Walking on Kinder Scout, Peak District

Even though the forecast was for rain, and when it wouldn't be raining, there would be heavy rain(!) and because Karen sensibly decided to stay indoors, I decided to go walking on Kinder Scout!.
Setting off around a quarter past nine after breakfast I drove to Upper Booth in Edale and parked at the car park where there were a group of walkers gathered around a large gas stove perched on a box cooking breakfast! I put on my waterproof overtrousers and boots and headed up the road until I reached a farm where the Pennine Way follows through the farm yard. Following this path I arrived at what most know as "Edale" but is actually Grindsbrook Booth.

I had already decided to follow up Ringing Roger to gain the Kinder Plateau and this is what I did. There weren't many others around, unsurprisingly given the weather forecast. Following around the Eastern edge of the plateau I reached the point where a stream drops down a ravine at near the top of Grindsbrook valley and found that the stream was so high you couldn't just cross at the usual point but by heading upstream a short way, I was able to step across a gap with the water passing below.
I continued around the plateau edge until reaching the head of Crowden Book where I sat beneath the rocks of Crowden Tower and had a sandwich and drink from my flask for lunch. Afterwards I decided to follow down the brook to eventually reach the road and then walked the short distance back to the car park. I changed out of my boots and headed just after three in the afternoon for home where Keith was having coffee after having come up for the weekend for the Orpheus Caving Club Christmas Dinner which was happening that evening.
After a shower and a short rest, Karen and I headed for the OCC cottage and met around thirty others for the annual Christmas Dinner which was excellent as usual.

Yordas Pot

The morning was lovely with clear, blue skies and snow-covered hills and fields and cold. We had some breakfast and headed for Bernies as usual. While having more breakfast(!), others arrived who had traveled up in the morning including Boyd, Nikki and Matt Adlam Styles and Dave Phillips. The plan was for Notts Pot on Leck Fell and Boyd handed over the permit saying that he was only up for the day and was going walking. We were waiting for Robert and Phil to arrive but there was no sign of them. Realising that they had probably headed for the car park on the way to Leck Fell we all headed off for the same place. The car park had quite a lot of ice and we were wondering if we would make it the few miles up the narrow lane to the fell with all the snow and ice. We left some of the cars in the bottom car park near the main road and headed up the lane.
We had got past the farms and houses and although the road was fairly clear and the snow around it wasn't very deep, Mark's car came to and icy stretch and he couldn't continue. we parked up behind and tried pushing but didn't get very far. In the meantime I ran a quarter of a mile or so up the road to see if it was getting worse and found that it was. I headed back and found that Mark had managed to turn around via a gate into a field and we all headed back to the lower car park to talk about Plan "B".
I suggested Kingsdale as it would probably prove more accessible in the icy conditions and there are plenty of caves to choose from - we had plenty of rope which would have been needed for Notts Pot as well. Pete suggested the Yordas Pot Roof Traverse which we had done a few weeks ago: others suggested Jingling Pot. Since we had plenty of rope and time we decided to do both. Mark, Phil, Robert, Dave, Matt and I headed for Yordas Pot, Pete, Jess and Jim headed for Jingling Pot while Karen and Nikki decided to have a short walk nearby.
We headed into one of the middle entrances to Yordas Pot finding the water levels fairly low. Mark headed in doing the rigging and I followed close behind then the others. At the start of the Roof Traverse, I swung about on the rope a bit and tried traversing around and realised that my shoulder was still fairly week and I would probably not be able to cope with the more strenuous bits towards the end so I let the others pass and then headed back out via the middle entrance and found Karen in the spacious Main Chamber of Yordas Cave which is large and fairly flat with a large walk-in entrance. She had been wandering about with the small LED light on her keyring. We walked across the chamber to the Chapter House Waterfall to watch the others making their away along the Roof Traverse thirty feet or so above. The last of them seemed to have a lot of trouble getting past the deviation right at the end.
Dave had been last and had unclipped the deviation and could re-clip it so just abseiled down without getting too wet, unlike Matt! Once they were all down, they headed out via the Main Chamber and I thought I might prusik up and try and re-clip the deviation but I realised I would have ended up mostly in the waterfall to begin with and would have got very wet, so I gave up and followed the others out.
Matt had got pretty wet and headed back to his car while I followed Mark towards Jingling Pot followed by the others. It was difficult to work out where the Turbary Road track was due to the snow and the sun shining directly at us, but after wandering along we found it. I found Mark when near the Pot and he had found it very quiet with no answer to his calls - it is basically a blind shaft with a smaller side continuation and they should have heard him calling. He thought that the others must have resurfaced and we missed each other as they headed for Yordas Pot. Karen had Jim's car keys so she headed back to the cars in case he was looking for them and soon afterwards we heard the others who were still below in the Pot. Jess arrived at the surface after Mark, Phil and Robert had abseiled down followed some time later by Jim. By now Dave and I were still at the surface and getting pretty cold, so I headed back to the car with Jim and Jess to get changed. Once changed we headed back to Bernies leaving Pete and Dave to do the Yordas traverse and de-rig while Mark, Phil and Robert de0rigged Jingling Pot. Later most of us met in Bernies but only Matt and Nikki had got their before the kitchen had closed and managed to get the last order for chip butties in!

Caving Weekend Yorkshire Dales

I felt knackered when arriving home from work and Karen offered to drive. So we set off for the Yorkshire Dales at around 6:30pm and left a very cold Peak District to find an even colder Yorkshire Dales with quite a lot of snow lying on the ground from earlier in the week: luckily the roads were fine. We arrived at the YSS place in Helwith Bridge and found quite a lot of cars parked there with a large group from VMC (a mountaineering club?) busy cooking in the kitchen with torches as there was a power cut. They told us, from Alan Speight, that a group from Manchester University Speleological Club were likely to arrive later as they hadn't been able to get to Bull Pot Farm where they had intended to stay, so the Orpheus CC lot (us) could use the YSS Members' room.
We dropped our gear off and headed fro the pub: The Helwith Bridge, just a couple of hundred yards away. Here we found fellow OCC members Jim Alder and Jess Eades who were chatting to members of Bradford Pothole Club. There was a single emergency light in the bar with some candles, due to the power cut and despite having some cooked food, Jim was disappointed that he couldn't have any chips due to the power cut. After an hour or so the electricity came on and Colin the landlord turned the lights off as it was quite nice with just the single light and candles. Later on Mark Silo and Pete Wagstaff arrived along with Robert Protheroe-Jones and Phil Walker.

Knotlow Cavern

Karen and I drove to Monyash Cafe, again and found Keith and Pete Collins there waiting for breakfast. I had arranged to meet Dave Webb there for a trip down Knotlow cavern so that he could have a look at several locations where it had been suggested some repair work is carried out before recommending the mine for led caving trips. Dave was looking at the locations with a view to cave conservation. Alan Keen of Masson CG was with Dave and he joined us for the trip. Another group of cavers, including Dennis Jump was also in the cafe and knew Dave. They had a trip down the Engine Shaft and over towards the Fourways Shaft area.

Morrisons Bag Pack for DCRO

In the morning I went to Ashbourne to get my hair cut and then after a quick lunch at home I joined Karen and the others at Morrisons supermarket in Buxton to help out packing bags for customers in return for donations to DCRO. We knocked of at 2:00 pm and went to Monyash Cafe for something to eat.

Walk from Hartington along Biggin, Wolfescote and Beresford Dales, Peak District

Karen was tied up with writing up Minutes for various minutes and other tasks so I decided to go for a walk despite the weather forecast of rain - at least the temperature was supposed to be a few degrees warmer than yesterday! First I called at the Orpheus Caving Club hut to pick up some stuff I had left behind yesterday and found a visiting group trying to get their mini-bus out of the car park after last night's icy conditions with Keith and Pete Collins (who had arrived yesterday evening) waiting in Pete's car for them to get out of the way. They were heading for breakfast at Monyash cafe before a digging session at Water Icicle Close Cavern.
I picked up my stuff and followed Keith and Pete to join them for some food at the cafe, Afterwards they headed for the mine while I headed for Hartington. I parked in the village centre and got my boots on. I headed uphill on a minor road which led past Hartington Hall which is a Youth Hostel and then across the fields following a Public Footpath to a track which brought me to the start of Biggin Dale after a mile or two. Part way along this track the first of several showers started so I stopped to get my overtrousers on. There was a small flood on the very short section of minor road between the end of the track and the start of Biggin Dale so I stopped and waited for a van to pass in order to avoid a splashing.
I followed down Biggin Dale which was quiet - so far I only saw two people since leaving Hartington. I followed along the dale, which was quite wet underfoot after the overnight snow, which had since melted, and today's rain showers. Soon I reached the picturesque junction of Biggin and Wolfescote Dales where you meet the upstream end of the River Dove. Here the rain got heavier and the river was flowing well with the water fairly muddy. I followed along Wolfescote Dale until after passing over a lane with footbridge over the river I entered Beresford Dale. This started as a wide area of pasture which was very waterlogged but soon narrowed into a path. I followed this until I ended up in fields with the sun breaking though the clouds with the rain stopping. Soon I was back in the village of Hartington and after changing out of boots, I drove the short distance back to Winster and home.

Knotlow Cavern, Peak District

During the week Jess Eades had asked if there was any caving planned for today so we arranged to meet at the Orpheus hut in the morning. Keith also planned to come along so once he had arrived we decided on a trip to Knotlow Cavern because a) Jess wanted some SRT practice and b) Keith wanted to go to the cafe in Monyash...
So, it was off to the cafe and once we had finished, we drove up the lane and track to Knotlow Triangle. It was dry but cold so most of us had changed into furry suits before leaving the hut. Just as we were heading for the shafts, two more cars arrived with a group of students - there was a CHECC (Council of Higher Education Clubs) gathering in Castleton this weekend.
Keith attached our 80 metre rope to Knotlow Engine Shaft and lowered it down the 210 foot shaft while I headed for the nearby Climbing Shaft which I found already rigged (in fact one of the students had told Karen that this was so). I headed onwards down the mine rigging our own rope as well until Jess, Keith and Karen arrived in Pearl Chamber at the bottom of the second pitch. We continued on down the several short climbs and passageways until arriving at the top of the last pitch: Waterfall Pitch. I soon had this rigged and waited at the bottom until the others had descended. I managed to get hold of the 80 metre rope which was hanging down the Engine Shaft and pulled it to the side as the rope and tackle bag were floating in the deep pool at the foot of the shaft.
Karen set off up the 210 foot prusik to the surface and Jess and Keith were to follow while I returned the way we had come in order to de-rig our rope. At the top of the second pitch I found a group of three cavers on their way down. They were another 3 University club cavers. Once they had descended this pitch I de-rigged out and back up the Climbing Shaft to find Karen on the surface at the Engine Shaft in the cold air - it was hovering just above freezing on the surface whereas underground it was noticeably warmer.
After I had hauled the tackle bags and rope to the surface and tidied away the rope into a bag, Jess had arrived. We went back to our cars and while Jess and Karen started to change out of caving gear, I took off my SRT stuff and walked back to the Engine Shaft to meet Keith when he surfaced so that I could help haul up the 80 metre rope. We also got changed and then headed back to the nice warm cafe.

DCRO Induction Day

I spent the day at the Whitehall Centre near Buxton with this year's Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation Induction Day.

Water Icicle Close Cavern, Peak District

I met Keith in the morning at the Orpheus hut, leaving Karen with her parents. We headed for the Old Smithy Cafe in Monyash for breakfast and then drove up Derby Lane and got changed, sheltering from the drizzle at the back of my car.
Keith rigged down the entrance pitch and I followed down. We were planning to do a rough survey to check where the current dig (the end of "North-West" Passage) lies in relation to the surface. We measured with a 5 metre household tape and Silva compass so it wasn't going to be a highly accurate survey, but it should be good enough to do a rough check.
Once we had the underground survey, we prusiked back up the entrance pitch and then measured out the lengths and directions on the surface. This indicated that the dig was roughly below a shakehole in a nearby field which has a line of blind trial shafts.
We got changed again and had a quick brew in the cafe and then back to the Orpheus hut.

Yordas Cave Roof Traverse, Yorkshire Dales

After a bit of a noisy night (a group celebrating someone's 21st birthday was staying in the adjoining bunkhouse) we were all up at about half past eight. After a bit of breakfast, Karen, Pete and I moved on to Bernies for a second course (!) while Boyd went walking, Jenny caught up with some work at the bunkhouse and Dave headed off for a day of DIY involving a shed roof. We had a break from Bernies by driving around to Kingsdale with the plan of following the Roof Traverse route in Yordas Pot. Karen and I were in my car and we followed after Pete and found him parked in a layby which we though was not the right one for Yordas Cave so we asked him what was he parking there for and continued on down the road. After 100 yards, we realised that Pete was in the right layby after all, so I sheepishly did a three point turn and parked in front of his car. We were at least now pointing in the correct direction so that we could shelter from the rain at the back of the car!
We were soon changed and made our way up to the two middle entrances in the gully which soon join a short distance inside and join the route part way between the foot of Yordas Pot and the streamway leading to the top of Chapter House Waterfall in Yordas cave,
When we reached the point where the stream cascades down the two large steps of the Waterfall, Pete started rigging following the line of resin bolts leading along the roof and Karen and I followed behind. After a short traverse, Pete abseiled down 3 or so metres to join the bolts continuing at a lower level and again made another short abseil to swing across to a line of bolts on the opposite wall. We could see a group of cavers below looking up at the waterfall, having entered the large impressive chamber of Yordas Cave. There was then another short traverse leading to a Y hang and then a final, longer abseil with a long reach needed to get to the deviation, which dropped down to the pool at the bottom of the Waterfall and the narrow connection with Yordas Cave. Karen headed out via Yordas Cave to the surface while I headed back up from the final traverse followed by Pete who began de-rigging. Once the rope (45 metres is about right for this route) was dealt with, we headed back to the two short pitched leading back to the middle entrance, where we met a small group of cavers who were on their way in to have a look at the route we had just followed.
We returned to the car, thankfully with a break in the rain, and after changing returned to Bernies for more delights.

Alum Pot, Yorkshire Dales

We arrived last night at Clapham to meet Boy in the New Inn. Afterwards, Karen and I followed Boyd back to where we were staying for the weekend which was a bunkhouse at the Dalesbridge Centre near Austwick. Jenny was there as well.
In the morning, the weather forecast for a wet day proved true and Karen opted to join Jenny to go bird-watching on the coast near Morecambe Bay. But first, she wanted to buy some new wellies, so the two of us headed for Bernies to get them while Boyd waited at the bunkhouse for Pete Wagstaff and James Hamilton who were due to arrive this morning. Dave Phillips was also arriving this morning but was to meet us at Bernies.
Jenny arrived a little while later and picked up Karen while I waited for the others. Once we were all ready, we drove out of Ingleton to the hamlet Selside via the road past Ribblehead Viaduct. The road leading to Horton-in-Ribblesdale via Selside had a "Road Closed" sign but I carried on hoping that the closure was beyond Selside and luckily it was.
We parked in Alum Pot Lane and statred getting changed. The plan was for Pete and Dave to abseil down the shorter of the two routes from a tree at the top of the Pot while Boyd, James and I went as far as The Bridge (a convenient large slab which lies at an angle of 50 degrees or so from one side of the Pot to the other part way down) via Lower Long Churn Cave, and I was then to continue to the bottom of Alum Pot with Pete and Dave.
We met a large party of cavers at the climb down near the Cheese Press, and Boyd suggested that I could return back a short distance through the cave and follow the alternative climb down to the same place and he could pass down our gear to me so that I could head onwards to start rigging Dolly Tubs Pitch. By the time I had done this, the other cavers had passed the climb down and so had Boyd and James! Anyway, the other group were luckily only looking at the top of Dolly Tubs pitch and then left us to continue on our way.
I rigged the pitch and Boyd dropped down the remaining two tackle bags. This is a very pleasant route and arriving at the large ledge overlooking the impressive opening of Alum Pot is always impressive. Continuing down the short descent of the Greasy Slab, we continued on across the easy ledge leading to the top of The Bridge. The ledge is easy but a slip would be almost certainly fatal, so it is usually rigged with a protective traverse line.
We continued on down the large, sloping ledge of The Bridge and I started rigging the long drop from underneath the slab while Boyd and James (who is a newcomer to all this Single Rope Technique stuff) started making their way back towards Lower Long Churn Cave. I dropped down the pitch. While abseiling, I looked down and could see Pete and Dave at the bottom in a corner sheltering from the wind and spray of the waterfall waiting for me. Their route was almost direct to where the were from the tree above, so they had arrived long before we did.
Anyway, the 45 metre was only just long enough to reach a large step at the bottom near Pete and Dave and I handed them the tackle bag with the short rope for the final pitch leading to the bottom of Diccan Pot where Alum Pot and Diccan Pot join. I headed back up the rope as Boyd and James would be waiting, and arranged with Pete for he and Dave to de-rig the rope leading up to underneath The Bridge as they continued back the way they had come. I headed after the other two and de-rigged as I went. There was yet another group if cavers at the ledge below Dolly Tubs pitch with more ascending their caving ladder which they had rigged on the alternative hang on the pitch.
I found James part way up Dolly Tubs and started following him and Boyd. Once Dolly Tubs was de-rigged, we started making our way out via the very nice Lower Long Churn Cave with no one falling Plank Pool or Double Shuffle Pool, as happened on the way in...
Once back at the entrance to Lower Long Churn, we found the weather had improved and was a bit brighter with some blue patches in the clouds. Despite the wet weather, including overnight rain, water levels had been as about expected for a normal winter day.
We got changed back into our non-caving clothing and it was back to Bernies for chip butties. Afterwards we returned to the bunkhouse and met Jenny and Karen soon afterwards once they had returned from their trip.

Lathkill Head Cave Top Entrance, Peak District

After spending the morning at a DCA Meeting in Monyash Village Hall, Karen and I had lunch in Monyash Cafe and waited for Jess E. to arrive as arranged. After she had arrived, we drove the short distance up the road to the lay-by near the end of Lathkill Dale.
After changing into caving gear, we walked along the Dale and for a short distance and then followed a track through fields to the entrance to Lathkill Head Cave 's Top Entrance. We dropped down the entrance pitch and then the next main pitch into The Waiting Room. Once all three of us were down, Karen and Jess clambered down to Lathkiller Hall and had a look at the stream which was high as expected at this time of the the year - in fact you could hear the roar of the water from The Waiting Room above. I didn't bother clambering down to the bottom as I knew we wouldn't be able to get any further due to the high water levels.
Once the other two had returned, Karen prusiked up the rope followed by Jess. When it was my turn, I looked up and could see tat the rope was rubbing at the large hole above despite the deviation. I shouted up to Karen and asked her to drop back down and add an extra karabiner to sort the problem out (it had been fine on the way down but it seemed the angle of the deviation had made it too short and left the rope too close to the lip of the hole. Once Karen had done this I followed up and de0rigged the rope, Karen waited in the small chamber just below the short entrance shaft as I usually find returning through the restricted connection vet awkward unless there is someone beneath to give one of my legs a shove. I stripped off my SRT kit, shoved it through the constriction a,d with a shove on my leg from Karen I was through and soon followed by Karen.
By now it was dark as it was about half past five (we had started at about three in the afternoon. We got everything sorted and and closed the lid then walked back to the car and got changed. Then we returned to the Orpheus CC Cottage for Bonfire Night fireworks, the barrel of Pedigree and jacket potatoes with chilli.

Ogof Fynnon Ddu, South Wales

After and extra hour in bed because the clocks went back last night, we were up at around 8:00am and had breakfast. Karen, Keith myself and Jess drove up to Penwyllt while Boyd, Dave, Robert, Phil and Holly also drove up. Our party planned on a quick trip to the Trident and the Judge via Salubrious Passage while the others also planned the same destination via Edwards Shortcut and Selenite Tunnel. I headed up to the entrance with the key and had trouble getting it into the lock but after a few minutes trying, managed to unlock the gate. It was only just after 10:30 am - unheard of earliness for OCC! It was cloudy with some light rain as we had arrived at Penwyllt but had stopped raining as we got changed.
We headed into the cave and all met at the top of Gnome Passage and Dave and Boyd took some photos with Keith as a subject as we waited. After this our group headed down past the Wedding Cake and Corkscrew Squeeze down to Salubrious Passage. Soon we were at the Trident and Judge and decided we might as well have a look at Maypole Inlet so head via The Cross Road to the 4 way junction (President's Downfall I think it has been nicknamed after a SWCC Committee Member had a bit of a mishap there). We turned around and headed back towards the surface and had a quick breather at the climb up from Salubrious Passage and then headed for the surface. We met a party of 3 including Ben Stevens of SUSS/SWCC who I had chatted to earlier in Penwyllt Common Room as Boyd was show the others where they had been, during yesterday's trip, on the survey. We were back at the surface just a few minutes after midday after just over an hour and a half underground! There were patches of blue sky and a weak sun trying to get through the remaining cloud. We got changed, I had a shower, and we returned to the bunkhouse to collect our stuff and after saying goodbye to Jenny, who had spent the time working on her laptop, we headed for home arriving some 4 hours later at 5:15pm.

Pwll Dwfn, South Wales

Karen and I drove down to South Wales giving Jess E. a lift to arrive last night at Crai Bunkhouse. Boyd and Jenny were there along with Phil W., his niece Holly and his friend Robert. In the morning we waited for Keith S., Dave P. and James H. to arrive after we had cooked and eaten breakfast. Karen spotted a red deer stag on the horizon on high ground behind the bunkhouse and if you went outside, you could hear it roaring.
They all arrived by 10:00 am and Dave, Keith, Karen and I drove to Dan yr Ogof car park while Jenny went to the coast to go birdwatching and the rest joined Boyd for a trip into OFD via OFD1 and Cwm Dwr. We had seen a notice at the camp site car park entrance addressed to "Walkers" saying you must register at the show cave ticket office before parking or pay a fine, so we drove over to the show cave car park to check on whether we needed to register. The guy at the ticket office said we just had to go to the coffee shop and ask for a red dragon for each car and display these in the front window. The girls in the coffee shop wrote out camp site tickets and charged £3 per car... and no dragons! Anyway we went back to park at the camp site and we displayed the Welsh flag Karen hand copied and laminated in my car and the camp site tickets in both cars.
We changed into caving gear and walked up to Pwll Dwfn. Once at the entrance, Keith went in first so that he could do the SRT rigging followed by Dave, Karen and myself. As Dave dropped down the entrance two ponies, which had been grazing nearby, came over to investigate and then wandered off! We heard Keith saying that the pitches were already rigged, which seemed strange as it was only just 11:30 in the morning and we saw no other cars parked in the car park. Karen helped me down by placing my feet on footholds on the wall but by using these, I couldn't get down because my legs were too long and Karen used her hand to support a foot while I tried again with no luck. I had no trouble in the past and couldn't understand why I was having problems now until I stood on her back as she stooped and I just slipped through! That's what the problem was - on previous visits I had just poked my legs through and slid down the small slab and was soon standing on a boulder some 6 feet below.
Anyway, we followed Keith and Dave on downwards into the cave. At the third pitch we found the other party's rope was coiled at the top of the pitch so they were obviously not in the cave so perhaps were digging. Soon we all were at the bottom of the last pitch where there was a small diving bottle and some small items of gear and scaffolding and other gear at the sump. So somebody was digging down there and had left their ropes.
After having a look at the sump, which was very low, and the fossils in the wall at the bottom of the pitch, we started heading out with me in front. Karen and I waited for a tackle bag to be passed through (there had been one for each of us on the way down) and once one had arrived, I headed for the surface. At the entrance I poked the tackle bag up through the hole and took off my small personal bag and did the same with that. I then stood on the boulder and poked both arms and head and chest through the hole and stood on a cup-shaped foothold on the wall behind and stood on that leg. I then walked both feet up the wall behind and just slid up the slab and was soon up. It had just gone about 10 past three (so we had been about three and half hours underground). I waited for Karen to arrive and suggested she did the same and she also was soon up. We waited for Dave to arrive and then passed the remaining gear out and I chucked them onto the grass behind me.
We walked back to the car and got changed. It had been overcast all day and luckily just as we had finished changing light rain started to fall. We relocated the cars to the show cave car park and went into the cafe for some cakes and coffee or tea. Afterwards we returned to the bunkhouse for more tea and wait until 7:00 pm before driving to "The Lion" up the road in Deffynog which Boyd had rung up during the day to book a meal for us (except Robert, Holly and Phil who ate at the Bunkhouse). The food was good and very reasonably priced. Afterwards we had a few drinks and returned to the Bunkhouse and eventually went to be just before 11:00 pm.

Circular Walk from Hartington

The two of us decided to have a walk along a route we've done before which is from the Peak District village Hartington to Pilsbury Castle and back in a circular route.

Trip to Dublin

The day started drizzly and after the latest breakfast of the holiday, at 9am, we stayed int our room until 11am then went downstairs and checked out. We left our two large bags at the hotel and then got a "hop-on-Hop-off" tour bus for a tour around the city. Not long after the tour started, the drizzle stopped and we drove around various sights in the city with the driver giving information on the locations and cracking the occasional joke "This is d'Olier Street, named after the guy who had invented ceiling lights Sean d'Olier - you may have also heard of his Italian relation Gond d'Olier..." After doing most of the tour (you could gate on or off any of the many tour buses which run every 10 minutes after paying for a single ticket of 15 Euros for a 24 hour period) where people were getting off at the Guinness Brewery and other places, we got off at "Dublinia" at Christ Church Cathedral (Church of Ireland) were we visited a "Dublin at the Time of the Vikings" exhibition and also the Cathedral. We then walked back via Moore Street Market (Fruit and Vegetable) and got back to the hotel. We had a coffee in the bar and after collecting our bags, we got a non-top bus for 6 Euros each to the airport.

Trip to Dublin

Karen wanted to visit the National Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin so we had breakfast at the hotel then got a bus to the Gardens. Even though the Gardens weren't at their best at this time of years, there were several large greenhouses including a reasonable imitation of a rain forest with humid heat and fine spray from nozzles high in the roof! We had a good walk around the various parts of the Gardens and were amused by the very tame squirrels scampering around who would come right up to an outstretched hand to investigate. After lunch in the very well-stocked cafeteria, we visited remaining parts of the Gardens then got a bus back to the hotel.

We spent a couple of hours snoozing or reading or watching the television in our room and then in the evening headed towards the Temple Bar area at around 8pm again searching for Traditional Music. We found the Temple Bar area very lively with crowds thronging among the many pubs and restaurants and clubs. We found a leaflet in the hotel advertising a pub crawl around music pubs which started at a particular pub: "The Oliver St. John Gogarty". When we found this pub, there was a sign saying "Traditional Music" on the first floor and no mention of cover fees or anything so we headed up. We found a large bar with a noisy crowd and a band playing with a guitarist/lead singer, a banjo player, an older accordion played (whose photo was on the wall behind them) and they were playing really well especially the banjo player who was fantastic. So we bought some Guinness and stayed until the finished the first half which stopped at 11pm and the band which had been playing started packing up. we bought 2 CDs they were offering for sale. There was a break for half an hour then another lot would start playing until 2:40am, and we headed back to the hotel.

Trip to Dublin

After breakfast it was luckily a nice sunny day and we again walked down O'Connell Street past Trinity College and had a coffee in Bewley's in Grafton street. We continued on via Merrion Square and reached the National Museum. We spent several hours there seeing the many interestinf exhibits of archaeological items including beautiful gold ornaments such as Torcs, etc.
In the evening we went to The Altringham Hotel next to the river which advertised Traditional Irish Music and Dancing with 3 Course Meal for 28.50 Euros each... We turned up just before 8pm as booked and as the band started setting up I thought this might not be very good as there were two guitars and an accordion but then there was a bass guitar! The band could play but it wasn't a typical "session" type of playing. After playing several songs the singer/guitarist told lame jokes in between then spent ages mentioning various countries and getting anyone from the country to shout out. By now we had had enough and headed back towards the hotel but checked for any pubs really playing traditional music on the way down nearby streets, but didn't find any.

Trip to Dublin

We drove to Manchester Airport in the morning and arrived in Dublin in early evening. Got a taxi from the airport to the hotel, Cassidy's Hotel on Upper O'Connell Street opposite the Gate Theatre. After dropping bags into our room we walked short way down O'Connell Street for a pizza and then later on had a wall around the area as far as O'Connell Bridge.

Walk on Stanton Moor

Karen had BCA and OCC 60th Anniversary Document to do plus the weather forecast wasn't very good so she stayed at home while I headed towards Birchover and onto Stanton Moor. I followed a path leading past the Reform Tower and on to the Nine Ladies Stone Circle. After some photos I headed via the trig point towards the small quarry near the Cork Stone and had some tea from my flask.
Afterwards I followed the path down to Birchover popping out opposite the Druid Inn. I decided to have a look around Rowtor Rocks behind the pub and had my lunch of cheese and pickle sandwiches there. This ia a curious place with all sorts of carvings and even hollowed-out boulders made into rooms. Following the path past the Old Vicarage and near Rocking Stone Farm I then headed down to the road and followed the track up to Robin Hood's Stride where I clambered up to sit in a sheltered spot at the foot of one of the large upright blocks at the top. While finishing off my flask of tea I watched a bank of drizzle move in and then headed back down the track to the road and retraced my way back up the path from the road to a junction with another path which I then followed towards Birchover.




There was a ruined building of some sort with on gable wall made from a large upright boulder which had inscriptions from the 18th and 19th centuries. I followed the path until I reach Birchover Lane and then followed Clough Lane back to where I had previously joined the lane and back into the fields leading back to the footpath bringing you into Main Street in Winster opposite home.

Short walk near Winster

Karen and I headed towards Birchover intending to drop down into Clough Wood for a circular walk but I was wearing an old pair of boots (Karrimor KSBS) to try them out and found them very uncomfortable - which is probably why I hadn't worn them for years! So we headed back fro home via Birchover Lane thus shortening the intended walk.

Exmoor

Another sunny, warm day. After breakfast at the hotel we packed up and got sandwiches for lunch at the small supermarket in Lynton and drove to park near a ford in Horner Woods. We followed the stream always keeping an eye out for red deer (or any other deer) but saw none. After a lunch break at a small bridge we followed a road uphill for a short way and then a gradually-rising path leading to the top of one side of the valley and then with wide-spreading views back to the ford and the car.

Exmoor

Another sunny, warm day. We had a nice circular walk to the Hoar Oak along Cheriton Ridge which is a very wide grassy slope and after lunch at the Oak and watching a hunt go by (on horseback), returned via the Hoar Oak Water at the valley bottom back to where we had parked.

Exmoor

Another sunny, warm day. We walked via the Sparrow Walk along one side of the East Lyn to have lunch at the National Trust centre at Watersmeet. This is a good spot to see birds as they all try and swoop in and gather crumbs and leftovers from tables in the garden! Afterwards we returned along the opposite side of the valley. In the evening we had a nice meal in The Green House restaurant.

Exmoor

The two of us drove down to Lynton in Karen's car arriving at the North Cliff Hotel in the afternoon. Right next to the hotel is the Cliff Railway which is really interesting as it uses gravity to move the railcar up and down the steep rails connecting Lynmouth and Lynton which are separated by quite a difference in height. After unloading the car we walked in the sunshine along the coast path to the Valley of the Rocks and then followed past the cricket pitch and the grassy car park where there were a large number of goats and a few ponies grazing. We followed the road back to Lynton and after some tea at a cafe, returned to the hotel.
In the evening we drove the short distance down to nearby Lynmouth and had a meal at The Rising Sun.

Kinder Scout, Peak District

Karen was in Rugby for until tomorrow morning and despite the forecast of rain, I decided to go walking on Kinder Scout. I originally intended to start from Edale car park (really Grindsbrook Booth as "Edale" is the name of the valley). I arrived there just after 9:30 in the morning and found it was now £5 to park and I didn't have the right change as I expected it to be £3.50. So I moved further up the valley near Barber Booth and parked in the large lay-by - which is free!
After parking and putting my boots on, I headed up the road and left it just after a small bridge through a small gate. This led to a footpath next to the stream and through some fields to arrive in Crowden Valley. Continuing along Crowden Brook I kept near the water and could see plenty of signs of recent high water levels where gravel and sand had been swept along by the brook and parts of the path had been damaged.
Reaching the head of Crowden Brook, I climbed the short but enjoyable scramble on gritstone and popped out in the Kinder plateau. Now, despite the forecast for rain, it was misty and windy with
occasional light rain and the boggy bits were very boggy so I followed the edge of the plateau where the going was firmer until I passed through the collection of gritstone boulders known as "The Woolpacks" which have been worn by the weather into a huge variety of sizes and shapes. Not long after this I left the plateau edge and headed fro the large gritstone outcrop known as "Edale Rocks" and stopped to have lunch.
After lunch, I dropped back down from Edale Rocks and headed down the path to intersect with "Jacob's Ladder" which is the usual route from Edale via the Pennine Way long-distance footpath. Following down Jacob's Ladder I was passed by several people pushing and carrying mountain bikes, which didn't look like much fun, and dropped below the mist and wind and after crossing the old packhorse bridge, followed the path until I reach the narrow road back to where I parked the car.

Hagg Gill Pot

After breakfast at the campsite, we headed for Deepdale Bridge to find Hagg Gill Pot. On the way we stopped at Raisgill Farm as in the "Selected Caves" book but they knew nothing about it. Further up the road we saw some kids in caving gear and as we got nearer recognised Dave Elliot as the instructor in charge so we stopped and asked where to ask permission. Karen introduced herself (as BCA Training Administrator) and he said it should be Hagg Gill Farm, further up the road. We stopped further up and told Pete about this and he agreed to go and seek permission while we found a place to park. We found space next to Deepdale Bridge and when Pete arrived he said he couldn't find Hagg Gill Farm and we had done our best to get permission so we'd go anyway.
We got changed and walk about 250 metres up the road to Hagg Gill. Mick wanted to leave by 3:00pm so he walked with us to the entrance and afterwards went of a short walk. We slid the lid across and saw a scaffolding-lined shaft about 5 metres deep with a narrow hole continuing down the 15 metre pitch.
Pete tied on the rope and abseiled down. He re-belayed the rope to a scaffold cross-piece and headed down the remainder of the pitch. Karen followed and as she was getting onto the rebelay, I clambered down the scaffolding. Once Karen was at the bottom, I attached my descender to the rope and tried to follow but couldn't get through the short narrow bit. I shouted down for Pete and Karen to go on while I had another go. You could see that after a couple of feet it opened out but I just couldn't get through. I tried with my bobbin on my short cows-tail but it was still tight. I dangled with my jammers on thinking maybe I could down-prusik, but it was too tight.
I clambered back up and walked back to the car and got changed. In the meantime a car had parked in the middle of the track next to the bridge - but it was a family who were playing about in the river so they could have moved the car if needed. I laid my caving gear in the sun to dry and sat by the water and after a short time Mick arrived back from his walk and after he had given me a coffee, he said good-by and headed off.
I waited for a while then got in the car out of the cold wind and waited until Karen arrived. Pete had brough extra ropes, planning to have a look at Langstroth Pot, which was in the locality, but he couldn't find it and he arrived soon afterwards. Once Karen had got changed, we headed back to the campsite as Pete was getting changed and started to pack up and get the tent down. Pete arrived soon afterwards and we had a quick coffee and headed home.

Birks Fell Cave, Wharfedale

The two of us set off from Winster yesterday at around 6:30pm and arrived in Kettlewell in Yorkshire (the village where the film "The Calendar Girls" was based) about 3 hours later. We had to look for the agreed camp site, Fold Farm and after a bit of a search, we found it. It was fairly busy, mainly with "Duke of Edinburgh" groups, as we found later in the morning. They were all in their tents by 10:pm and very quiet so, after a pitching the tent (first time it was used even though I bought it many months ago!) and a quick brew-up, Karen and I joined the sleeping throng.
The problem was that the DoE groups were up before 7:00am and cooking breakfast and getting ready to pack up and head off by 9:00! I got up just after 8:00 and got the stove going. after a quick trip to the port-a-loo, the only facilities besides a tap for water, we started on cereal for breakfast and not long after, Pete W arrived after driving up this morning. Not long afterwards, Mick H also arrived - he had arrived last night as well but had spent the night in Kettlewell Youth Hostel. As he could book for this evening, he decided to also camp and put his tent up. The camp site was an overflow from the main one nearer the village centre and was in a lovely, quiet spot with rabbits on nearby grassy slopes and a heron not far away near a stream. It had been fairly cold last night with a clear sky and loads of dew in the morning.
We set off a few miles up the road to the car park in Buckden and got into our caving gear and started the route towards the cave by walking down the narrow road for a short distance then following a winding track with a loose stone surface. We left Pete checking in at the farm, but he soon caught us up.
After a short search, we found the entrance and Karen headed in at about 11:30, while I followed with Mick and Pete coming next. After a bit of rift passage we came to a small chamber with the expected continuation, "The Bradford Crawl", a flat-out crawl with a rough ceiling of eroded limestone. The problem was that there wasn't much room! It appeared that recent floods had washed stones and gravel into the crawl and raised the floor by a few inches. Karen had a look and realised it was too small and I agreed after trying to get in. Pete managed to crawl through for the fifteen feet or so to larger passage and I started digging out stones and gravel from the floor while Pet started doing the same from the far end. Once we had done this, I came out for a rest and Karen had a go at getting through the crawl and was soon through. I decided to give my shoulder a rest and head for the surface so told Mick to follow on. As he doesn't like this sort of cave passage, I wasn't surprised when he had a couple of half-hearted tries and gave up. Pete and I convinced him to try Agni and he set off feet-first and was soon through to the other end.
I said good-bye to the others and headed for the surface. Once at the entrance, I had a rest and then decided that my shoulder didn't feel to bad after the rest, so I stashed my bag containing my SRT kit and headed back into the cave. I thought I would just follow the others taking my time and possibly get as far a the first pitch (15 metres). I was soon back at the Crawl and passed this then into hands-and-knees crawling followed by easy-walking passage, some clambering and climbing and a nice chamber with and easy climb down. Soon I reached hands-and-knees crawling on a sandy floor with elbow-deep water. After a short distance, a couple of boulders partly blocked the way at a right-angle bend. Once past the boulders, the passage was still low and a bit narrow with a rough floor. I decided I had gone far enough (the others told me later I had nearly reached the first pitch) and again headed back to the surface.
I reached the entrance for the second time at nearly 2:00pm after 2 and a half hours underground and laid out my SRT kit in the sun to dry and then sat in the sun looking at the views of Wharfedale for about 45 minutes. I then packed everything up and headed back to car park and got changed. I went into the nearby cafe and had a beefburger and chips and then back to the car where I waited for the others and they arrived about three quarters of an hour later.
We tried the cafe again for a snack, but it had closed. So, it was back to the campsite where Pete put up his tent - a new one he had got from Oxfam for £10: apparently a Glastonbury remnant! Other small groups of DoE kids started arriving and also pitching tents. Later we went to the Kings Head in the village for a meal but they weren't doing meals as the chef hadn't turned up! So we had a meal at the nearby Bluebell Inn instead.

Giants Hole, Peak District

Karen and I drove to the Orpheus CC cottage and met Boyd there. The plan was to take James H., who was planning to join the club, on a trip into Giants Hole. Once James had arrived, we collected the ladder and lifeline and headed for Peakshill Farm. We entered the cave at around 12:30 pm and followed down Garlands Pot, the Crabwalk, Eating House, Maggins Rift to finally traverse back above the Crabwalk then back down to the streamway and again back at Garlands Pot.
Once the pitch had been de-rigged, we headed for the surface and were back in the sun at 3:30 pm. Once back at the car park we changed in the warm sun, maybe for the last time this year, and headed back to the Orpheus cottage. After a tea, I erected our new tent which I bought several moths ago and haven't yet used, as we are planning to camp next week in Yorkshire.

Walk via Kinder Downfall, Peak District

It was sunny and warm for a change and Karen and I drove to Hayfield and parked in the car park. After putting on our boots and setting off we found Chris Haywood parked in the road about to set
off for a walk with his dog. His dog was barking at us but Chris said he would be fine once he had started walking. We headed off a short way along the lane and then uphill in some fields on a path. Once at the top Karen had a few minutes rest and we let Chris head off with his dog. He was heading for Kinder Downfall as well but via a slightly different route.

We continued along a path which wended its way below the plateau of Kinder Scout which gradually gained height. There were good views to Kinder Reservoir and into the distance and we were soon
passing Cluther Rocks. Continuing on the path we reach the gully of Red Brook and clambered up along the gully and were soon on the footpath following the edge of the plateau. We could see
Chris and his dog further along the path heading for the Downfall and we were soon there ourselves. While Chris continued around the other side of the natural amphitheatre formed by the Downfall we stopped just above the top of the waterfall of Kinder Downfall to have our sandwiches.
After lunch we continued on along the plateau edge until we reached the route leading down to
Kinder Reservoir. We dropped down this path which was steep in parts and passed to men struggling up the rough path pushing and carrying mountain bikes - this looked like hard work! Continuing on downwards we crossed a small wooden bridge in William's Clough and we soon walking beside the
wall at the edge of the reservoir. Once passed the reservoir, we dropped down the cobble-stoned path leading to an old sheep wash next to the stream leading down-valley from the reservoir dam
and then followed the lane leading back to the car park.