Saturday - 5th may 2001
People present - Pete Dale, Andy Whitney, Sam Carradice
Another week another trip! Searching through all the places we could visit at the moment (Not many) we thought we would try Ibbeth peril as its next to the road and you don't have to cross farmland to get to it. Meeting in Bernies we had some refreshments (keeping Steve in business!) and then made our way to the cave. Finding that the petrol station in Ingleton had closed down I was forced to drive up to Dentdale running on vapours!
Arriving at the car park for Ibbeth we found it to be taped off for some reason but as its me I drove under the tape and parked up. (I'm fed up with foot & mouth now!) We then all had a short walk to check out the water levels and upon finding them very low returned to the cars to get changed. Once changed we quickly returned to the entrance, accompanied by Sam's dad, so to avoid attracting attention by the farmers in the area. Of course what would this trip be like if that bloody camera of Andy's didn't accompany us!
So after countless photographs of the small pool (when dry!) some of the entrance and god knows how many various other shots of the stream and gorge 'yawn!!!' ah yes the entrance hmmm? Well having seen it in full flood and in drought it is safe to say I wouldn't like to be in it when it's raining! Anyway the entrance is just that bit larger than your torso but as soon as you've got in, the passage enlarges to crawling size. After a flat out crawl along a bedding you trot through a short length of 'clean washed' passage to emerge into the main chamber 61m long, and 30m in width, mighty impressive indeed.
No sooner had all three of us reunited we split up again and went our separate ways. Andy started to set his camera up, Sam disappeared into the floor and I climbed up the waterfall to look at the phreatic tube. Returning to the main chamber to the glare of flashes, Andy shouted over "I want one of the waterfall with someone in it!" 'I wonder who that would be?' I thought to myself. So spending the next 10minutes stood in a freezing cold waterfall (I'm sure I was getting hypothermic!) he was finished or so we thought. as Sam had returned from his exploring. so all the camera gear was packed away and then unpacked again up in the phreatic passage. We then settled down to another strobe session.
Finally, we where finished photographing (for now only) and could begin to explore the cave system. Climbing down the falls we ventured left and clambered under and over the various house sized chunks of rock that lay across our path until we entered the top of a small chamber with water flowing along the floor. We made our various descents and then followed (I followed) the stream to where it dropped into an impenetrable rift. Further back up the passage was a junction so we followed the other branch to a very slippy mud slope down to a sump on one side and a 5.4m pitch the other. I then proceeded to investigate the other passages here and there with Andy following as best he could. Finding a hole up on the left we climbed up through it to meet Sam in the main chamber again since he had declined the dodgy crawl through some very loose shattered chokes at the start! (I only dislodged a couple of hundredweight!)
It was time to make our exit but before I could get near the way out of 'peril' I was roped into yet more photos! That done we ran for the entrance/exit before he could tell us different. Sam exited first then Andy, I should of suspected something sooner as reaching the hole to the world above andy greeted me with his camera "I want to get some of you entering and exiting the cave" he cunningly said. So after crawling in and out about 50 times I had had enough and refused to pose for anymore shots! We then had a look down Ibbeth 2 and Broadfield cave and after replacing the covers made our way back to the car. Oh, did I mention that Sam's dad had a look at the entrance. Considering what the walk to it is like, I can only hope that I am as fit and able as George when I'm his age. Who knows? I could be prussucking up gaping gill main shaft when I'm 80!
As for Ibbeth we will be returning to do the through trip from Ibbeth2 in a few weeks and I might even pass the squeeze in Broadfield cave!