County Pot – Ignorance Is Bliss

Ami, Billy, Chris, Chris G, Jasmine, Jason, Maz, Paddy, Ray, Scott, Sophie H, Tom

My plan to turn what’s generally a pleasant and enjoyable cave into an arduous chore was thwarted when 12 people turned up at Bull Pot Farm looking for a good time. Was it right to spoil so many people’s evening? Should we break into smaller groups? No, let’s take one of the more unpleasant routes as one huge platoon, what could go wrong?

Billy was along for his second KCC trip, Chris G was out for his first trip as a full KCC member and Paddy’s mate Chris (already an experienced caver) was joining us, so it was great to have some new faces among stalwarts. 

After getting down to Broadway it was fun seeing KCC members popping out of the walls in 3 different places, we regrouped and Billy, armed with a survey, led us onwards to Spout Hall. With a minor arse soaking for everyone on the way down, we headed downstream and picked our way up into the ceiling at the start of Ignorance Is Bliss. The 15 minutes of pain began with a squeeze past a slightly wobbly boulder, which provocatively pulled down Maz’s harness. A few minutes of low crawling and twists ends at the halfway break point, a  few seconds of standing room before climbing up to a hidden shelf above and into the flat-out crawl. 

Some inconveniently-placed nobbles in the floor create a pinch point that was variously sailed effortlessly through or sworn at, and before we knew it we were back into standing room in the dusty passages of Upper Pierce’s. On regrouping at Cotton Chamber, it was clear that a handful of the team were going to need more than gravity to get through the squeeze down to the lower part, and we rigged a hasty abseil bypassing the squeeze, with the misery of Ignorance Is Bliss behind us a strong driver to not turn back.

The original plan had been to return via Paper Floor Passage, but after dropping down to the streamway time was getting on and we didn’t fancy another post-midnight finish, so we headed back via the Whiteline route, with a quick detour through Whiteway for the pretties. The first 6 up the Whiteline pitch/climb headed off to split up the wait at the entrance pitch, the second group catching them up just as they were heading up. A selection of brownies and rocky road were provided at the bottom of the pitch for those facing a wait, and KCC gradually oozed out of County once more. 

Pics by Sophie H & Tom