Lathkill Head Cave Top Entrance and Garden Path

Karen and I met up with Keith in Monyash café after we had stopped of at the Orpheus CC hut in order to collect some ropes and tackle bags.

After our breakfast, we drove just down the road to the end of Lathkill Dale and after parking in a layby got our caving gear on.

We walk down the dale for a few hundred metres then followed the rising path heading towards a nearby farm then through a field gate and down to the entrance to Lathkill Cave Top Entrance.

Karen and Keith rigged a rope to drop down into the chamber below called The Waiting Room where they were going to replace some damaged conservation tape which helps mark out a route to follow to minimise damage to the cave. Karen also retrieved a “No Parking” bollard which had been left in the chamber by some joker.

In the meantime I retrieved the waterproof box containing the logbook for logging visits to the cave. The corner of the box was cracked and I was going to take it home to repair it as it was letting in water when it rained. The logbook was in a second smaller waterproof box inside so was still dry and I left that at the foot of the short entrance shaft on a ledge.

Once Karen and Keith were back on the surface, they both were commenting on the signs of high levels of carbon dioxide in the cave below with panting and breathing heavily as they were prusiking back to the surface. We retraced out route a short way back towards the dale and then again passed through a field gate to get to the locked metal lid covering one of the other entrances to Lathkill Head Cave known as the Garden Path. 

We abseiled down to the chamber below after several rebelays with small wooden platforms as ledges.

Again we were replacing damaged conservation tape. Also, we found signs of high levels of carbon dioxide and it was hard work prusiking back up the ropes.

Afterwards we walked back to the cars and after getting changed out of caving gear, had a snack in the café again.