Flood Entrance - 05 Mar 2003

Wednesday March 5th 2003

Members present: Andrew Gilmartin,  David Sproson,  Deborah Last,  Holly Read,  James Gregory

Disclaimer: All of this happened yonks ago so any innacuracies are due to memory failure.

It was the YUCPC election night of 2003. The month was march, the night air was chilly. Coincidentally, It was pancake day. So off we went back to Debs' house for some chocolate fondue, pankcakes and a few bevvies. Spirits were high and somebody foolishly uttered the words "let's go caving!". The room was shrouded by a dark and awkward silence. people nervously shifted their weight from one leg to the other, esperately
waiting for someone to provide a much needed excuse.
"Ahhhh, bernies is closed-> No hire lights!"
"No problem, you can borrow my carbide lamp" quipped Laz.
With the absence of a legitimate excuse we were left with no escape clause and forced to prepare ourselves for an undertaking that would chill any sane human to the bone.

Meeting at the garage at 0045, we initiated the well rehearsed ritual of rope packing, albeit with a strange atmosphere. The convoy set off into the darkness at 0130, swiftly reaching clapham by 3am. The fog was thick but the air was still. Upon reaching the Rayside plantation navigation became an issue as visibilty was reduced to 10m. We were solely relying on the compass to get us to the stile.

Miraculously, we found Wades at 4am and pressed on through the cave all the way to GG. A victory cigar was enjoyed in the Main chamber and the party then began return journey. A few minutes sleep were snatched whilst waiting at the top of south east pot. We reached the surface at 10 to see the sun had risen, and a new day begun. Ahh bernies is open at last.