Trips & Reports

Only not so much fun cos of the loose rock landing on my back, otherwise a cracking trip and great prussiking practise. Looking forward to going again without Hitch'n'Hike's silly 5.30pm return requirement and getting to the bottom.

It's got to be said it was one of the hardest trips i've been on and i was glad when i was out of it,

I found out that i hate dangling on rope when i can't get to a wall. but apart from that it was fun and looking back on it now,i prob would do most of it again(BUT DON'T HOLD ME TO THAT)

Just want to say thanx to my team mate for getting me out in one... read more

Faff factor = high

We had a few issues finding the farm and then the cave. Then I realised I'd left my chest tape in the car! Ooops, sorry. Entered cave at 15:30ish!



It was a real relief to get into the cave because it was swelteringly hot on the surface. Holly & Laura had to give me (quite a bit) of encouragement to get past the first few mini-traverses because I hadn't done any before. Also did deviations... read more

An absolutely fantastic trip. Some excellent SRT work, not too technically challenging but very tiring, as it was a long way down! Really nice to see some of the old mine fittings still in place, though rather difficult to imagine it as a functioning mine however long ago.

Some great bouncy long pitches, lots of excercise, a good balance of ropework, crawling and climbing, with narrow passages (though never anything tight) and numerous big open chambers. For anyone... read more

a good trip -massive pitches! abseiling on a brand new rope down the entrance pitch was fairly sporting, have blisters from trying to slow myself down. an impressive cave which only gets a high scumminess rating because of the rotting dead sheep/birds and rubbish at the bottom. poor sheep.

it gets a 5 for scum from me cos I put my hand on/in a dead bird on the way out.

Huge pitch was great fun prussiking back up. The cave was a bit disappointingly short though... once you're down the first (main) pitch, that's the best bit over (and about half the cave!). Scummy dead sheep has exploded across the bottom of the pitch, with bones and rotting bits everywhere, not nice at all! But a fun trip. Quite a hardcore walk up the hillside to it as well. For future reference, follow the hillside... read more

I love the fact this made it onto the trip list!
I like purple :o)

The correct superlative eludes me! Hardcore vote of 2 for the slight crampedness and dehydration factor.

Definatly a top trip. We managed the exchange without any faff! Amazing. There was much debate in Bernies about weather we could be arsed to walk up the hill, but opted to do it any way. Quite wet throughout but not over the top.

Did you know that given enough water, mud can travel from the outside of your oversuit through your undersuit onto your legs. bah, need a shower. Was certainly wet. And I thought it was supposed to be summer?? What on earth is going on with the weather??

Stream wasn't half as wet as the guys said it was! It was fine! Actually it was nice to cave in a bit of spray for a change it feels more exciting.
Also me + nikki attempted to cave on glowsticks as they do in the scary cave film DESCENT. they were very pretty + fun but not very useful as a major light source!

The entrance was much wetter when we went in than when the others came out! we had upwards rain! was much fun. matt sent me down some scrotty hole convinced it was the way on, and i got the tackle sack stuck and had to pull ALL the rope out of it to get out! but i made him pack it again HAHAHA!! :)

we are utterly incompetent...
but i rigged and derigged so at least i achieved something!
and i found the lair of the cave monster, complete with button from a previous victim!

A bit disappointing not to find the way on, but you can't blame us, as the survey was rubbish, and needed a microscope too see, and the way we were meant to go looked rather unconvincing to say the least. Easegill has beaten us again. But a nice day out nontheless, and my nice shiny new bright red oversuit didn't get very dirty, which is good :-)

Mud, Mud, Glorious MUD!
Nothing quite like it for soothing the blood.
So follow me, follow.
Down to the hollow.
And there we shall wallow in glorious mud!

Would have been much easier to find the cave if we had actually taken a map with us and had been looking in the right field.

Much fun, though annoyingly short trip (barring doing possibly the most insane duck I have ever seen - over 5m long flat out bedding over half full with water and no obvious way out at the other end).

Also we couldn't find the last pitch, but I don't think we missed much as it drops down... read more

Don't forget the eggcellent egg timer shaped passage, that was very eggciting.
A short trip (we spent far more time looking for the damn thing than being underground) but twas very muddy so that was fun!!!

Once again, we were beaten by Ease Gill! I think it just doesn't like me, it all looks so easy on the survey! Didn't quite make it to Wretched Rabbit but got about almost to Wretched Rabbit Passage when the survey seemed no longer to make sence. After much wondering around passages without sucess, and my light failing (could it be I forgot to charge it????) we decided to give up and go back. Did some great speed caving! Took... read more

Faff factor = low

It was perfect caving weather and I was feeling much more confident about all things SRT after Thursday's training. I loved the pitches and also all the stomping (of which there was lots). Clay/mud everywhere and lots of unprotected drops which need to be watched out for. It was odd how the maps didn't appear to 'fit' with anything beyond a certain point but the return journey was mega quick. The formations were... read more

Despite not making the through-trip, this was great fun caving. While there wasn't anything particularly difficult or technical about this cave, it was a pretty hardcore trip due to 7 hours continuous climbing, scrambling and crawling taking its toll. There were some nerveracking crawls and unprotected climbs alongside deep ravines, made more dangerous by the slippery mud. We were all absolutely knackered by the end! The mega-efficient speed-caving on the way out was interesting, and I reckon opens... read more

Down Pool Sink, up the main drain to Holbeck Junction and into Gypsum Caverns, back down the route above the main drain (Double Decker Passage ??) to Stop Pot, up the ladder into the high level route to Lancaster Hole and then following the Manchester Flood Escape Route to County Pot (having remembered to rig the entrance pitch of course - would have been very annoying to have to go back through the flood escape route).

Out of County and then... read more

My knee is very sore after all the scrotty crawlling in the flood escape route :( Dont want to do that again in a hurry.

I want to see a survey to find out where we went! Change gets 2 because it kept raining on me :(

The seeds of cock-up were first sown when we didn't take a survey OR description with us. Why did we think we could look blury-eyed at the survey in the garage for five minuits at 8am and remember the whole way on. In the words of Ade: I know they way... yes this definatly looks right. Hmm, well, I think we shall ignore Ade in future. Ended up going under Lancaster in the streemway and about a mile in the... read more

A fantastic trip. I don't know what all the fuss is about, although possibly Dom would disagree :-) Didn't go to the bottom, although we probably would have got there as the entrance is a bit hard so we didn't want to be doing it when knackered.

We got further than Gary :-)

~Ouch, pretty sore the next day. Cracking trip. Rigging the first pitch involved being wedged in a constricted rift and reaching to thread a fig 8 single handedly. Plenty of awkward moments. Return journey was far tougher than way in. I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that the first pitch head is the most difficult and awkward I've ever experienced. This cave certainly deservers a place in my top 10 most hardcore trips. Serious error->BHP is listed in... read more

My hips will never be the same again...

A fantastic trip. Both teams went in at the same time, the Oxlow->Maskhill team had to wait for two hours at the bottom for the others to catch up then we got out of Maskhill and over to Oxlow in time to watch Laura coming up the entrance pitch. Generally a very pleasant cave except the scummy entrance pitch in Maskhill.

I got soaked climbing down under the waterfall to the terminal sump. Really wasn't worth the effort,... read more

A top trip, and relativly efficiant, we all managed to get out by about 4:30. Some very scary rigging in Maskhill though, but great fun and a good challenge. Both East and West chambers are well worth seeing, somthing about the size of Mud Hall, quite awsome. Very interesting to see old mine workings, nice bit of variation to a totaly natural cave.

The scummy enterence pitch in Maskhill was my favourite! almost as good as mud hall! + the really big chambers at the bottom were good too :o)

i got to rig!! i was crap and slow but i got there in the end! then i fell into a waterfall and got v wet! sheer luxury of short nearby caves: met at 10, out by 4 and to a beer garden! what all caving trips should be like! :)

More fun than a sackful of badgers. I particularly enjoyed watching Nikki falling off Idiots Leap and landing under a waterfall.

I am never going down this cave again. Quite unpleasant.

Not the most enjoyable cave I have visited. Much of the bottom half looks nice and big on the rigging guide... hmm, must remember to think in 3 dimentions! On reflection, it wasn't tooo bad, a nice change and a bit of a challenge. On the way down the entrance pitch I thought I may never see the light of day again, but on the way up it wasn't half as awkward as I expected it to be, no more... read more

I didn't make it to the bottom I'm afraid. I took one look at the final(?) pitch, looking narrow and rather wet, and I opted to return to the surface. Everyone else carried on, am glad I didn't from what I've heard. The entrance pitch was fun, went down for AGES, three re-belays at least, and seemed tight, but wasn't nearly as bad coming up as I expected. Not a great cave at all, not much... read more

Walking to Flood Pot from Southerscales cottage via ingleborough is a seriously stupid thing to do. I recommend it isn't reapeated cos it's just fucking MILES.

Derigging the intestines is fun!!!!

Higher scumminess factor than everyone else put cos i went the wrong way and ended up waste deep in the scummy sump. lovely! Had a bit of an epic trying to get out of the sump too, seeing as i could not touch the bottom of it + had to climb a rift with no footholds assissted only by clothes line.
anyway, apart from that slight mishap + another bit where i got the stuckest i have ever been and... read more

This cave is evil. It tried to swallow Holly, and it made me claustrophobic. But I think I enjoyed it in the end!

the fun rating would have been much higher if we'd got a bit further! steves too big!! we'l have to chop his legs off or something. but we went to a beer garden on the way home so i didn't mind too much!

fun fun fun, pretty pretty pretty!! shame on those who were too wussy to go you missed out :P and caving cures hangovers!! one of my favourite trips so far, very pretty things to see and fun streamway and waterslidey things! and we didnt get lost at all thanks to nice guide man! and we even got out in time for afternoon tea, and i found shampoo in the girls showers afterwards, sheer luxury!

Much fun. Very good pretties, the chute down from the upper levels was great and a fantastic streamway (unfortunately a bit dry). However, the definate highlight for me was seeing Matt H's face when I told him that's where we were going - and he couln't come. Closely followed by Steve G's face when I told him we'd done it.

A very long walk there (thankfully following a path most of the way). Must have been at least an hour. Not to be done in the dark! A nice easy cave with some really PRETTY formations. Stalagmites and stalagtites changing direction all over the cave suggesting geological goings-on. And some lovely curtainy things. One of the prettiest caves I have been down :-) And I didn't fall over once :-) Next time we shall abduct a... read more

One comment, the Welsh are insane!!!! Big drop under a traverse line (about 23m) and you might want to consider a rope! The only point they tell you to use a rope (by which point in time the rope you took has been used...) was impossible to get through!

Apart from that was fun! (Well that was fun too really!) Next time we take more rope!

Hardcore! i mean running up and down muddy slopes above reasonably sized cliffs while trying not to get your trousers muddy is one heck of a challenge.

Got many photos and a few videos of people making prats out of themselves including people absailing off waterfalls jumping off waterfalls and falling over while exiting waterfalls

Ok, so I wussed out of caving on the Sunday! It was a really nice day, and we took a picnic and saw two major waterfalls, and found a cave (though unfortunately others had found it first!)

Faff factor = none



It was a late start and I was under orders to 'please hurry up' but finally did manage to make it out of the cottage after everyone had left for complicated wet caves that were apparently "our worst nightmare"! We had no map, no directions but did pack yummy food and a GPS nav. Anyway, somehow we managed to take the alternative route to the waterfalls, passing many people in the opposite direction who had... read more

After the previous days attempt (see report - Faff) it was great to actually manage to do the round trip!!!! Was wanting to do this for ages and finally did!!!!! Was a lot of fun, quite fast too! (We got to Lamb and Fox in 40 minutes, that's where we turned round previous day!) Favourite bit was the squeeze at end of the squirrel bit, good sense of achievement after that! (Even though Ade did decide to drop a bunch... read more

Suprisingly enjoyable considering the epic lack of motivation I'd managed to build up in the 20 mins we were waiting in the car park for Andy. (Assuming, that is, that's it's not a contradiction to build up a lack of something).

Dom's fall was really quite impressive, and made the sort of noise that usually preceeds a big cheer at rugby matches. I had visions of broken ribs, before Dom just brushed himself off and said "yeah, I'm fine, just having... read more

Was a good trip, but now I'll never feel I have the need to do the cave again (which in my opinion is a good thing).

Faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff incompetance faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff faff, oh, and FAFF. It only took an hour an and a half to find a photo copier. Why is Wales always closed? Once we finally got into the cave after MORE FAFF with the lock, it was a good trip.

Yes, a bit of a faff, but we got to see more of Merthyl Tydful, which we seemed fated to do considering every road in Wales leads there. The lock into the cave almost defeated us but finally we were in. Didn't like the squeezing very much on the way down, am sure I almost didn't fit! On way back up my light fell off and went out just as I was half way up a waterfall... read more

Erm.... Faff!!!! Never seen Gary so annoyed before!!! Once we actually got into the cave, was fun! Shame we didn't actually get to the Lamb and Fox chamber in the end!

Faff factor = extreme!

Ogof Draenen – What a fantastic name! This was the trip that very nearly wasn’t. The greatest challenge lay above ground! We must pay credit to MFI and Carpet Right for their (little known) copying facilities, it was a mixture of ‘Treasure Hunt’ and ‘Challenge Anika’ but there was more to come... Finding the cave wasn’t easy but Gary’s SatNav came into its own and soon we arrived at what appeared to... read more