Log-2002

Log-2002

28th December 2002 – Mistral Hole
A wet day saw Pegleg well avoided and in we went to Mistral, the standard route to Dusty Junction then a brief visit to Red and White Wall Chambers. Through Hall of the Ten into the splendid and most delightful mud of Hall of the Mountain King!
Soon enough we arrived at Gour Hall, with a recent extension we had a look but the Extreme Ways extension proved too extreme for some, so not wishing to leave two of the team sat around we headed out.
Duncan Jones

27th December 2002 – Walkabout – Half of Waterfalls walk and Scar End
With digging abandoned due to lack of bodies Ged suggested the Waterfalls Walk. Myself, Ged, Pete C and Clive set off on the back end of the falls which were impressive (it had rained alot!) Upon arriving at Scar End Ged knocked on one door, no answer so knocked on next doors, with an answer. Ged then explained to Wendy and Fergus why 4 shifty characters were stood around outside their house and then we got chatting – Ged and Pete explaining about the old Scar End before it was converted to houses, we took some pictures and were very kindly offered some whiskey (Some had more than others, no names mentioned, eh Pete).
The day after Ged received an email: Dear Ged, Thanks so much for the pictures, they’re fascinating…. as were all your stories! We really enjoyed meeting you all. There’ll always be a mug of tea (or a glass of whiskey) and a welcome smile for you guys. Thanks again to Wendy, Fergus and Tai the collie for having us. (Pics in gallery shortly..)
Duncan Jones

15th December 2002 – Walkabout around Little Easegill and Jenkin Beck
Somehow I had found myself agreeing to go on this walk, despite planning a lazy Sunday at home! (well, Ged mentioned him and Pete C were doing this walk to me and it came recommended so how could I refuse), to be honest I’m glad I did go along, it was a good day. With Geds good PR work we were kindly allowed to walk up Little Easegill/Jenkin Beck and view the waterfall. I had a quick visit into Jenkin Beck Cave before we recreated a 1957 shot of the waterfall with Pete Cumpsty stood on the bridge! Walking back down I was sent up and down the slopes looking at small holes, to find nothing unfortunately. (See pictures in the gallery)
Duncan Jones

7th December 2002 – Bean Pot and Lower Arch
Had a look in Bean Pot but it was flooded as usual, examined the Drain Entrance. Went to Lower Arch for a quick visit and dig yet more sand out of it!
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30th November 2002 – OFD2 – Top Entrance to Cwm Dwr photos

In top entrance, a quick detour to the Mini Columns then onto Arete Chamber followed by a visit to the Swamp Creek area, where Martin and Alan climbed down a number of climbs to reach the Main Stream, the other 4
retraced steps and went down the usual route at Maypole. A sporting Main Stream followed and after a quick detour to look at Fault Aven we made our exit.
The evening saw Dunc, Pete and Adam visit Blaenavon for a talk and slideshow on Ogof Draenen.
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17th November 2002 – Deaths Head and Big Meanie
With two teams of three we set off our separate ways, the Big Meanie team went the wrong way leaving the Deaths Head riggers in the cold for a while.. Big Meanie turned out to be a bit muddy and in one very short 6ft vertical section, tight.
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16th November 2002 – Walkabout on Storrs Common
We had a stroll around Storrs Common inspecting numerous places of interest for a CD-Rom that is being produced, whilst doing this we bumped into Colin Davis, the guy that capped Notts2 with concrete, he apologised for capping it with concrete and said he wasn’t at all bothered by what had happened..
Duncan Jones

3rd November 2002 – Peak Cavern that became Oxlow Caverns
The planned trip was Peak Cavern but with a large amount of rain falling on Saturday we thought Peak would be too wet so opted for Oxlow Caverns instead which turned out to be a bit damp but also quite impressive, a pleasant SRT trip.
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26th October 2002 – Lancaster Hole to County Pot
The entrance was negotiated quickly, although the rope got caught on the rock when Adam came down resulting in mid-air fiddling for him. A quick visit to the
Colonnades and we were off to Fall Pot climbing down into the wet and sporting main stream.
Climbing up at Oxbow Corner we followed the high level route to Stop Pot, noticing large volumes of fairly recent rock movement before exiting via County Pot, free climbing the first pitch.
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28th/29th September 2002 – Ogof Ffynnon Ddu. Cwm Dwr to Top Entrance
Dunc had been earlier in the year doing the through trip the opposite way round, Pete had never been.. The trip was undertaken in the upstream direction and after a brief diversion at Cwm Dwr entrance the trip went smoothly. We looked at the Fault Aven climb but it wasn’t doable without a rope hanging down (which we later found out should have been there!).
The Main Stream was dry and the pools provided entertainment. After clambering around Maypole we wandered down Selenite Tunnel then onto The Trident and Judge formations before making our way out. Rose, Paul, Ken (aka Enketh) and Richard (aka the man without an N) successfully completed the same trip the day after, although they took longer than expected they had a great trip. The Hydrangea stayed on the surface. (See the pics in the gallery)
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22nd September 2002 – Gingling Hole

Full Trip Report.
With an offer of joining someone on there permit we couldn’t refuse! Fay and Alec set off rigging, Dunc and Pete followed behind with ropes for the lower section. The first part of the cave is easy, the second part is more entertaining, especially the thrutch, wish is a pain on the way out! Reached the top of the 7th pitch before retreating due to lack of time etc.. A superb trip, plenty of good formations.(Pics in gallery soon, if they turn out..)
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14th September 2002 – Lost Johns Cave
With the ropes for Lost Johns Centipede route in the cave by a previous group the plan was to descend Boxhead and derig Lost Johns but to make life easy a pleasant trip was had down and up the rigged route in Lost Johns – which was fairly dry!
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7th/8th September 2002 – Peak District weekend, P8 and Nettle Pot
Dunc, Ken, Rose and Nick had a refreshing trip down P8 on Saturday, Ken had been before but the other 3 found it longer than expected, well worth a visit..After that the pub was calling then Dunc, Ken and Rose went to the OCC cottages for the night.. On Sunday Dunc, Ken and Rose met Pete for a trip down Nettle Pot – Elizabeth Shaft, a nice pleasant SRT trip.
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17th August 2002 – Flood Entrance – Bar Pot, Via Henslers
Assembled at the tent we booked in and headed off to Wades Entrance, easily down we headed off to Henslers via New Henslers had a quick detour to the bottom end of Dis, then entered Mud Henslers we then passed quickly through the crawls which weren’t as bad as we’d expected. We soon emerged in the large expanse of Mud Hall and made our way to the Tropical Chamber.
The temperature change was noticable as soon as you got on the the ladder, we’ve never known the Main Chamber to be so warm! After a brief stop to admire the surrounding we bounced out of Bar Pot to end a classic round trip..
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20th July 2002 – Rowten Pot
Its been so long since we had done SRT that we just had to do some! and besides we had Nick coming along and he has only just started learning the art of SRT. What better place to learn than Rowten, big and impressive, classic SRT even for myself and Pete. Pete rigged, I derigged, straight-forward trip with no problems and we had the place to
ourselves!!
Duncan Jones

18th July 2002 – Smeltmill Beck Cave
A short evening trip was required and finally the weather stayed dry long enough for us to do Smeltmill.. We got about half way before deciding to call it a day as we all had to get away early for various reasons.. Short but sweet! The water in the entrance was a bit cold but that didn’t stop us doing a circular tour of the entrance passages – we didn’t take a wrong turning, just curious, honest.
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6th July 2002 – Gavel Pot
With Dunc, Pete & Jan assembled on Leck Fell a quick trip was in order. The entrance looked different than it had in the past, after a while we realised it was the vegetation that made it different, we’d only ever been in winter before.
Down the entrance pitch, second pitch and thid pitch/climb and along the streamway to Glasfurds Passages, the distant rumble of two very wet pitches could be heard! After looking at the lovely formations in that series of passages and wishing we had a camera, we exited.
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23rd June 2002 – Magnetometer Pot
The weather seemed reasonable, so we went for it, went round in a cirlce(more or less) near the start then climbed down and into the delightful wet crawl, even more pleasing when you’re only wearing a fleece. Eventually that ends at a nice chamber but its
straight back to the crawling before finally emerging a Styx Junction, then its canal stooping followed by a lovely section of passage followed by an interesting passage with traversing and some very nice circular potholes high up in the passage. The pitch down into
the large Caton Hall went without problem and we soon found ourselves in the low and awkward Rough Crawl, time, cold and weather forced a retreat at the duck. Us fleecey people made rapid progress through the wet crawl!
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8th June 2002 – Robinsons Pot
Interestingly sited entrance, leads through easy passage to a muddy crawl into a low wet crawl which pops out into the large McColls Rift, with some nice formations including mud formations. A short passage takes you to a short pitch into the spacious streamway. We made it as far as the start of the worm series before calling it a day (an interesting day!).
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2nd June 2002 – Dow Cave – Providence Pot
We were informed that Dow-Prov was a better way of tackling the through trip, plus it has the benefit of less distance to walk up hill! Tom wasn’t keen on the narrows so returned back to exit via Dow with Martin and met the rest of us at Providence end, deep water, traversing, crawling, walking, climbing – its got allsorts, a classic through trip!
Pete Dale

31st May 2002 – Long Gour Cave
A surprisingly nice cave, had expected it to be a bit miserable but it was pretty good, just a shame the tossers from the council blocked the shaft which prevents access to the second half of the cave.
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29th May 2002 – Windegg Mine Caverns
Another evening trip and another classic! Easy mine passage followed by a climb up a ladder into the natural passages which were interesting but muddy, a few loose looking sections here and there to add to the interest.
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20th May 2002 – Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, Top entrance – Cwm Dwr

Full Trip Report.
A classic through trip, check out the full report above.
Sunday saw us back in Top entrance taking in The Mini Columns, White Arch, Bedding Chambers, Gnome Passage and Chasm Passage.
Duncan Jones

12th May 2002 – Sylvester Pot
With a permit for Pool Sink we had a change of mind, opted for Sylvester Pot.. Followed passages down to Upper Cloughs where Pete & Martin continued and exited via County, Dunc & Daz went back out Sylvester and retrieved the gear.
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28th April 2002 – Roger Kirk Cave
Well, with two novices to take underground and large volumes of water pouring down Calf Holes we had to find somewhere else to go.. Somehow we ended up at Roger Kirk Cave, after a bit of crawling in water we turned back at the tube. Pete & Nick went back in another entrance, Duncan
and Allison retrated back to the cars. Bloody weather!
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26th April 2002 – Whirley Gill Pot
With Dave Thompson suggesting a Friday evening trip to Whirley I couldn’t refuse, its a place I’ve wanted to visit for many a year, after stumbling over the heather we found the entrance with a tastefully positioned dead sheep, ladder down and down the climbs which were slippy, at the bottom a strong smell of dead hit us, turned out to be a rabbit. We set off
downstream, which quickly lowered to a crawl, this was also slimy and progress was very easy if
somewhat grim. After a while Dave said he’d seen enough, we retreated never to return, a somewhat uninspiring trip.
Duncan Jones

20th April 2002 – Nettle Pot, we wish
After being let down at the last minute by Jan we decided that repacking the ropes into two bags and driving to the Peak wasn’t worth it so we went to the Dales.. We ended up having a drive over to Penyghent Gill area and had a nice stroll (scramble) along the stream noting numerous caves along the way. Well, failed again to do Nettle, maybe next time eh!
Duncan Jones

23rd March 2002 – Marble Steps Pot & BRPC Reunion dinner
After a late start we (Pete, Dunc & Jan) finally got to Marble Steps, got down as far as the top of Stink Pot before calling it a day and heading off to the Marton Arms to pop into the Black Rose Pothole Club reunion dinner.
Jan had to leave so it was left to Pete & Dunc to have a good laugh with the old ‘uns.. Many thanks to the old members for a good night, you might all be mad but your a good laugh.
Pete & Dunc

23rd February 2002 – Ogof Daren Cilau

Full Trip Report.
Excellent trip, had a visit to the White Company and the Antlers, after which the group split, some going out others continued on to the Time Machine – went to the end of that then made our exit. A full report is on the Trip Reports site. The day after four of us visited the Waterfalls around Ystradfellte, some pics are now on the trip report site.
Duncan Jones

17th February 2002 – Large Pot
Three of us set off for a trip to Collosus, a fairly uneventful trip took place, although we did remove a small amount of rubbish. There is still some rubbish down there that needs removing which will be done on the next trip. For some reason the second pitch seemed easier than normal, perhaps we’re getting used to it?
Pete Dale

9th February 2002 – Wet!!
Went to the Dales with the intention of caving, sat in Bernies watching the rain, gave up on caving idea when reports of large volumes of water were heard. Went for a drive that took in Chapel-le-Dale, Ribblehead, Dentdale, Kingsdale.
It was wet, very wet, water coming from everywhere! Typically we didn’t have a camera with us.
Duncan Jones

2nd February 2002 – County Pot
With an invitation from Andy Whitney to go down County we accepted, Andy and other rrcpc members went down a while before us, we soon caught up and after much wandering about we noticed they were leaving, not wanting to be left without a ladder we followed them out.
At the bottom of the pitch a prominent rrcpc committee member decided to start having a go at Pete for using their tackle (which we had been told we could use), at the top two well known committee members started talking about pulling the ladder up on us. Behaviour like that from committee members is in our mind unacceptable and potentially dangerous.
We decided whilst one last rrcpc member was climbing the ladder to sod them and exit via Wretched Rabbit instead, a small detour of about half hour and much more enjoyable than listening to whinging idiots.
Dunc and Pete

27th January 2002 – Lancaster Hole
After a quick look in Slug World which Rose wanted to see we headed off to Kaths Way, I had never been to the Crater so we took a detour to take a look, somehow we found
ourselves negotiating the small passages around the area. We followed the obvious passage
with a healthy draft, unfortunately it became rather dimensionally challenged resulting in sideways helmet off progress, after some time we popped out into Sand Caverns. A quick visit to the Saturday Afternoon series saw us doing yet more crawling, after a look around there we made our way out.
Duncan Jones

22nd January 2002 – Wookey Hole & Goatchurch Cavern
A visit to the Mendip region saw me and Carol taking a tourist trip round Wookey Hole, a Tuesday in Winter meant it was very quiet! Although a relatively short trip it has some reasonable sized chambers with lovely blue-green water in them. After that and much hassle trying to find somewhere suitable to eat we travelled on to
Burrington Combe and take a look in the very popular Goatchurch Cavern. Having found the right parking spot we got changed and followed the obvious path to the cave – which even had a plaque outside telling you which cave you were at! Once inside it was obvious how popular it was due the polished nature of the rock. A quick through trip between the entrances and then
down the coal chute along passages and through chambers towards the end of the cave, reaching a low grovel it was decided to call it a day and head for home.
Duncan Jones

12th January 2002 – Alum Pot – Long Churn Cave
With SRT planned for the day we ended up deciding to play about in Alum & Long Churn, Pete and Jan went down the SE route whilst myself, Martin and Darren went through Long Churn.
We soon reached the bridge, having not bothered with the traverse line, met with Pete and Jan then went back out the way we came in, Martin and Darren opted to free climb all the way out,
whilst I did half prusik, half climb. Whilst I de-rigged Dollytubs Martin and Darren went off to do the Cheese Press, an alternative route back via Diccan saw us back on the surface after a short but interesting day.
Duncan Jones

6th January 2002 – Over the Top
With Petes car left just outside Oakenclough and mine parked at the water works on the other side of Bowland we set off for a traverse over the Bowland Fells, easy going led us to Langden Castle, if you can call it a castle!
A turn up a valley with some entertaining stream hopping, led us to higher ground, about this time the cloud started to come in, meaning the views were non-existent, shame really. It was easy going on the fells as the ground was frozen, had
it not have been it would have been a bloody big bog trot. Onwards to Fair Snape Fell, then the descent down to the road and easier going again, certainly a different walk.
Duncan Jones

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