Tag: Wharfedale

By Ami S In Day Trips

Cherry Tree Hole

Yolanda, Ray, Vicky and (report by) Ami

I had had Cherry Tree recommended to me by a random stranger, and with that as all the info I had, off we went.

Obviously KCC legend Ray had been before, though admitted to a rusty memory of the actual cave. The CNCC description has some slightly contradictory advice about parking and the friendliness of the landowner, but despite an initial, sceptical-seeming pause, permission was granted.

Cherry Tree is ‘notoriously difficult to find’, and includes a fairly lengthy uphill walk across the fields to the entrance. But armed with a map and a clear, sunny day, we spotted the tell-tale tree without difficulty. The problem started once we were actually there.

CNCC recommends a 10m rope as a handline to get down the shakehole to the entrance, but goodness knows what they’re measuring that off as it was no where near long enough to reach the ledge. We therefore rigged the 15m rope intended for the first pitch, hoping to make savings on the length later.

As the bolts are high above the entrance, I opted to rig off the scaffolding to save myself the lost 5m. No such luck. I descended to a shelf and promptly hit the knot. I decided I was happy to free climb the last few metres, but it wasn’t an easy task, so Yolanda heroically went back to the top to retrieve our 15m and bring it for Ray to re-rig in its intended spot. During the swap, I did wonder briefly if they had simply hauled up the unsuccessful 10m and wandered off in to the sun without me, but of course such an awesome team were soon down the newly rigged rope. (Anyone going another day, I suggest you want a 15m and a 20m.)

I had done a brief recce while the rope swap took place, so we ditched our SRT kits here and set off through an interestingly tight little traverse over the stream. This involved posting ourselves through a key shaped hole and trying not to let your feet slip low enough to get stuck beneath you.

From here on the description was clear and involved some good old fashioned caving – scrambling, wriggling and even walking – through to the main stream way. We had decided on the ‘tourist trip’ today, meaning we could explore both up and down stream until some impressive chambers.

Downstream was especially interesting, as the route choice beyond Boulder Chamber is either a very tight, wet squeeze, or an extremely hairy, overhung climb. After a little experimenting we found that I fit quite well through the bottom route, and could look back to the top of the climb. This means for future trips, a willing Small caver could take a 5m rope/ladder through and rig the climb from the top, allowing others to get beyond Boulder chamber safely.

They may not wish to do this of course, as double ducks and wallowing in mud seem to be part of the package. Sounds downright awful and right up my street – logged in my head to come back to another day!

After a good explore we headed out. We even had time to detour to North Stream passage on the way, though the route is cut short due to some precarious looking boulders. We were back into the sun in great time. Thanks so much to all for indulging my curiosity on that one.

 

By Scott In Day Trips, Uncategorised

Dowbergill Passage

James, Tom, Scott (narrator)

I’d heard lots about Dowbergill Passage: a long, straight through trip between two caves, with deceptively tricky navigation. Deep water, high traverses. Mind games, physical attrition, tricky rescues.
Actually, I quite enjoyed it. In dry conditions, with good companions, a detailed description and the right gear, it just felt like a fantastic trip.
James and I met Tom at Park Rash, and he kindly left his car there to shorten the walk back from Dow, when or if we exited.
I’d had some good input from John and Jason during the planning of this trip, and had opted to carry a short rope for any scary downclimbs, although the planned route would stick to the lower, more watery sections. I was wearing a full wetsuit under my caving gear, while James was confidently sporting a furry onesie. Tom was somewhere in the middle with 1mm of neoprene.
The walk up to Providence Pot wasn’t too bad, and we entered the scaffolded tube with an audience, who seemed privately sure that we would never emerge again. James navigated using the excellent description from NFTFH, and guided us through various wet crawls, blasted crawls, muddy crawls and occasionally some big muddy chambers that we could walk in.
Eventually we met the actual streamway at Stalagmite Corner, and so began the fabled Dowbergill Passage. All went well until Bridge Cavern, which is a breakdown chamber with extensive sections of false floor. We went past one possible climb to the stream below and investigated further on, but the next climb looked worse, so Tom and I retreated to the last climb, not quite followed by James. At this point several things happened in close succession.
Tom climbed down through some precarious boulders towards the stream, dislodging a small rock as he went. He warned me that things were on the move, and after having a look, I carefully followed him. I’d gone a few meters downstream when –
BANG!
A big block fell down behind me somewhere. I paused, bridging a rift, and shouted to see where James was. No reply.
We hurried a bit further downstream, hoping to see him still on top of the sketchy climb that we had retreated from. So he was! It turned out that both of his lights had failed, and he’d been forced to wait until we reappeared.
We lit up his surroundings and spotted him down the climb, until he’d restored life to one of his torches. The other remained stubbornly dead.
I went at the front for a bit as we entered a ‘fun’ bit of streamway, which had various chockstone obstacles to overcome until we got to 800 Yards Chamber, where we had a short rest. Then onto a wet section with narrow squeezing just above the water. After a while we came to the Brew Chamber Boulder Choke, which required a bit of vertical squeezing. On the other side was a handline climb into ‘The Narrows’.
I went down this, and found it doable but awkward, even for my scrawny build. Sensing that James and Tom might make heavy weather of it, I shouted back to traverse over the top. I turned back, and very nearly got stuck myself. I had to back up and take off some kit, then nearly lost a welly as I struggled back to the handline.
At the top, James led a section of traversing, then downclimbing. This bit was quite reminiscent of the Crabwalk in Giant’s Hole. We eventually ended up on the downstream side of The Narrows. From here, the route was wet fun (if you’re wearing a 5mm wetsuit anyway), with wading, a few low airspace ducks, and even a tiny ‘free dive’ under a boulder. We stayed low, ignoring the climb up into the Gypsum Traverse, and were eventually rewarded with the sight of the giant flowstone formation near the Buddhist’s Temple in Dow. We had made it!
The exit from Dow was easy stomping, and we emerged to bright sunshine and Tom’s chariot awaiting us at Park Rash. Later, we went to the pub, which even served coffee (thanks James).
Dowbergill was a really interesting journey, and now that a week has passed I’m quite keen to get back in sometime for a look at some of the other options. Going in from the Dow Side and just doing some wet canal bits, then back over the top via Gypsum Traverse would also be a fun trip.
Many thanks to Tom and James for their usual good company, and an excellent way of avoiding the football!

By Scott In Day Trips

Buckden Gavel Mine

 

I’d been curious about this mine for a few years, and didn’t know much about it apart from the story of Buckden Bill:

(https://vetch.co.uk/buckden_archive/ThemysteryofBuckdenBill.pdf)

I was met at the village car park by Damian (who was a true local, having grown up in the shadow of Buckden Pike), Jason and his daughter Rosa. Together we took on the steep path beside Buckden Gill, which had some polished scrambly bits, and finally reached the adit entrance after a good walk.
After some initial sticky mud – nearly, but not quite high enough to inundate the wellies – we were into the mine proper. There were still a few small bats hibernating, which were definitely a different species from the Lesser Horseshoes that I’d seen in South Wales. We carefully set about exploring the various offshoots of the main passage.
There’s a lot of mine to explore here. We didn’t see that much in the way of artefacts – a few tools, the remains of a clog, and plenty of iron rail. There are obviously levels above and below, which presumably must be accessed by sketchy mud climbs (up) and unbolted shafts (down). Our survey seemed to have been compiled in the 1970s to show a safe route for novice groups, but we sensed that there was plenty more passage off the printed page… This mine would be a good option for a wet day in the winter, maybe with a scaffold pole and ladder to get into some of the higher bits.
After a good stomp around, we headed back down the hill. Damian and I wandered around the flank of Buckden Pike to walk down the easy rake, while Jason and Rosa opted for the gillside path. This trek to and from the adit would have been yet another hardship for the original miners, but it was pleasant enough for us on a dry Spring day.
Thanks to Jason, Rosa and Damian for a great trip!

By Scott In Day Trips, Uncategorised

Hagg Gill Pot

This Sunday four of us converged on Wharfedale, a distant and exotic land (though less so for Jason). Some last minute changes to the lift share plan saw Tom “I Bagsy The Window Seat In Case I Need To Chuck Up Out Of The Window” Calpin take on driving duties for the tortuous roads of Langstrothdale, allowing me to finish my coffee en route. Jason waited politely while I tried unsuccessfully to find a farmer, any farmer, to ask permission from, and then gave up after a token glimpse of a grumpy looking bloke in a tractor. Yolanda arrived in her trademark indestructible Yaris, and we all got changed.
The entrance to Hagg Gill is in a shallow dry valley, slightly uphill of a prominent barn. A scaffolded shaft drops a few feet to a ledge, then a brief constriction allows a hang into a spacious chamber. When we were all down the entrance pitch we went exploring upstream, soon finding the famed helictites which festoon the walls of the narrow streamway. Stay low, or risk further damage! We climbed up and over a boulder choke, then followed more pleasant streamway to a breakdown chamber with a short squeeze on the right. Above this is a handline climb to a high grotto of delicate straws, one of which is about 4 feet long.
After a few photos, we retraced our steps back to the foot of the entrance pitch, and then went downstream. The stream drops through two chambers to a junction with another streamway. Left leads to a fine sump, complete with froth, diving weights and a dug attempt at a roof bypass.
The way on is to the right, upstream. A couple of sporting cascades lead to a fork. Right seemed to lead to digs, grovelling and general misery, while Tom reported that left looked tight and low. According to the description, this improves after a while, leading to further helictites and plenty more passage to explore. We thought that we’d better leave something for a future trip (cough), so turned around at this point, still relatively dry.
Back up the entrance shaft, with the constriction providing some fun along the way, and then we were out to daylight. We finished with a quick romp through Langstroth Cave, since it was fairly close. Yolanda and Jason tackled the wet crawl to the lower exit, while Tom provided a kind of boudoir ambience with the red light on his headlamp. A bold plan was hatched to get to Seasons Bakery in Ingleton before closing time but alas, too late! No free cream cakes this time.
All in all, Hagg Gill is an entertaining place for a few hours on a dry day, with some great stream passage and formations to ‘oooh’ over. Let’s get it back on the meets list some time soon.

(photos courtesy of Jason)

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Dow Cave

Yolanda, Vikki, Ray, Steve (2nd caving trip), Yulia (1st caving trip)

A nice little novice trip with Yulia (from Ukraine) on her 1st ever underground outing and Steve on his 2nd.

After quite a drive (albeit through some of the best of the Dales scenery), we parked up at Park Rash, just at the bottom of a very steep hill. The flies were something to behold, although thankfully they weren’t of the biting kind. The number of cyclists was also impressive – none cycling up the hill! A very pleasant walk took us to the entrance in about 15 mins. It’s just up the valley to the right in the following photo:

Soon we were heading down into the depths of hell. Too dramatic? Fair enough.

The streamway is a reasonable size for most of it’s length. Thankfully water levels weren’t too high, which was a concern given the recent rainfall. The stream could be avoided in some places, but there is also quite a bit of walking in the water. Being a climber, Steve valiantly attempted to traverse:

Unfortunately he lost all his kudos just after the above photo was taken as he fell into the water for more of a soaking than he would have had by simply walking in the stream. There’s a lesson there!

Shortly after a climb up and over a slope (near the Treacle Mines, I think), an inlet headed off to the left. We followed this, leading us into Gloop de Loop, an “interesting” oxbow passage leading directly to the Old Final Chamber. Yolanda bravely led the way.

Gloop de Loop is mostly a crawl, mostly in water. Never as big as you would like, but never too constricted. Yulia and Steve coped admirably. The passage ends at a balcony overlooking the Old Final Chamber… but some 5m up. Luckily there are anchors for a rope to aid a safe descent, unluckily we didn’t have a rope. So we improvised, with Yolanda & Ray forming a human chain down which the others could be safely(?) passed.

At the end of the Old Final Chamber is Hobson’s Choice – a huge boulder choke which, depending on who you believe, is either lethally dangerous or perfectly stable. Choosing to give the latter opinion at least a hearing, we ventured a short way in, until the inevitable “You will die!!!” signs curbed our enthusiasm.

One of these signs warned that novices, in particular, should steer clear. This is presumably due to their more feeble frames compared to experienced cavers, whose resistance to being squashed by 100 tonne boulders is much greater. Whatever the reasoning, having 2 novices seemed too good an opportunity not to take advantage of, so we turned round and headed for home, this time following the main passage the whole way, apart from one detour…

Of course we couldn’t resist a look up Dowbergill Passage on the way out. The echo at the Dow end of this passage is incredible. A very eerie place indeed. We pushed on through the duck under the Buddhist’s Temple. The duck had plenty of airspace on this occasion.

We eventually turned back where we would have had to climb up out of the water and start traversing. Another day! By now we were thoroughly drenched and beat a hasty retreat to warm, dry clothes and a cafe in Kettlewell.

A note on water levels: These were fairly low in Dow and did not appear to rise at all during our trip. However, the whole of Littondale and Penyghent Gill was much wetter on our return trip. While the Skirfare had been gently flowing in the morning, it was a raging torrent in the afternoon. The Scanty Lardos entrance was dry in the morning, but under a significant stream in the afternoon. Makes you think!

By Tom C In Day Trips

Dowbergill

Gareth and Darren, knowing that we had undertaken the traverse from Providence Pot to Dow Cave on 2 previous occasions, had asked if they could be included on a further trip. What further trip?!! Was my response. The first time had taken us 6 and a half hours and was replete with arguments caused by neither of us knowing at what point it was safe to descend, several wrong descent decisions, a very scarey traverse and feeling bloody cold. The second time had been faster (just over 4 hours) but this was more by luck than judgement. We didn’t find the scarey traverse and instead found a rigged line down to the streamway. We had ventured along to the swim under the boulder but, without having read up on how long a complete submersion was needed, we retreated and climbed up onto the Gypsum Traverse in a near hypothermic state. On the positive side, it was a sunny day and we warmed up considerably with the long walk back to Kettlewell.

This time, the date chosen followed the snowfall and coincided with the snowmelt. Andy and I checked out the possibility of leaving a car at the end, feeling sure Gareth had a 4 by 4. He doesn’t—so even the drive to Dow was quite eventful! We almost got the correct gear in correct cars. Gareth was left at the end without shoes (& I’d left home in wellies, so had none either) and the flask of hot drink was left in the car at Kettlewell. But beer and tea bread were ready for us on exit.

A beautiful walk through the snow was followed by a swift passage through the entrance series. I could remember it all—except the Blasted Crawl through muddy water—how could I forget that! About 1.5h into the trip saw us enjoying hot chocolate in the 800yd Chamber—the half way point in distance terms. I had managed to get very wet and so was beginning to feel cold but everyone else had successfully navigated the climbs, traverses and squeezes staying relatively dry.

‘Is this Brew Chamber?’ was the much asked question over the next 2.5hrs. We did several boulder choke climbs and several squeezes at stream level, but still nothing fell into place. And it was only a short distance on the survey. We knew when we had reached the choke though. A dodgy handline stretched 12m up the vertical rift and was navigated without (major) incident by Darren and Andy. Gareth and myself had considerably more difficulty. By the time Gareth had reached the top I had tried on 3 occasions to squeeze myself through the very awkward short cut (an upwards and leftwards squeeze that wouldn’t let me through) and I had lost functional use of all points of contact before it was my turn to climb. Needless to say, Andy and Darren did a fantastic job of hauling me up the difficult bits and soon (ish) we were all in Brew Chamber.

We found the line down to the stream again and so, 20 minutes later we were standing in water, in an impressive rift passage varying between sideways walking and thrutchy traversing just above the water level. The levels had risen in the time we’d spent in the cave and the final portion of the passage to the sumped boulder necessitated a helmets off, chin (just about) above water level approach. On arrival at the boulder, there was no going back—we were far too cold by this point. So, aided by Andy’s leg as a dive line, one by one we submerged and re-emerged, ecstatic at having survived the ordeal!

Dow Cave is an amazing passage and we did stop twice for Gareth’s photo shoots but, teeth chattering uncontrollably, we probably didn’t appreciate it’s full geological worth….well there was a beer and tea bread waiting!

By Tom C In Day Trips

Birks Fell

A good trip to a fine cave – we didn’t get as far as we hoped, as the navigation isn’t as straightforward as the survey suggests. I’d heard it was pretty (it is), so took my camera, but all the underground pictures were well down to my usual standard. So here is a picture of an exceptionally fine formation above ground..

Birks Fell, Andy