Hagg Gill Pot - 24 Oct 2007
Wednesday October 24th 2007
Members present: Andrew Gilmartin, Chuck Holder, Lauren Ellis, Simon Herrod
Report by Lauren Ellis
After a bit of a rope measuring sess, Chuck, Si and I went over to Asda for free coffee and cake. We decided we'd quite like to go caving at some point, so we got out our diaries to hustle a plan... but we couldn't find a good date. Then I suggested that we could go that evening (with it being about 4:30pm) expecting to be at the cave by 8pm and out at midnight. Not a bad idea. We down our drinks and head over to the container in high spirits. At 5pm I leave Chuck and Si deciding on a cave while I go over to Andy G's to talk him into coming too. Success. We plan to meet at the container at 6pm still with high hopes of getting into a cave by 8ish. We all have a bit of din dins and I get there at 6:15 where I find Chuck and Simon already packing the rope. Hooray!!
We pile our stuff into Chuck's car and head off. Chuck wants to go to his house for his tom tom, and Si wants to pick up his wetsuit, faff faff faff! We eventually leave York at gone 7pm. But it's ok because we comment on how clear the roads will be at this time, and roadster Chuck will get us there in a jiffy. About 10 mins out of York we hit traffic. Sandwiched between a coach and a Hymer for what felt like 45 mins. And it probably was about that too. Turns out that we chose the night when they resurface the road and let about 2 cars through every 10 mins. But we head on, determined in our quest.
We arrive at Raisgill and park up, attempting to find the farmer, but it being round 9:30pm we gathered that he'd either be alseep or out in the fields tending to his flock. The latter is confirmed when we see a very bright torch being used in the opposite field, and when we drive over the light mysteriously goes out... we leave and he gets on with his business. We park up and suit up at about 10pm. Quite a nice change all in all.
Who rang call out? No one. Who knows we're here? No one. I go up the hill with the phones in an attempt to find signal, with no luck. So Chuck hesitantly climbs into his car, wellies and all, and shoots off. He returns a while later having found a payphone. Let's go caving!
At this point in time we spend about an hour walking up and down the hill, spreading out. I won't bore you with the details, but basically we couldn't find the entrance. Only Chuck had been here before and it was pitch black. Anyway, we found it in the end...
Andy G rigs and we're in by 11:30pm. The cave was truely impressive, Chuck had said it was pretty, but I was very suprised. The straws and helicites were beautiful. We went upstream and got to the boulder slope where we pottered around for a while trying to see if there was a way on. We decided no, but after having a look it seems that a little chamber that Chuck got into with a flowstone pillar in it was the way on, we should have climbed up the pillar apparently to find some really pretty straws. On the way back Si took some pictures.
At the middle bit where you can continue to the downstream passage (I think it was gone 1am at this point), Andy G decides he wants to go beddy byes, so I go out with him as Chuck and Si have a little look downstream.
Had a lovely sleep in the car on the way home, randomly waking up to Chuck's aggressive driving and "music". Got back to York at 3:30am.
THE END
(I wanted to put the hardcore higher, just because we are so hardcore...)
