Carlswark Cavern - 26 Oct 2008

Sunday October 26th 2008

Members present: Adrian Turner,  Alexander Stelfox,  Becky Harrison ,  Chris Maughan,  Chuck Holder,  John Kendrick,  Kevin Francis,  Max Spicer,  Thomas Blakey

This was a fun trip, less disjointed than the day before, despite us going in as one big group. We knew there was at least one other group in at the same time, but it was considerably less busy than the day before!

We started with a small through trip through a nearby mine level, getting the freshers dirty for the first time. Whilst this was going on we met a chap from the Eldon who told us of his recent exploits in the last week, where we dived the Bagshawe resurgence and made the through trip to Bagshawe proper for the first time. Respect. He also told us a bit about digging in the sumps. Underwater explosives!

It was nice to get back in the PVC and Carlswark seemed drier and bigger than the day before. Odd! We were really efficient through the streamway with Tom leading with advice from Chuck. At the back I took the opportunity to coax Max to stick his head up some side passages. It was a shame the others were too far ahead to see the chamber at the start of the dynamite series, it was well worth a look.

The crawls were fast and noone seemed to grumble, the letter box was barely noticed. We headed down the streamway and I waited at the top of the rope whilst the others viewed the sump. Alex was excellent at the front on the way out after being given a spare copy of the survey.

We marched out to daylight and I avoided the dowsing with welly water. We popped down to the resurgence but only Max was keen to go in. We headed back to the cars and washed gear in the nearby stream. Finally my suit is in a condition to patch it. We tried the chip shop in Stoney Middleton but it was shut so we drove to Castleton and after a little faff hit the chip shop we had discovered earlier in the morning. I had a fantastic pie. Slept on the way home to make up for my extra early start...