DCRO Practice in Masson Cavern

Karen and I took part in a DCRO rescue practice in Masson Cavern near Matlock.

The scenario was that a number of cavers, maybe 4 or 5, had gone caving yesterday in Masson Cavern and had been missed this morning at breakfast time.

We were split into groups of 4 with a Leader in each group and with Keith J acting as Underground Controller and Lee L organising the exercise. I was leading one of these groups with Brian W, and two Emmas.

I found the first casualty (Andy B) who had “lower leg injury possibly a fracture”. After checking over the casualty I set up the Heyphone we were carrying to report to base but it was not successfully communicating.

Brian and Emma were sent to search nearby. Soon afterwards they found a second casualty (Alan B) who had been separated from his caving mates and suffered light failure and was a bit cold.

I left the other Emma with Andy and followed Brian to check on the second casualty. As he only required spare batteries and was a bit cold, I asked Brian and Emma to escort Alan to the surface.

Meanwhile another group including Steve K arrived and I asked them to search for the third casualty. Both Andy and Alan were sure they were part of a group of three and there were no others on their caving trip. Andy had pointed out the passage where he had come from and last seen the third number of his party, named Marcus. So I asked Steve and the others to head in that direction.

Meanwhile I followed Steve shortly afterwards via a hands and knees crawl and heard voices beyond a short squeeze, Steve had found the third casualty in a dead-end chamber the other side. Again he had “lower leg injuries with possible fractured ankle”.

Other DCRO members had in the meantime got Andy packaged in a stretcher and began heading towards the exit. I found Keith where we had decided to set up the main comms point in a chamber with multiple junctions and brought him up to date.

Returning to where Marcus was located, I followed through the squeeze to find a group of 8 or so DCRO members with Clare H sorting out splints and Dave O sorting out gardening the squeeze and guiding Marcus through as there was no way to get a stretcher through the squeeze.

We got Marcus through and Keith Joule and ourselves decided to agree that Marcus could get through the short hands-and-knees crawl towards the chamber where we had found Andy by shuffling along backwards on his bum, which he did. I went in font crawling backwards moving small rocks out of the way.

At the chamber, Lee asked if we could load Marcus in a stretcher, a Neil Robertson, for the purposes of the exercise and we proceeded to so this and then evacuate Marcus. Once the time had reached the agreed exercise finish of 15:30, we let Marcus out of the stretcher and began making our way out.

At a wet chamber near the entrance with a small stream and pool, we caught up with the other stretcher at the short slippery slope and after they had managed to get Andy up this slope, Lee asked them to also pack up the exercise and start heading out.

We started moving tackle bags towards the exit and then made our way up the short awkward climb to daylight.

Good Luck Mine

Karen decided to have an “easy” day and spend the day at home. I joined Boyd and Geoff Wood on an Orpheus Caving Club trip in Good Luck Mine in the Via Gellia.

The plan was to meet in the layby on the Via Gellia at 14:00 so I set off at 13:30 to make sure I would have a space as the layby isn't that large and apparently there were quite a few expected to turn up.

As those already there had parked at an angle instead of parallel with the road there was plenty of room. There were two or three cars there as well as Geoff's and Boyd's van when I arrived.

I got changed into caving gear as Boyd and Geoff were doing the same. There were supposed to be several others from OCC but even though we gave then until 14:20 to turn up, they never arrived.

Geoff had already made his way up the footpath to the mine coe and old buildings including a powder store near the adit entrance with old rails leading from the entrance to the top of an old spoil heap looking down over the Via Gellia.

Boyd and I followed the path up to join the others including Andy Beardmore. We got our SRT kit on and started up the steeper footpath to reach higher up the valley side to reach an area near the garden of Mountain Cottage.

After having a look at a couple of nearby capped shafts, each a “mere” apart (which I think is 29 feet in this part of the Peak), we walked to the upper shaft which we would enter into the mine.

The lock on the lid was undone and the lid opened and we each began climbing down the initial fixed iron ladders to reach a platform where an SRT rope was rigged.

There was another short iron ladder leading upwards from this platform and we tool it in turns to climb up about 3 or 4 metres to gain a couple of ledges to step over to short climb to a hole. The other side of the hole was a pool of water.

When I clambered up, Boyd was looking at the pool and as there didn't seem to be room enough for two of us, I clambered back down to let him pass,

After this we abseiled down the rope, passing a deviation a short way down followed by a rebelay or two be more wooden platforms to reach the lower levels of the mine.

We followed low passages passing beneath stone stemples holding up “deads” from the lead mining and after passing other side passages, we arrived at a location where there was a dig being carried out.

We had a look at the dig site where a low passage was leading off from the bottom of a short climb and then some of us followed the continuing passage to find a section of low hands-and-knees crawling.

Returning to rejoin the others at the dig sire, we joined up again and partly retraced our earlier route to a junction and the followed the route leading back to the surface at the adit entrance.

An interesting and enjoyable trip.

DCA Council Meeting in Monyash

Karen and I spent part of the day at the Derbyshire Caving Association Council Meeting in Monyash Village Hall.

Walk from Hartington to Pilsbury Castle

Again we started the day at the Old Smithy café where Keith had arranged to meet Phil Walker and Richard Smith for a digging trip at the bottom of the Ventilator in Water Icicle Close Cavern. Unfortunately, Phil was suffering from a virus and couldn't make it.

We left Keith and Richard in Monyash and returned to the Orpheus cottage to wash and put away the ropes from yesterday's trip in Maskhill Mine.

After this was done we parked in the village of Hartington and walked out of the village on the gated road heading northwards as far as Bank Top Farm where a rising track brought us to gate on a bend on the concreted track.

From here the route followed a public footpath across fields along the side of a wide valley with views of Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill in the far distance and Sheen Hill to the east which looks a little like a fort on top of a small hill but is a natural rocky outcrop with a trig point on top.

We soon dropped down to the large limestone formation at Pilsbury Castle after choosing the left-hand path at a crossroads of two public footpaths.

Pilsbury Castle is the site of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle but very little remains of the castle: a few earthworks and mounds.

We stopped during a sunny spell on this cloudy day and had a snack then continued on along a grassy track towards the hamlet of Pilsbury before veering off to follow a narrow track and then crossing a footbridge next to the ford crossing the River Dove which is still narrow at this stage.

The bridge brought us to a rough track leading past the drive for the lovely old building of Broadmeadow Hall then we left the track to follow a public footpath as it led across a rising sloping section of fields bringing us soon to the recently restored buildings at High Close Farm.

Here we joined a minor road for two or three hundred metres then left it at the buildings of Harris Close to follow another public footpath which crossed several fields then ran alongside a steep section of valley above the River Dove.

After dropping diagonally down the slope a route across a large meadow brought us to another footbridge crossing the River Done back into Derbyshire from Staffordshire where we had been for a short while since crossing the river earlier. There was a flock of very noisy sheep gathered in a section of a nearby farmyard, presumably while lambs and ewes were being separated.

After crossing some more fields and passing through a short section of wood, we arrived at the drive to the old cheese factory in Hartington village where we had started from.

Maskhill Mine

After meeting up at the Old Smithy café at Monyash, Karen, Keith and myself drove to the Orpheus CC cottage to meet up with Phil Wall who was coming with us on a trip in Maskhill Mine.

We got the ropes sorted and packed into four tackle bags we headed for Oxlow Farm to sort out permission for the trip and get changed into caving gear.

Unfortunately, the corrugated iron roof of the barn had been blown off in a storm so we weren't able to make use of its shelter. Luckily it was during a dry period during the showers which were happening frequently but it was still windy.

While we were still changing some others in a car stopped to ask if this was Oxlow Farm and we told them it was. Luckily they were planning on a trip in Nettle Pot rather than Maskhill Mine.

We finished getting our caving gear on and walked down the road to the layby and style on the route to the caves and started making our way up the steep slope to the lidded shaft of the entrance to Maskhill Mine.

Keith was on rigging duty and attached the rope to the bar belay and backup anchor and abseiled down the shaft. He was followed by Phil and then Karen with me bringing up the rear, as I had the job of closing the heavy metal plate lid after us.

I abseiled each pitch from rebelay to rebelay following Karen's shouts of rope free and we all met up at the top of the Murmuring Churn pitch with Keith just completing rigging the “Y-hang” at the top with Karen and Phil waiting just above him on the slope leading to the head of the pitch, while I dangled at he top of the short pitch above.

Soon we were all down the next pitches and met up again at the top of the final pitch down into Oxlow Cavern's West Chamber.

We sat and had Mars bars or other snacks while Phil had a wander around the chamber.

Soon Phil returned. The strange thing is that there three cavers! Apparently another pair of cavers had arrived on a trip down Oxlow Cavern.

We started on our way back to the surface and below Murmuring Churn I took the tack;e bag which Karen had been carrying and overtook her so that I could ascend the entrance shaft and get the lid open again.

Of course it was raining as I surfaced at 15:30 (we had started down the mine just around Noon) and I sat in the lee of a small rocky outcrop waiting for the others.

Soon the shower was over and Phil Popped out of the entrance followed a little later by Keith. Keith had given Karen the option of taking the heavy tackle bag she was carrying if she de-rigged the last couple of pitches.

Soon Karen was also back on the surface and we walked back to the farm to get changed.

After a trip to Hitch'n'Hike to buy myself a spare strap for my Petzl foot jammer. we dropped the ropes and tackle bags at the Orpheus cottage and headed back home.

The annual Orpheus barbecue was happening this evening but given the weather, we decided to cook and eat the food we had bought for the barbecue at home. Karen then drove Keith and me back to the Orpheus cottage to attend the barbecue and have some of the Marstons Pedigree from the barrel in the changing room.

Castelton

Starting at one of the laybys between Mam Tor and Windy Knoll, I followed the path across to the Rowter Farm track then from the gate, another path towards the track past Slitherstones Mine seeing and hearing the peculiar call of a Lapwing flying nearby.

After following this track eastwards, I joined the path leading along the top of Cave Dale which crossed towards the gorge of Peak cavern opposite Peveril Castle. Then after dropping down steeply, the route joined the path from Speedwell Cavern to Castleton village.

I bought a sandwich and some drinks at the newsagents opposite the bus stopping area and then walked along the road towards Winnats Pass as far as the entrance to Peak Cavern or Devils Arse as it is being reverted to, which was its original name before Victorian prudishness demanded a rename.

There was a path passing between two garden walls which led through fields along the narrow stream called Odin Sitch and at a bridge, there was a junction of pathways.

I followed the one signposted for Hollins Cross and then ended up on a path which followed some distance below the path on the Great Ridge and near Mam Farm the path joined a track from the farm leading to the old A road which collapsed decades ago, below Mam Tor.

From here there was a path leading back towards Hollins Cross as it gradually rose alomg the Great Ridge.

I then followed the path along the top of the Great Ridge, up and over Mam Tor as far as the road at Mam Nick, then down a path leading back to the Chapel-en-le-Frith road.

I passed through a gate and then walked back down the road for a short distance to where I had parked my car.

Travelling Home

We said “good-bye” to Boyd and headed off in the rain at 08:00 to get the ferry (at 13:15) from Dun Laoghaire. We arrived in plenty of time at around 10:45 so we were able to have a coffee this time before boarding.

Despite the crap wet and windy weather, the crossing was quite good with only a small amount of rolling.

We continued on our journey back to Derbyshire after arriving at Hollyhead, to arrive home around 19:00. After unloading the car, Keith decided to drive back to his home in Rugby.

Marble Arch Show Cave

The weather forecast was correct and it was raining all day!

We had been allocated some complementary tickets for Marble Arch Show Cave thanks to John Gunn so decided to make use of these and visit the Show Cave.

It was a very good Show Cave as well so it wasn't complete waste of a day.

Afterwards we had a trip to Eniskillen, mainly to find an ATM in order to get some cash in order to pay for the accommodation. As the weather was crap, we first got our cash then had a coffee in a café. Then after a short wander around part of the town headed back to Belcoo.

We had a second meal out in the “gastropub” in Belcoo, which was excellent and surprisingly, the prices were very reasonable. On other nights we had just eaten in the cottage, usually pizza which we had bought in the supermarket.

Prod's Pot

We parked up the narrow road from the footpath leading past the cave at a largish area where a gated track began then after changing into caving gear, except for Boyd who hadn't brought SRT kit on his flight, we walked back along the road for half a mile or three quarters and the followed the signposted footpath up hill for a short way which was warm work wearing caving gear as the sun made an appearance.

We soon found the tree-filled depression surrounded by a barbed wire fence where the cave entrance was and to our dismay discovered a huge amount of midges waiting for us in the depression!

Keith began rigging the entrance, also waving his arms around to discourage the midges and it was then that I noticed that I had left my descender at the car! RATS!

So, I walked back to the car as Boyd started a walk nearby. As I eventually reached the car, I was hot and sweaty and as it was such a distance to have to return to the cave and the others would be gone by then I decide to get changed and wait at the car. There was also mention of a restriction on one of the entrance pitches caused by a boulder in the cave description and I still had the thought that I might not be able to get past this anyway.

After three hours, Karen and Keith returned saying it had been an excellent trip and Karen thought the boulder might have stopped me anyway if I had remembered to bring my descender.

Walking towards the cave

Keith in the entrance to Prod's Pot

Strandhill, Sligo

As it was supposed to be a day of light showers, we decided to have an above ground day so I drove to Sligo which was about 40 or so miles away and we spent some time at Strandhill (where Mum was born and brought up).
It was a showery day but we had a long walk along the beach as far as the end of the surprisingly large runway of Sligo Airport which is located in Strandhill.

Afterwards we had excellent stew in the Strand pub.for lunch.
On the way back to Belcoo, we stopped off at Glencar to have a look at the waterfall.

In the evening, Boyd arrived. He had flown to Belfast and driven down in a hire car.

"Beach House", where Mum was brought up

Keith and Karen at the old cannon at the seafront

Gleancar Waterfall

Boho Cave

The weather had been pretty dry and today was forecasted to be dry again so we opted for a trip to Boho Cave which had the potential to be affected seriously by flooding.
The cave is near the village of Boho and we parked opposite the 200 year old but sadly dilapidated looking Linnet Inn.

We entered via the quarry entrance which was dry and had an excellent trip. The cave was mostly walking with loads of signs of severe flooding, with twigs and branches caught in the roof and at passage junctions.

There were other entrances, including on with a concrete dam by a natural open-air pool and others which were smaller.

There were small sections of crawling and also quite a few well decorated areas including two largish chambers.

It was strange, though, at one point where there was a short section of crawling and you had to get past a large section of old car front plastic bumper presumably washed in during a flood!

Poll Tullyard

The description for this cave was “... a short passage with glutinous mud ...” leading to a pitch and then to a tight squeeze. I decided to give it a miss as I would inevitably end up not being able to get through the squeeze and end up waiting for the others again in the car, so I decide to have a day reading and resting.

The others said that they had spent quite a time looking for the entrance and then, although the pitch was nice, the trip was pretty short.

Dan headed for home afterwards.

Noon's Hole

An excellent trip with myself, Karen, Keith and Dan. We met the land owner as we were standing on a nearby farm track looking for the entrance and he was very friendly and pointed it our for us (in a tree-lined depression where a small steam was sinking a small distance away) and had a chat.

The Entrance pitches were really good and were “P” bolted. It was a bit like abseiling inside some huge stone sculpture as one shaft would end and another would begin next to it.

Unfortunately, I found the squeeze at the bottom of these pitches tight and awkward, a bit like the Vice in Giants Hole, and as I didn't want to injure myself on the first day of the trip, I decided to head back up the pitches while the other three went on into the rest of the cave.

Later in the evening we drove to Belcoo and after crossing the nearby bridge to Black Lion, we were in the Republic of Ireland. The only signs of a border between where we were in Northern Ireland and the Republic were road signs on the bridge pointing out that the speed limit signs were now in Kilometres per Hour instead if Miles per Hour!

Belcoo had a couple of hairdressers, a reasonably-sized Spar supermarket, and another smaller one, a “gastropub” called the Customs House Country Inn plus a second pub called the Hair of the Dog, which we never went in. The Police Station was heavily fortified, however, a reminder of “The Troubles” during the recent history of the part of Ireland. It was quite a contrast to the Gardai (Irish Republic Police) Station a few hundred metres away across the border which was a fairly unremarkable building in amongst the others on the Main Street in Black Lion.

We had a look in the Bush Bar in Black Lion, which was supposed to be the “cavers pub” but despite it being Saturday night and around 20:00, it was completely empty! When the bar man popped out from a rear room to serve us he answered that they didn't do food. So we tried a hotel across the road and had a nice meal there.

Getting our caving gear on

The entrance to Noon's Hole

Karen at the top of the entrance pitch

Looking back up towards daylight with quite a lot of drippy water coming down

Heavily Fortified Belcoo Police Station

Belcoo High Street

Orpheus CC Trip to County Fermanagh Friday 1st June, 2012 to 8th June, 2012

Keith had driven up from Rugby yesterday evening to stay with us as we had an early start for the fast Stena Line ferry at Hollyhead sailing to Dun Laoghaire at 10:15. We were up at 05:10 and set off around 06:00 arriving around 09:00. We were only waiting in one of the lines of cars for a few minutes when there was a call on the PA system to return to vehicles and prepare to begin boarding.

After a smooth crossing or two hours, we docked at Dun Laoghaire port at 12:15 and were soon on our way travelling around the M50 around Dublin then the N3 and M£ towards Eniskillen as far as Belcoo. From Belcoo we turned off to arrive at our accommodation at the Corralea Activity Centre where we were staying at a holiday cottage with two bedrooms: one having a single bed and a 2 bed bunk-bed and a second with two single beds, which Karen and I had.

Later on in the evening, Dan Leyden, who is currently living in Dublin, arrived for the weekend.

We had eaten some sandwiches on the journey and weren't hungry so Dan drove to Belcoo a few miles away to get a take-away.

He arrived back a little later with a very unappetising-looking pizza
.