Walk from Monyash via Lathkill Dale

While Karen planned to join Pete and Keith in the dig in Water Icicle Close Cavern I drove to Cotswold Camping to get a new Osprey Exos 46 rucksack as Pete and Keith went to the OCC cottage to sort out a rope. I met the three of them in the cafe in Monyash and after breakfast they headed for the dig and I followed the walk Karen and I had done recently from Monyash via Cales Dale and Lathkill Dale back to Monyash. I could see somebody at the mine - more especially a figure with a bright white light - as I walked down towards Cales Dale some three fields away.
I was back at Monyash at around 13:30 and after a mug of tea and small ice cream I drove up Derby Lane to find Pete's and Karen's cars parked by the gate to the field where Water Icicle's entrance shaft is located. I walked over to the shaft and found no sign of anyone and after waiting in the car for a short while, I decided to head for home. Just as well - the were to remain underground until after 17:00!

Notts Pot

Karen and I travelled up last night and arrived at Greenclose to find only some NPC members there but no others from OCC. We went to Bernies in the morning and found Keith and Pete Collins already there. Pete Wagstaff and Dave Phillips arrived not long after.
After Bernies we parked up at Cowan Bridge then sorted the ropes and after leaving Waggy's car there, drove up to Leck Fell. Keith, Karen, Pete and I started down the Centre Route with Keith rigging while Pete Wagstaff and Dave Phillips followed the Left Route/Twilight Zone with Dave rigging for the first time since his rigging course. We got to the lower streamway and Keith was looking for the way on as there should have been a bolted traverse according to the rigging topo but he couldn't find any. Pete started climbing up through calcite flowstone and Karen didn't fancy a bold step to get to the climb. I wasn't too happy as I had got caught up at the awkward climb near the entrance with the cord on the tackle bag I was carrying. So I was only too willing not to bother with the last bit of the cave and the two of us headed out.
On the way out I could hear Dave and Waggy's voices as their route passed nearby - I tried shouting but they probably couldn't hear me as they didn't answer.

A Short Walk From Home

Today we decided to walk from home rather than drive somewhere first so Karen and I walk to the other end of Winster and followed a grassy track leading to Clough Wood. We noticed the Sloe bushes and Mountain Ash were laden with berries: probably due to the wet summer. After crossing an open area with large fields we saw two ponies playing with each other before trotting off to a lower field. As we passed through a stile into a wooded area, Karen spotted a Fallow Deer hind with two fawns a short distance away. We stood and watched as they headed further into the woods.
We followed a path, obviously used by the deer as it had fresh deer prints in the mud, and eventually reached the rough track leading towards the Birchover area. We followed this until a gate with a stile which led to Stoop Wood. Once through this we crossed a few fields leading back to Winster and as we passed right by the village shop and it was a warm day, we bought a couple of ice creams and ate them while sitting in the back garden.

Another Walk on Kinder Scout, Derbyshire

Since Karen had been offered a trip on a winch down a local mine which she missed out on when a group from Orpheus CC had a trip recently, she took the opportunity to have a visit in the mine. I decided on a walk on Kinder Scout as I had been in the mine on that OCC trip.
I set off after breakfast and parked in the lay-by at Barber Booth in the Vale of Edale. After changing into boots, I followed the road for a short distance to a small bridge and then followed a footpath leading along the side of the river flowing down from Crowden Clough which was the route I was following up onto the plateau of Kinder Scout. Unlike last week, the weather was dry and fine and there were a lot of people camping on the farm site on the other side of the brook. As I was relatively early I saw no one else until after I had reached the head of the valley and passed the short scramble where I saw a man waving his map around. There were a lot of flies around (I have no idea what they were but they were the same ones we saw a fortnight ago and seemed to be busy mating) and he was worried that they would bite him. I told him that they were harmless and were busy mating anyway! He seemed happy with this and continued on his walk.
I followed Crowden Brook for a short distance on the plateau and then headed North aiming to cross to Kinder Downfall. In the clear weather you could see miles into the distance and many of the landmarks on the plateau. I could see Kinder Gates, two large buttresses of gritstone either side of the Kinder River and a welcome sight when the visibility is bad when heading for the Downfall. So, it was an easy walk across the peat, which was luckily quite dry, avoiding the deeper groughs to head for Kinder River. Again, there was very little water in the wide, sandy and flat river bed and soon I arrived at the Downfall with views across to Glossop and Manchester. Now there were many more walkers around as the Downfall is one of the "honey pots" of the plateau.
I had a quick break and after coffee from my flask and my sandwiches, I followed the path along the plateau edge heading towards the trig point on Kinder Low. Before I arrived at Kinder Low, I headed back across the middle of the plateau keeping the obvious landmark of Pym Chair, in the distance, on my right as I headed towards the top of Grindsbrook valley. From there I followed onwards to the cairn on top of Grindsbrook Knoll, where I had been last week in the rain, but this time, instead of following the path back down towards Grindsbrook Booth, I followed the path heading South, which I have never followed before. This path, after a slope and longish flat area, soon dropped down very steeply in the direction of where I had started at Barber Booth. There were quite a few people slogging up the steep path and I decided I would not bother coming up this way myself - it was bad enough going down!
Soon I was at the farm near the small bridge which I had passed earlier and I managed to avoid the temptation of Bradwells ice cream which was being sold from a barn door. A good sales spot as the Pennine Way passes through the farmyard!

Notts Pot II

Boyd had arrived last night and joined us in Bernies in the morning while we waited for Mark Silo to arrive for the day. Once all were ready, we returned to Leck Fell and Pete, Keith, Waggy and Dave headed for Gavel Pot while Boyd, Mark, Karen and me headed for Committee Pot and Notts II.
I was last climbing down the scaffolding and ladders and was going slowly due to a pulled back muscle and Mark returned to see what was keeping me. At the last short ladder I got my knee caught for a few minutes in a crack between boulders as I tried to climb over them and decided to head out as I was going slowly. So I told Mark that I would head back to the surface.
I waited in the car for about an hour and a half and the others arrived back. After they had changed, we were back at Bernies then headed for home as the weather forecast for Bank Holiday Monday was dire in the Dales but not too bad at home. Later Pete and Keith arrived at our place after leaving Gavel Pot early as it had been a slow trip due to Dave's lack of rigging experience. We went for a meal at the Miners Standard and they spent the night at our place.

A Circular Walk from Monyash, Derbyshire

Yesterday evening Pate and Keith joined us in the Miners Standard in Winster for a meal and a drink and afterwards stayed at our place. So, after getting up in the morning and a coffee, we headed for Monyash cafe for breakfast. Pete and Keith planned to spend some time putting more scaffolding in the dig in Water Icicle Close Cavern, while Karen and I followed a short way down the main street pat the school and through the churchyard. this lead via a stile and some fields to a lane. On the way, we spotted a couple of figures in the distance about where we thought Water Icicle Close Cavern should be, and with Karen's binoculars we confirmed that it was indeed Pate and Keith.
We followed the lane and after passing through a farmyard, eventually dropped down Cales Dale to the footbridge in Lathkill Dale. We had a quick look at the resurgence of Cales Dale Cave, but it was completely dry. We then followed the path along Lathkill Dale past Lathkill Head Cave and below Ricklow Quarry and crossed the road leading from Monyash to Bakewell. We then followed a grassy path past another farmyard where Karen said "Hello" to a horse in the field with a "Do Not Feed The Horses" sign on the gate!
Soon after passing through some more fields, we were back in Chapel Lane near the cafe in Monyash. Of course, we had to have another visit in the cafe, which was quite busy, and then headed for home.

A Walk on Kinder Scout, Derbyshire

Keith, Pete and Karen were planning on a trip down Rowter Hole and I decided to do something else as Rowter Hole would be basically a 200 foot plus entrance pitch, a quick look round a chamber maybe followed by a second pitch to a dead-end and a hand-line climb into an upper series. Now it sounds an interesting trip, but I had done it before and as the weather forecast wasn't too bad - jut some light rain showers, I opted for a walk on Kinder Scout.
So, after breakfast at home, Karen headed for Monyash to meet Keith and Pete while I drove to Edale and parked in the main car par - which now costs £5 for a period over 4 hours. After changing into my boots I walked through the village of Grindsbrook Booth, which many call Edale, although strictly that is the name of the valley, past the Old Nags Head Inn pub and followed the path over the River Noe. The path continues up onto the plateau of Kinder Scout via Grindsbrook, but I followed the branching path up the zig zag path of Ringing Roger which means "Echoing Rocks", apparently a corruption of the French "Rocher".
Once I reached the plateau edge, I followed the west-heading path along the edge. Although it had been fairly windy lower down, up there the wind was far greater and mad walking a bit tricky with strong gusts. Soon, the threatening clouds started raining and I stopped to put on my Paramo Velez smock. Continuing onwards I passed several others sheltering in the lee of the odd boulder and one particular group of youths had a guy dressed in jeans and a white cotton T-Shirt with no other clothing or gear. H was soaked and didn't look very happy. He must have been pretty cold as well. Soon the rain got heavier and I stopped to put on waterproof trousers. Once I reached the top of Grindsbrook, the rain stopped so I unzipped my waterproof trousers and put them back in my rucksack and headed onwards.
A short distance from the path was a rock outcrop with a right-angled section in the lee of the wind and hence well-sheltered. I stopped there for a short break and had some coffee from a flask and a flapjack. I could see more rain being blown past in sheets in the wind but I was well-sheltered.
After a short time when the rain seemed to be almost stopped I headed back onto the path and then the rain started - even heavier than before. As my trousers were light-weight and quick drying, I decided not to bother putting my waterproof trousers back on and continued in the wind and rain towards the path dropping down via Grindsbrook Knoll. Soon it was warmer and the rain stopped as I reached the lower land near where I started and after a tea in the cafe next to the train station, I returned to the car park and changed out of my boots and headed for home.

Nickergrove Mine, Stoney Middleton, Derbyshire

Karen and I joined Mat and Nikki Adlam-Styles for an evening trip in Nickergrove Mine with John Beck and another John. This was supposed to be a trip to replace John Barnatt's intended trip to Gradbach Mill which didn't come off.
We entered via the adit entrance and had a look around and visited the old dig at the end of a muddy, low and narrow passage. Then the others either climbed down a ladder or abseiled down and exited via an alternative entrance which had been rigged with a ladder before we entered the mine. I speeded things up by offering to exit via the adit entrance after de-rigging the pitch. We had a quick look at the newly-opened sink further up Cucklet Delph and then retired to the Miners Arms in Eyam for a quick drink where we met John Barnatt who hadn't been able to arrive in time for the underground trip and headed straight to the pub!

Water Icicle Close Cavern, Derbyshire

Karen was feeling under the weather and although she drove in her car to the OCC Cottage, she decided to not go caving and went home after breakfast in the Monyash Cafe with me Keith and Pete and I, while we drove up Derby Lane and parked near Water Icicle Close Cavern.
The plan was for Keith and Pete to measure up in the dig for more scaffolding and to try Keith's new pulley and his Mini-Traxion to set up a haul system to remove rubble from the dig which he did successfully. I had a poke around in the lower dug passage (in the North-West passage) and then waited until they finished.
We then returned to the foot of the entrance shaft and once Pete had prusiked up, Keith followed. I noticed he seemed to be panting a lot and when it was my turn, I found out why. Even though the air was fresh enough at the dig, it was hard work prusiking up the shaft - there seemed to be quite a lot of carbon dioxide around.
After a snack in the cafe at Monyash I headed for home while Keith and Pete returned to the OCC cottage.

Circular Walk from Hollinsclough

Karen and I did a walk from Hollinsclough, a village in the neighbouring county of Staffordshire. Last time we did the walk it was in winter and a cold and misty day. Today it was luckily warm and sunny unlike the last few days which were wet. We parked in the village of Hollinsclough and followed the road for a short way before following a bridleway through a gate. Last time we had missed the footpath which branched off from the bridleway and dropped into the bottom of the valley so this time we watched out for the footpath and followed it without any problems.
The footpath mostly followed a drystone wall and joined a wide track leading downhill and this was where our route went. We followed the route downwards to a stream crossing where another footpath joined at a ford and old packhorse bridge. We stopped at the bridge for a coffee (from our flasks) and then after studying the map followed the packhorse trail uphill. It was rough going with loose stone and rocks with the occasional stretches of the old cobblestone. We soon found the reason for the loose rock and surface: trial bikes. At a narrow section of the old trail we had to get out of the way as three motor bikes came up the trail and past us.
After the trail we reached a tarmaced lane form a farm and after a quick check of the map, we followed another lane until we came to a grassy footpath. This lead eventually to a farmyard full of old vehicles of one sort or another in different states of decay and once past the farmyard we were again on a grassy track.
Eventually we had good views of Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill, which are remains of coral reefs which once made up the edge of the shallow lagoon in which the limestone rocks were laid down in the early Carboniferous era, 340 million years ago. Following a path through fields and across another farm track we swung around to the right until we were in line with the tooth-shaped Chrome Hill. We stopped for a snack at an old Orpheus dig, Chrome Hill Swallet. Once we had finished, we followed the path which starts following along one side of the Hill and then after a short distance climbs to the top edge. We followed the edge along small ups and downs and after a short coffee break in the lee of a small cliff of limestone, we passed the highest point and started down the other side until we passed the tree and plaque memorial to Bill Etches of Dowell Hall farm which was laid out below at the foot of Dowell Dale.
Soon we were back at the road leading from Dowell Dale and after a couple of hundred metres, we turned off onto a rough track which lead after short distance back to where we started in Hollinsclough.
After a wash and change at home, we drove to Anna's house in Clifton near Ashbourne for a BBQ celebrating Nichola's 21st Birthday.

Bagshawe Cavern, Derbyshire

It was an early start for an Alt. Tuesday trip to Bagshawe Cavern in Bradwell as we met in the car park at 6:30pm. Along with myself and Karen, there was Mat and Nikki, Andy, Linda, John, Ashley, Martin and Alison. After changing, John collected all our £2 fees and opened up the door into the coe. Once we had all signed in on the log, we opened the door leading onto the steps dropping down into the cave.
It had been agreed that we would split into two groups with one group visiting the Upper Series and the other, the Lower Series. The usual way into the Lower Series is to drop down the short Dungeon pitch but we had learned of an alternative way via a squeeze. Karen and I along with John, Martin, Alison and Ashley chose the Upper Series while the others headed for the Lower Series once we had gone into the cave.
There were some nice sections especially in the narrower passages but once in the large main passage, it reminded me a lot of caves in South Wales with larger passages, quite a bit of breakdown and everything covered with a thin layer of mud.
We reached the start of a sloping passage with a small trench in the floor which was slippery with mud and although it was easy to slide along while crouching down in my wellies, I thought it might prove to be tricky when returning on the uphill journey! Anyway, I reached a flattening out of the passage with a pool of water and low roof which looked like it would be a duck in wet weather and not far past this a passage joining from the right equipped with a diving line and a couple of diving bottles clipped nearby, although there was no water in the side passage at the time.
Continuing onwards, the floor of the passage was washed clean and soon a stream joined from low on the right. I followed the water for a short distance until the roof began to get lower. I headed back to meet Karen at the pool. We started back up the sloping passage which ended up as quite easy and we were not slipping backwards as expected.
Once at the top of the slope, we could breathe a lot easier and met John as he returned from the same direction. Karen investigated a branch passage nearby which involved sliding over a slab and we met a gate to prevent entry into what must be one of the well-decorated parts of the cave. We had passed another gate in the main passage on the way in. After we had returned from the gate, I followed a nearby side passage but this seemed to be heading back to the main passage - and it did as well! In the meantime, John thought we must have missed a side passage as he had a copy of the cave survey so we returned back along the oxbow passage and Karen returned to the gate and I followed. We could see that the passage beyond the gate had a branch and this match John's survey - so this was the side passage he was looking for but we couldn't follow it because of the locked gate.
Once we had returned back along the oxbow passage to the main passage, we mate Mat and the others. They had been to the squeeze and some hadn't been able;e to get past. We saw that the time was past 9:00pm and we needed to head back to the surface to get to the pub in time!
I was out first and joined about 10 minutes later by the others. After changing out of caving gear, we had a quick drink at the White Hart and headed for home.

P8, Derbyshire

Karen wanted to try her hand at some SRT rigging and as the weather was supposed to be drier today than yesterday, we decided on P8 (Jackpot Cave) near Castleton. First we called at the Orpheus CC cottage to pick up some ropes and then adjourned to Monyash cafe for breakfast where we were joined by Boyd. It was there that I realised that I had forgotten to bring any karabiners.D'oh!
Anyway, we said good-bye to Boyd who had something else planned for the day and we headed for Hitch'n'Hike in Bamford Bridge to but some 7mm Maillon Rapides because they're cheaper than karabiners and I don't need any more! While we were there we met Julie who we had taken caving in Masson Mine last year. She has obviously been infected with the caving bug as she was there buying an undersuit and oversuit and had joined the Yorkshire Speleological Society.
Once the purchases were over we joined the three vehicles already parked in the P8 lay-by and got changed. We decided to also rig the pitch down from The Flats, which is just above Idiot's Leap and Karen did this. A short way downstream we met some other cavers on the second pitch down from The Flats who were going to try and move a boulder which was wedged above the streamway. On arriving at the first pitch, we found it already rigged and continued across the traverse alternative. Karen rigged our rope and abseiled down to the bottom of the pitch while I scooted along the traverse. Once Karen had climbed up we made our way to the alternative second pitch where we met a couple of cavers. These seemed to be an caving instructor and client as the route all the way from before the junction with Stalactite Passage to the alternative second pitch was rigged with a traverse line and the second caver was carrying a tackle bag with "Acclimbatize" written on it.
They were again using the alternative traverse while Karen rigged the pitch. Once down we stripped of SRT harnesses and kit and headed towards the downstream sump. We met the other two at the traverse above the streamway and they kindly let us pass. We were soon through Mud Hall and as we approached the downstream sump, we could see foam on the walls from recent high water which was some 2 metres high!
After a quick look at the sump, we turned around and headed for he surface. We were soon back on the surface after de-rigging everything after a 2 and a half hour trip.

A Call Out to Kinder Scout, Derbyshire

After the morning's walk and lunch, we got a call asking us to head for the train station car park at Edale. Apparently a dog had fallen down a gap in the rocks at the top of Grindsbrook and DCRO were asked to assist: Edale Mountain Rescue were also attending.
We arrived and found the DCRO vehicle there along with an Edale MRT Land Rover. Some Team Members had set off for the location where the dog was trapped along with MRT Members and we were waiting in case of need along with some others. After the Team Members had reached the location, they retrieved the dog in less than 5 minutes! Apparently it had fallen doen a hole about 2.2 Metres deep which was luckily wide enough for someone to reach the dog and attach a harness to allow it to be hauled out.
Once everyone had returned we packed up and headed for home.

A Local Walk to Stanton Moor

The weather forecast for today was for a wet morning and showery afternoon. Karen ahd stuff to do at home so I went for a walk from home. I headed across to Stanton Moor and saw quite a lot of tents at the camp site near Birchover. I went as far as the "Nine Ladies" stone circle and the and back via Birchover.