Showing posts with label Mendips. Show all posts

Sunday, 24 November 2024

Bailing out on Mendip...

Team: Bob Clay, Paul Collier, Alex Hannam, Duncan Hornby, Barbara Lane, Arwel Roberts & Claire Vivian

Dates: 16-17th November 2024.

Friday

This was a special evening trip to see the amazing Wells Carnival. It is one of the largest illuminated carnivals in Europe and proved to be a spectacular 2.5 hours worth of entertainment for Paul, Barbara and Claire. Fortunately, the weather was kind being cold, but dry. You've definitely missed out if you've not seen one of the Somerset carnivals before, so make sure you rectify that next year!

Saturday

The planned trip was to enter swildons hole, get to the mud sump, pass this and then head towards shatter series.

The Team left to right - paul, Claire, Arwel, Bob & Alex

Paul negotiating his first ladder

Claire navigating one of the pots in the main stream way.

Paul in Barnes loop.

Paul in a tight spot!

Claire passing through a squeeze on her way to mud sump.

Upon arriving at the mud sump the team set about bailing out the pool to lower it so it could be passed. After 1.5 hours of concerted effort the consensus was to abandon the some what futile exercise. We did manage to lower it 3-4 inches but this was no where near enough for the sump to open up as a duck.

Mud sump.

Alex using the ingenious pump, we found that pouring a little water into the top lubed up the pump…

Bob ensuring the pump tube feeds the water into the collector strung up into the ceiling.

Claire and Paul lifting the water into the next collector, back breaking work!

We returned to the main stream headed down to sump 1, passed this and went as far as sump 2, all new territory for Paul.

Paul and Claire beyond Sump 1

Paul and Duncan near Sump 2

In the evening we had food at the Queen Vic in Priddy then a couple of cheeky pints at the Hunters.

Sunday

Sunday was a gentler affair with a visit to GB cave. Arwel and Alex were replaced by David, a mate of Bob’s also from the South Bristol Speleogical Society. We made our way through the system to Bat passage. Some of the team wormed their way into Great chamber.

Duncan soaking up water in Ladder Dig, yeah it was tight!

Paul at some white stall in Bat passage.

Bat Passage

Bob in Great Chamber

Bob belaying Claire back down the ladder dig pitch.

Upon exiting GB cave we were greeted by a torrential down pour, as if we didn’t need more wetting!

Saturday, 8 May 2021

50 and caving!

Team: Duncan Hornby & Claire Vivian

Trip date: 4/5/21 & 6/5/21

So... I've finally reached the big 5 'O! Tradition dictates getting friends, family and all my caving chums together for a big party.

Unfortunately for me, COVID stomped on that idea and although lockdown restrictions have eased up, there is no way I would be allowed to party with my friends... 😟

Thankfully Claire came to the rescue, saved me from a lonely birthday and dragged me underground (to be fair I didn't need much persuasion). Over 2 days last week we visited 3 caves on the Mendips.

So by way of kick starting the SWCC blog for 2021 I invite you to join me in my some what scaled down 50th birthday caving trips!

Fairy Cave

We parked at the Cerberus hut, got very lucky and bumped into a member staying there who informed us the code to the padlock had changed. Armed with the new code we headed off to Fairy Quarry to do the Fairy Cave to Hillier's through trip, a trip that Claire has never done.

My birthday cake at the entrance of Fairy Cave.

Keen to keep reminding myself it was my 50th birthday trip I kept the candles...

You try getting through that squeeze with candles!

We made our way to the connection to Hillier's, the flat out crawl in a puddle, which seemed like an obvious place to celebrate...

Yes, I have lost the plot...

So it was now time to sing happy birthday! Click on the video below to join in.

With my birthday candles finally giving up we entered Hillier's, and headed to the pretty Cambridge Grotto.

Cambridge Grotto formations.

Claire back lighting a curtain.

Running out of time we quickly headed out passing through Tar Hall and the spider infested entrance to exit into late afternoon May sunshine.

Bath Swallet to Rod's Pot

2 Days later we returned to the Mendips to do the through trip. This is a short trip but with lots of variety. The entrance of Bath Swallet can be found in the first obvious depression on your left after the end of the track.

Claire and I at the entrance of Bath Swallet.

After a short scramble and crawl you get to the top of Shower Pot. This is a nice pitch, good for beginners, although the start of it is a bit awkward. There are several P-bolts and naturals to rig off at the pitch head and a 25m rope is more than enough. Having descended the pitch we leave the rope but take our harnesses.

Descending Shower Pot.

At the bottom of Shower Pot (with the pitch behind you), turn left and head down the obvious hole in the floor. Some crawling then you pop out at the bottom of Purple Pot. There thankfully is a handline in situ as purple pot is a bit slippery.

Claire climbing out of the top of Purple Pot.

You eventually pop out into Main Chamber in Rod's Pot and then it is a steep route finding ascent out of the cave. On the way back to the car I popped back into Bath Swallet and retrieved my rope.

Swildons Upper Series

With the through trip completed we headed over to Swildons Hole. We decided to keep this trip shorter and rather than blast our way down to sump 1 and back we were to explore the upper series and tick off as many circular routes that can be done.

Claire and I at the entrance of Swildons.

We are both familiar with the short dry way in so we attempted the long way in and ended up in a reasonable well decorated chamber before connecting with the main stream.

A chamber in the upper series of Swildons.

We then headed back out along the wet way out, which by its name implies you get quite wet! A word of caution there is a fairly tight squeeze along this route near the exit, large people will find that very difficult.

Although this trip was short it was really useful to link up sections of the cave and now provides alternate routes in/out.

So I hope you enjoyed my birthday caving and it will be great to read about others caving as more people get back underground?

Sunday, 27 October 2019

Top trips and “collector pieces”!

Team: Chloe Francis, Duncan Hornby, Stephen Johnson, George Linnane, Sanita Lustika, James Meredith, Paul Meredith, Helen Stewart, Phil Thomas, Claire Vivian, Hwyel Protheroe-Jones

Dates: 18-20th October 2019.

Authors: Chloe Francis, Duncan Hornby & Claire Vivian

Sludge Pit Hole team in a part of Main Rift passage.

On arriving at the MNRC hut we were greeted by the hut warden, David. We were able to obtain a variety of keys which gave us the opportunity to pick and choose our trips. Then for some, it was an obligatory visit to the Hunters Lodge!

A sneaky shot of Chloe and Duncan at the Hunters.

The team at the MNRC.

Saturday

Three trips ran on Saturday each have their own report:

Charterhouse Cave

Many thanks to Peter Hall, local Mendip caver who was the guide for this trip. Photos by Sanita.

The cave seemed to have two modes - you are going through a narrow-ish bit or you are comfortable to walk, where subjectively it felt like most of the time you spend in the narrow-ish bits of some shape and form. Never the less it was great fun and a well worth trip. Like it says in the cave description, the first proper formation you come across is the Curly Wurly Stal which you can partly see from a hole in the wall of the passage first and once you turn a corner it turns out to be even bigger and nicer looking.

The Curly Wurly Stal.

Our next stop was the Splatter Chamber, where we got to hear about some theories as to why the splatter is there.

Splatter Chamber.

After some crawling, we came out in the Grotto of the Singing Stal. You don’t tune into it straight away but once everyone had put their lights out, you could hear it ‘sing’. It sounded like a happy squirrel munching on a nut or something.

Grotto of the Singing Stal. The stal sounded like a squirrel munching on a nut or something.

A fossil as fat as your finger!

Little splatter formation.

Unfortunately, The Narrows ended up being too narrow for one of us so we had to continue as a party of three. Past the Narrows Frozen Cascade and the Blades were the most impressive formations.

The Blades.

As the cave description says Portal Pool sumps from autumn to spring. Though Peter started to water pumping process, we wouldn’t have gotten much time on the other side, so we opted to not go through the Portal Pool. Instead, we had a listen to the strange noises the air-bell was making...

Turn the sound on your computer and watch the video to

hear the weird gurgling sound the air-bell made.

We then had a quick look at the Timeline passage with the crystal pool cascade and then made our way back at a leisurely pace taking photos of all the pretties.

The Frozen cascade.

The formation opposite Frozen cascade with Peter Hall in the background

Little helictites before we turn around and make our way back.

The Timeline. This was our turnaround point next to the Portal Pool after listening to the airbell which was making deep, industrial factory-like noises.

On the way back we had a quick stop at the Citadel to look at the Blobs. They were strangely pretty for the fact that there was not much there in terms of shape or size.

The Blobs at the Citadel chamber.

Trip length: 4-5 hours leisurely pace to the Portal Pool.

GB Cave

As this was Hywel's first SWCC trip and first visit to the Mendips we thought we'd treat him to the splendour that is GB. Massive passageway, plenty of formations and a waterfall to climb. What's not to like about that?

Helen, Hywel and Chloe at the entrance.

The rain in Wales the previous week had been tremendous and it had almost been impossible to see through the windscreen at times on the journey over on Friday evening as the rain was torrential. We were expecting GB to have a lot of water and so decided to do the round trip with a couple of short extensions. We thought the duck into Ladder Dig Extensions would be impassable, so didn't bring a ladder.

Helen, Hywel and Chloe on the Bridge.

But we were wrong. We went to have a look at the waterfall and could see that the water was nowhere near the level we were expecting, it was quite low!

Still enjoying the sights of GB.

We were committed to the round trip now so off we went. We put Hywel at the front of the group for a lot of the trip so he could have a go at exploring the cave for the first time, without just being led. All the group were capable cavers, so it didn't take long to complete the circuit. It was great to have GB to ourselves on an Autumn Saturday afternoon. The only people we saw were a student group we met at the entrance as we exited the cave.

Still smiling!

Hywel climbing towards the end of White Passage.

Chloe enjoying the wet grovel.

Chloe admiring some pretties near the entrance.

The sun was shining brightly when we got out and although we were tempted to go and do a second cave in Burrington (Rod's Pot), the lure of lunch and a walk won out. We went to Blagdon and walked around the fields and lake instead.

Blagdon.

Trip time: 2.5 hours

Sludge Pit Hole

For much of my caving career this cave has been closed to cavers. A few years ago a change in land ownership meant the access to this cave was improved and is now accessible if you can obtain a CSCC key.

Whilst not Mendips longest system it is a sporty cave and you can easily pass the time exploring the various routes and bitter ends.

The entrance is tucked away in an overgrown depression in a field just up the road from the Wessex Caving Club.

Entrance to Sludge Pit Hole.

A short scramble leads to the 8m pitch. It has a couple of P-bolts and a convenient ledge, so a nice pitch for beginners or people less experienced in the dark art of going up and down wire ladders.

Stephen about to climb main pitch.

Paul at main 8m pitch near the entrance.

We followed the obvious way on which lead us down the steep main rift, this was some of the larger passages within the cave. It terminates at a sump and a particularly dodgy section of the cave with the roof seemingly propped up with a stack of rotting logs. Eek!

Group resting at the sump at the end of main rift passage.

The roof seemingly held up with a stack of rotting planks, this is a few metres away from the sump.

We then did a variety of routes, initially via Aragonite rift back to the entrance, then back towards the skeleton series via the maze and finally back towards the entrance via the shale series.

Team in Main Rift passage.

It was a lot of fun seeking out the various routes and trying to connect parts of the cave. As the system is quite small there was never the fear of getting totally lost as you would do in the much bigger Welsh systems.

But word from the wise going UP shale passage towards the entrance is quite cramped and arduous, definitely would be much easier going DOWN it!

Trip time: 4 hours

Saturday Night

The mystery of the elusive Ploughboy

We stayed at the MNRC, which happily was in walking distance to a pub: The Ploughboy. We knew the walk was tinged with danger, along a busy main road in total darkness. Taking measures to avoid any pre-pub injuries, we ensured we were suitably equipped with high viz jackets and head torches. Marching in single file along the road felt like being on a weird school trip...heading for the best destination ever! Eventually, after about 20 minutes, we reached the pub. James un-clenched his bum cheeks as we re-grouped in the car park. Ah, safety at last!

Imagine our devastation when we realised the pub was closed. There were no lights on. Nobody was there; the whole place was completely deserted. Horror. Dejectedly, we turned around and trudged back towards the hut. Duncan called the Vic, who reckoned they could just about squeeze our party in. I was now hopeful that my Saturday night dinner would not consist of soggy, half-eaten caving mars bars and instant noodles (must bring better food next time).

On arrival back at the hut (the walk felt longer on the way back without the anticipation of destination pub), we figured out who was going to drive. Helen S volunteered to take people in her very lovely and fairly new VW Golf estate. We eagerly clambered in, our mouths watering at the thought of the delicious food which awaited us. However, due to a flat battery in the car key, Helen’s engine would not start. Everyone exited the vehicle.

Eventually we managed to arrange everyone into cars and off we headed to the pub! Helen made some calls to try and resolve her key situation - the issue was solved the next morning with a trip to Wells to get a new battery. We have a great time at the Vic, with plenty of food, beer and good company.

Sunday

Taking advantage of the cave keys, two trips ran on the Sunday:

Singing River Mine

Ah, Sunday. The perfect time of the week to relax; tolerate your family; catch up on televised sport - or, in the case of a hardy group of SWCC members - explore a disused mine! The order of the day was Singing River Mine. It’s peak activity was in the 18th and 19th centuries mining calamine: the ore of zinc and lead.

The mine is located in Shipham, in the back garden of a house down Folly Lane. It was a strange experience to open someone’s front gate and walk through their garden in search of underground adventure.

The Dream Team about to descend Singing River - photo: Helen Stewart.

Phil rigged the entrance ladder pitch and one by one we descended. I paid very careful attention as we explored the complicated labyrinth of passages, mindful of being able to find our way back in time for tea and cake. Although we had a copy of the description, none of us had bothered to read it before entering the mine. In hindsight, this would have been very helpful.

Eventually we found the lakes - woohoo! They were wonderfully clear and blue. As nobody fancied getting fully submerged, it was time to turn around. It would be cool to take a raft down next time to sail across.

View of lake.

Trip time - approximately 2 hours.

Attborough Swallet

Yet another collectors piece to tick off, Attborough Swallet is a short drive away from the MNRC hut. Parked in a lay-by, crossed the road and a short walk into a depression to a bright yellow concrete entrance. Can’t get much nearer than that.

This is yet another small cave with no fear of actualy getting lost. Cotham Hall is the largest chamber with a few routes leading off into various tight, wet, gnarly crawls.

Stephen the mole!

Team Meredith at entrance of Attborough Swallet.

Claire was leading the group as we got towards “Twist and Shout”, hesitant to descend a climb Claire crawled out to let me have a look. By virtue of being too large I had to partially descend the climb so I could turn around and get out of the crawl, it was at that point I realised the climb was much easier than it looked so called the others to continue. A few metres on and the tables were turned and I was hesitant to commit to a climb but Claire was small enough to get down it and work out where the foot holds were.Stephen jumped at the chance and quickly disappeared down into Watery Rift which terminated in a flat out crawl in a stream.

We then returned to Cotham Hall and explored Nasty Nasty which was a grim crawl into a wet and muddy tube, most of us bailed out on that! But Claire and James went out to sample more of the misery and reached a climb down that belled out at the bottom before throwing the towel in and going back to meet the others.

We then headed out via a tube connecting Cotham Hall to Happy Mondays. This short cave is a great Sunday trip if you wanted to get away early but still get a bit of caving in.

Paul squeezing out of tube which connected Cotham Hall chamber to Happy Mondays passage.

The rather muddy team at entrance.

This was the trip where we also found monkey, soon christened 'David Attborough', abandoned in the lay-by near the cave.

The now “unofficial” mascot of SWCC?

Trip time 2.5-3 hours