Ireby Fell Cavern - 05 Nov 2006

Sunday November 5th 2006

Members present: Chris Ward,  Deborah Hobbs,  Nicola Gover,  Richard Gover,  Simon Herrod

A cave of contrasts... The entrance and route to the first pitch look like a tourist cave with all the work that's been done, while the meandering streamway a few pitches in(I lost count) is so organic I thought I was in the intestine of some massive petrified beast.
Found all sorts of stuff at the bottom of the pitches, from abandoned metalwork to a wetsuit. Very random. Having gotten down all of the six pitches with out any trouble, had a bit of a job getting back up them again due to an intermittant hip pain. Thought it must be a kit problem, but having completely removed my SRT kit and gotten back into it under Gover's watchful eyes, that's ruled out. Would go to my doctor bout it but I know he'll just say "So this only happens when you're caving? Then don't go caving." ;@ useless medical professional, looking out for my wellbeing and such...
Lost our way on the way back in the fog a little, 'twas certainly nice to get back to the car and into some warm clothes and a bottle of vodka.