Trips & Reports

After a sensible early night and a prompt start we found ourselves in the impressive entrance to Peak Cavern. Leaving the showcave behind us we slid down a wooden chute and followed a passage to a sandy crawl, followed a wet seriese of arches before a semi-stomp brought us down a ladder to the main streamway. An easy passage led us to Squaw's junction where we explored a strange jacusi crawl. From here we crawled around for a bit and... read more

"Set an alarm for about 7.30am so we can get up for about 8am" Most people would read this statement to mean getting out of bed for 8am, with a thirty minute lucid lie in. Chuck isn't most people and at 7.30am he was at the end of my bed badgering me to get up. In protest I slept in until 8.30. I assume Chuck realised the error because he brought me tea. When I did get up I found... read more

After not deciding on a plan on Friday night we thought we'd play it by ear on Saturday morning before choosing our trip. Unfortunately Chad and Blakey's ear didn't leave their beds until 11.30!!! And that was after one burst of the fire alarm (thanks Martyn!) and a loud game of bashing pots and pans. Blakey even tried to sneak back to bed when we weren't looking. By twelve we were formulating plans and rejecting them again. By one we had... read more

A really good trip. Didn't really know what to expect from Notts II but it turned out to be a very pleasant streamway with lots of pretty stuff upstream and in some of the inlets. Our wonderful efficiency meant we were leaving bernies at about 11, and once we'd convinced ourselves to get out of the car (it was windy and cold) and get changed (me using Cat's lab's nitrile gloves) it was only a short walk to the cave.... read more

I absolutely loved this cave! Outstanding in so many ways. No ropes meant a super efficient trip; we’d finished breakfast by around 11 and were soon heading off to Leck Fell. It took a bit of time for us to get out the car and brave the cold but a swift change later and we were on the way to the entrance, which thankfully wasn’t too far of a walk. The entrance shaft is impressive in itself and is truly... read more

Really enjoyed Notts pot! Notts pot is often described as the most complex vertical maze in Britain, due to several routes to choose from. On this adventure Matt G led Alex, Mike, George and I through the centre route to the bottom of the cave, the bottom section being for me the best part of the cave system. Finding the cave was an adventure in its self, we were told it was about half a mile from the road with George... read more

This trip was completely amazing, and easily one of my top 2 trips so far. We set off first out of the teams (in the Mike-mobile) with the ultimate team for assaulting this monster cave, consisting of myself, Matt G, Chad, George and Mike, and were the first to arrive at Bernies. The standard giant Yorkshire pud breakfast was had then we gathered ropes, chose a route and set off to find the cave. Finding the cave was a bit tricky... read more

started from york in the car wonderful sunshine, got across the other side of the dales and was not so wonderful, some could even tell it was going to be foggy when we got out; don't know how. long walk up hill and through bog with a full tummy of bernies and a brand new metal waterbottle; which was to be christened. we arrived at a concrete hole which was to be our entrance and exit, and decided who was going where.... read more

The faff rating started low for this trip with Chuck arriving at my house at about 7:40. Sadly I couldn't match Chuck's efficiency & spent the next 15 minutes sorting my gear out, but we did manage to be ar the container before 8. The biggest surprise of the day came next when Ade arrived before (yes, before!) 8 as well! All 10 of us were there within about 10 minutes and by half past we had the ropes packed... read more

I rigged my first cave, woohooo! :D Some efficient packing and the usual race to Bernies (while I practiced my rigging across the back of Chuck’s car) meant that even after a leisurely breakfast and a fair amount of shopping, we were parked and getting changed by around midday. As there were 10 of us we split into teams and went down all 3 routes. Chuck, George and Luke went down Bubbles, Ade, Mark and Anna down Shadow. I was with... read more

It was alright.

A great cave, looking at the entrance I felt nervouse and didn't think I'd be able to do it (mainly because I didnt think I'd actually fit) but on getting down there it wasn't so bad. Some cool pitches followed, with a dramatic 'car wash' cavern at the end, well worth the squeeze. Several areas of nice formations, especially in the first half, check out (but dont touch) the 'helping hand' on the way up one of the pitches. Most... read more

Good cave with plenty of variation. The entrance and later passages were tight, but not that tight. Lugging a heavy tackle sack through them was a complete pain. Not a cave for the serious pie eaters, but most people would probably be able to get through with a bit of perseverance. Beware the wait at the bottom of the last pitch. It goes into a very wet and draughty area with very little shelter. I'd definitely... read more

Absolutely awesome days caving in Vesper pot. The cave entrance was a head first on the side crawl through a tight hole, this wasn’t too bad as gravity was on our side. There was plenty of crawling (hand, knees, sideways) and squatting, some parts were quite awkward. I might as well have just gone though a juice blender! Some really nice formations started to pop up the closer we got to the first pitch, made me feel like I was... read more

This was a really beautiful cave, nice pitches and crawls. We did an Ireby Fell exchange lol! Team 1 went down the traditional route and team 2 down Shadow route. Although, as we were spending time checking out the was level situation Mark ended up going down and up Ding – Dong and Bell and Chuck and I went down and up Ding – Dong before deciding that we would rig the shadow route. The good thing about this excursion... read more

Our original plan of Out Sleet Beck Pot was overthrown by the concern of some slight drizzle during the day, and being scared by the sound of a dam holding back the river at the entrance, however, as the weather had been dry for several days, and the worst that was expected was a bit of drizzle, we though great day for Diccan... a cave that I have never actually done despite yearly trips to the Long Churn System. ... read more

+3 for individual faff because i lost my phone on top of penyghent. Got it back though.....via Bolton.

Throw a rope, step up and dare; to taste the magic hanging there! During a misty morning on a landscape swept with soul and crimson heather we ploughed down the hillside following an indecisive meandering stream towards the cave. The poor visibility brought on by the morning haze masked anything more distant than a few hundred feet giving the feeling that we were quite isolated and had left the mundane, stumbling into a place that means so much more. A... read more

I really enjoyed this cave even though we were meant to do Aquamole (another group were already down there); none the less it was a stringy cave which is what I love to do. 8) Luke rigged the cave and I got to de-rig a cave for the first time and it was great fun although I was gasping for a drink when I was out. I can now appreciation the effort it can take to reach various P hangers... read more

My first first trip back here in a little over two years. We started by heading upstream, which I had not done before, and explored almost every possible nook and cranny save for one rather tall roped climb. We then headed downstream, which was as varied and well decorated as I remember, though it is now much lower on my listed of splendidly decorated caves. The highlight of the trip has to be Imogen's insistance on heading into sumps... read more

I was really looking forward to this trip after doing a bit of research and hearing lots of great things about the cave. Even Andy was jealous, and he claims not to like caving! “Team Chemistry” had a fairly efficient start; despite a bit of messing around with a bungee cord found lying on the ground and debating what we might be able to catapult out of the container, we were away relatively early and were in Bernies for about 11.... read more

Great fun, an impressive cave with some fun exposure, one for the SRT fan.

What a great weekend and a great way to spend Valentine's Day, hehe. And what an epic, down and up Titan! The trip sort of started the night before when we trekked through York with our backpacks filled with caving gear and food for the weekend and got on a train to Sheffield, where we caught the last bus to Castleton. The bus ride was eventful in itself as there was a bus 'bouncer' who didn't like us putting our backpacks... read more

This was Matt and Chad's epic 'Team am' trip 8) This was the most faff free trip ever – ropes packed at 1 am followed by sleep, up at 7 am, into the cave at 8 am, back for noon, time for breakfast then I was off for another trip! Great fun :) Quite a nice little cave, we took our time; felt no need to rush. Three relatively short pitches, the first time I’ve abseiled off a tree... read more

This trip was not technically an exchange as there was no team "exchanged" with in the middle, but hey, technicalities. We entered Pippikin with one rope and pulled it through, and exited via Mistral (although at the time we were not convinced it was Mistral). Our description ended at the Hall of Ten so the outward journey involved following a draught. Not at any point did anything look like the description we had half memorised. And Andy couldn't recognise the inside... read more

This was a really good fun trip. I'm not even sure why I agreed to it (maybe the promise of half an hours kiting first?) because Will of MUSC/Red Rose fame had scared me the previous night by telling me that the president of Newcastle Uni CC was the same size as me and had to be rescued, and contrary to popular belief it wasn't a good cave for small cavers. Once we got the hang of how to go through... read more

great cave tried to write big thing about it but timed out so -don't forget map -3rd turning on right missing confusion corner -great 2nd cave go from bull pot farm through the gate and up the hill on the metaled road to the top through the field for a while till you get to a sharp drop where the river used to flow at the bottm should be stones, go through the makeshift style in the barbed wire on the left, follow the... read more

Chuck had been told he had to back to Lancaster after failing to find the colonnades the day before, so off he trotted with Tom and I in tow. We didn’t have a description so Chuck and I were navigating just with the aid of the survey. After successfully finding the colonnades, the route took us down Kaths Way and Bill Taylors passage, then left up some steps to the comically short ladder (but much needed – the passageway it leads... read more

Despite the fact that we didn’t complete the trip as intended it was still quite enjoyable. Ade, Tom and I went down Big Meanie and Andy G and Lauren went down Death’s Head. Unfortunately for the other team we couldn’t find the connection to Death's Head. This was despite an extensive search (although you could say that it was not extensive enough!) through every muddy horrible passage we could find – and my word it was muddy at the bottom... read more

We went down deaths head hole. We waited 2 hours. We went out. Despite the odds I was in a really good mood and enjoyed the day lots. Yay caving.

Getting into the cave was such a relief to get out of the driving icy wind. Rigging such a big open shaft was pretty cool, I enjoyed it. Didn't much like all the loose rocks and crap which completely covered every inch of floor though. Sitting down in a cave for 2 hours is pretty cold, but it was quite fun. It’s amazing what you convince yourself you've seen and heard. Once it hit 4 o'clock we headed right out. We... read more

First Cave we descended on a coldish day, but i was amazed when i got down as to how warm it was, due to it being my first cave. chuck and me got to the bottom and waited for a bit for everyone else to get down. once all assembled we went up slug world that was pretty, then we proceeded to return to the main chamber and took the other passage on the pretence of finding the colonaids, i say... read more

Doing Easegill with Gover is awesome – he knows the place like the back of his hand, which allows for some serious stomping and keeps faff to a minimum. There was a bit of a delay at the top of easegill aven when there was a slight doubt as to the way on at the bottom. I was already half way through a crawl when I was told to wait, so since I was already lying down decided to have... read more

I loved this cave! As Matt G said after the trip,it has character! The first pitch is awesome, being suspended from trees over a 50m drop- could understand why Matt was swearing as he rigged it! The dead sheep were grim, though Matt and Anna did manage to play frizbee around them! Tom went down some of the newly dug part at the bottom, and worried us slightly when he didn't reply after shouting him! (he did reply eventually lol). I... read more

I loved this trip, wandering down along the course of the stream, past loads of cool looking rocks doing some interesting bits of SRT is exactly what I like about trips. Though the cave was quite short, it did have a very entertaining bit to it at the end, where we found a bit of a swim, in which mark decided to fully submerge himself (even though the rest of us could go through on our fronts and still have... read more

The duck in the streamway is definitely not worth it, especially with no ropes to do the last pitch! To clarify the comment about submerging, I went for the "I'm wearing PVC so if I'm quick I can stay dry approach", but was a little over-enthusiastic, resulting in complete submersion :S ah well, live & learn!

Another epic caving trip with the YUCPC, this time down Sell Gill (Goblin) – the wet route, and it was brilliant! The team had Ade our rigger, Mark, Chad, George and Alex who did a spot of derigging. The trip was very efficient from start to finish, no faffing whatsoever. We even saved a stricken sheep from getting tied up in string on the walk to the cave! The descent started out with a free climb (with the help of a... read more

This trip started efficiently with me forgetting to photocopy the descriptions the night before and therefore to run up the road to fetch them from Imogene leading to a late arrival at the container. This did not matter too much as Andy and Imogene had already arrived and were sorting out gear allowing us to leave at a sensible time of 8:40ish. On the road and things were looking good until we realised that we had forgotten one of the... read more

There had been attempts to be organised… Chuck went round to Kev, Imo and Andy’s the night before to get some descriptions. Whiskey was then consumed and Chuck forgot to take home and photocopy said descriptions (coincidence? :p) So after a slightly delayed start in the morning, we’d just about got out of York when Andy thought we’d better ring Chuck to make sure he’d packed both tackle sacks.. turned out he hadn’t so as he didn’t have a key, we... read more

Wow! What an epic caving trip down Bar Pot to see Gaping Gill with ‘Team Rhythm’ (Matt, Kev, Mike, Lucy and Chad). Matt G, our leader and rigging machine seemed to admire his rigging more than the cave lol! :p That entrance to Bar Pot was tight, I thought I was stuck at one point but after much wriggling and cursing I was through, Kev said that all us fresher’s made the common newbie mistake of trying pass the pitch... read more

Immense trip, great fun. Walk up in blazing sunshine, efficiency throughout the cave, main chamber in sunlight (kind of), banana sandwiches. It was the stuff of dreams. I forgot how much I loved this place and can't wait to get back for a more intensive explore.

'They see only their own shadows or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave' - Plato Why you'd be standing outside the container at 7:15 AM on a Saturday morning I don't know, but if you had been you would have seen 'Team Rhythm' (Me, Mike, Matt, Chad and Kev) looking damp and excited in the darkness. I'm terrified of the idea of potholing, yet that's what I'd signed myself up... read more

My first cave! Didn't know what to expect, the drive up throught the dales was beautiful, it seemed like the weather was tryng to convince me to stay above ground. However when it was time for the changeover it msut have realised I serious about going underground because it clouded over and became windy and cold. The walk up the hill warmed us up and soon I was staring down into the entrance trying to imagine what was below. After... read more

This was a good trip. We started off late as we had no need to get going early, we left York after 9, headed south and cooked ourselves a breakfast. After chatting to some stragglers at the TSG we headed (late afternoon) to the cave. The change was nippy, but not too bad, and the walk to the cave was brisk. We noted the 2nd (or 3rd?) entrance in the field before our entrance. Andy stuck his head in but... read more