Online Logbook 2008

[Sumpy]

Aveline's Hole, Goatchurch Cavern and Trat's Crack?
Wednesday 27th Feb 2008
Chris L, Dani G, Lucy, Steve P, Trisha, Sumpy and Lucy's Guest Geoff.

We met at the car park got changed and made our way to Aveline's, that's another A done! Then walked up to Goatchurch. went in and followed the normal route down to the Water Chamber via Jacobs Ladder, there we met another party of 10 playing around in some of the smaller hole so we decided to head down to the Drainpipe. We explained to Geoff what lay ahead and he was up for it so all seven of of crawled through. Next we found that the group of 10 had dropped to eight but was following us down the drainpipe,we waited for half an hour for all of them to get through to make 15 of us in the chamber, nice and cosy. Back out to the Water chamber and a few dropped down to the small waterfall chamber. We then clambered back out, Lucy going back up Jacobs Ladder, and then all out of the tradesman's entrance. From here we walked back down to the road and checked the map to try and find Foxes Hole. we all traipsed up the road spent 15mins deciding it was a waist of time trying to find it in the dark so turned around a walked back to the cars. On the way back Dani spotted a foot path which lead up to Trat's Crack (I think), A sloping rift that goes down for 6mtrs and then ends in a muddy puddle. Thanks for the good trip everyone. Sumpy

At the end of the Drainpipe

The Photographer!

Techno Caver.

 

[Chris Lank]

Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (OFD) II
Sunday 2nd March 2008
Martin, Lucy & Chris L

As usual we fuelled up our bodies at Asda in Merthyr Tydfil and proceeded to SWCC to fill out the paperwork and collect the key.  After changing we made our way towards Top Entrance.  About half way to the entrance I discovered that I had left the key back at the hut.  Despite it clearly being Martin and Lucy?s fault for allowing me to forget the key, I jogged back and fetched it.

When I had recovered from all the excitement, we settled down to our task for the day, which was to navigate our way around the cave and learn some of its layout ? without an established ?expert?.  After various trips with other people leading, it fell to me to lead a small group at OFD2 for the first time.  Poor souls!

We jauntily made our way into the cave through the Top Entrance and waited for a few minutes for our eyes to adjust to the gloom.

The route to the Big Chamber Near the Entrance was found and we completed a short circuit through the chamber before finding the passage (not marked on the survey) that leads to the head of Gnome Passage.  As this passage is a large feature within the cave, we decided to walk its length to the boulder choke at the end.

When the end was reached, we retraced our steps and then made for the head of Chasm Passage.  From here, we climbed down into the streamway at Salubrious Passage.  We followed the water downstream before taking a short detour to look at The Trident and The Judge.

After a short breather, we continued and made our way to The Crossroads.  From here we headed to the top of the pitch that leads down to the stream at Maypole Inlet.  A short traverse away from the direction of Maypole Inlet led us to the passage that runs parallel with Selenite Tunnel.  We carefully squeezed up the passage for about 60m.

A quick right and a left took us to Shatter Pillar.  As this was Lucy?s first visit to OFD2, we had a quick look at the pretties in Selenite Tunnel, before retracing our steps and making our way out of the cave.

In summary, it was an excellent trip which we all thoroughly enjoyed.  Thanks Martin and Lucy for your good humour.

Ready for action at the Top Entrance:

Interesting ceiling near Top Entrance:

Gnomes:

Not a Gnome:

Shatter Pillar:

Selenite Tunnel:

 

[Misty]

Well done guys- sorry we could not come in the end as my nan died Sunday morning. Glad you had fun Mark tried really hard at organising this for you last week so I thought I best mention he was sorry he could not come because of me.

 

[Chris Lank]

Meg - I am very sorry to hear of your loss.

Mark - Thanks for taking the time to organise the trip.

 

[Chris Lank]

Rod?s Pot
Saturday 8th March 2008
Dani & Chris L

The objective of this trip was for Dani to have a go at pushing up the small tube (Contortion Corner) that I recently found in the rift at Hanging Boulder Chamber.

We trundled down the cave and made our way up the almost vertical tube at the Stal column in Main Chamber.  I had a nasty moment halfway up the tube when my wellie got wedged in a crack.  In retrieving the wellie and reattaching it to my foot, I came close to taking the extremely fast route back down the tube.

We reached Contortion Corner in Hanging Boulder Chamber and Dani shot straight up it.  I stayed back, aware from previous experience that I could not fit past the 90-degree bend.  As planned, Dani got past the 90-degree bend and was able to confirm that the tube takes a left turn and noted that it could be developed if the loose floor was dug out.  A few photographs were taken and we started to make made our way out.

On the way, we had a quick shufty at the old gravely way into Hanging Boulder Chamber.  We were able to crawl into it and reach the old tube that presumably leads up to Hanging Boulder Chamber.  Dani managed to squeeze up the tube and got as far as she could before it choked.  No matter how much I huffed and puffed, I could not fit up the entrance to the tube, so had to stay behind.

While lying in the crawl waiting for Dani?s return, I heard some rather ominous sounds of moving rock.  When Dani returned she confirmed that she had also heard the noises so we rather quickly made our way out.  The strange thing was that although we heard movement, we saw and felt no rock falls.  Given the previous collapse, the area may possibly be a bit unstable.

For old time?s sake, we had a quick peer into Purple Pot and reminisced over the ?fun? we had digging it.

On our exit from the cave, we crawled up the small passage at the head of Main Chamber.  This comes out next to the twin 12m Pitches.  It is a tight but interesting crawl and we wondered if Contortion Corner eventually connects to this crawl or its smaller partner on the other side of the twin 12m Pitches.

Well done Dani for pushing further up Contortion Corner.

The way into Contortion Corner (ahead then right):

The way on:

Dani at our objective:

 

[anfieldman]

Sounds like you had fun! It's no wonder you could not get into some of the squeezes with your previous exertions earlier in the day. 
Looks like Dani invested in the same mega-expensive ?6-99 spare lamp from Woolworths. Good buy and goodbye!

See you both soon.

 

[Chris Lank]

Swildon?s Hole ? Upper Series
Sunday 9th March 2008
Tim & Chris L

This was a fun jaunt to some of the passages normally passed by when visiting the Upper Series.

We started off down the Long Dry Pretty Way.  At Boulder Chamber we made a short diversion through the upwards squeeze to New Grottoes.  After making our way out we visited the unnamed passage (right hand side) on the way to Old Grotto, before reaching Water Chamber.

At Water Chamber we crawled down the muddy Water Chamber Dig, as far as the small sump.  When we returned to Water Chamber, we met Andy S and Rachel, who were passing through with a group of clients.

Our next challenge was found at the base of Forty Foot Pot.  We huffed and puffed our way up a rather wet Rolling Thunder before it closed down.

A quick visit was taken to the Twenty Foot Pot.  On the way there we popped up the small rift passage on the left.

The return journey was taken mostly via the Wet Way.  Tim was feeling energetic and so took a diversion through Butcombe Chamber and the Oxbows, while I made my way sedately up the Wet Way.

Tim in the Long Dry Pretty Way:

Chris in New Grottoes:

Pretties in New Grottoes:

More Pretties in New Grottoes:

Yet more Pretties in New Grottoes:

Stal in unnamed passage off Long Dry Pretty Way:

 

[anfieldman]

Dani at our objective:

Has Dani ordered the extra large Oldham style lamp or has she stolen a car headlight to use? 
I'll bet that has a wicked beam on it!

 

[Sumpy]

Badger Hole, Halloween Rift, Hyena Den and Rhinoceros Hole
Wednesday 12th March 2008
Gary, Steve and Kaz, Tricia, Sumpy

We all met in the Wookey Hole caves car park, got changed and headed up school hill to the horse field at the top. From here with the expert help of Gary we made our way along the boundary wall until we thought we were about in the right location above the first set of caves. We made our way over the wall and down the steep valley and found the first cave Rhinoceros Hole with ease. This is a very small cave about 5mtrs long with virtually nothing of interest to report. Next we found Hyena Den which was about 20mtrs north of Rhinoceros Hole. This cave has a huge entrance mouth which opens right next to the canal. the cave itself is about 50mtrs in length with one or two small side passages. After leaving the Den we headed back up the side of the valley and continued going north for another 40mtrs or so and the we found Badger Hole, this cave is close to 60mtrs in length with lots of side passages and old digs. It gets very close to ground level in the field above you can see tree roots dangling from the ceiling. The local youth have obviously made this home to their late night bonfires as their was old fire pits and a bag of fresh dry wood, paper and other lighting material. After getting back up to the field we had the long walk up the hill into the woods to find Halloween Rift. After 15mins of searching the woods and scrub Gary finally spotted the entrance. Lifting the lid we found a 5mtr shaft with two solid unfixed ladders. At the bottom of the shaft was a low passage 2foot high in its highest place that continued on for about 60mtrs. We made it about half way and gave up cos we thought the small chamber at the end probably wasn't worth the effort. Great trip thanks everyone.
Sumpy

 

[Sumpy]

Balch Cave and Conning Tower Cave
Wednesday 19th March 2008
Chris L, Dani G, Steve P, Tricia and Sumpy  (all names are correct this time (sorry Keith I mean Gary))

We all finally met up in the car park by the quarry after getting completely lost around the road diversions which in the end we didn't need to divert from!  We donned our subterranean babygros and headed in the general direction of the south face of the quarry. After not much searching we found a 1st locked entrance to Balch and then a little higher up the cliff face we found the 2nd entrance. Inside we were greeted by a rather nice (would have been much nicer before the quarrying) entrance chamber (erratic Passage) that gradually sloped down to a boulder choke. About half way down we found the squeeze, this was tight (funny that)and found it best if you kept far as possible to the left this was a great help for the larger members of our posse. After we all squeezed through we took it in turns to look down the impressive dig shaft. It?s quite deep! From here we headed right down a crawly tube to the crossroads, straight over and found some nice dried mud gower formations. You then bear to the right again over some puddles up some nice stal flow with a huge stal flow formation to the right. Drop down onto a pearl floor then headed up the higher passage to the right to emerge from a small boulder ruckle in the top right hand corner of the entrance chamber. Back out into the fresh air, well briefly any way. We found Conning Tower after about 10mins of looking not sure how we missed it on the first pass. The entrance is about a 5mtrs shaft leading to lots of mud then more mud a small boulder squeeze, then mud and mud again then a small slope down into the stream way. Here we turned around to go play in the mud once more. We like mud! We headed out of the muddy pointless hole back to the cars to change then off to the pub. Much fun was had by all. Oh and Chris?s eyes are bigger than his belly!! Sumpy

Roof in Erratic Passage, Balch's Cave:

Unnamed Backside in Balch's Cave:

Mud Patterns in Balch's Cave:

Tricia in Conning Tower Cave:

 

[Misty]

Woke up to 2" of snow on Mendip. Chris, Trish, Sam, Mark, Martin and I myself made a swift change- no hanging about today all were glad to get in the shelter of the cave as quickly as possible. Did a little bit of litter picking although not much required- all was much as previous visit. Had a good two hours courtesy of William Stanton's engineering. Thanks to Chris for bringing his tackle (and not flashing it about like Mark did in the car park) and rigging the life line, also thanks to Sam for his help. All were glad of wetsuits and the new balaclava was really useful even if it did make me look like a munchkin.

 

[Misty]

Also forgot to mention- one of the highlights of the trip was looking for Marks wellie which he lost in the lake at the bottom of the big pitch Chris L was a real hero and helped to fish it out - The water was really cold due to melted snow. Several submergence's later and a strange foot groping experience had by Mark, Chris and myself we located the offending welly. I don't quite know how he would have got out with out it but it was one of the more memorable moments. Poor Chris got a bit of a headache from the cold I hope he has suitably recovered now. After all that Liverpool lost so I don't know what the rush to get out was all. Thanks to Chris for saving the day ! Even if Raffa did'nt.

 

[Chris Lank]

Bath Swallet & Rod?s Pot (Through Trip)
Monday 24th March 2008
Andy M & Chris L

This was intended as a gentle trip to Bath Swallet.

After abseiling down the 20m pitch, we had a poke around in Big Aven.  It looked interesting but a bit dangerous due to the hanging boulders above.  We then looked at the other end of the large phreatic tube and had a good crawl around in mud for a few minutes.

For old time?s sake, we popped down to Purple Passage and rolled around in some more mud.  Andy suggested we have a look at Purple Pot.  Once looking upwards it seemed a shame not to have a go at climbing it and completing a Bath-Rod?s Through Trip.

After much excitement, falling debris and some difficulty (on account of our short legs), we made it to the top.  We looked down and did not fancy going in the opposite direction without a handline - so there was no turning back.

A short time later, we exited Rod?s Pot, feeling chuffed with ourselves.

I then had the honour of again abseiling down Bath Swallet, retrieving our stowed harness gear before climbing out and feeling suitably knackered.

Andy abseiling down the 20m Pitch in Bath Swallet:

 

[Chris Lank]

Longwood Swallet
Saturday 29th March 2008
Mark & Meg W, Chris L, Rachel P & Andy P.


We donned out caving gear and marched off to the blockhouse looking very much like a party of gimps.

Our route into the cave took us down the entrance chimney, through the Letterbox squeeze, down the two Ten Foot Verticals, under the Showerbath and into Waterfall/Great Chamber.

We had some fun getting past the Waterfall.  I took a very unpleasant climb down the waterfall (not recommended), while the others traversed to the side before climbing down the side of the waterfall.

We then climbed up the muddy slope and headed into The Grotto.  A short trip down the 15 foot pitch was undertaken before commencing returning to the surface.

Thanks to Andy for performing rigging duties for us.  This was definitely a soggy trip.

Decorations in The Grotto:

Slimy Thing at 15 Foot Pitch:

Wet Cave Gimp:

 

[Sumpy]

Wednesday 26th March 2008
The next trip on the A to Z was planned to be Browne?s hole and Browne?s Grotto but as access is a problem we didn?t go.
But if we had gone we would have probably spent about 20mins in the woods looking for the entrance to Browne?s Hole. If we had gone in we would have first of all crawled around to the left and up into Tommys Dig with the supposed nice timber floor to the end found that there was nothing there, turned around and headed back down into the main entrance chamber. From here we would have got completely pointlessly soaked in a dirty deep puddle at the entrance of a 1mtr long tube to nowhere. Then we would have look up to the right and found Coronation chamber and at the end of this an old dig that broke through to the surface but has since been capped. From here we might have dropped back down onto the main passage way and followed the route which is supposed to be a series of tight and weaving, interconnected tubes. At the end of these there is supposedly some nice formation in two small higher chambers. At this point one of our group might have found the start of the 150mtr  long stream way tube and then they might of decided that lying on your back with only 50mm of air gap and doing it without a wetsuit might theoretically be a bad idea. Finally from this point we would have most probably found the connecting passage back into the main chamber and then exited to walk above the cave to find Browne?s Grotto. This is most likely a small cave with a 2.5mtr entrance pitch which would lead to a small crawl and then to a low 10mtr long chamber that closes down to an old dig at the end. Probably would have then headed back to the cars to get changed and then to the usual fine local hostilary. Thanks to everyone who turned up to our imaginary trip.
Sumpy

 

[Sumpy]

Just a quicky for everyone who is asking me what the access probs are for Brownes, Access is ok as its just off the public foot path, the cave is not locked. And DONT ask the landowner for permission to go down as it will not be granted. Something to do with if they give it, it makes them liable!?!?!  But it is ok to go down.
Sumpy

 

[Chris Lank]

Fox?s Hole, Denny?s Hole, Scragg?s Hole, Sandy Cave, Supra-Sandy Hole and Picken?s Hole (Compton Bishop/Crook Peak)
Wednesday 2nd April 2008
Tricia, Martin, Steve P, Dani, Danny and Chris L

The first cave we found was Fox?s Hole, which is a rift in the floor next to the footpath.  We made a quick touchdown then quickly exited to avoid disturbing ?certain sleeping things?.

Next door was Denny?s Hole.  We made our way in down the slippery slope into the main chamber.  After poking around for a bit we found the various ways on and explored.  There was a lot of rubbish in evidence, which is not surprising given the accessibility of this cave.  What was more surprising was that this is still quite a nice looking cave.  In the far reaches we found some pretty flow and attractive pools.

Our third visitation was to Scragg?s Hole.  This is down slope from Denny?s Hole and is not much more than a rock shelter.  On the way we passed another rock shelter than does not appear to be mentioned in ?Mendip Underground? or ?Mendip - The Complete Caves and a View of the Hills?.

The second phase of our evening was spent walking along the other side of the ridge through the undergrowth locating the remaining caves in the dark.

Sandy Cave was soon found.  Again, this predictably had a fair amount of rubbish in it.  Although small, it looks as if it has some potential for being extended.

Just behind it, we found Supra-Sandy Hole, which is very short and contained various dead things in different states of decomposition.  This looks like if might eventually connect up with the previous cave.  It also seems to be the wintering place for all of the Mendip midges.

Finally, we found our last cave of the evening ? Picken?s Hole.  This was another small cave and contained any number of large spiders and not a lot of passage.

Steve exiting Fox?s Hole:

A pair of legs found in Denny?s Hole:

Pool in Denny?s Hole:

The crew next to Supra-Sandy Hole:

 

[Chris Lank]

Lionel?s Hole
Sunday 6th April 2008
Martin & Chris L

I have heard and read much about this cave and have wanted to visit for some time.  It is fair to say that it is both an interesting and challenging cave to visit.  Route finding is tough and its tight passages are hard work to say the least.

Our route took us from Boulder Chamber, into the Traverse and down into the streamway.

From the streamway onwards, we suffered for our interest and turned the air blue from cursing.  My favourite curse of the day was ?**** me!  This is awful.?  These passages are definitely more suited to people like CaverA and Dani.

We took a muddy bath in Duck 1 (which is also a moderate squeeze).  At Duck 2 (which is a proper squeeze) poor Martin had a real battle to get through.  We combined our efforts and by applying my deadweight to the sole of Martin?s boots, he finally got through.

Upon reaching the cross rift in the streamway, we had a quick look-see towards Horrifice 1 before climbing up Bishop?s Bypass, which leads to Suicide Rift.

After Suicide Rift, the cave turns decidedly squalid.  I managed to trap a boot in a muddy gap.  It took 5-minutes of heaving to get it out again.  When I finally reached Horrifice 2, I decided on principle to pop through before heading back.  I really wished I hadn?t.  It took several attempts and some good old fashioned brute force to get me through it.  Once through, I could see some interesting holes upwards but did not have the energy to investigate.  The contortions and squeeze through Horrifice 2 were no easier on the return.

Back at Suicide Rift, we began the crawl back to civilisation.  Aware of the problems at Duck 2, Martin dug out some of the gravel to get through and it really helped.  Eventually, we reached the entrance.  Never has the sight of daylight coming through a cave entrance seemed so welcoming as it did on this trip.

Having satisfied our curiosity about this cave, we have agreed that we are in no particular hurry to return.  Until the next time of course.

Mahoosive Cave Spider:

The Traverse:

Hard going at Duck 2:

Unfriendly looking Boulders in Suicide Rift:

The way back through Horrifice 2:

 

[Chris Lank]

Symonds Yat Caves
Saturday 12th April 2008
Dani, Martin & Chris L

I fancied a fun day out and decided to make a return to the site of my first ever caving experience.  So, armed with a copy of ?The Caves of the Forest of Dean? we headed off for Symonds Yat.  The scenery was amazing at the forest - both the cliffs and the view down to the River Wye.

C10 Complex (C10, C9, C8, C7) otherwise known as SYC No 15, 16, 17, 18:

We chose to make an exciting approach to C10 Complex, so abseiled down the cliff.  We entered through C7 entrance, had a bit of an explore in the low bedding plane, found C8 entrance and then headed for Boulder Chamber.  Discovered an unpleasant smell in Boulder Chamber, which turned out to be an extremely fresh turd so made a rather hasty exit, while trying not to puke.  Popped across to Buddha Chamber before heading into Keystone Chamber.  Found another turd; this one being somewhat less fresh than the previous one.  Sighted entrance C9 and headed out via entrance C10.  Met a group of kids coming into the cave ? they variously thought we were (i) wax works dummies and (ii) builders (!).  We may need to have a rethink about our attire to avoid future misunderstandings.

SYC No 14 otherwise known as Doughnut Cave:

We had a quick crawl around this small cave and completed its mini round trip.

C3 otherwise known as Wye Rapids Cave or SYC No 13:

This was a fairly hard cave full of lots of tight crawly bits.  We reached the end of the survey and still there was more cave.  Interesting.  As time was pressing we did not make a completely full investigation, but this looked like a cave with plenty of potential.

C2 otherwise known as SYC No 12:

By now we were all feeling a bit knackered so we had a bit of a gentle potter around this cave.  I managed to find a squeeze that was almost at my limit.  We would like to go back sometime and thoroughly finish the exploration (particularly of the pretty bits and the link to C3).

A short ?debriefing? session was held at the Saracen?s Head pub before departing back to Mendipshire.

Thanks to Dani and Martin for making this a fantastic day out.

Martin abseiling down to the C10 Complex:

View out of C10:

Look into my eyes and feel very sleepy:

A brief moment of rest outside C2:

Dani having far too much fun in C3:

Hard going in the squeeze at C2:

 

[Chris Lank]

Goatchurch Cavern
Sunday 20th April 2008
Martin, Chris (Guest), Peter (Guest) & Chris L

This was a short trip to give our guests (Chris and Peter) a taster of life underground.

We took the traditional route into the cave via the Old Entrance and down the Giant?s Stairs.  From there, we popped down Bloody Tight into Boulder Chamber.  A quick drop down the hole in the floor and we were in Water Chamber.  After inspecting the small waterfall, the Drainpipe was used for some crawling practice.

After climbing up the Coffin Lid, we took a visit to the Coal Chute before exiting through the New Entrance.

The Fantastic Three:

Chris returning through the Drainpipe:

Peter climbing the Coffin Lid: