse, alternative, route. We use a length of rope to install a traverse protection line and, if I am allowed an opinion, the ladder has seen better days and it is perhaps wise to spread the load across more than one rung when using it. Safely down we meet Castle on the divers' platform for a quick history of the chamber. Twentieth anniversary of its discovery this year (perhaps a new ladder to match the new hauling pulley will be on Santa's list? - no, probably not).
On hearing from Castle that he was unable to rig the deviation entirely satisfactorily "There's a bit of a rub point on the pitch", I decided to chicken out (sorry, valliantly stand down) and return the way I came, with Matt B. All done, we greet Castle at the pitch head as he makes his way up amid no puffing whatsoever, honest.
Back to the showcave, we emerge in front of a tourist couple; Castle emerges to my asking whether he remembered to collect his car keys, "F**k it, I knew I'd forget them....!", was his considered response; we apologise on his behalf to the startled woman before heading out.
Anyho, Castle rigs the descent for SRT and although I take my gear I decide it would be nicer to guide Matt along the somewhat daunting traverse, alternative, route. We use a length of rope to install a traverse protection line and, if I am allowed an opinion, the ladder has seen better days and it is perhaps wise to spread the load across more than one rung when using it. Safely down we meet Castle on the divers' platform for a quick history of the chamber. Twentieth anniversary of its discovery this year (perhaps a new ladder to match the new hauling pulley will be on Santa's list? - no, probably not).
On hearing from Castle that he was unable to rig the deviation entirely satisfactorily "There's a bit of a rub point on the pitch", I decided to chicken out (sorry, valliantly stand down) and return the way I came, with Matt B. All done, we greet Castle at the pitch head as he makes his way up amid no puffing whatsoever, honest.
Back to the showcave, we emerge in front of a tourist couple; Castle emerges to my asking whether he remembered to collect his car keys, "F**k it, I knew I'd forget them....!", was his considered response; we apologise on his behalf to the startled woman before heading out.
cap n chris
Well-known member
Sunday 12th Marchio, 06.
Gary A, Judi D, Andy H, Chris B: 2hrs, 20m
We met on the blizzard-like deserted plateau of high Mendip in a white-out with a minus thirty wind chill and adorned ourselves with a variety of caving regalia in the sublime hostility which met us - we laughed at the weather's puny attempts to deter us from our mission... namely to take Gary into the soaring depths and show him the ropes, so to speak (am I mixing my metaphors?) `cos he ain't never not done the twenty before, like.
A quick dash to the cave saw us slide into the dark moistness and make steady progress after having elected Gary as the leader, poking him vigorously with a pointy stick from time to time while simultaneously shouting "giddy-up"; occasionally he would yelp.
Within moments, he had capably led us to the twenty wherupon in a flash of expertness I managed to rig a passable ladder and line while the astonished onlookers gawped at my ropey antics. Each caver descended without ado and I leapt into the abyss, bouncing and prancing off the walls like Tigger until coming to a gentle repose onto a small poised rock where I found myself stood beside t'others. The psychotropic effects of the anhalonium lewinii were just beginning to kick in with a vengeance so I considered saving my special bundle of waterproofed amanita muscaria for later on.... the others would never notice, I wrongly supposed.
Gary ably followed the only route downstream until we took the high road to Barney-the-Barnes'-Fruitloop-route and stared at the walls giggling like children who have invented a new swear word. Onwards we trudged taking it in turns to sharpen the pointy stick with scalpel-like fossils jutting from the cavern's walls, shortly after which the synchronised screaming began. Gouging some mud from a crevice in the wall, I rolled it into a couple of small marble-sized balls and gently squeezed them into both ears, to act as a baffle from the agonised noises emanating from our leader as each thrust of the sharp branch pierced his lower thigh. Judi wouldn't stop violently throwing stones at everyone while Andy was mostly silent, this continued throughout the trip apart from when he intermittently shouted "Yeast, yeast, yeast!" at imaginary sheep he kept claiming were following us.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et Warmbac dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi torn backside ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
At this point strange things started to occur. A small horde of stunted green twig-wielding leeches were gaining on us as we stumbled and cursed our way between the ever-narrowing walls of a heinously steep rift, beckoning us towards a dark hell of our most fevered imaginings. An increasing reverberation of low frequency booming clamoured for our attention as we zig-zagged ever more frantically to escape the horrifying leech mob.
Gasping, we turned a corner and a bright light instantly blinded us, forcing us to stand blinking, blinking, blinking; tears welled in our eyes and all fell silent. The horror of our predicament was immediately overturned into a graceful solace and our heart beats became as gentle ripples on a becalmed pond during a cool spring morning. Seizing the opportunity while everyone was temporarily unable to focus and see what was happening, I quickly guzzled a handful of my most potent mushrooms, quietly swallowing them so that no-one else tried to grab a greedy fistful. After all, I had made the effort to find them, dry them out and bring them along, so sod the lot of them, I thought.
From this point onwards, things took a turn for the worse and, from my viewpoint at least, the trip began to slide into a chaotic kaleidoscope of nightmarish visions interspersed with a seemingly random array of sounds, emotions and smells. :shock: I vaguely recall being slapped over and over again around my face and neck while people were shouting "Shut the f*** up, you tosser"; apparently I had been incessantly singing this tune which I had remembered from my youth....
http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/themes/kiaora.mp3
I think someone else should take over the trip description on my behalf....
Gary A, Judi D, Andy H, Chris B: 2hrs, 20m
We met on the blizzard-like deserted plateau of high Mendip in a white-out with a minus thirty wind chill and adorned ourselves with a variety of caving regalia in the sublime hostility which met us - we laughed at the weather's puny attempts to deter us from our mission... namely to take Gary into the soaring depths and show him the ropes, so to speak (am I mixing my metaphors?) `cos he ain't never not done the twenty before, like.
A quick dash to the cave saw us slide into the dark moistness and make steady progress after having elected Gary as the leader, poking him vigorously with a pointy stick from time to time while simultaneously shouting "giddy-up"; occasionally he would yelp.
Within moments, he had capably led us to the twenty wherupon in a flash of expertness I managed to rig a passable ladder and line while the astonished onlookers gawped at my ropey antics. Each caver descended without ado and I leapt into the abyss, bouncing and prancing off the walls like Tigger until coming to a gentle repose onto a small poised rock where I found myself stood beside t'others. The psychotropic effects of the anhalonium lewinii were just beginning to kick in with a vengeance so I considered saving my special bundle of waterproofed amanita muscaria for later on.... the others would never notice, I wrongly supposed.
Gary ably followed the only route downstream until we took the high road to Barney-the-Barnes'-Fruitloop-route and stared at the walls giggling like children who have invented a new swear word. Onwards we trudged taking it in turns to sharpen the pointy stick with scalpel-like fossils jutting from the cavern's walls, shortly after which the synchronised screaming began. Gouging some mud from a crevice in the wall, I rolled it into a couple of small marble-sized balls and gently squeezed them into both ears, to act as a baffle from the agonised noises emanating from our leader as each thrust of the sharp branch pierced his lower thigh. Judi wouldn't stop violently throwing stones at everyone while Andy was mostly silent, this continued throughout the trip apart from when he intermittently shouted "Yeast, yeast, yeast!" at imaginary sheep he kept claiming were following us.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et Warmbac dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi torn backside ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
At this point strange things started to occur. A small horde of stunted green twig-wielding leeches were gaining on us as we stumbled and cursed our way between the ever-narrowing walls of a heinously steep rift, beckoning us towards a dark hell of our most fevered imaginings. An increasing reverberation of low frequency booming clamoured for our attention as we zig-zagged ever more frantically to escape the horrifying leech mob.
Gasping, we turned a corner and a bright light instantly blinded us, forcing us to stand blinking, blinking, blinking; tears welled in our eyes and all fell silent. The horror of our predicament was immediately overturned into a graceful solace and our heart beats became as gentle ripples on a becalmed pond during a cool spring morning. Seizing the opportunity while everyone was temporarily unable to focus and see what was happening, I quickly guzzled a handful of my most potent mushrooms, quietly swallowing them so that no-one else tried to grab a greedy fistful. After all, I had made the effort to find them, dry them out and bring them along, so sod the lot of them, I thought.
From this point onwards, things took a turn for the worse and, from my viewpoint at least, the trip began to slide into a chaotic kaleidoscope of nightmarish visions interspersed with a seemingly random array of sounds, emotions and smells. :shock: I vaguely recall being slapped over and over again around my face and neck while people were shouting "Shut the f*** up, you tosser"; apparently I had been incessantly singing this tune which I had remembered from my youth....
http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/themes/kiaora.mp3
I think someone else should take over the trip description on my behalf....
Judi Durber
Member
Chris, I think you where on a different trip to me ... the tune I kept hearing was 'Foggy Dew' and I told you not to tell anyone about the mud wrestling
W
wallop
Guest
Maybe going to have a look at vicrage passage at some point if anyone is interested. Also did the club do the trip to Manor Farm on Saturday?
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