Tommy DeAth in the Cheese Press, Alum Pot. Photo by Grace Smith, header image by Linda Wilson.
Another month in the UBSS-sphere leads us around the country, following favourite paths through the Mendips, booze-runs to the depths of Aggy, and the infamous Cheese-Press claiming more unruly freshers in Yorkshire. Continental caving took us to the Easter Matienzo expedition with great prospects found for parties to follow up on come August.
Members are also in the deep stages of planning summer expeditions, with funding submissions now in, and expedition training sessions in the works we’re getting giddy at the prospect of ditching the books and trading them for deep caves in sunny locations…In the meantime, have a peak at Joshitha’s film from Matienzo 2025!
However, with exams looming over our students, pub socials have given way to study room “lock-ins”- though the number of trip reports and plans being enthusiastically discussed at length suggests otherwise. A few were spotted with their textbooks open, and to those we wish a great lot of luck.
As always, we are welcome to any submissions- we always want more of your UBSS adventures, gossip, pictures, films, whatever tickles your fancy that month!
PS If anything is in blue and underlined, it’s a clickable link!
PPS You can find all previous newsletter back to 1919 on our website!
Members are also in the deep stages of planning summer expeditions, with funding submissions now in, and expedition training sessions in the works we’re getting giddy at the prospect of ditching the books and trading them for deep caves in sunny locations…In the meantime, have a peak at Joshitha’s film from Matienzo 2025!
However, with exams looming over our students, pub socials have given way to study room “lock-ins”- though the number of trip reports and plans being enthusiastically discussed at length suggests otherwise. A few were spotted with their textbooks open, and to those we wish a great lot of luck.
As always, we are welcome to any submissions- we always want more of your UBSS adventures, gossip, pictures, films, whatever tickles your fancy that month!
Grace and Linda
PS If anything is in blue and underlined, it’s a clickable link!
PPS You can find all previous newsletter back to 1919 on our website!
DIARY DATES
8.5.25. Council of Southern Caving Clubs AGM by Zoom at 7pm.
9.5.26/10.5.26. BCRA Cave Archaeology Group Field Trip, Pooles Cavern Derbyshire. Contact Linda Wilson if you're interested. Possible lift available leaving Friday morning.
16.5.26, Fishmongers Swallet, South Gloucestershire. Contact Linda Wilson if you'd like to come along for underground work, surface work or both!
23.5.26. UBSS Hut. Joint weekend with Glasgow CC.
5.6.26 - 14.6.26. Easegill Open House. See above.
8.5.25. Council of Southern Caving Clubs AGM by Zoom at 7pm.
9.5.26/10.5.26. BCRA Cave Archaeology Group Field Trip, Pooles Cavern Derbyshire. Contact Linda Wilson if you're interested. Possible lift available leaving Friday morning.
16.5.26, Fishmongers Swallet, South Gloucestershire. Contact Linda Wilson if you'd like to come along for underground work, surface work or both!
23.5.26. UBSS Hut. Joint weekend with Glasgow CC.
5.6.26 - 14.6.26. Easegill Open House. See above.
TRIP LOG
Yay, look at all these trips? Wookey dino is impressed!
3/4/26. Dylan Tooley, Freya Bearn, Andrew Atkinson. Charterhouse Cave. Mendip, to the sump at the end of 100 Fathom Passage.
4/4/26 - 5/4/26. Joe Bidie, Ben Morgan, Stanley Lewis. Digging at Donovan's Grief. Agen Allwedd, South Wales.
4/4/26. Agen Allwedd, South Wales. Tom Headington, Sam Brace, many litres of beer.
11/4/26. Grace Smith, Mowgli Palmer, Mungo Palmer. Alum Pot to Redemption through trip, Yorkshire.
11/4/25. Ben Morgan, Joe Bidie. Quaking Pot, Yorkshire. To the Crux and back.
11/4/26. Noah Lewis, Marty Hebden, Zaid Muna. Notts II, Yorkshire. Entered via Committee Pot and headed downstream.
12/4/24. Grace Smith. Mowgli Palmer, Willem Glass, Mungo Palmer, Tom Headington, Stanley Lewis and Joshitha Sivakumar. Lancaster Hole - Cow Pot exchange. Yorkshire.
17/4/26. Joe Bidie, Lewis Hope,Sam Brace. Swildons Hole, Mendip. To Sump 9 diving sumps 1 - 5 and via Sump 6 bypass.
Left to right: Linda Wilson, Graham Mullan, Stefan Creaser.
18.4/26. Grotte de Mirandol, Sarlat, Dordogne. Linda Wilson, Graham Mullan, Stefan and Laura Creaser. The last time Linda and Graham saw Stefan was when he left Bristol not long after graduating in 1980-mutter-mutter-mutter,surely -it -wasn't -that-long-ago?
18/4/26. Ben Morgan, Joe Bidie, Dan Rose, Matty Dredge (Warden). Upper Flood Swallet, Mendip. To Netherland.
Sam Brace and Willem Glass on their epic five mile trip across Mendip in wet caving gear and SRT kit, carrying 100m of rope and about 40 krabs. Photo by Sam Brace.
18/4/26. Rhino Rift, Mendip. Sam Brace and Willem Glass. Trip foiled by dastardly key snapping in lock. Key old and worn. Lock sorted same day by Andrew Atkinson, followed by ...
18/4/26. Sam Brace, Willem Glass. Longwood, Mendip. To the bottom of the entrance shaft only was too wet. Followed by ...
18/4/26. Sam Brace, Willem Glass. Hunters' Hole, Mendip.To the bottom. For Sam, this was followed by ...
18/4/26. Joe Bidie, Sam Brace. Swildon's Hole, Mendip. Bounce to Sump 1 and back in 36 minutes.
18/4/26. Tom Headington, Jonah Sontag, Thomas DeAth, Noah Lewis, Victor Trip. Fairy Cave to Hilliers Cave through trip, Mendip.
23.4.26. Linda Wilson, Graham Mullan. Grotte de Mirandol, Sarlat, Dordogne, France. Yes, back to one of our favourite restaurants for Graham's birthday lunch, which just happens to have a cave at the back where you can see the medieval watercourses that underlie the town.
25/4/26 Mungo Palmer, Mowgli Palmer, Grace Smith, Willem Glass. Cow Pot to Lancaster Easegill, Yorkshire.
Tess Hopes, Mungo Palmer, Tommy DeAth. Alum Pot.
25/4/26. Grace Smith, Tommy DeAth, Tess Hopes, Mungo Palmer. Alum Pot, Yorkshire.
Andrew Atkinson returning through a squeeze in LVS. See below.
25/4/26. Longwood Valley Sink. Ali Moody, Andrew Atkinson. 7 hour trip and another 60m of passage surveyed.
Yay, look at all these trips? Wookey dino is impressed!
3/4/26. Dylan Tooley, Freya Bearn, Andrew Atkinson. Charterhouse Cave. Mendip, to the sump at the end of 100 Fathom Passage.
4/4/26 - 5/4/26. Joe Bidie, Ben Morgan, Stanley Lewis. Digging at Donovan's Grief. Agen Allwedd, South Wales.
4/4/26. Agen Allwedd, South Wales. Tom Headington, Sam Brace, many litres of beer.
11/4/26. Grace Smith, Mowgli Palmer, Mungo Palmer. Alum Pot to Redemption through trip, Yorkshire.
11/4/25. Ben Morgan, Joe Bidie. Quaking Pot, Yorkshire. To the Crux and back.
11/4/26. Noah Lewis, Marty Hebden, Zaid Muna. Notts II, Yorkshire. Entered via Committee Pot and headed downstream.
12/4/24. Grace Smith. Mowgli Palmer, Willem Glass, Mungo Palmer, Tom Headington, Stanley Lewis and Joshitha Sivakumar. Lancaster Hole - Cow Pot exchange. Yorkshire.
17/4/26. Joe Bidie, Lewis Hope,Sam Brace. Swildons Hole, Mendip. To Sump 9 diving sumps 1 - 5 and via Sump 6 bypass.
Left to right: Linda Wilson, Graham Mullan, Stefan Creaser.
18.4/26. Grotte de Mirandol, Sarlat, Dordogne. Linda Wilson, Graham Mullan, Stefan and Laura Creaser. The last time Linda and Graham saw Stefan was when he left Bristol not long after graduating in 1980-mutter-mutter-mutter,surely -it -wasn't -that-long-ago?
18/4/26. Ben Morgan, Joe Bidie, Dan Rose, Matty Dredge (Warden). Upper Flood Swallet, Mendip. To Netherland.
Sam Brace and Willem Glass on their epic five mile trip across Mendip in wet caving gear and SRT kit, carrying 100m of rope and about 40 krabs. Photo by Sam Brace.
18/4/26. Rhino Rift, Mendip. Sam Brace and Willem Glass. Trip foiled by dastardly key snapping in lock. Key old and worn. Lock sorted same day by Andrew Atkinson, followed by ...
18/4/26. Sam Brace, Willem Glass. Longwood, Mendip. To the bottom of the entrance shaft only was too wet. Followed by ...
18/4/26. Sam Brace, Willem Glass. Hunters' Hole, Mendip.To the bottom. For Sam, this was followed by ...
18/4/26. Joe Bidie, Sam Brace. Swildon's Hole, Mendip. Bounce to Sump 1 and back in 36 minutes.
18/4/26. Tom Headington, Jonah Sontag, Thomas DeAth, Noah Lewis, Victor Trip. Fairy Cave to Hilliers Cave through trip, Mendip.
23.4.26. Linda Wilson, Graham Mullan. Grotte de Mirandol, Sarlat, Dordogne, France. Yes, back to one of our favourite restaurants for Graham's birthday lunch, which just happens to have a cave at the back where you can see the medieval watercourses that underlie the town.
25/4/26 Mungo Palmer, Mowgli Palmer, Grace Smith, Willem Glass. Cow Pot to Lancaster Easegill, Yorkshire.
Tess Hopes, Mungo Palmer, Tommy DeAth. Alum Pot.
25/4/26. Grace Smith, Tommy DeAth, Tess Hopes, Mungo Palmer. Alum Pot, Yorkshire.
Andrew Atkinson returning through a squeeze in LVS. See below.
25/4/26. Longwood Valley Sink. Ali Moody, Andrew Atkinson. 7 hour trip and another 60m of passage surveyed.
MATIENZO, SUMMER 2026
Drum roll, drum roll ... Joshitha Sivakumar presents the video of the UBSS taking on Matienzo in style in summer 2025.
Helloo hellooo, if you guys remember, the Matienzo 2025 lot were meant to create a video a long long time ago detailing the expo.
It's not a documentary and certainly does not have every trip we did but it's definitely a little teaser for Matienzo 2026. And loads of you are mentioned in the credits.
Thank you! And hope you enjoy the video :)
Drum roll, drum roll ... Joshitha Sivakumar presents the video of the UBSS taking on Matienzo in style in summer 2025.
Helloo hellooo, if you guys remember, the Matienzo 2025 lot were meant to create a video a long long time ago detailing the expo.
It's not a documentary and certainly does not have every trip we did but it's definitely a little teaser for Matienzo 2026. And loads of you are mentioned in the credits.
Thank you! And hope you enjoy the video :)
Joshitha Sivakumar
Click above to play the video
MATIENZO, EASTER 2026
Tom at the entrance to Agua.
Over Easter, UBSS members Jess Brock and Isaac Neale made their way to Spain for more pushing, surveying and beer drinking, as Jess relates,
The Team: Jess Brock, Isaac Neale, Tom Phillips, Ben Marks, and Ioan Roberts.
The Objectives: Find cave. Drink beer. Eat eggs and chorizo.
The Photos: by Jess Brock.
Our trip started strong, four of us piled into Ben Marks’ bright red Land Rover (Isaac was sentenced to eternal compression in the back as he's the only one untouched by motion sickness), and made our way to Portsmouth to catch a 36 hour ferry down to Bilbao. Ioan caught a flight out and bypassed that misery - I mean adventure!
Ioan (left) and Isaac (right) in the back of the Land Rover.
Of course, we provisioned at a big Tesco before hopping on board where we watched the boats and the naval ships in the historic dockyard. Cruising down the English channel with the sun shining and the salty air blowing in our hair the holiday aspect of the expedition truly began. As fate would have it Becka Lawson and her team were also on the same ferry and our groups spent a lot of time whittling down the hours until we touched Spanish soil. I don't think we drank any water on our cruise; the wine and beer flowed freely.
Barber Ben Marks giving Tom the full works.
After what felt like an age, and a haircut in the cramped toilet in the bay of Biscay, we made it to Bilbao. As it was Easter we thought it would take hours to get through passport control, luckily it took less than an hour and we were entertained by the Spanish sniffer dog parading along the lines of cars.
Day 3 - still travelling. Continuing the holiday, and killing time before picking Ioan up at the airport, we rolled off the boat and headed towards the beach. Playa Plencia - beautiful, sandy, hot. People were out frolicking in the waves, digging sandcastles with their children and staring at us English tourists in the red land rover. We stretched our legs along the front and climbed onto a very rocky part of the beach looking for rock pools and creatures within them.
Driving into Matienzo was a delight rival to none. The mountains rose above us in the grey-green finery. The orange tiled houses lined the zig-zagging roads. Cows lay in the fields, their bells ringing from all around. What made this expedition even more exciting was the fact we were staying in an apartment, graciously offered to us by Hollie London, opposite the bakers bar and a mere 15 minute walk from Pablo's bar, Casa Germán. It was luxury indeed not to be camping in the bog that sat behind the bar. Apparently they'd had lots and lots of rain before we arrived. We seemed to have brought the good weather with us as it didn't rain until our very last day.
As it was Day 1 on the ground in Matienzo we ventured over to Agua, a fantastic river cave where the river runs into its cavernous mouth and winds its way to a sump further in. After all the recent rainfall the river was engorged, especially compared to the last time I went, back in August, so we didn't venture too far, just enough to get our fill and cool off.
Day 2 in Matienzo. Huevos bocadillios (egg sandwich) for breakfast and Fanta lémon down the hatch and I was off with Pete and Dave to help with a bolt traverse and surveying a small hole. Quickly I became the go-to person to be sent down especially tight holes to follow ‘promising leads’ and such the phrase Jess-sized-holes came about. Pete bolt traversed around a deep hole which led into tight rift crawling passage. I was brought in to have a look and I pushed it as far as a could before it choked out. We explored a few leads nearby and a couple more Jess-sized-holes before returning to the bar for a well earned canya (beer). We surveyed about 50m in all.
Ancient poo with Jess’ welly in comparison.
Day 3: the dream team assembled along with Sam Davis and Chris O to explore some very promising leads in Valline, with a bolt climb up 12m and closing leads off in Shatter passage. There were loads of us underground so we split into three teams, Sam and Chris down a sandy crawl to a pitch with a tight midsection, Tom and Ben Marks exploring the bolt climb, and Isaac, Ioan, and I closing leads in Shatter passage and L’Empederat. The route finding was relatively easy in the sandy large passages. We crawled and climbed and walked and made our way through to the end which was largely filled with breakdown. I squeezed up the breakdown pile until I was tight against the roof and couldn't move my head looking for this so-called ‘draughting choke’ nonsense! We did find an ancient poo though! A very inspiring notion for Isaac. Returning from Shatter Passage, having killed off every lead in that area, we heard that the bolt climb and the tight pitch both led further than expected and we'd have to return the next day, excellent!
Jess, Tom, and Ioan after a full day of caving.
Walking back from the cave we were treated with incredible views of the small town Arredondo and stunning surrounding mountains.
Tom getting ready to cap while Isaac oversees.
Day 4 (day 2 in Valline). The day started with a capping lesson from Ben Marks. We gathered around the entrance, sitting in the wake of the cool breeze gushing from the cave, and learnt the dos and dont's of cave explosives. With a small rock now obliterated we ran through the cave to get to the pushing front. There the team split. Tom, Isaac, Ioan, Chris and I went down the tight pitch with the capping kit as at the bottom of a passage a promising lead was slightly too tight for me to go down. Sam, Ben Marks, and Hollie (who was looking for shrimp for her research project) went up the bolt climb and bolted a further 20m pitch.
Tom surveying.
The tight pitch (in which I asked ‘at what point is the tight bit?’) led down into a pot with two ways on. One to the right up a 3m climb into a sandy paragenesis tunnel which quickly choked. Up a sporty 3m climb to the left led into a sandy hands and knees crawl, into a well decorated passage in which we had to squeeze through formations, to which some damage was done to smaller formations due to set kit, then onto a very thin calcite false-floor in which staying left proved safest, down a 3m climb into a chamber slightly larger than at the bottom of the tight pitch. The back sloped upwards and ended in a calcite-choked rift. A small stream and waterfall splashed down across the chamber and down the tight crawl of promise. To have a good look at the lead I lay in the stream and had Chris hold onto my wellies as I pushed my head through the hole. There was a 2 to 3m climb down into a pot which seemed to curve to the left and the water was going somewhere I couldn't see.
Bang’s the word! The promising lead was soon met with the might of a capping kit. Isaac, Tom, Ioan, and Chris led the way enlarging the passage to get access to the head of the climb. It took a while and as rocks flew out from behind them I took photos and started surveying with Tom.
Eventually the hole was made slightly larger - yippie! With some slings threaded around a natural belay I climbed into the promising pot…which soon choked. A shame, but the water was going somewhere. I crawled behind the waterfall it was creating into a very tight meandering passage which became too tight for me but happy enough for the water. Alas, another lead was killed. That evening was the Expedition meal consisting of soup de pollo (chicken soup) and Zancarron (stew and chips) a delicious end to the day. That and all the wine, canyas, and deadly Spanish baileys had us chatting in the bar of casa germán until the wee hours and a very long walk back to our apartment.
The next day was a well earned rest day. We sat in the sun, and consolidated our notes, survey data, and logbook write ups on the computers sat at the back of casa germán
Jess in a Jess-sized-rift.
Day 6 (day 3 in Valline) and it was just the four of us (minus Ben Marks) but with Sophie, a student at Leeds who was out in Matienzo with her dad. Isaac and Sophie were charged with resurveying sections I had accidentally deleted (whoops!). Tom, Ioan, and I ventured up the bolt climb pitch and down the big pitch (James's Drive) half way to a window, along a traverse and into a chamber with a promising Jess-sized-hole. True to its name, the Jess-sized-hole was a very tight, small tunnel ascending slightly with a draught - promising stuff. However this was a difficult crawl which left me claustrophobic in some places due to the nature of the tunnel, rock, and my inability to compress further. At one difficult section I had to take my helmet off and get into a series of dynamic positions to pass through this birth canal of rock. Once through I saw that the passage just kept going but having had enough I turned back. (I later returned to survey this section now called Dog Horizontal).
Left to right: Tom, Ioan, Isaac, Jess, and Sophie on the last day in Valline.
It's safe to say we achieved all our goals. We found, bolted, and surveyed nearly 200m of new cave in Valline, adding to the extensive Four Valleys system.
Tom at the entrance to Agua.
Over Easter, UBSS members Jess Brock and Isaac Neale made their way to Spain for more pushing, surveying and beer drinking, as Jess relates,
The Team: Jess Brock, Isaac Neale, Tom Phillips, Ben Marks, and Ioan Roberts.
The Objectives: Find cave. Drink beer. Eat eggs and chorizo.
The Photos: by Jess Brock.
Our trip started strong, four of us piled into Ben Marks’ bright red Land Rover (Isaac was sentenced to eternal compression in the back as he's the only one untouched by motion sickness), and made our way to Portsmouth to catch a 36 hour ferry down to Bilbao. Ioan caught a flight out and bypassed that misery - I mean adventure!
Ioan (left) and Isaac (right) in the back of the Land Rover.
Of course, we provisioned at a big Tesco before hopping on board where we watched the boats and the naval ships in the historic dockyard. Cruising down the English channel with the sun shining and the salty air blowing in our hair the holiday aspect of the expedition truly began. As fate would have it Becka Lawson and her team were also on the same ferry and our groups spent a lot of time whittling down the hours until we touched Spanish soil. I don't think we drank any water on our cruise; the wine and beer flowed freely.
Barber Ben Marks giving Tom the full works.
After what felt like an age, and a haircut in the cramped toilet in the bay of Biscay, we made it to Bilbao. As it was Easter we thought it would take hours to get through passport control, luckily it took less than an hour and we were entertained by the Spanish sniffer dog parading along the lines of cars.
Day 3 - still travelling. Continuing the holiday, and killing time before picking Ioan up at the airport, we rolled off the boat and headed towards the beach. Playa Plencia - beautiful, sandy, hot. People were out frolicking in the waves, digging sandcastles with their children and staring at us English tourists in the red land rover. We stretched our legs along the front and climbed onto a very rocky part of the beach looking for rock pools and creatures within them.
Driving into Matienzo was a delight rival to none. The mountains rose above us in the grey-green finery. The orange tiled houses lined the zig-zagging roads. Cows lay in the fields, their bells ringing from all around. What made this expedition even more exciting was the fact we were staying in an apartment, graciously offered to us by Hollie London, opposite the bakers bar and a mere 15 minute walk from Pablo's bar, Casa Germán. It was luxury indeed not to be camping in the bog that sat behind the bar. Apparently they'd had lots and lots of rain before we arrived. We seemed to have brought the good weather with us as it didn't rain until our very last day.
As it was Day 1 on the ground in Matienzo we ventured over to Agua, a fantastic river cave where the river runs into its cavernous mouth and winds its way to a sump further in. After all the recent rainfall the river was engorged, especially compared to the last time I went, back in August, so we didn't venture too far, just enough to get our fill and cool off.
Day 2 in Matienzo. Huevos bocadillios (egg sandwich) for breakfast and Fanta lémon down the hatch and I was off with Pete and Dave to help with a bolt traverse and surveying a small hole. Quickly I became the go-to person to be sent down especially tight holes to follow ‘promising leads’ and such the phrase Jess-sized-holes came about. Pete bolt traversed around a deep hole which led into tight rift crawling passage. I was brought in to have a look and I pushed it as far as a could before it choked out. We explored a few leads nearby and a couple more Jess-sized-holes before returning to the bar for a well earned canya (beer). We surveyed about 50m in all.
Ancient poo with Jess’ welly in comparison.
Day 3: the dream team assembled along with Sam Davis and Chris O to explore some very promising leads in Valline, with a bolt climb up 12m and closing leads off in Shatter passage. There were loads of us underground so we split into three teams, Sam and Chris down a sandy crawl to a pitch with a tight midsection, Tom and Ben Marks exploring the bolt climb, and Isaac, Ioan, and I closing leads in Shatter passage and L’Empederat. The route finding was relatively easy in the sandy large passages. We crawled and climbed and walked and made our way through to the end which was largely filled with breakdown. I squeezed up the breakdown pile until I was tight against the roof and couldn't move my head looking for this so-called ‘draughting choke’ nonsense! We did find an ancient poo though! A very inspiring notion for Isaac. Returning from Shatter Passage, having killed off every lead in that area, we heard that the bolt climb and the tight pitch both led further than expected and we'd have to return the next day, excellent!
Jess, Tom, and Ioan after a full day of caving.
Walking back from the cave we were treated with incredible views of the small town Arredondo and stunning surrounding mountains.
Tom getting ready to cap while Isaac oversees. Day 4 (day 2 in Valline). The day started with a capping lesson from Ben Marks. We gathered around the entrance, sitting in the wake of the cool breeze gushing from the cave, and learnt the dos and dont's of cave explosives. With a small rock now obliterated we ran through the cave to get to the pushing front. There the team split. Tom, Isaac, Ioan, Chris and I went down the tight pitch with the capping kit as at the bottom of a passage a promising lead was slightly too tight for me to go down. Sam, Ben Marks, and Hollie (who was looking for shrimp for her research project) went up the bolt climb and bolted a further 20m pitch.
Tom surveying. The tight pitch (in which I asked ‘at what point is the tight bit?’) led down into a pot with two ways on. One to the right up a 3m climb into a sandy paragenesis tunnel which quickly choked. Up a sporty 3m climb to the left led into a sandy hands and knees crawl, into a well decorated passage in which we had to squeeze through formations, to which some damage was done to smaller formations due to set kit, then onto a very thin calcite false-floor in which staying left proved safest, down a 3m climb into a chamber slightly larger than at the bottom of the tight pitch. The back sloped upwards and ended in a calcite-choked rift. A small stream and waterfall splashed down across the chamber and down the tight crawl of promise. To have a good look at the lead I lay in the stream and had Chris hold onto my wellies as I pushed my head through the hole. There was a 2 to 3m climb down into a pot which seemed to curve to the left and the water was going somewhere I couldn't see.
Bang’s the word! The promising lead was soon met with the might of a capping kit. Isaac, Tom, Ioan, and Chris led the way enlarging the passage to get access to the head of the climb. It took a while and as rocks flew out from behind them I took photos and started surveying with Tom.
Eventually the hole was made slightly larger - yippie! With some slings threaded around a natural belay I climbed into the promising pot…which soon choked. A shame, but the water was going somewhere. I crawled behind the waterfall it was creating into a very tight meandering passage which became too tight for me but happy enough for the water. Alas, another lead was killed. That evening was the Expedition meal consisting of soup de pollo (chicken soup) and Zancarron (stew and chips) a delicious end to the day. That and all the wine, canyas, and deadly Spanish baileys had us chatting in the bar of casa germán until the wee hours and a very long walk back to our apartment.
The next day was a well earned rest day. We sat in the sun, and consolidated our notes, survey data, and logbook write ups on the computers sat at the back of casa germán
Jess in a Jess-sized-rift. Day 6 (day 3 in Valline) and it was just the four of us (minus Ben Marks) but with Sophie, a student at Leeds who was out in Matienzo with her dad. Isaac and Sophie were charged with resurveying sections I had accidentally deleted (whoops!). Tom, Ioan, and I ventured up the bolt climb pitch and down the big pitch (James's Drive) half way to a window, along a traverse and into a chamber with a promising Jess-sized-hole. True to its name, the Jess-sized-hole was a very tight, small tunnel ascending slightly with a draught - promising stuff. However this was a difficult crawl which left me claustrophobic in some places due to the nature of the tunnel, rock, and my inability to compress further. At one difficult section I had to take my helmet off and get into a series of dynamic positions to pass through this birth canal of rock. Once through I saw that the passage just kept going but having had enough I turned back. (I later returned to survey this section now called Dog Horizontal).
Left to right: Tom, Ioan, Isaac, Jess, and Sophie on the last day in Valline.
It's safe to say we achieved all our goals. We found, bolted, and surveyed nearly 200m of new cave in Valline, adding to the extensive Four Valleys system.
Jess Brock
FAIRY CAVES AND TYRE GREMLINS
Left to right: Tom Headington, Jonah Sontag, Victor Tripp, Thomas DeAth, Noah Lewis.
Tom Headington, Jonah Sontag, Thomas DeAth, Noah Lewis and Victor Tripp met on a lazy Saturday afternoon, after a late night of drinking looking for a gentle womble down a Mendip cave. Tom takes up the tale ...
We all squeezed into my little Peugeot and set off down south to Fairy Cave Quarry. We were looking for a nice, short, chill trip, and as none of us had been here before, it seemed perfectly suited.
After finding the car park and then bragging to the climbers who were wondering how we got the key for it, we made our way over to the cave, armed with a picture from Mendip Underground to guide us.
We found the small, ungated entrance, and slowly made our way in. Initially there’s lots of tree roots in the roof of the cave, which I’d never seen before. We had to keep stopping to navigate, but there were some nice little features to look at along the way.
Eventually we made it to the wet duck that connects Fairy Cave to Hiller’s Cave. At this point we realised the two caves joined up (amazing forward planning from us all), and that we could do a nice through trip between the two, although were initially apprehensive as it would involve us getting quite wet, though we decided to take the short plunge.
Left to right: Tom Headington, Noah Lewis, Thomas DeAth, Jona Sontag, Victor Tripp.
After a few more navigation errors that took us to a dig and a very pretty part of the cave (so not all was in vain), we eventually made it to the small streamway of Hiller’s Cave. As it was dry when we went there was no water in the stream, but I imagine it can get a lot of water running into it from the quarry.
The navigation from here was remarkably easy, following the stream until we reached a short climb to the exit, where we emerged just a stone’s throw away from the entrance to Fairy Cave.
Left to right: Jonah Sontag, Noah Lewis and Thomas DeAth (and UBSS baby).
Overall, it was a very pleasant, easy trip. I got to improve my navigation and leader skills on a more chill trip, and the UBSS baby got his first outing (just before his birth).
Back to front: Andrew Shepherd (from MUSC) and Tom Philips, fixing the car.
Something on the drive from the cave back to the hut killed the tyre on my car, as when we tried to leave the BEC in the morning it was completely flat! Luckly Big Tom was on the scene, and in no time, we got it changed over (see picture), and made it safely back to Bristol.
Left to right: Tom Headington, Jonah Sontag, Victor Tripp, Thomas DeAth, Noah Lewis.
Tom Headington, Jonah Sontag, Thomas DeAth, Noah Lewis and Victor Tripp met on a lazy Saturday afternoon, after a late night of drinking looking for a gentle womble down a Mendip cave. Tom takes up the tale ...
We all squeezed into my little Peugeot and set off down south to Fairy Cave Quarry. We were looking for a nice, short, chill trip, and as none of us had been here before, it seemed perfectly suited.
After finding the car park and then bragging to the climbers who were wondering how we got the key for it, we made our way over to the cave, armed with a picture from Mendip Underground to guide us.
We found the small, ungated entrance, and slowly made our way in. Initially there’s lots of tree roots in the roof of the cave, which I’d never seen before. We had to keep stopping to navigate, but there were some nice little features to look at along the way.
Eventually we made it to the wet duck that connects Fairy Cave to Hiller’s Cave. At this point we realised the two caves joined up (amazing forward planning from us all), and that we could do a nice through trip between the two, although were initially apprehensive as it would involve us getting quite wet, though we decided to take the short plunge.
Left to right: Tom Headington, Noah Lewis, Thomas DeAth, Jona Sontag, Victor Tripp.
After a few more navigation errors that took us to a dig and a very pretty part of the cave (so not all was in vain), we eventually made it to the small streamway of Hiller’s Cave. As it was dry when we went there was no water in the stream, but I imagine it can get a lot of water running into it from the quarry.
The navigation from here was remarkably easy, following the stream until we reached a short climb to the exit, where we emerged just a stone’s throw away from the entrance to Fairy Cave.
Left to right: Jonah Sontag, Noah Lewis and Thomas DeAth (and UBSS baby).
Overall, it was a very pleasant, easy trip. I got to improve my navigation and leader skills on a more chill trip, and the UBSS baby got his first outing (just before his birth).
Back to front: Andrew Shepherd (from MUSC) and Tom Philips, fixing the car.
Something on the drive from the cave back to the hut killed the tyre on my car, as when we tried to leave the BEC in the morning it was completely flat! Luckly Big Tom was on the scene, and in no time, we got it changed over (see picture), and made it safely back to Bristol.
Tom Headington
SILT SLURPERS - FREE DIVING TO SUMP 9
Left to right: Joe Bidie, Lewis Hope, Sam Brace.
Gearing up with wetsuits and diving kit in the changing barn, Sam Brace recounts his visit to Sump 9 in Swildon’s Hole.
After a hearty and faff-filled breakfast with Lewis Hope at Joe Bidie’s house, the hangover from the UBMC AGM and subsequent afters was (finally) starting to wear off. Packing some aspirin and paracetamol into my oversuit (just in case), the three of us headed off in the direction of Swildons Hole. Our aim? To lay eyes on the mythical Sump 9, the furthest point into the cave accessible simply via free diving.
The most efficient (and most fun?) way to get to Sump 9 is by diving Sumps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (sort of), and this was our route of choice. Swildon’s 1 is simple enough, and was familiar territory to all of us. Barnes’ Loop is a particular favourite section of mine, and I was pleased to see that the water was exceptionally clear in this passage. Sump 1 gifted us with a low water level and a fair amount of room. Hopeful that this was indicative of the states of the rest of the sumps (especially 5) we passed the sump with ease and continued on through Swildon’s Two.
Laying in the sump pool of Sump 2, I was feeling a little apprehensive. Lewis had gone though first with the pony bottle and given the all clear, but having only ever dived Sump 1, this felt like a big step up. After some words of encouragement from Joe, I took a big deep breath and went for it. Due to being slightly underweighted (air in my oversuit is my best guess) I shot through the sump at breakneck speed, emerging on the other side in what felt like no time.
Now confident in my freediving abilities, Sump 3 came next. The longest of the free-divable sumps, this was the one I was most afraid of. It’s 11-12 metres long and gets pretty deep pretty quickly. After turning around and bailing out after encountering the first airbell (bad idea!!!) due to fears about my buoyancy, I calmed my nerves and tried again …
Ducking under arches and pulling on the dive line, I could see quite a lot of the sump in front of me. I got clear views of the submerged passage ahead and to my sides, it was quite an incredible view.
Swildon’s 4 felt like a return to familiar territory, a large stream passage that felt akin to Swildon’s One, and laden with our weights and the pony we continued down the streamway towards Sump 4. Despite a minor hiccup communicating with Lewis on the other side of the sump, the five metre dive was positively comforting compared to the previous two.
Finally ditching our weights, the caving suddenly felt much more easy going, but we were soon back in the water for the series of ducks needed to bypass Sump 5. More of a military exercise than a sump, and we carefully zig-zagged our way through the ducks neck deep in water, taking care not to get lost or end up at a dead end.
Into Swildon’s Six and the end of the dives (much to Lewis’ disappointment), we now had to bypass Sumps 6, 7 and 8. Approaching Sump 6 we were greeted with crystal clear water, an amazing sight compared to the murky sump pools we’d encountered earlier in the trip. Unfortunately, we left behind lovely water for muddy crawling to the infamous Sump 6 Bypass. Joe passed through the squeeze with ease, but unfortunately Lewis was not so lucky. Making use of the handy shovel that is left there, Lewis abandoned his diving roots and completed his transformation, becoming a true caver. Luckily for me his digging efforts meant I passed squeeze with little difficulty!
Swildon’s Seven involved a few nice climbs over boulders and into tunnels, and we quickly made it to Sump 7. The bypass is easy enough, involving getting into the pool but taking a left hand slot to get out instead of following the line into the sump. From there it was just a hop, skip and a walk around Sump 8 and we’d made it!
Sump 9 was a beautiful sight. The water was clear as glass, and we could see the dive line stretch out for 10 meters or so before disappearing deep into the sump. We sat in awe above the enormous sump pool and, although not a diver myself, I was starting to see the appeal. Getting into the pool we had a little splash and a swim before chomping down a Mars Bar and heading off for the exit. Emerging back into daylight we laid down on the grass, thoroughly exhausted but satisfied that a long anticipated trip had been ticked off.
However we didn’t make it out unscathed. My £7 Sofirn (the choss light) was decidedly not as waterproof as I once thought. However, more tragically, Joe’s brand new Fenix decided to kill itself after coming slightly unscrewed in Sump 2. Not to worry though, because Joe’s brand new £6,900 Scurion was waiting for us back at the SU!
Joe's new Scurion.
But wait, there’s more! The following evening (during the UBSS, MUSC and Plymouth joint weekend at the BEC) after a day of caving, hiking and key-snapping (it’s a long story), Joe and I decided it was high time for another Swildon’s trip. So whilst everyone was enjoying the party, we pulled on our wet caving kit and ran off down to Sump 1, returning to the surface after only 39 minutes underground.
Left to right: Joe Bidie, Lewis Hope, Sam Brace.
Gearing up with wetsuits and diving kit in the changing barn, Sam Brace recounts his visit to Sump 9 in Swildon’s Hole.
After a hearty and faff-filled breakfast with Lewis Hope at Joe Bidie’s house, the hangover from the UBMC AGM and subsequent afters was (finally) starting to wear off. Packing some aspirin and paracetamol into my oversuit (just in case), the three of us headed off in the direction of Swildons Hole. Our aim? To lay eyes on the mythical Sump 9, the furthest point into the cave accessible simply via free diving.
The most efficient (and most fun?) way to get to Sump 9 is by diving Sumps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (sort of), and this was our route of choice. Swildon’s 1 is simple enough, and was familiar territory to all of us. Barnes’ Loop is a particular favourite section of mine, and I was pleased to see that the water was exceptionally clear in this passage. Sump 1 gifted us with a low water level and a fair amount of room. Hopeful that this was indicative of the states of the rest of the sumps (especially 5) we passed the sump with ease and continued on through Swildon’s Two.
Laying in the sump pool of Sump 2, I was feeling a little apprehensive. Lewis had gone though first with the pony bottle and given the all clear, but having only ever dived Sump 1, this felt like a big step up. After some words of encouragement from Joe, I took a big deep breath and went for it. Due to being slightly underweighted (air in my oversuit is my best guess) I shot through the sump at breakneck speed, emerging on the other side in what felt like no time.
Now confident in my freediving abilities, Sump 3 came next. The longest of the free-divable sumps, this was the one I was most afraid of. It’s 11-12 metres long and gets pretty deep pretty quickly. After turning around and bailing out after encountering the first airbell (bad idea!!!) due to fears about my buoyancy, I calmed my nerves and tried again …
Ducking under arches and pulling on the dive line, I could see quite a lot of the sump in front of me. I got clear views of the submerged passage ahead and to my sides, it was quite an incredible view.
Swildon’s 4 felt like a return to familiar territory, a large stream passage that felt akin to Swildon’s One, and laden with our weights and the pony we continued down the streamway towards Sump 4. Despite a minor hiccup communicating with Lewis on the other side of the sump, the five metre dive was positively comforting compared to the previous two.
Finally ditching our weights, the caving suddenly felt much more easy going, but we were soon back in the water for the series of ducks needed to bypass Sump 5. More of a military exercise than a sump, and we carefully zig-zagged our way through the ducks neck deep in water, taking care not to get lost or end up at a dead end.
Into Swildon’s Six and the end of the dives (much to Lewis’ disappointment), we now had to bypass Sumps 6, 7 and 8. Approaching Sump 6 we were greeted with crystal clear water, an amazing sight compared to the murky sump pools we’d encountered earlier in the trip. Unfortunately, we left behind lovely water for muddy crawling to the infamous Sump 6 Bypass. Joe passed through the squeeze with ease, but unfortunately Lewis was not so lucky. Making use of the handy shovel that is left there, Lewis abandoned his diving roots and completed his transformation, becoming a true caver. Luckily for me his digging efforts meant I passed squeeze with little difficulty!
Swildon’s Seven involved a few nice climbs over boulders and into tunnels, and we quickly made it to Sump 7. The bypass is easy enough, involving getting into the pool but taking a left hand slot to get out instead of following the line into the sump. From there it was just a hop, skip and a walk around Sump 8 and we’d made it!
Sump 9 was a beautiful sight. The water was clear as glass, and we could see the dive line stretch out for 10 meters or so before disappearing deep into the sump. We sat in awe above the enormous sump pool and, although not a diver myself, I was starting to see the appeal. Getting into the pool we had a little splash and a swim before chomping down a Mars Bar and heading off for the exit. Emerging back into daylight we laid down on the grass, thoroughly exhausted but satisfied that a long anticipated trip had been ticked off.
However we didn’t make it out unscathed. My £7 Sofirn (the choss light) was decidedly not as waterproof as I once thought. However, more tragically, Joe’s brand new Fenix decided to kill itself after coming slightly unscrewed in Sump 2. Not to worry though, because Joe’s brand new £6,900 Scurion was waiting for us back at the SU!
Joe's new Scurion.
But wait, there’s more! The following evening (during the UBSS, MUSC and Plymouth joint weekend at the BEC) after a day of caving, hiking and key-snapping (it’s a long story), Joe and I decided it was high time for another Swildon’s trip. So whilst everyone was enjoying the party, we pulled on our wet caving kit and ran off down to Sump 1, returning to the surface after only 39 minutes underground.
Sam Brace
NEVER SAY NEVER
Upper Flood Swallet. Photo by Matty Dredge and used with his kind permission.
Ben Morgan recently sampled one of the best decorated delights on Mendip ...
On the Saturday of the BEC weekend we went down what we agreed is probably the best decorated cave any of us have seen. Alas we did not take a camera :(( Surprisingly to some to some, this beautiful cave is on home turf in Mendip and just a 10 minute drive from the BEC.
We met Matty Dredge (an MCG warden) at the MCG at midday. Dan had to hose down his oversuit as the cave requires clean kit only for conservation and half of Aggy was still stuck to the outside of his suit.
The trip is extremely pleasant. Most of the time, it consists of crawling through a stream over gravel but there is some nice almost Time Machine-esque walking passage. The formations are exquisite from start to finish. Early on you see several dragon fly larvae which have been calcited over to form little stone fossils. There is a section of obligatory crawling which passes under some extremely pretty stars. half way through the trip we also saw the best mud formations I have seen where some gravel on a thick layer of mud has had water slowly drip on it washing away the mud not protected by the stones. This has left behind mud needles each with a little stone on top.
Mud Formations in Upper Flood Swallet. Photo by Matty Dredge and used with his kind permission.
The real showstopper however is Neverland. Near the end of the trip you take off your oversuit and boots and walk into a jaw dropping chamber of pure white. This includes the pork pies and all kinds of wonders. When we went to the Blue Greens in Daren I told Dan that I thought Neverland was even more pretty. He hadn't been to Neverland before and insisted my brain had been rotted by Mendip jingoism. We all agreed afterwards that Upper Flood is a cut above anything we have seen in terms of insane decoration.
This is a trip that I highly recommend to anyone with the caveat that the cave is full of enormously delicate and beautiful formations and requires the utmost care. The trip is obviously warden only but everyone who goes there has a responsibility to be extremely careful and only go if you are comfortable enough with some crawling and cold and that you'll be able to keep your wits about you and not destroy anything.
I think it is a shame that more UBSS students haven't been to Neverland, however, and I highly recommend that people get in touch with the MCG and book a trip if they fancy seeing some wonderful stuff. Thank you as well to Matty for leading the trip; it was great fun.
Upper Flood Swallet. Photo by Matty Dredge and used with his kind permission.
Ben Morgan recently sampled one of the best decorated delights on Mendip ...
On the Saturday of the BEC weekend we went down what we agreed is probably the best decorated cave any of us have seen. Alas we did not take a camera :(( Surprisingly to some to some, this beautiful cave is on home turf in Mendip and just a 10 minute drive from the BEC.
We met Matty Dredge (an MCG warden) at the MCG at midday. Dan had to hose down his oversuit as the cave requires clean kit only for conservation and half of Aggy was still stuck to the outside of his suit.
The trip is extremely pleasant. Most of the time, it consists of crawling through a stream over gravel but there is some nice almost Time Machine-esque walking passage. The formations are exquisite from start to finish. Early on you see several dragon fly larvae which have been calcited over to form little stone fossils. There is a section of obligatory crawling which passes under some extremely pretty stars. half way through the trip we also saw the best mud formations I have seen where some gravel on a thick layer of mud has had water slowly drip on it washing away the mud not protected by the stones. This has left behind mud needles each with a little stone on top.
Mud Formations in Upper Flood Swallet. Photo by Matty Dredge and used with his kind permission.
The real showstopper however is Neverland. Near the end of the trip you take off your oversuit and boots and walk into a jaw dropping chamber of pure white. This includes the pork pies and all kinds of wonders. When we went to the Blue Greens in Daren I told Dan that I thought Neverland was even more pretty. He hadn't been to Neverland before and insisted my brain had been rotted by Mendip jingoism. We all agreed afterwards that Upper Flood is a cut above anything we have seen in terms of insane decoration.
This is a trip that I highly recommend to anyone with the caveat that the cave is full of enormously delicate and beautiful formations and requires the utmost care. The trip is obviously warden only but everyone who goes there has a responsibility to be extremely careful and only go if you are comfortable enough with some crawling and cold and that you'll be able to keep your wits about you and not destroy anything.
I think it is a shame that more UBSS students haven't been to Neverland, however, and I highly recommend that people get in touch with the MCG and book a trip if they fancy seeing some wonderful stuff. Thank you as well to Matty for leading the trip; it was great fun.
Ben Morgan
SPIRITS OF AVON
Tom Headington outside Aggy, carrying a precious cargo.
It’s 8am on a Saturday morning, and Sam Brace and Tom Headington are already cracking open a cold one. Sam takes up the tale, and we learn that unfortunately, the beer’s destination is much deeper than either of their stomachs…
Driving to South Wales after a surprisingly faffless morning, Tom and I ran through the plan one more time. We had about eight litres of Carling in the boot of Tom’s car, and aimed to deliver it safe and sound to the UBSS diggers (Dan Rose, Ben Morgan, Joe Bidie, Stanley Lewis) who were spending the weekend aiding the ongoing attempt to connect Agen Allwedd to Daren Cilau. We would cave down Aggy to the Priory Road camp to drop off the beer, and hopefully make a detour to see the beautiful Courtesan, and maybe even visit the dig face if time and energy permitted.
After flying through the entrance series, we emerged into the glorious main passageway. A quick stop to take in the grandeur of the passage and cool off then we quickly pressed on towards the Southern Streamway.
The next kilometre or so of caving ensured that I will never take for granted just how nice it is to be able to walk unhindered through a passageway. Having foolishly taken tackle sacks without donkey’s dicks, traversing Southern Streamway was painful to say the least, with the grunts of exertion only punctured by Tom’s exclamations of, ‘Why didn’t I bring knee pads?’
Finally, after about an hour of wet crawling and stooping, we made it to the Gothic Extensions, home of Priory Road, the Courtesan and the Aggy/Daren dig. Sharp pebbles tuned to soft sand as we crawled through the start of Priory Road and emerged at the Monk’s digging camp. After a quick self-guided tour (discovering the toilet setup was quite an assault on the nostrils), we left the beer in the middle of the camp and headed off to Iles Inlet in search of the Courtesan and maybe even some friends.
The next section of cave was unlike anything I’d done before, and the enormous effort digging all of these tunnels must have taken was not lost on either of us. Crawling through tight U-tubes and S-bends on a bed of sand reminded me of sand pits in parks I would play in as a kid, and as someone who (until very recently) was convinced that tight spaces deep underground sounded like my own personal 10th circle of hell, this wave of nostalgia filled me with a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for everyone in UBSS who convinced me to go down Goatchurch for the first time last September.
The Courtesan.
This feeling turned quickly into awe as (after only one wrong turn) we reached the Courtesan. This is easily the most magnificent formation I have ever seen, and the pain of dragging all the beer down Southern Streamway was immediately forgotten.
Staying for a snack break next to the Courtesan, we decided that venturing on to the dig face was not something we had the time or energy for, and so we headed back in hopes to be out in time to get a takeaway from Asian Spicy with some climbers after their day trip to Cheddar Gorge.
Back at the start of Iles Inlet we ran into some cavers from the Craven Pothole Club and learned that they were holding their annual Easter trip at Whitewalls. They were finishing the Priory Road Round Trip, and had passed the digging day camp where they were met with shouts of ‘Is that Sam and Tom …?Do you have our beer?’. We left Priory Road safe in the knowledge that our delivery mission was well worth it!
A successful delivery. Left, Sam Brace, right, Tom Headington.
Returning up the dastardly Southern Streamway and wolfing down some jelly (a new favourite cave snack with an ungodly sugar content), we romped through the main passage and entrance series, leaving the cave to be greeted by the lovely Welsh countryside lit up by the evening sun. Delivery complete, we set off home for Bristol where a hearty Asian Spicy awaited!
Tom Headington outside Aggy, carrying a precious cargo.
It’s 8am on a Saturday morning, and Sam Brace and Tom Headington are already cracking open a cold one. Sam takes up the tale, and we learn that unfortunately, the beer’s destination is much deeper than either of their stomachs…
Driving to South Wales after a surprisingly faffless morning, Tom and I ran through the plan one more time. We had about eight litres of Carling in the boot of Tom’s car, and aimed to deliver it safe and sound to the UBSS diggers (Dan Rose, Ben Morgan, Joe Bidie, Stanley Lewis) who were spending the weekend aiding the ongoing attempt to connect Agen Allwedd to Daren Cilau. We would cave down Aggy to the Priory Road camp to drop off the beer, and hopefully make a detour to see the beautiful Courtesan, and maybe even visit the dig face if time and energy permitted.
After flying through the entrance series, we emerged into the glorious main passageway. A quick stop to take in the grandeur of the passage and cool off then we quickly pressed on towards the Southern Streamway.
The next kilometre or so of caving ensured that I will never take for granted just how nice it is to be able to walk unhindered through a passageway. Having foolishly taken tackle sacks without donkey’s dicks, traversing Southern Streamway was painful to say the least, with the grunts of exertion only punctured by Tom’s exclamations of, ‘Why didn’t I bring knee pads?’
Stopping for a drink at the second inlet, Left, Sam Brace, right, Tom Headington.
The next section of cave was unlike anything I’d done before, and the enormous effort digging all of these tunnels must have taken was not lost on either of us. Crawling through tight U-tubes and S-bends on a bed of sand reminded me of sand pits in parks I would play in as a kid, and as someone who (until very recently) was convinced that tight spaces deep underground sounded like my own personal 10th circle of hell, this wave of nostalgia filled me with a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for everyone in UBSS who convinced me to go down Goatchurch for the first time last September.
The Courtesan.
This feeling turned quickly into awe as (after only one wrong turn) we reached the Courtesan. This is easily the most magnificent formation I have ever seen, and the pain of dragging all the beer down Southern Streamway was immediately forgotten.
Staying for a snack break next to the Courtesan, we decided that venturing on to the dig face was not something we had the time or energy for, and so we headed back in hopes to be out in time to get a takeaway from Asian Spicy with some climbers after their day trip to Cheddar Gorge.
Back at the start of Iles Inlet we ran into some cavers from the Craven Pothole Club and learned that they were holding their annual Easter trip at Whitewalls. They were finishing the Priory Road Round Trip, and had passed the digging day camp where they were met with shouts of ‘Is that Sam and Tom …?Do you have our beer?’. We left Priory Road safe in the knowledge that our delivery mission was well worth it!
A successful delivery. Left, Sam Brace, right, Tom Headington.
Returning up the dastardly Southern Streamway and wolfing down some jelly (a new favourite cave snack with an ungodly sugar content), we romped through the main passage and entrance series, leaving the cave to be greeted by the lovely Welsh countryside lit up by the evening sun. Delivery complete, we set off home for Bristol where a hearty Asian Spicy awaited!
Sam Brace
Run out of room in your tackle sack?
Off digging and don’t want the hassle of extra weight?
Locating grog you thought you had stashed in a secret location, only to find the bottle completely empty!?
Well then, call us, SPIRITS OF AVON! The ONLY solution for your underground drinking needs, we’ll deliver beer to ANY location (sort of) so that you can enjoy the finer side of underground life, without the faff! Currently taking orders, give us a call!
DIGGING WITH THE MONKS
The digging team part way through the shift. Top Row, left to right: Emma Caspars - Cardiff, Gary Jones (CSS), Ben Morgan (UBSS), Dan Rose (UBSS) , Joe Bidie (UBSS), Stanley Lewis (UBSS). Bottom row, left to right: Andrey Kozhenkov (CSS,) (Mushroom) Dave Kinzett (CSS), Sam Hill (Shepton), (Standard) Tom (Shepton).
UBSS members seem to be unable to resist the lure of the much desired Aggy-Daren connection. Ben Morgan describes their latest efforts …
At 7am in the Chelsea bunkroom alarms began to sound, I crawled out of bed, as did Daniel Rose, Stanley Lewis and Joe Bidie, ate some grim porridge, and began to put on caving kit. What could possibly cause MCCB to get out of bed this early you may ask? Nothing but a date with “the glory hole” as the Monks digging team affectionately call their Aggy-Daren connection dig which recently has been drawing tantilisingly close.
Unfortunately, Billy fell at the first hurdle and couldn’t hack the wakeup. Plagued with nightmares, the demons told him he had become the devil/manifest evil. Despite having no way of getting out of Llangatock without my car he waved us goodbye as we set off to walk to Aggy, telling us he needed to go back to Bristol to make some major life alterations. As far as I’m aware he spent his weekend walking down the hill and hitch hiking his way to Bristol. An unenviable outcome.
We weren’t the only ones making our way into Aggy . The allure of the connection has seduced many – Sam Hill and Standard Tom from the Shepton went in half an hour before us and we were joined by Gary Jones from the CSS. Southern Streamway with camping bags was as fun as ever but soon we reached the Priory Road camp. We were impressed to see it had got even more comfortable than last time, now with a luxurious hammock bolted into the walls for Mushroom Dave to sleep in. Probably the best sleeping setup in any UK digging camp if not Europe.
Past the camp you go through half an hour of easy caving which excitingly becomes more and more Daren-like in character – a good sign, if you ask me, but people have been saying this for at least 30 years. In no time we were at the dig. Since the last year it had changed enormously. The old digging camp is now stacked up with a huge amount of new spoil which has been stacked and drystone walled to the roof. The dig setup is has also massively evolved with a ventilation pipe and blower to keep the air good at the dig face, a communications pipe to talk through (which mostly just had System of a Down blaring through it on a speaker) and a hugely upgraded hauling system. Emma Caspars from Cardiff along with Mushroom Dave and Andrey Kozhenkov from the CSS had spent the night at the camp so had got a head start on us and had already done some digging at the face with Sam and Tom.
We were all assigned rolls and spent the next ~12 hours as cogs in the Monks Digging Machine. Most of the digging at the face consists of breaking apart the boulders which fill the tube. Compared to last year, this is now mostly done with plug and feathers rather than capping, as they find it more efficient. The spoil from the face is then loaded into trays and dragged by the team on the hauling system. This consists of about six people lying down at various points in the tube who pull the trays through the turns, constrictions, and pulley deviations. The spoil is then dumped out in the old digging camp and two people stack it as tightly as they can to make the best use of the limited amount of available space. The previous digging camp had less people, so they had stored spoil in an alcove in the dig crawl. Over the course of the day all of this spoil was hauled out along with fresh spoil from the face. Dave and Andre were confident that at least 1m, but possibly as much as 1.5m, of distance was gained. Here is a picture of the team halfway through the shift.
After a good day of digging we made our way back to the camp for some much needed R&R.
As always we had brought in 2L of Victory Grog. But this time we were blessed with a highly unusual gift from the heavens. While we were in Sicily climbing the week before Sam Brace and Tom Headington from UBSS were looking for trip ideas. I recommended a day trip to the Courtesan and somewhat cheekily suggested they could carry us in some beer. To my amazement they agreed to this and when we got to camp it turned out that they had dragged in four 2L coke bottles filled with lager. This tasted better than anything else I have ever drunk in a cave. Combined with the drum full of Daal we’d dragged in we ate and drank like kings till we passed out in the tent.
Those of a delicate disposition may wish to skip to the end to avoid the sort of scatological detail that most cavers seem to revel in or, TL:DR – warning, contains mention of poo!
In the morning Dave and Andre set off back to the dig to do further work on the face and stack more spoil in the alcove to be hauled out next weekend. Emma set off early to get a headstart while we lay in. We had a nice relaxed morning and drank a bunch of coffee and ate more daal for breakfast. At this point fateful decisions were made which had far reaching consequences for the rest of our days. Dan and Stan shat in a drum to carry out. Bravely (foolishly) Joe and I did not. What ensued is probably my all time least enjoyable caving experience.
Thirty minutes into Southern Streamway it became apparent that not shitting had been a terrible error. After an hour I found myself clenching my stomach and ass with all my might. Twisting and worming through the stream the pain grew intense. Dark thoughts began to swirl through my mind. Shit in the stream – unacceptable as this is the sole water source for the camp. Shit in my oversuit – a dishonour which would haunt and poison my reputation for years to come (Alex Randall from the Shepton did this a year ago at a camp we attended and it still gets brought up every time we see him). Empty my drybag full of clothes into the bottom of my tackle sack and then shit in the drybag and seal it and then throw it into the CSS bin – this seemed like a bad option as it would cost me a drybag and soak all my clothes but in reality this was what a smart man would have done.
Not wanted to accept the gravity of my situation I decided to just brute force the solution and clench harder and cave faster. By the entrance series, I was in a hellish trance like state. As I started to feel the cold draught on my face I started to run. In the last 100 meters I threw my bag to Dan and barged past Joe onto the surface. Now in the green of the Llangattock Hills, I ran to the nearest bush and let the diarhoea flow. The bliss that I briefly felt was replaced with horror as when I looked down I was horrified to see that the liquid that had left my body was in fact blood. Clearly the immense pressure and clenching combined with Southern Streamway had not done my intestines any good. I walked back to the hut and had a very sad shower. We went to Abergavenny ‘spoons and had a nice meal but this was punctuated by more blood. (the more gore inclined among you will be happy to know that I got some horrifying pictures of this but I wont anger our editors by submitting these to the newsletter – available upon request, however). Even the drive back to Bristol was spoilt by another bloodletting stop at a service station. Eventually everyone had been dropped off and I fell asleep looking forward to a nice phone call with student health service the next day.
So moral of the story: the dig is going well and great progress is being made. MCCB will be at the next camp representing UBSS. If you find yourself tempted by the gamble of trying to not shit in a drum; be warned the consequences may be worse than you could possibly imagine.
The digging team part way through the shift. Top Row, left to right: Emma Caspars - Cardiff, Gary Jones (CSS), Ben Morgan (UBSS), Dan Rose (UBSS) , Joe Bidie (UBSS), Stanley Lewis (UBSS). Bottom row, left to right: Andrey Kozhenkov (CSS,) (Mushroom) Dave Kinzett (CSS), Sam Hill (Shepton), (Standard) Tom (Shepton).UBSS members seem to be unable to resist the lure of the much desired Aggy-Daren connection. Ben Morgan describes their latest efforts …
At 7am in the Chelsea bunkroom alarms began to sound, I crawled out of bed, as did Daniel Rose, Stanley Lewis and Joe Bidie, ate some grim porridge, and began to put on caving kit. What could possibly cause MCCB to get out of bed this early you may ask? Nothing but a date with “the glory hole” as the Monks digging team affectionately call their Aggy-Daren connection dig which recently has been drawing tantilisingly close.
Unfortunately, Billy fell at the first hurdle and couldn’t hack the wakeup. Plagued with nightmares, the demons told him he had become the devil/manifest evil. Despite having no way of getting out of Llangatock without my car he waved us goodbye as we set off to walk to Aggy, telling us he needed to go back to Bristol to make some major life alterations. As far as I’m aware he spent his weekend walking down the hill and hitch hiking his way to Bristol. An unenviable outcome.
We weren’t the only ones making our way into Aggy . The allure of the connection has seduced many – Sam Hill and Standard Tom from the Shepton went in half an hour before us and we were joined by Gary Jones from the CSS. Southern Streamway with camping bags was as fun as ever but soon we reached the Priory Road camp. We were impressed to see it had got even more comfortable than last time, now with a luxurious hammock bolted into the walls for Mushroom Dave to sleep in. Probably the best sleeping setup in any UK digging camp if not Europe.
Past the camp you go through half an hour of easy caving which excitingly becomes more and more Daren-like in character – a good sign, if you ask me, but people have been saying this for at least 30 years. In no time we were at the dig. Since the last year it had changed enormously. The old digging camp is now stacked up with a huge amount of new spoil which has been stacked and drystone walled to the roof. The dig setup is has also massively evolved with a ventilation pipe and blower to keep the air good at the dig face, a communications pipe to talk through (which mostly just had System of a Down blaring through it on a speaker) and a hugely upgraded hauling system. Emma Caspars from Cardiff along with Mushroom Dave and Andrey Kozhenkov from the CSS had spent the night at the camp so had got a head start on us and had already done some digging at the face with Sam and Tom.
We were all assigned rolls and spent the next ~12 hours as cogs in the Monks Digging Machine. Most of the digging at the face consists of breaking apart the boulders which fill the tube. Compared to last year, this is now mostly done with plug and feathers rather than capping, as they find it more efficient. The spoil from the face is then loaded into trays and dragged by the team on the hauling system. This consists of about six people lying down at various points in the tube who pull the trays through the turns, constrictions, and pulley deviations. The spoil is then dumped out in the old digging camp and two people stack it as tightly as they can to make the best use of the limited amount of available space. The previous digging camp had less people, so they had stored spoil in an alcove in the dig crawl. Over the course of the day all of this spoil was hauled out along with fresh spoil from the face. Dave and Andre were confident that at least 1m, but possibly as much as 1.5m, of distance was gained. Here is a picture of the team halfway through the shift.
After a good day of digging we made our way back to the camp for some much needed R&R.
As always we had brought in 2L of Victory Grog. But this time we were blessed with a highly unusual gift from the heavens. While we were in Sicily climbing the week before Sam Brace and Tom Headington from UBSS were looking for trip ideas. I recommended a day trip to the Courtesan and somewhat cheekily suggested they could carry us in some beer. To my amazement they agreed to this and when we got to camp it turned out that they had dragged in four 2L coke bottles filled with lager. This tasted better than anything else I have ever drunk in a cave. Combined with the drum full of Daal we’d dragged in we ate and drank like kings till we passed out in the tent.
Those of a delicate disposition may wish to skip to the end to avoid the sort of scatological detail that most cavers seem to revel in or, TL:DR – warning, contains mention of poo!
In the morning Dave and Andre set off back to the dig to do further work on the face and stack more spoil in the alcove to be hauled out next weekend. Emma set off early to get a headstart while we lay in. We had a nice relaxed morning and drank a bunch of coffee and ate more daal for breakfast. At this point fateful decisions were made which had far reaching consequences for the rest of our days. Dan and Stan shat in a drum to carry out. Bravely (foolishly) Joe and I did not. What ensued is probably my all time least enjoyable caving experience.
Thirty minutes into Southern Streamway it became apparent that not shitting had been a terrible error. After an hour I found myself clenching my stomach and ass with all my might. Twisting and worming through the stream the pain grew intense. Dark thoughts began to swirl through my mind. Shit in the stream – unacceptable as this is the sole water source for the camp. Shit in my oversuit – a dishonour which would haunt and poison my reputation for years to come (Alex Randall from the Shepton did this a year ago at a camp we attended and it still gets brought up every time we see him). Empty my drybag full of clothes into the bottom of my tackle sack and then shit in the drybag and seal it and then throw it into the CSS bin – this seemed like a bad option as it would cost me a drybag and soak all my clothes but in reality this was what a smart man would have done.
Not wanted to accept the gravity of my situation I decided to just brute force the solution and clench harder and cave faster. By the entrance series, I was in a hellish trance like state. As I started to feel the cold draught on my face I started to run. In the last 100 meters I threw my bag to Dan and barged past Joe onto the surface. Now in the green of the Llangattock Hills, I ran to the nearest bush and let the diarhoea flow. The bliss that I briefly felt was replaced with horror as when I looked down I was horrified to see that the liquid that had left my body was in fact blood. Clearly the immense pressure and clenching combined with Southern Streamway had not done my intestines any good. I walked back to the hut and had a very sad shower. We went to Abergavenny ‘spoons and had a nice meal but this was punctuated by more blood. (the more gore inclined among you will be happy to know that I got some horrifying pictures of this but I wont anger our editors by submitting these to the newsletter – available upon request, however). Even the drive back to Bristol was spoilt by another bloodletting stop at a service station. Eventually everyone had been dropped off and I fell asleep looking forward to a nice phone call with student health service the next day.
So moral of the story: the dig is going well and great progress is being made. MCCB will be at the next camp representing UBSS. If you find yourself tempted by the gamble of trying to not shit in a drum; be warned the consequences may be worse than you could possibly imagine.
Ben Morgan
NOT AT ALL RUDE
Oooh, shiny, look who has a present coming to them, courtesy of Ben Morgan!
Stanley Lewis lost his Rude Nora charger and rather than buying a new one like a normal person he asked me to build him one. This is my attempt. A USB-C 1s charger built into a zippo lighter. Hopefully not as likely to cause fires as its form would suggest.
With a blue LED to indicate charged and a red led to show charging. Truly the envy of any Rude Nora owner with even the slightest taste in style.
I may even be willing to do this favour again for any Nora or Scurion owning UBSS members if they were to ask nicely enough.
Oooh, shiny, look who has a present coming to them, courtesy of Ben Morgan!
Stanley Lewis lost his Rude Nora charger and rather than buying a new one like a normal person he asked me to build him one. This is my attempt. A USB-C 1s charger built into a zippo lighter. Hopefully not as likely to cause fires as its form would suggest.
With a blue LED to indicate charged and a red led to show charging. Truly the envy of any Rude Nora owner with even the slightest taste in style.
I may even be willing to do this favour again for any Nora or Scurion owning UBSS members if they were to ask nicely enough.
Ben Morgan
CHEESY AND WATERY
This month I went down my first SRT cave on the Yorkshire NPC weekend. The cave I decided to head to was Long Churn with Mungo Palmer, Tess Hopes and lead by Grace Smith. We set off bright and early (at about 1pm), and after getting lost a few times on the way and forgetting an SRT kit eventually we made it to the parking for long churn.
One of the biggest challenges for me was the 20-minute walk to the cave entrance in a full undersuit and oversuit. By this point I was so warm and sweaty I was definitely ready to go down a cold and wet cave and Long Churn certainly delivered in that respect.
The first part of the cave was a fun walk with some entertaining climbs over some small water pools. Nothing too challenging but the water was deep enough that you would have been very cold if you fell in. Luckily, I made it through relatively dry, aside from some very wet feet. After this was the famous Cheese Press, I dived into it with full confidence after watching Grace get through without too much difficulty. Unfortunately, I'm a little bit bigger than Grace and probably didn't go through at the right angle so ended up getting a bit stuck and eventually had to climb round it to continue on. I will be returning to the Cheese Press soon in order to take my revenge.
After this it was a short bit of walking and climbing to get to the main event of the trip, Alum Pot. This is where my newly learnt SRT skills were finally put to the test. To get down to Alum involved a nice 20m decent, nothing too difficult but I'll admit I was nervous. Doing it in a cave suddenly felt very different to doing it inside the safety of the Richmond Building. But I made it down safely and it was certainly worth it in the end. The view from inside Alum was like nothing else I had seen while caving. The waterfall in front of me, and the moss-covered walls with trees peering over you made it feel almost otherworldly in there.
We then ventured down further, running into other cavers who were enjoying the scenery as well. This is when I started to really appreciate the undersuit I had been given to wear. Between waiting for the other cavers and watching from the sidelines while Grace rigged everything for us, I ended up sitting admiring the views for longer than I expected and I must admit I started to lose my love for the waterfall and the rain splashing onto me. But after a while we made it down to the next section of Alum without much issue. I was starting to gain a bit of confidence in my SRT ability by this point. The only real danger that occurred was when the rest of UBSS arrived and managed to aim their rope down perfectly to land on Tess's head. Quite funny to watch from the side but I will admit I would have been rather annoyed if that had happened to me.
After this Grace and I went back up to near the waterfall and shared some well earnt cave snacks whilst Tess and Mungo spent a little longer exploring the bottom of Alum. Once we had all regrouped, we made a swift ascent back up the cave, which included another attempt at the Cheese Press from me and then a little bit of exploring around the top of lower Long Churn.
Overall, this was one of the best trips I've been on. The views were amazing and I can't wait to return to Yorkshire and continue to explore more caves up there.
This month I went down my first SRT cave on the Yorkshire NPC weekend. The cave I decided to head to was Long Churn with Mungo Palmer, Tess Hopes and lead by Grace Smith. We set off bright and early (at about 1pm), and after getting lost a few times on the way and forgetting an SRT kit eventually we made it to the parking for long churn.One of the biggest challenges for me was the 20-minute walk to the cave entrance in a full undersuit and oversuit. By this point I was so warm and sweaty I was definitely ready to go down a cold and wet cave and Long Churn certainly delivered in that respect.
The first part of the cave was a fun walk with some entertaining climbs over some small water pools. Nothing too challenging but the water was deep enough that you would have been very cold if you fell in. Luckily, I made it through relatively dry, aside from some very wet feet. After this was the famous Cheese Press, I dived into it with full confidence after watching Grace get through without too much difficulty. Unfortunately, I'm a little bit bigger than Grace and probably didn't go through at the right angle so ended up getting a bit stuck and eventually had to climb round it to continue on. I will be returning to the Cheese Press soon in order to take my revenge.
After this it was a short bit of walking and climbing to get to the main event of the trip, Alum Pot. This is where my newly learnt SRT skills were finally put to the test. To get down to Alum involved a nice 20m decent, nothing too difficult but I'll admit I was nervous. Doing it in a cave suddenly felt very different to doing it inside the safety of the Richmond Building. But I made it down safely and it was certainly worth it in the end. The view from inside Alum was like nothing else I had seen while caving. The waterfall in front of me, and the moss-covered walls with trees peering over you made it feel almost otherworldly in there.
We then ventured down further, running into other cavers who were enjoying the scenery as well. This is when I started to really appreciate the undersuit I had been given to wear. Between waiting for the other cavers and watching from the sidelines while Grace rigged everything for us, I ended up sitting admiring the views for longer than I expected and I must admit I started to lose my love for the waterfall and the rain splashing onto me. But after a while we made it down to the next section of Alum without much issue. I was starting to gain a bit of confidence in my SRT ability by this point. The only real danger that occurred was when the rest of UBSS arrived and managed to aim their rope down perfectly to land on Tess's head. Quite funny to watch from the side but I will admit I would have been rather annoyed if that had happened to me.
After this Grace and I went back up to near the waterfall and shared some well earnt cave snacks whilst Tess and Mungo spent a little longer exploring the bottom of Alum. Once we had all regrouped, we made a swift ascent back up the cave, which included another attempt at the Cheese Press from me and then a little bit of exploring around the top of lower Long Churn.
Overall, this was one of the best trips I've been on. The views were amazing and I can't wait to return to Yorkshire and continue to explore more caves up there.
Thomas DeAth
WORM WISHES, IF YOU GOT THIS FAR!
The Great Worm smiles on all those lovely people who make it this far and then let us know what you think! You always bring a smile to your editors' little faces and brighten our days and we love you all!
- Good luck to the frog. I never met one in GB when I was there a lot (some time ago. [Hans Friederich]
- I reallyreallyreally want to know more about the Mendip Cultist meeting and Shamanic healing session! Did anyone have their auras photographed? I once had mine photographed and the person doing it was very upset when I asked if their camera was faulty, as my aura was totally red. I'm sure the fact that I'm an arsy so-and-so had nothing to do with it!
Excellent reports. And yay for frog-rescuing heroes. Count me in for museum stuff. [Sharon Wheeler and the very intrigued FT Bear]
- Amazing newsletter!!!! Loved all the new trip logs 😛 [Tess Hopes]
- Great newsletter as per! The logbook is a great idea too – sad to have missed the Annual Dinner! Next year! [Paul Savage]
- Perfect choice for the mascot this month, to commemorate the frog rescue. Some amazing trips were taken by all. Massive Kudos to Jess and Grace for their incredible 14-cave trips on Burrington! [Jan Walker]
- Great writing about great adventures and I loved the spider sketch last month. [Liz Green]
I got to the end, Great Worm!
THE END
The Great Worm smiles on all those lovely people who make it this far and then let us know what you think! You always bring a smile to your editors' little faces and brighten our days and we love you all!
- Good luck to the frog. I never met one in GB when I was there a lot (some time ago. [Hans Friederich]
- I reallyreallyreally want to know more about the Mendip Cultist meeting and Shamanic healing session! Did anyone have their auras photographed? I once had mine photographed and the person doing it was very upset when I asked if their camera was faulty, as my aura was totally red. I'm sure the fact that I'm an arsy so-and-so had nothing to do with it!
Excellent reports. And yay for frog-rescuing heroes. Count me in for museum stuff. [Sharon Wheeler and the very intrigued FT Bear]
- Amazing newsletter!!!! Loved all the new trip logs 😛 [Tess Hopes]
- Great newsletter as per! The logbook is a great idea too – sad to have missed the Annual Dinner! Next year! [Paul Savage]
- Perfect choice for the mascot this month, to commemorate the frog rescue. Some amazing trips were taken by all. Massive Kudos to Jess and Grace for their incredible 14-cave trips on Burrington! [Jan Walker]
- Great writing about great adventures and I loved the spider sketch last month. [Liz Green]
I got to the end, Great Worm!
THE END