Trips & Reports

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

I was quite excited at the prospect of this trip, having missed out on the first visit to Long Churn but hearing from the others about how much fun it was! It was a great start… Ade said he’d be round to pick me up just before 9am, however at 9.15 there was still no sign of him and when I called to find out where he was I got a response of “oh shit” as I’d actually just woken... read more

A rather faffy start, it has to be said, the morning starting with a message from Ade at 8 saying “Running late, alarm failed to go off” (although it was later revealed that he may have woken up & turned the alarm of in his dozy state…!) followed by Ade & Tash arriving from the container with the rope packed the previous day. The problem was, they’d missed my note in the container to say we still needed metalwork &... read more

A first class trip to a pothole that not many people have done before! One of the '50 hardest' and for good reason! The shakehole is quite tricky to find but the map in '50 Hardest' is pretty accurate. Follow the vague path up from the car park at the Cold Cotes junction on the Ingleton-Clapham backroad, until just past the limestone outcrops near the top of the hill. Bear left off the path and locate the HUGEMONGOUS... read more

Chuck had been going on all weekend about how he wanted to do Mandale Mine and how pretty the pools at the bottom were. Really, they were. He really wanted to do Mandale Mine. So while the majority of the others made a hungover trip to the pub/tea-shop, a group of hardcore cavers dutifully piled into the car and went with Chuck to see what all the fuss was about. We went in, we got very wet. The route that... read more

Coming down, it was pretty good, though I did have to guess how to do a knot pass at one point, and the cave was really pleasant. What ruined me was going up Maskhill, I did not like that bit at all. It was scummy, awkward and prolonged. But, we did make some speedy progress so it wasn't bad in that aspect. And to be fair, going the other way looked like it could have been really quite good. A... read more

What can i say, it was a great trip really enjoyed coming down oxlow was simple and easy. however at one stage i thought we lost Ade lol. The main cave opening where Maskhill Mine meets Oxlow Cavern was wet, raining on the inside. Once the Maskhill team made it down to us they went on their way out Oxlow which was far the easier way out. I wana say thank you to Ade for allowing me to help him and... read more

I laugh at people who say efficient trips can't happen! The Maskhill -> Oxlow team was underground by 9 having packed ropes the previous day and we were out having rigged and derigged by 1pm! We had plenty of time to head back to the TSG to wash rope, have a shower and then head to the pub for a lazy afternoon before the meal! I love efficiency! :)

I went to bed on the Friday content in the knowledge I was off to do a bimble in Peak the following morning to sooth my rapidly approaching hangover. Five hours later and I was woken by Chuck's dulcet tones informing me I was off to Bagshawe instead. Naturally I just rolled over to try to go back to sleep. I little later I was awake again and struggling to get up. Still half drunk I made it downstairs and... read more

SNOW!!! And lots of it! A very pretty drive through the dales, changing in thick snow, followed by many snowball fights on the way up to the cave (including some vicious throws from Chuck which I still need to get revenge for..). While Chuck was rigging, I considered throwing snow at him but didn’t want to be the cause of him falling to his death so instead me and Anna made snow angels and then a snowman – we named... read more

A really good fun trip. The weather was stunning - cold and clear with snow on the ground. The change offers a fantastic view, especially with all the snow. Aquamole offered a good combination of ropework and easy but interesting crawling. The Aven is spectacular and well worth seeing. Lots of fun! I'm sure Matt will offer more details... On the way back, Tom, Alex and I went ahead leaving Mark and Matt to derig. We... read more

Well, first off, this is the first trip report I've written so if it's a load of shite, just bear with me. Anyways, the caving: Very little faff was had getting our stuff out of the container, though foolishly I grabbed an undersuit with a hole in the ass, again. The journey there was efficient, and we were at Bernies and eating breakfast before we knew it. Max then grabbed the last Rack from the shop, leaving me with no option... read more

This was a great trip that definitely exceeded my expectations. Despite the freezing cold rope-packing session in the morning, the change on Leck Fell was surprisingly mild despite the snow cover! We located the entrance fairly easily and after a look around various ways down, Gover found that the correct way is down the far side from the stile to reach the rock bridge. The first pitch was a bit muddy & cold, but soon after we were down the second pitch... read more

Great Cave once we got in. the initial descent was muddy but got better as you drop over the lip and descent another 20m. great cave with beautiful features. ACE!!!!!!!!!!!

Probably one of the most fulfilling trips I have done. This route through Peak is very varied and extremely rewarding. It has all the ingredients of a good cave, stompy streamway, muddy crawls, fantastic (in situ! yay!) pitches, stunning formations and an interesting history. Katie was a fantastic guide who showed immense knowledge of the system and was able to tell us many funny stories relating to each stage of the trip. I would love to go back and do... read more

A huge amount of faff... Trying to organise who was going on what trip with the transport available was a bit of a nightmare and I think it was gone 12 by the time we actually got anything sorted. With some vague directions to "go down a track and its in a field on the left", we headed off in Hayley’s car towards Monyash, where as suspected we discovered that there are many tracks and many fields. Lots of driving... read more

For those that were asking yesterday: "Bull Pot of the Witches was so named, not so much as having been associated with witches but rather to distinguish it from Bull Pot in Kingsdale and its proximity to Witches Cave" From: http://www.rrcpc.org.uk/easegill/text/Early_History.htm

Fairly efficient apart from Gary having the brought the wrong colour wellies so having to go back to Bernies to buy a new pair. Comic relief was provided by Cambridge University. Gaping Ghyll was very impressive! Came out the entrance in the foggy dark and somehow managed to find our way back to the car without getting lost. Impressive instinctive navigation by Gover and Andy G! A great fun trip. But where were the freshers???

The trip got off to a good start, with all four cars leaving the container at 8:30am. I was in Chuck's car and we made it to Outside in easily under an hour and a half. We'd got our breakfasts in front of us as the other groups started to arrive. After all gorging ourselves suitably, we zoomed off to Hitch n Hike to pick up the lights. The speedy departure was only slightly marred by Chuck forgetting... read more

I love Giants. Trip complete with kite flying.

I love Giants, It got me all wet and dirty!!!