Cave and Crag club - Caving http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/list.php?4 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:23:16 +0100 Phorum 5.2.14 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,329,329#msg-329 Mendip Caving Trip (2 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,329,329#msg-329
This is one of the Emmas from the novice caving trip to South Wales (not the one that fell down the crevasse). Matt and I were hoping to come along to the Bristol meet on 18th/19th Sept and were wondering if it's possible? Would there be any chance of us borrowing helmets and lamps?
I'm not sure if the other Emma is coming yet but I'm hoping she will.

See you guys soon hopefully! :)]]> Emma Caving Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:41:32 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,328,328#msg-328 :( IMPORTANT- Eldon Quarry- no access (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,328,328#msg-328 Chris]]> Chris H Caving Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:55:39 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,327,327#msg-327 :)-DNew peaks Guide!!! pre order form (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,327,327#msg-327 There is a pre order form to get free postage.
Please let me know if you want one by 20th September.
Chris]]> Chris H Caving Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:30:23 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,324,324#msg-324 :)-DWater icicle extension- now open (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,324,324#msg-324 Chris

Arrangements have now been made to enable access to the new extensions in Water Icicle Close Cavern.

Full details are given on the website of Orpheus Caving Club: www.orpheuscavingclub.org.uk

Regards,
Jenny Potts

Secretary, Derbyshire Caving Association]]> Chris H Caving Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:54:03 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,323,323#msg-323 Welsh Mines weekend (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,323,323#msg-323
Welsh Mines Society
The Welsh Mines Society is pleased to announce a conference and guided walk, to be held on the weekend
of 9th and 10th October 2010, entitled:
Towards a Better Understanding
New Research on Old Mines
In accordance with the conference title (which incorporates a quotation from the preface to Part 1 of David
Bick’s The Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales), speakers will present papers covering recent research on the
historic mines of Wales.
The provisional lecture programme for the conference on the Saturday is:
Esgair Mwyn old and new: a personal view G W Hall
Silver and Zinc: Cardiganshire, Brittany and Dillwyn & Co. of Swansea Dr P F Claughton
Alfred Williams of Oswestry: inventor of the Methanometer Dr R W Vernon
Prehistoric activities around Abbey Consols and uses of geophysical techniques
to elucidate such evidence
Dr D Sables & J Williams
Features of interest at four, small, long abandoned, lead mines in the vicinity of
Pontrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion
E J Webb
Rediscovering the lead, zinc and silver production of north-east Wales C Williams & A Williams
A re-examination of the Brynyrafr Mine S J S Hughes
Where Fenton went underground: the Caerffynnon coal mine, Tywyn Prof. D M D James
The programme will commence with registration and coffee 10.30–11.00, followed by a welcome address
from WMS President George Hall and introduction by the conference chairman David Roe.
On the Sunday there will be a walk round the Glasdir and Dolfrwynog mine sites near Dolgellau, led by
George Hall.
Conference venue: Plas Dolguog Hotel, Machynlleth SY20 8UJ 01654 702244
The charge for the event, which will include coffee, lunch and afternoon tea on the Saturday and a copy of
the conference proceedings when published, is £25 per person.
There will be a dinner on the Saturday evening for which there will be a separate charge of £15 per person.
Enquiries and bookings to:
John W Hine, The Grottage, 2 Cullis Lane, Mile End, Coleford GL16 7QF (please enclose SAE)
mole@grottage.fsworld.co.uk 01594 833217 (please do NOT withhold your number when calling)
Further details will be posted on the WMS web page [www.welshmines.org] as they become available
Club and society secretaries: please distribute this to your members and other interested parties.
Welsh Mines Society Conference 2010
Towards a Better Understanding – New Research on Old Mines
Booking Form
Name: .....................................................................................
Address: .....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
Postcode: .....................................................................................
Phone: .....................................................................................
Email: .....................................................................................
I wish to register for the conference at a cost of £25
I wish to attend the evening dinner at the hotel at a cost of £15 (delete if not applicable)
If attending the dinner please please indicate your menu choices below:
Cream of leek and potato soup, or
Prawn and pineapple salad topped with Marie Rose sauce, or
Tian of black pudding and goat’s cheese with balsamic dressing.
Rump of local Welsh lamb with redcurrant and port gravy, or
Breast of chicken stuffed with wild mushroom sauce, or
Fillet of salmon on a bed of roast vegetables with lemon butter, or
Gateau of vegetables set on a tomato and basil sauce,
All served with seasonal vegetables and new potatoes.
Profiteroles topped with chocolate sauce, or
Strawberry panacotta with strawberry compot, or
Warm bread and butter pudding with Chantilly cream.
Coffee or tea and mints.
I enclose a cheque in full payment for the above of £ .............
Please make your cheque payable to ‘Welsh Mines Society’
I wish to attend the guided walk on the Sunday (delete if not applicable)
Note that BCA insurance is required for this.
Please give your BCA no ...........................
(and club name if applicable) ...........................
If you do not have BCA insurance, temporary insurance can be purchased on the day for a small fee.
Please complete and return the booking form, with your remittance, by 23rd September 2010, to:
John W Hine
The Grottage
2 Cullis Lane
Mile End
Coleford
GL16 7QF]]> Chris H Caving Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:51:53 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,321,321#msg-321 New Lamp (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,321,321#msg-321
[www.bisun.co.uk]

Donald has one and a couple of the blokes down the Mendips did.

Gladys]]> Gladys Caving Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:55:26 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,298,298#msg-298 Serious damage in Giants (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,298,298#msg-298 Thanks
SERIOUS DAMAGE IN GIANTS HOLE

Daryl Godfrey reported on 6th. April that there had been serious and deliberate vandalism in Giants Hole - the affected area is the terminal chamber of Wet Inlets. This is an area which is not particularly easy to access since it involves a climb and squeezes and so is probably beyond the scope of ‘punters’ with a head torch.
The vandals have apparently used a rock to break off metre-long sections of stal, which have smashed on hitting the floor. Other formations from the same chamber have been snapped off and removed, leaving a scene of destruction in what was once a hidden gem. Daryl comments that the chamber floor “… is a scene of calcite genocide …”. Giants Hole is an SSSI, and so protected by law, and is also one of the caves being monitored by cavers on behalf of Natural England. Some of the stal. in Giants has been dated and is being specifically monitored and NE are anxious to establish whether the damage affects any of these crucial areas.
We are appealing to all cavers to help us catch the culprits so we need to know, if possible, on what date the damage was done. Dave Webb, DCA Conservation Officer, will be collating information so please contact Dave direct (or Daryl) if you have any information.
If you have visited that area of Giants recently and have seen the affected area undamaged, please could you contact Dave and/or Daryl to give them the date. Equally, if you have seen the area after it was damaged, please also give us the date. That will help us narrow it down. We also need photographs taken of the intact chamber to establish exactly what has been broken or removed.
Contact: Dave Webb: Em. mailto:conservation-off@thedca.org.uk, Tel. 0115-840-1109
or Daryl Godfrey: Em. mailto:daryl@acclimbatize.co.uk, Tel. 01629-820268, Mob. 07881-626317
Thanks for your help.
Jenny Potts, Hon. Sec. Derbyshire Caving Association]]> Chris H Caving Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:53:53 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,288,288#msg-288 AGM Caving - Great Trip (3 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,288,288#msg-288
James]]> jblincoe Caving Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:55:41 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,282,282#msg-282 New caving web site (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,282,282#msg-282 Chris H Caving Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:07:36 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,255,255#msg-255 Link to fantastic TV Prog on Welsh Caves (1 reply) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,255,255#msg-255 The link is; [www.s4c.co.uk]
It will expire in 34 days so be quick!]]> Jon Hardy Caving Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:28:05 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,253,253#msg-253 Post AGM Caving (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,253,253#msg-253 Chris H Caving Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:52:56 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,251,251#msg-251 Feb Mendip trip- booked (2 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,251,251#msg-251 let me know if your coming.
Cheers
Chris]]> Chris H Caving Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:58:06 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,239,239#msg-239 South Wales trip (1 reply) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,239,239#msg-239 I am planning on going on Friday Night, Caving on Saturday, then heading back Sat afternoon as have a do to go to on Sat night.
Let me know if your planning on coming!
Cheers]]> Chris H Caving Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:02:07 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,230,230#msg-230 Masson Box Feb 2009 (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,230,230#msg-230
Masson Box 2009]]> John Caving Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:21:58 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,215,215#msg-215 July caving trip. (6 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,215,215#msg-215 Joe is back weekend 17th July, supposed to be a FOD trip, trying to book Slaughter stream if it is open again, if not, Yorkshire? Swinstoe Pull through?
I've got to be back home Sunday for a family party though.
Anyon free?
Chris]]> Chris H Caving Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:37:12 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,212,212#msg-212 South Wales Novice Caving trip Pics (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,212,212#msg-212
Novice Meet Pics - June 2009]]> Dave Milford Caving Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:13:35 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,207,207#msg-207 A MUST read of a rescue in S Wales last week! (2 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,207,207#msg-207

'Woke up feeling sick and rather sorry for myself on Saturday the 6th of June 2009. The weather didn't improve my mood. It was raining steadily, and had been all night. I checked the forecast in the paper: rain for the rest of the day.

I phoned Chris, who was staying at SWCC with Olivia and Henry.

"I'm feeling crappy and it's pissing down. I think I'll wuss out of the Draenen trip."
"No worries. We'll probably do Cwm Dwr to Top."
"OK, me and Rufus will head over there later. Don't worry about waiting for us if we're a while. We'll either catch you up or go to the pub."
"Will do."
"Be careful. The forecast is for more rain. Keep an eye on the water levels."

Rufus and I headed over to Penwyllt eventually and found a message on the board: "Dear Rich. Cwm Dwr to Top. If not out by closing time, assume dead. Love, Chris, Oli, Henry." From the call-out board we saw that they'd gone underground a couple of hours ahead of us.

"What a shame, we won't catch up with them now", I said to Rufus. "We might as well go to the pub and watch the Lions."
"I'm sure you're devastated!"

We got back to the Cottages a little while later after beer, rugby, and food, and found that the other trio were still not back.

"Let's kit up. We'll go down Top and meet them on the way up. Hope we don't meet them coming out of the entrance."

The trip down to the streamway was uneventful. It had still been steadily raining on the surface, but water levels underground seemed unremarkable. There was no significant water going down Salubrious and no more than a trickle at Maypole Inlet.

We got into the streamway and walked downstream. After only around 10-15 minutes we saw three lights and met up with Henry, Chris, and Oli, who were pleased to see us. We had a short chat and I asked how their trip had gone.

Henry's account:

"Chris, Oli and I managed to get underground by 1215. At this time the weather was only slightly drizzling and were expecting much of the same for the rest of the afternoon. Armed with a survey, we were confident of completing the trip in good time.

"Our first setback though came at the Cwm Dwr boulder choke, which we managed to thoroughly explore yet were unable to get through to the other side. The usual trick of following the well worn rocks led us into several dead ends and the feeling of deja vu was all too common.

"Our next problem was to find the Cwm Dwr streamway, which we eventually found when we discovered the route down to the bottom of The Smithy. By the time we reached The Confluence, it was getting on to about 1700.

"'It should be easy from now on... just follow the streamway up to Maypole Inlet and we'll be fine', I remarked.

"The trip upstream was largely uneventful, and we had plenty of fun trying to traverse (and usually failing) round the various deep pools. Water levels seemed ordinary at this time, and the thought we might get trapped never crossed my mind. The climb down from the Great Oxbow back into the streamway proved the most daunting task. But, as always, climbs always seem scariest when standing at their head, and was in fact quite easy. Back in the river, it was shortly after this that to our surprise and delight we met Rich and Rufus walking downstream."



We then turned around back to Maypole Inlet.

As we got close to Maypole Inlet, Rufus and I noticed that the water level was visibly higher.

"I'd like to see the main streamway in full flood", I said, "though preferably from a safe distance! I guess it must have really started to rain on the surface."
"It would be awesome to go down it in a rubber ring!" was Chris's response.

When we got to Maypole Inlet, a lot of water was cascading down and out of it, but my only thought was that this was a fun diversion at the end of a rather pedestrian trip.

"Was it this wet when you came down?" asked Henry.
"Nope, we wouldn't have come down it if it was!"

It was not until we actually started climbing up that the flood pulse properly hit, and we got our first hint that we might have a struggle getting out.

Henry went up first, then Oli, then Chris, and by the time Rufus started to climb, the water was seriously flowing. It was at this point I got a bit worried. I had to stand her on my shoulders and push her up. I then had to force my way up against the water.

As I got to the top of the bottom pitch I heard a shout from Henry. He invited me up to look at the next two pitches.

"Do you think we can get up?" he asked. "It'll be harsh!" The ladder was invisible behind the water, and the awkward pitch below it was a waterfall.

I was amazed. We had hardly been in the streamway for 20 minutes. The answer could only be no, though I hesitated to say it.

"Where, then?"

"Down, I guess" I replied, though I knew that that was hardly a better option. We'd have to find an alternative route out of the streamway downstream, which was going to suddenly be an extremely serious proposition considering the rapidly rising water. Still, we could hardly stay where we were, being drenched with spray and the water flow getting stronger as we watched. We were already shouting at each other to be heard.

I climbed down first and I had to feel for the little bolted shelf under the sheet of water. As I put my foot on it, it was knocked off by the power of the water and I was only saved from falling by a one-handed grab for the bolt. I eventually climbed down and managed to help direct Rufus down. We sheltered out of the now-powerful stream in nooks downstream.

The situation had a strange sense of unreality for both for us: we had only gone out for a short bimbly trip and we were now, very suddenly, in serious trouble. A very short time before we had been sitting in the pub. The alcohol from the beer I had drunk at lunch was still flowing through my bloodstream, adding to the sense of detachment.

It took some time for the others to get down. By the time we were all together the streamway had doubled in depth and walking in it was already very difficult.

I had never seen water levels rise anything like as fast in a cave before.

Rufus had the idea of tying as all together. We pooled all our tat: slings of assorted lengths and a donkey dick, and we were soon all joined up in a sort of conga-line.

We now had to decide what to do. None of us were very familiar with the streamway, and it was not obvious which option would be the best. Perhaps none of them were.

It was not possible to get far above the level of the stream where we were, so if the water rose much further we would be swept away. Walking with the current downstream would be incredibly dangerous, and none of us could think of a place to get out of the water nearby. Traversing above the stream looked very difficult from where we were as the passage was quite wide.

We were suddenly trapped in the streamway and we didn't seem to have any options. I wondered if we could have fought our way up the ladder somehow. But Maypole Inlet was no longer an option; it was fast becoming a considerable waterfall.

Henry and Chris decided, in the absence of any other options, to lead us upstream, through the Maypole Inlet waterfall. There might be some place to get out of the water, and anyway at least we wouldn't have the additional flow from Maypole Inlet to deal with.

Walking upstream was very challenging when we had to enter the water. We were right to tie ourselves together, since we had a couple of falls as we fought through the waterfall. I was playing "backstop" and had to field Rufus as she was washed off her feet. Olivia also fell and got a welly washed off. I had a vision of us all getting washed down the streamway together, like a bunch of blackwater rafters without a raft.

In this way we fought our way 10-20 metres upstream. Here the flow was marginally less and, since the passage was narrower, we could stay out of the water by bridging across it.

We rested here whilst Henry traversed forward to investigate the next corner. Below our legs, the water, now the colour of tea, continued to rise. Henry reported back that there was a pool ahead that we were unlikely to be able to cross. He had also noticed a ledge that we could have been reached with difficulty, but it was not far above the level of the water. Our situation did not seem to have improved much.

"Do you think we should have gone up the ladder?" I asked Henry. "Maybe one of us us could have forced our way up if we'd attempted it straight away."
"No way. Look at the strength of the water. Even if we could have, the flood pulse would just have hit us in the crabwalk above."

Chris suggested we go back downstream and try to lower people downstream using slings. I thought this might be suicidal. Anyway, looking back at Maypole Inlet, it was possible that we couldn't get back downstream: the water was now thundering out of the inlet, and hammering the opposite wall of the passage.

"What, then?"
"I can't think of anywhere we can get to that's better than here."
"The water's still rising. You can see that the water has already risen since we've sat here. It's already at the lower end of our ledge. We have to do something."
"If it does, we'll have to climb above it. We don't have any choice."
We looked up. The walls were mostly smooth, but about 5 or 6 metres up there was a sort of ledge jammed across the rift.

I unclipped myself from the conga-line and tried to climb up a little way. It was hard going due to the lack of features on the walls. I made enough progress to convince myself that it might be possible to climb up to the ledge. Downclimbing was exhausting, however, as I had to do the splits across the passage to get any sort of purchase on the walls. This taxed my agility, and challenged my confidence: slipping into the water would have been disastrous.

"I think I could get there, if we're really desperate."

Chris indicated that our situation might be that desperate.

The water continued to rise and we began to get tired and cold bridging across the passage. Even if the pulse subsided it seemed unlikely we could wait for the water to recede in such a position.

Chris then attempted the climb and failed, which dented my confidence a little as Chris is a "proper" rock climber. Still, we didn't seem to have any other options so I had another attempt.

We untied all our tat and tied it together to make a rope of sorts, which I clipped to myself. I then tentatively started upwards. It was reasonably tricky, but I slowly climbed up the passage. I may have been helped by the fact that I had forgotten my wellies and was wearing good quality mountain boots with stiff Vibram soles -- excellent for edging.

Eventually I got level with the ledge, only to discover that it was a collection of boulders and rocks held up by -- well, by friction with each other and wishful thinking. However, some seemed more solid than others, and, considering the situation, I decided to trust them enough to clamber onto. The surface of the boulder bridge was only a little bigger than the top of an average desk, but it was better than trying to bridge across the passage above the water. I felt a surge of euphoria. It was a sketchy situation, but now we had a fighting chance.

None of the rocks looked dependable enough to belay the rope to, so I slung it around one of the least moveable ones, sat on it, and braced myself against the walls.

"Rope Free!"
"ROPE FREE!"

It was only a few metres down but I had to shout several times to make myself heard over the noise of the water. The Maypole Inlet waterfall was thundering downstream, and another, unseen, cascade upstream was crashing in sympathy.

Olivia climbed up slowly, clipping herself into and putting her feet in each sling in the rope. Eventually she got onto the ledge. Rufus then managed to climb up almost to the ledge, but then got stuck. Adrenaline meant I managed to pull her up the rest of the way with arm strength alone. There were smiles all round on the ledge; we seemed to have escaped death. We had a long cold night in store to wait for the flood to recede, but that was a mere technicality. Chris and Henry would surely have no problem climbing up now.

Chris climbed up next, without incident until he got about level with the ledge. As he did so there was a loud rumble and a quarter of the ledge, made up of rocks the size of toasters, collapsed. This included the rock I had chosen for the belay. Luckily I was still braced against the walls, and I instinctively stuck my foot out and caught the top sling with my boot. There was a sudden intense pain in my left ankle and a distant cry from below as Henry was bombarded with shrapnel.

It was a bad moment. I was now braced in an awkward stance at the top of the pitch with all of Chris's weight on a sling tight around my ankle, both of us trying our hardest to hold up the pile of rocks chocked in the rift. As well as doing our best to avoid bombing Henry further, we were also scared that the entire collection of chocked rocks might collapse into the river below. We were rather keen to avoid this. Even if we survived the 5m fall without serious injury, and avoided being swept away by the flood water, there were no more boulders we could use as a ledge.

After checking that Henry hadn't been taken out by the falling blocks, and then making sure he was out of the way, Chris gingerly started playing Jenga with the remaining rock pile. He was trying to prevent key rocks from moving whilst allowing selected others to splash into the torrent below. Eventually he felt confident enough to climb up the sling and onto the ledge. Feeling returned to my ankle as the pressure was removed. From the jolt I had thought for a second that it might be broken or dislocated, but I could move it and it wasn't too painful.

Chris rebelayed the makeshift rope onto another dubious rock and finally a rather battered Henry climbed up.
"Watch out Henry, it's a tiny bit loose!" I advised him, and Henry showed his appreciation of this useful advice.

The remaining rocks seemed more inclined to stay where they were, but the total surface area was now somewhat smaller than that of an average coffee table. There was rather less room than was possible for five people to sit down at once, but we somehow cwtched together, and more or less sat on each other. We roped ourselves together with slings again in case any more of the ledge disappeared.

There were smiles and jokes all round. Assuming our ledge held up, it was now only a matter of waiting for the water levels to drop.

"It's a good thing Barry didn't come. Six people on this ledge would be intolerable. Remind me to buy him a pint."

We weren't too cold. We had survival bags and balaclavas, and Rufus and I had brought a survival pack with candles. We were also cwtched up so closely that we were sharing a lot of body heat. I christened our perch the "love bivouac".

The hours simply flew by. We played word games, sung rugby and caving songs, played drinking games (despite a lack of anything to drink). Oli's enthusiasm was for being alive kept us all in high spirits. Unfortunately Henry's camera was clogged by mud so we missed the chance to get a memorable photo.

Our call-out was for 22:00 and we knew (or hoped -- we weren't sure if anyone would be at SWCC that evening) that a rescue would be initiated at 23:00. However, just in case the weather had encouraged anyone to start looking for us earlier, Rufus started blowing her whistle at 5 minute intervals from 22:00.

It was possible to see the Maypole Inlet waterfall from our vantage point above the streamway and after a few hours we could see that the fury of the water had lessened. Henry estimates that by about 2300 the main streamway had gone down about a foot, and then a further foot by about 0130.

Time went on and we all got quite bad cramp, since moving around or even shifting position required a lot of negotiation and co-ordination. We started to run out of jokes and songs and some of us dozed.

Eventually, after 5 or 6 hours on the ledge (shortly after I had decided to add an inflatable cushion to my survival pack next time I fettled it; I still have a big bruise on my arse writing this almost a week later), we heard shouts: "We've found them!" It was 0220.

We were very pleased to have been rescued. This meant that the water levels had dropped more than we had realised. Paul Quill, the first man on the scene made a fairly bold traverse across from Maypole Inlet to reach us with a rope. This was very welcome, as it meant that we didn't have to attempt a dangerous climb down from our bivouac with tired, cramped muscles, protected only by assorted tat.

The rescuers seemed almost as delighted to see us as we were to see them. They had two missing teams to locate, with a strong possibility that we had all been trapped in the streamway; finding us all safe, well, and together was an excellent result. We gathered that they had all been prepared to recover bodies, and were expecting hypothermia cases as a best-case scenario.

We were soon on our way out; we all managed to cave out at a reasonable pace, aided by some very nice WBCRT coffee and chocolate. On the way, we tried to work out what had happened. Apparently the flood pulse had been caused by an apocalyptic thunderstorm had broken less than an hour after we had gone underground.

Back in the SWCC common room it was time for a much-needed pint of gin and tonic and to reflect on the experience in front of the fire. We were in some ways very lucky -- the flood pulse could have hit when were in a more constricted part of the streamway, or we could have been isolated in a section where there were no ledges to climb up to, or one of the falling rocks could have hit Henry in the head. If I had remembered my wellies, I would probably have been unable to catch the sling when the ledge collapsed. On the other hand, if the storm had hit only 10 minutes later we would probably have barely noticed the extra water. It was a strange combination of circumstances, but we had made the best of bad situation.]]> Jon Hardy Caving Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:20:35 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,198,198#msg-198 Recent caving activity in May (2 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,198,198#msg-198 Jon Hardy Caving Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:33:43 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,176,176#msg-176 A few photos of the recent Croesor to Rhosydd trip! (2 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,176,176#msg-176
3421233224_43957b067f_o.jpg

All looking keen in the entrance adit at Croesor


Jean disappearing into the abyss on the first abseil


Jean having to do a little backtracking on the first zip wire!


Clive and James sorting themselves out at the zip wire


A perfect entry into the boat by James


Dave showed no fear racing across the first of the rotting bridges


James on the second zip wire


Clive taking a breather!


And looking even more relaxed as he crosses the Lake of serenity!


Now comes the hard bit, finding our way out of Rhosydd!
]]> Jon Hardy Caving Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:18:49 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,150,150#msg-150 Post AGM Caving trip (6 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,150,150#msg-150 Who's in?
Chris]]> Chris H Caving Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:15:06 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,138,138#msg-138 Initial interest in doing the Croesor to Rhosydd Through Trip? (14 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,138,138#msg-138 Jon Hardy Caving Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:57:25 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,133,133#msg-133 Message From J Kyle (Posted by John Evetts) (1 reply) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,133,133#msg-133 they have received a report a very serious pollution in youds level
rats were seen down there danger of weils disease.
plese give it a miss jk 7/1/09]]> John Caving Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:56:25 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,132,132#msg-132 Mendips Meet (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,132,132#msg-132
Howdy Cavers, Happy new year!
I have booked the Shepton Mallet Hut for the feb meet, we have stopped there before, and it's a good one, and not far from the Hunters Inn.
We are sharing with a group from Portsmouth Uni.
Can you let me know if your planning to come, and if there are any trips you fancy doing?
The date is 6th-8th feb.
Cheers
Chris H]]> Chris H Caving Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:11:53 +0000 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,41,41#msg-41 Top Ten caving songs just incase Andy asks! (10 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,41,41#msg-41 And the classic Status Quo song: 'Down, down, deeper and down']]> Jon Hardy Caving Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:31:49 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,26,26#msg-26 October Peak District Caving Meet (2 replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,26,26#msg-26 Here's a quick description of Saturday's trip, which I'll be having a trip through this weekend;
'One of the great Mine Trips – you start out high above the town of Matlock looking down on it from the top of Masson Hill and end up exiting hours later by the side of the River Derwent through a manhole cover in the Artist's Corner Carpark! In between there is abseiling, exposed climbs, traversing unroped high in stopes and squeezes in water…
The rewards include fantastic shafts (170ft worth), impressive stopes and pipe veins, beautiful mineralisation, artefacts, 300 year old graffiti and a long hand picked coffin level.'
Sunday will see us in the very impressive Peak Cavern, lots of fun in the streamway and some very photogenic passages!
If either of those takes your fancy, please get in touch,
Jon Hardy]]> Jon Hardy Caving Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:42:28 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,25,25#msg-25 Sad news on the caving front! (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,25,25#msg-25 The closure of Bat products, following on the relatively recent loss of Dragon in Wales, have fortunately been replaced by two new caving shops. Andy Sparrow has just opened a shop in Cheddar, and a new store in South Wales; Phoenix (rising from the ashes!) is just getting up and running.]]> Jon Hardy Caving Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:22:57 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,24,24#msg-24 More news of progress at Plantation Swallet (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,24,24#msg-24
'The bottom of plantation swallet is looking good at the minute we are tying to remove the mud from a steeply descending muddy crawl. I have set a siphon diverting a surface stream into a 1000 L tank using 100 meters of 32 mm alkathene pipe.
There is around a 53 meter fall which will be giving 5-6 Bar at the outlet, attaching a 20 mm lance at the has made the water like a jet spray.
We are getting the tank to empty in 7 minutes and the mud just gets dissolved on contact and carried of by the flow.
We can see through into a bigger space just waiting for more wet weather so more work can be done.']]> Jon Hardy Caving Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:09:07 +0100 http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,4,4#msg-4 Progress at Plantation Swallet dig! (no replies) http://www.jotech.co.uk/forum/read.php?4,4,4#msg-4
'Digging started in December 07, it 'went' on 07.07.08, and by 'went' I mean that we are out of the main choke.
Perhaps 40m of passage have been found with two potential leads – both looking like a lot of work is required. One inclined mud filled ‘orrible passage and one inclined passage taking a small (surface) stream - the water enters an inaccessible slot.
It’s very encouraging to be out of the choke, but there’s not a lot to see at the moment.
As with the other systems in the area, it looks like being a strange and complex place, the potential is there though!']]> Jon Hardy Caving Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:24:22 +0100