Penyghent Pot

Tim K, Darren M, Jason

To be honest, I hadn’t really wanted to do Penyghent.  When I mailed Tim to see if it was on, I was hoping he’d say no, so I could canvas a gentler alternative.  But not only was it on, it was a 9 o’clock start, after a late Saturday night (the Wave Pictures at Hebden Bridge Trades Club – fab!). So I gave Tim and Darren fair warning I might have to turn round before the end, but even this didn’t work – there were three full tackle bags, and three people were needed all the way!

Anyway, we set off up the hill, to the bemusement of some walkers and got to the entrance around 10.  A long crawl starts almost immediately (330m, apparently).  Most of it is easy enough, on hands and knees in 6” or so of cooling stream.  Water levels were low which would certainly help later on.  There are plenty of fossils to admire as a distraction from the frankly tedious crawling, which degenerates to flat-out towards the end, at the short first pitch, into a pond.  Then there’s another long passage, laughingly called Easy Street, which it is at the end, but most of the way is an awkward stooping height.  The last 50m or so when one can stand upright come as a joyous relief, even though it is waist-deep in water for a bit.

Then comes the second pitch, also short, and shortly afterwards the third and fourth which together form the only big drop – about 40m in total, but broken by ledges.  The nice thing about all the pitches is their straightforwardness, not a deviation or a rebelay to be seen, at least not in the relatively dry conditions we had.  After the fourth pitch comes the rift which more or less forms the rest of the trip – there’s a succession of climbs and pitches, none big, interspersed with a bit of wading.  Officially, there are 7 pitches in this section, but it was often difficult to be certain which one we’d reached – some are ‘free-climbable’ though Tim erred on the side of caution, some were pre-rigged with good rope (YSS, 2002 ?  – that’ll do nicely!), and he sensibly tied a handline on others that looked tricky on the return. 

Eventually we had descended the last pitch, dumped the remaining bags in a pleasant chamber and stumbled along the canal leading to the sump.  A pile of (probably antique) dive bottles were stashed in an alcove – my admiration went out to whoever had carried them here – they looked heavy!  We congratulated each other on making it – and in just over 3 hours, not bad.  For me, it was my first Grade V although my delight was clouded a little by the thought of the return trip.  But before that, we returned to the chamber for a spot of luncheon.  Teresa’s parsnip bread with Boursin, with a Double Decker as dessert hit the spot, and a cup of Darren’s hot chocolate raised the spirits wonderfully.

Returning, Darren de-rigged.  The pitches, being short were mostly untroublesome, but many aren’t bolted, and getting off wasn’t always easy.  At one, after a bit of puffing and grunting, Tim jubilantly announced “I’ve got my leg over!” – you don’t often hear that while caving.  And at another rift climb, my thrutching powers failed completely, but with Tim pulling and Darren providing his head as a foothold, I finally got there.  By the time we got to Easy Street,  I was fading somewhat, and the final exit crawl seemed to have doubled in length.  The other two having gone ahead, I plodded on, reflecting that as caves have grades, so perhaps cavers should have – mine being a firm Grade III.  Despite feeling that the crawl would never end, it did, and it was sweet relief to emerge into the daylight.  Ten to five – 6 ½ hours or so underground.  So, was I pleased to have gone on the trip after all ?  Yes – but even more so when my knees have recovered!  And thanks to Tim and Darren for doing most of the work!