Links to other Years:
Definitely the last club trip of the year. Another rearrangement of a rearrangement of the planned trip. Until yesterday, we were planning to visit Waterways Swallet, but this is rather flood prone and the wet weather suggested somewhere else would be wise. We ended up at Silver Eye Mine, above the Via Gellia a couple of miles from Cromford in the Peak District. Nine people underground in this interesting site, with plenty of tricky climbs between levels. A happy new year to all cavers.
Our Meets Secretary has released the planned trips for next year. Lots to see and do in the coming twelve months.
A change of plan to a change of plan. Our meets list said Waterfall Hole. We decided to change this to P8. On the day, snow on the roads out of Bosley prevented half the team reaching the cave. The remaining three cavers changed the plan again to Giant's Hole, visiting a traverse around the right hand side of Garland's Pot. Snow, sleet, rain, ice, wind and cold made life above ground much less comfortable than life below.
This visit gave us some extra information we wanted before publishing a new route in the Rigging Guide. The DCA provide a topo for a traverse around Garland's Pot, leading eventually to Chert Hall, but doesn't provide much in the way of detail on how to rig this. Our topo concentrates on a similar route using a short roof tunnel above and to the right of Garland's Pot, which we found to be significantly easier to rig than going directly from the Garland's pitch head to the ledges. This tunnel leads to a short pitch down, rejoining the DCA route on broad ledges. We have shown the recently installed resin anchors and drilled thread that DCA have put in, which we are not using for our route, but not drawn in a rope route across, as we don't have a good rigging approach to recommend here. Our topo is a side elevation, rather than the DCA's plan view, which we believe complements it well.
Our latest newsletter. A note Steve Knox sent out to members on what our newsletters are for:
Clearly much of the content is derived from items you might have already seen as emails, although probably rearranged, but emails are very temporary things, and have a habit of vanishing, or being deleted. They are certainly not things that can be relied on as a historical record (unless you work for the government or the military) ! The CCPC Newsletters are intended to keep Members informed of our activities, but also as a permanent (as much as anything is) record of what we have been doing, for others who might be interested in joining us, or for those trying to track down details of who did what, when, and where. As always, I want to thank everyone who makes the effort to share information, photographs, trip reports, etc.. Without your contributions there would be no Newsletters. All contributions are very welcome.
Very best wishes to you all.
Colin 'Steve' Knox
The rigging topo for Winnats Head Cave has been updated. The fixed rope access pitches used to reach the downstream pitches have been corrected to show the extra anchors and Y hangs installed since our last update. The upstream pitches to reach Wigwam Aven have been added. We missed these up till now. The route was set up with stainless steel anchors shortly after the last paper guide was published in 2012. A mistake in the topo Key page has been corrected. The F for fixed ropes should have had a circle round it.
Grace, Gaz and Jenny underground today for a visit to the upstream pitches in Winnats Head Cave. The vertical squeezes were intimidating, and the pitches a complex network of avens, where the rope route moved from one to another as it made its way up. A most satisfying six hours underground of tough and varied caving. We came out to find it snowing. Pictures from Gaz McShee.
A visit to Minera Mine in North Wales on Sunday. Some pictures from Jack Lingwood. Some more from Gaz McShee
For version 15.0, there have been a number of changes.
There is a new topo for Giant's Hole. When returning from Upper West Passage, there is a pitch alternative to downclimbing to the streamway. This is particularly useful for novices, hence there is more detail given than you'd usually expect. Thanks to Pete Knight for the sketch and discussions on which this is based. You'll notice a lot of blank space around it. There is another route that was due to go on this topo, but it will need a further visit to check a couple of things before it is ready for publication.
The page numbers have been adjusted to take account of the sheets that have been inserted since this was last done.
Back in June, we ran a poll on the UKCaving forum, asking how people used the guide. The overwhelming majority of those who voted indicated that they just download and print the topo(s) they require for the day. Doing this means that you don't get the page with the symbol key and aren't going to see the guides safety advice, other than the shortened version (You're Going to Die!) that appears as a click to close modal when visiting the rigging guide web page. Now, when downloading a pdf, you get two extra pages, with the topo key and the safety page. If there is more than one topo page for a site, you get all those pages. For example, downloading the pdf for Snake Mine will give you four pages; topo 1, topo 2, key and safety. When printing, you can just print the topos you want, avoiding unnecessary tree chopping. If you use the excellent CNCC topos, this approach will be very familiar and I've shamelessly stolen it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
There has been some background work going on that you won't see, automating more of the guide production workflow and generating the various files and formats required from the original vector graphics drawings. This will speed things up considerably for the compiler, once the drawings are done and hopefully reduce the number of mishtakes.
An ad-hoc trip with five CCPC members underground. The aim was to visit Chert Hall, via the high level route above the Crab Walk that skirts the right hand side of Garland's Pot. Three of us reached Chert Hall. The other two went up Boss Aven. photos from Gaz.
A distinctly Caledonian theme to this Newsletter, with Alan Brentnall regaling us with tales of the caves he has visited since emigrating.
Despite the recent rainfall, six people, including a new caver, did the "tourist trip" in Peak Cavern. They had the entire wild cave, beyond the show cave, to themselves. Some photos from Gaz
We've carried out our annual check and clearance of the Waterways Swallet car park. We also checked the lid and Derbyshire lock on the cave itself. There is still some vegetation strimming to take place, but that should be done soon.
Four club members underground in the Lancaster Easgill system. The water in the main stream was high, which affected the areas visited.
A visit by the club to Maury Sough. Some photos from Gaz here.
A bumper edition, featuring the longest cave in the world, caving in a church, crossword answers and epic poetry! Read all about it here.
Symbols have been added to the Rigging Guide topos for entrances requiring a Derbyshire Key (a big adjustable spanner!), conventional key, or code to open. This information is usually in the appropriate entry in peakdistrictcaving.info, but it is useful to have it on the topo, so you remember to pack what's required, along with the ropes, maillons, slings and karabiners needed for the trip. The appropriate topos and the symbol key have been updated.
An ad-hoc visit by three club members and one guest from TSG, now the pull up cord to Miller's Chamber has been replaced. A rigging topo has been added to the Guide for this and the continuing fixed rope up Damocles Rift. Some photos and video by Jack Lingwood of the trip can be seen here.
After a visit today, the rigging guide now includes a topo for Pindale End Mine, for all the SRT pitches accessible from the Upper and Lower entrances. A short mine, but worth a couple of hours of your time. The Knotlow topo now has the correct symbol for a scaff bar belay at Meccano passage. Meccano is now spelt properly too!
A few weeks ago, we lost much loved club member Des Kelly. Today, many family and friends made their way to one of his favorite caves to say farewell. From the lane in Selside, we walked up together to the Lower Long Churn entrance. Some carried on walking towards Ingleborough. Others descended via the Dollytubs pitches to congregate looking out over the sunlight and mist filled Alum Pot. A few rigged down to the sump. Some of his ashes made a final caving trip. A bitter sweet day for many of us.
Friends and Family of Des Kelly at Lower Long Churn. 10th September 2022. Photo © Gareth Williams.
The topo for Clatterway Levels has been updated to include the stainless steel through bolt anchors that have recently appeared, courtesy of Peak Caving Club, replacing the rusty old bolts there.
Hot on the heels of Newsletter 136, there is Newsletter 137, which consists mainly of a report of club members trip to the Vercor and the Gouffre Berger. What we did on our Holidays! In addition, there is the sad news of the passing of long term member John Shenton, plus the usual upcoming trips.
The latest Newsletter is now available to read.
In the Dales on Sunday for a visit to Turbury Pot and a through trip in to the Kingsdale Master Cave and out through Valley Entrance. Some pictures from the trip by Gaz.
Nine of us underground today, including two novices on their first trip and an age range spanning sixty years. We visited the upstream streamway and the lower series, including descents of the Dungeon and negotiating Agony Crawl. A good time had by all.
A couple of minor corrections and a general tidying up of the Maskhill Mine rigging topo, based on a recent visit. The Rigging Guide is now version 14-5.
Hot on the heels of Newsletter 134, comes newsletter 135. Lots of expanded write ups and news of ad-hoc trips that haven't appeared in the meets list, or the web site.
At long last, the weather gods were kind and CCPC got to visit Ibbeth Peril in Dentdale. Unfortunately, the entrance to Ibbeth Peril 2 was blocked by flood debris, so couldn't be visited. Some pictures from Des.
The latest newsletter is available for your reading pleasure.
One of our favourite trips. Down Dollytubs and Alum Pot in the Dales. A couple of photos of the day from CJ.
A link to some more photos from Gaz here.
A trip in to an extensive North Wales slate mine for CCPC. A report by Ruth will likely appear in the next Newsletter. Some photos of the day from Des here
Four CCPC members, plus two guests made their way up from Kettlewell in Wharfedale for a Provi-Dow traverse, via Dowbergill Passage. Two turned back in Providence Pot, but the remaining four arrived at Dow Cave after a wet and cold trip. Well done to the successful traversees.
Newsletters are coming thick and fast, as the writing bug has bitten several members. Read our latest here.
A trip to Alderley Edge in Cheshire today and a descent of West Mine. CreweCPC members presence lowered both the tone of the neighborhood and the house prices for the stockbrokers and premier league footballers who live in the area. Photos from Gaz here.
A change from the scheduled trip of King Pot, but still in Kingsdale. A smaller group than usual made the trip to the Dales for what turned out to be a fun and wet trip. More will be in the next Newsletter.
Our editor has put together another newsletter for your reading pleasure.
Our last organised Peak Cavern trip before the Autumn took place on Sunday. Crewe cavers visited Moss Chamber. Some photos from Gaz can be seen here.
We had booked the climbing wall at the White Hall outdoor pursuits centre for a training session in SRT, knot tying and self rescue techniques. The day was run by our training officer Mark Krause, ably assisted by Steve PA. The day started with a comparison of the various bits of kit people were using. In particular, some members are now dispensing with the "chicken link" between the top jammer and the harness and using the long cows tail for this task. This is the method that is used virtually everywhere else in the world and the UK is unusual in that most people still use a safety cord. Several members are planning to go to France this summer. Caving with people from all over. Using the same system as every one else will hopefully stop Continental cavers pointing and laughing at them! We then practiced down prussiking and mid rope change overs between ascent and descent, followed by trying lots of different ways of improvising an SRT kit when various items have been lost, or broken.
After lunch, we discussed rigging practice and Mark extolled the virtues of the Fusion knot for rigging Y hangs. We practiced a variety of useful rigging knots. It was interesting to see the different ways people had of tying the same knot.
The last part of the day was self rescue; picking an incapacitated caver off mid rope. We all had a go at prussiking up to some one, passing them, which gets rather intimate, getting their ascenders off the rope, so they are joined to you by a cowstail, then transferring to descent and lowering them to the floor. The final exercise was the ever popular using another rope to reach some one, connecting them to you, then cutting the rope they are on! Amazing to see some one being suspended from a single strand of rope core, without it breaking.
A couple of pictures and a short video clip from the day here, courtesy of Heather Simpson.
Three members and one novice descended the Climbing Shaft route to the head of Waterfall Chamber on an ad-hoc trip, organised at short notice.
Newsletter 131 has been issued. See what we have been down to over the last month and what we have planned soon.
A visit to Holme Bank Chert Mine was added to our planned trip in Ashford Black Marble Mine to give a full day out. Ten people underground. We met up in the car park in Ashford on the Water on what turned out to be a bright sunny and relatively warm February day. The Black Marble Mine was new to many of us and we visited almost all the passages and chambers. We then drove and cycled over to nearby Bakewell for a visit to the chert mine.
Some photos from Gaz.
The initial plan for a trip to Brightgate Cave on the Saturday fell through when there were no takers. An ad-hoc visit to Giant's Hole was arranged instead on what turned out to be a very wet Sunday. Two Crewe cavers visited Boss Aven and the Upper Streamway series. Some pictures of the day from Gaz.
Newsletter 130 has been issued. See what we have been down to over the last month and what we have planned soon.
This trip had been planned, then cancelled several times over the last two years from COVID and the associated restrictions in Wales. A Crewe team finally went to North Wales and got underground here. A picture from CJ below and in the Passages section of the Gallery. More will no doubt appear in the Newsletter. One of the team tested positive for COVID the following morning, despite a negative test on the day, before setting off.
Steve PA getting wet in Poacher's Cave, North Wales. Photo © CJ 2022.
Some photos of the trip from Des.
Six of us underground in a cave that only one had visited before. Two pitches in to a continuation of the main Goyden streamway. We found the way in to the Planetarium and then back in the streamway beyond a sump, before meeting another sump. Upstream from our entry point, two members free climbed out of Thrope Edge Pot, while the others ascended the ropes of the New Goyden entrance. Steve PA has prepared a longer report for the next newsletter.
Some photos of the trip from Des.
The latest newsletter can be downloaded from the Newsletters page. What we've done over the last few months and a preview of what's coming up.
Our first club trip of 2022 saw ten of us on what we thought would be a gentle bimble in a grade 2 cave/mine. The extensions that have been made are a quite a bit tougher than grade 2 and saw us get wet and very muddy squeezing through the various constrictions. Between us, we saw pretty much everything. A great start to the new year of caving.
Some pictures from the day from Gaz here. A picture of some of the muddy team around the entrance shaft, overlooking Bradwell and Bradwell Moor by CJ is in the Surface Gallery. There is a shot from Gaz of a miners broken clay pipe in the Formations Gallery.
Walking to James Hall Over Engine Mine. Photo © Gaz McShee 2020.