Swildons Hole

A return to Mendip after a year or two with Karen and I arriving at Upper Pitts, the Wessex Cave Club HQ last night. We found Clive Westlake was also staying and fellow Orpheus members Simon Wynne, Elaine Hillyard and her partner Mike had already arrived.

In the morning we were having breakfast and awaited the rest of our party from the Orpheus Caving Club and Boyd Potts, Alan Hatton and Keith soon turned up.

We decided on a quick trip into Swildons Hole and as there was a CHECC (Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs) gathering on in the area, there was no need to take a ladder and lifeline for the Twenty Foot Pitch as it had been rigged with a builders ladder!

So, we got into our caving gear in the hut changing room and then walked across the fields to the cave entrance. Meanwhile the morning mist which had been around earlier began to clear and it was a lovely sunny day as we disappeared down through the hole in the blockhouse over the cave entrance.

I was in the lead and we followed the Long Dry Way except for Keith who chose the Wet Way. We met some other cavers as we made our way towards the Water Chamber including apparently some girls on a Hen Weekend!

Soon we were all back together and continued on down the route to the foot of the old Forty Foot Pitch which had got washed away in the 1968 floods. There was plenty of water around in the cave but water levels weren't particularly high and no one fell in at the Double Pots.

The builders ladder at the Twenty Foot Pitch certainly speeded progress and after passing other landmarks such as the Inclined Rift below Barne's Loop, we soon arrived at the first sump.

Alan and Simon wanted to have a look at part of “Swildons II” beyond the sump and we went through the procedure of signalling by pulling on the rope through the sump.

I poked my legs through to see how much room there was as the amount of stones and gravel can vary with time and then turned around and ducked into the water and pulled on the rope. I got as far as poking my head above the water on the other side and then reversed back to rejoin the others.

Alan and Simon then popped through and we waited a few minutes then decided that Karen and I would start making our way out slowly to avoid getting chilled (none of us were wearing wetsuits) while Boyd and Keith waited for their return.

They caught us up as Karen was climbing up the water chute at the Lavatory Pan and we continued back to the surface by following the Wet Way.

We were back at the blockhouse at the entrance after a brilliant caving trip about two hours after we had entered the cave.

We returned to Upper Pitts and got changed out of caving gear and had a quick snack and mug of tea. Later Karen, Keith and I drove to Wells for a wander around and a coffee. In the evening we all had a meal at the New Inn in Priddy.