Trips & Reports 2007

Having been told it was a grade 5 squeezy cave where people have gotten stuck on previous trips I was expecting it to be absolutely horrible. But actually, other than a couple of short squeezes and a couple of slightly dodgy climbs, it's really not that hard - no harder than most grade 4 caves. So an unexpectedly pleasant trip, hard enough to be interesting but not too much. Near the bottom can be found a series of in-situ SRT ropes... read more

In my defence, all I told James was that there were 2 bits where I couldn't get through cos I'm weak and have a fat arse. And I did say that it didn't seem like a grade 5 to us when me, Si and Debbie did it, and that it was more a grade 5 from the danger perspective. When I did this trip the first time I swore I would never go back, and when I did go back I... read more

It was great to finally get the opportunity to do this cave. Had a wonder up the streamway to Ink Sump, with some interesting noises from the scaffolding poles we'd all been asked to carry! An easy source of pack horses for the diggers in Peak me thinks! A few of us did the short sump before Ink Sump but most went though the bypass. Some superb caving lead us all to Moss Chamber, via the fun mud slopes and some... read more

We speeded down to the sumps (carrying a scaffold pole each) and had a bit of a splash about, and a handful of people did the free-dive sump. We then headed back, turning off along towards Moss Chamber. This entails climbing up out of the streamway and along a long hands and knees crawling passage for some distance, until you can pop up and into a chamber at the bottom of a muddy slope. A slippery climb... read more

When a guide says "bring a large adjustable spanner" you should read that as "bring a large adjustable spanner." Not "bring a small spanner cos it'll probably do" as a small spanner simply ain't big enough! Luckily we now own (after a lovely jaunt to Bakewell, which seemed very vibrant) a spanner that fits the above large and adjustable requirement. The mine itself was easy to find. Join and follow the nature trail until you see a sign about caving access,... read more

Water levels were quite high (and colder than usual i'm sure!) so we got a proper soaking on the pitch, fixed ladder and cascades. Very pleased when we got to the sump that we could head off up the relatively dry return route..only to find other cavers coming down who said the giant's windpipe was sumped :( back up the wet way, which is actually quite fun in reverse with all the little climbs! Then out as quick as possible... read more

The plan was to go down maskhill mine and then exchange with another group at the bottom thus coming back up through Oxlow mine.... After three wrong caves and three hours of walking around on the hillside we decided to give up and head back to the car. Basically we couldn't find the cave. However, on the way back to the car we accidentally stumbled across the cave entrance only now the time was just after 2 and we'd agreed... read more

Pleasant, quick and uneventful trip to bottom. No other groups down there - a minor miracle!

We went in 2 teams. I rigged the Engine Shaft and Andy G led the way into the main entrance. It was snowing in the Peaks and snow was lightly falling whilst we were having to repack the bags after some doofus packed ours incorrectly. Browsing around for Meccano Passage was fun, but unsuccessful. However, on looking at Kevin's survey in the pub, we think we know where it is, returning is a must! A good idea for the next time we visit would be an exchange... read more

It snowed! It was fun at first waiting at the top in the snow, but then I got a bit cold while Lauren, Si and Shrek went down. It was fun to go in and out different ways as last time we just went in and out the tunnel way. Coming out to snow was also ace, it cooled me down nicely, but a little too much. Mulled wine, spicy bean burger and curly fries by the fire were a must!

Could have been better transportwise wise, it seems Si's little car struggled a bit and unfortunately didn't really like the hill, with lots of steam appearing. Now we know the routes in we have got quite efficient and I enjoy the trip through the tighter Whalf exit, much easier than the big pitch out!

Bit of an error, i.e. me being an idiot and not being able to find it for a while. boo. Found the clints (?!) and went in. The first two pitches were done well, hurrah for the freshers' first srt in a cave, however due to wandering around, tiredness and the freezing water mean we didnt get to the last pitch.

This cave is so much more fun than i remembered! completely forgot about the whole crawling in water joy, and then popping up through the ceiling! good old drafts leading the way.

Couldn't go down Tatty Wife as a pair (who took a while to work out where they were going) confirmed that they were part of a group ahead totalling seven. Stuff that. So after umming and ahhing and listening to Nick Drake I decided on Bull Pot. We met Cambridge Uni down there - they're very good at knitting ropes together.

A very pleasing trip this one. Despite my best efforts to play in the wrong sump, we found the connection to Bax Pot quite quickly. After leaving through this exit we re-entered the system and played in some quite horrible mud before discovering the true link to Goyden which had eluded me on trips in the past. Instead of getting lost in the maze of inlet passages in Goyden (we had no survey or description with us) we took a... read more

Great swimmy fun as always. We climbed up to see the pretty straw grotto off the main streamway, and went down to the sumps, though we didn't go through them despite water levels being very low. Nothing exciting but a nice gentle day out. Interestingly, the main streamway of White Scar in places is one of the closest analogies we have found to the mains streamway in Excalibur. Maybe we should open a showcave?

Defiantly one of the best through trips ever. Its a trip I've wanted to do for a while and finally got round to it. An initial bit of awkwardness in the Providence Pot end with some nasty crawls through water lead to the impressive Stalagmite Corner and the Doubergill Passage streamway. The first half of the streamway lulls you unto a false sense of security - the worsted is yet to come! Fairly easy going leads over several boulder chokes... read more

An excellent trip, quite physically demanding, but a very satisfying feeling to achieve the full through trip in good time. The section of Providence Pot to Stalagmite corner is easy to navigate, and the description in 'not for the faint hearted' is excellent up to this point. Relatively easy going in the streamway following the same description finally (after a fair bit of progress) arrives in 800 yards chamber, although we were a little uncertain up until then as to... read more

I think this must be up there in my favourite trips of all time. A really good trip that was a nice challenge and really good fun. The cave is amazing and has a real sense of humour for people willing to do stupid things :) I am however now bruised and quite knackered, but it was definately worth it.

:) :) :) :) :) :) "awkwardness", "a bugger of a climb", "a holdless travese", "chimneying up rifts", "some hard climbs". This cave has it all in spades. I couldn't stop grinning after tackling the challenges posed by this cave. When we reached the flowstone duck into Dow cave I had that feeling that all cavers seek- the feeling you get when you've achieved something quite special. There were some times it was... read more

Great trip, but unfortunately I spent the entire time struggling just to keep my eyes open due to a) a lack of sleep for 2 nights running and b) my total inability to deal with less than 8 hours sleep a night. Furthermore I seem to have lost what little upper body strength and climbing ability I ever had. Would like to go back. N.B. We had it slightly easier than it would be normally due to extremely low water levels.

Team Lidl's second outing and didn't we look amazing!? Emerging the cave just as the tourists were queueing up to go in for the 2pm tour was great. A long line of Lidl suits! White Scar was really really good fun, especially the swims. Swimming through the very cold water was an amazing hangover cure. The old man was really friendly and said we could leave car keys, valuables with him which was kind. It was good too that they did... read more

White Scar was fun, I'm really glad I got to do it :) The man was no where near as mean and scary as everyone has always made out. And he had a cute doggie. The tourist part of the cave was very demanding, but also rewarding. Negotiating the tricky squeeze proved to be worth it to be able to see the awe inspiring "Judge's Head". Truely remarkable. The big chamber was pretty cool, especially liked the double glazed patio UPVC door... read more

A bit of a recce whilst walking down Pen-Y-Gent to see if I could find the entrance again! Directions to the cave: Park at Brackenbottom and walk up the path towards Pen-Y-Gent. Keep on the path until the final wall in the fields to the left of the path before the top bit of Pen-Y-Gent. Climb over the gate in the corner into the field and follow the wall North (Pen-Y-Gent on your right). When you are just approaching the second wall in... read more

uber immense stupid about of pre-caving faffage, but hey ho. Cave was well fun, lots of mud fights, then making wonderful things in mud hall; i think we all deserve an artistic medal...