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| Chris Taylor |
After
a few trips in the Streamway and Top Entrance at OFD, I was starting to feel a
change of scene might be nice, maybe more of a challenge. In hindsight the
phrase 'be careful what you wish for', comes to mind when I received a kind
invite to visit Upper Flood Swallet a few weeks back. I recall packing
my gear the night before with the same excitement a small child might feel if
leaving a mince pie out for Santa on Christmas Eve. On the morning of the trip
I bounded excitedly downstairs at 6:00am to a cool and dewy August morning.
Fast
forward to about 8:30am and after some rendezvous miscommunication, I'd met up
with Phill and Celestine, and we were well on our way along the M4. Phill's
SatNav impressively guided us through the West Country until we arrived at MCG
where our guide, Kevin, was waiting. Shortly after arriving, we're
changed, and walking down the dirt track and towards the modest little hatch
covering the entrance to Upper Flood - at this point I've noticed that
everyone else has double kneepads, elbow pads and gloves - I was starting to
feel my single pair of kneepads might be a bit inadequate. Kevin had
unlocked the padlock and down we went one by one, then scurrying downwards and
onwards through Upper Flood Passage, with plenty of hands and knees crawling
across rubble. After a final fairly narrow crawl we emerged into Midnight
Chamber which contained a fine array of flows, stal and long straws. Kevin was
fairly eager to press on, and much of the inward trip would consist of me
gawping at what I considered were breathtaking formations, while Kev would
assure me that the best was yet to come and it would be all worth the effort to
see Neverland. I held that thought in mind, particularly while wriggling through
a long flat, and wet section aptly named The Lavatory - a 50 metre wet
crawl.
Then
began 'the' boulder choke. Even in my limited caving experience I have heard of
this choke. A few really uncomfortable twists and turns later - that I
knew it be bloody well feeling bad the following morning - and we arrived in a
small chamber, where I remarked "well, that wasn't so bad, just a bit
awkward". With a smile our leader informed me we had got the first bit out
of the way, and there was plenty to go, but afterall, it was going to be well
worth it. I can recall around 11 particular sections to the choke that
were not individually difficult, but strung together, they do eventually become
an endurance test.
Eventually
Kevin announced we had arrived at the old entrance to Neverland. Apparently it was taped off to protect the formations, and a bypass was
dug. Anticipation was now running high among the group. Eventually
after one final push through a gloriously muddy crawl - I let gravity do the
work at that point - we arrived at a small chamber containing a shallow
pool. Next to the pool were a small bucket and a brush, and it was here
that we were advised to remove our oversuits and wellies to avoid spoiling the
formations. It felt criminal walking through a crystal pool and hearing
the faint 'crunches' under our feet as we took extra care to walk on already
damaged parts of the floor, but there was no other way on. As we turned
right and walked up the flows into a large chamber, pure white flows, curtains
and stal surrounded us. Everywhere I looked, the walls and floor
glistened yellow-white. I've struggled to write this piece, as a written
description does not do Neverland justice and neither do photographs really,
the passage has to be seen to be experienced. Further up the top of the
flow, a low passage contains a pool and the Pork Pies - large blobs of pure
white calcite shaped just as their name implies.
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| Chris in Neverland |
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| Celestine in Neverland |
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