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Report by Jason Rider
The weekend began at 10:30am in Inglesport Café where Paz, Rob,
Stik and Jase decided to take a trip down Tatham Wife Hole. Having
parked at the layby just up from White Scar Showcave we made our way up
the scars to the limestone pavement – thick fog making the going
difficult. Once on top, it took about half an hour to find the entrance
due to the conditions. We all breathed a sigh of relief when Paz’s
voice rang out throught the mists that he had found the entrance.
Tatham Wife is an interesting cave that has developed in places on an
inclined fault line. Though there are only four main pitches, it is a
surprisingly deep cave at 155 metres. There was plenty of water in the
streamway which made for an exciting trip - much fun was had at the
duck between the third and fourth pitches when we were unable to attain
the dry bypass.
In the meantime, Nigel and Steve had arrived, having been delayed, but
were unable to find the cave due to the conditions. We met them back at
the cars later in the afternoon where Bob Toogood also appeared.
We had tea at Bernies before making for the Marton Arms for a couple of
pints before the stomp.
The stomp was at the Dalesbridge Centre at Austwick which is an outdoor
activity centre.
The room wasn’t very big and it was packed. It was a classic stomp with
the band, The Thin Men, in fine form (this is the band that played at
the Eldon Stomp for the Cavers Fair at Pindale last year). Their were
quite a few Derbyshire cavers in attendence as we bumped into members
from the TSG, Masson and Crewe. Needless to say, the evening
degenerated into a drunken riot. We managed to get young Steve crowd
surfing for a good 30 seconds before anyone dropped him. And there was
a fight at the end for good measure.
The next day no one was up to much, however, Stik, Steve and Nigel took
a trip down a very wet Long Churn which was an exciting trip given the
wet conditions.
Those left in The Dales met up for tea in Bernies before heading for
home after an excellent weekends caving and drinking.
Tatham Wife Hole - 24/11/2001
Report by Steve Rider
Stik
Paz
Jase
Rob
Being the day of the eagerly awaited NCC Stomp For Braida we decided
that an early start and a good caving trip was in order. This not just
a good idea because of the stomp but because due to the Foot and Mouth
epidemic of 2001 very little caving has been taking place.
Having met Rob and Paz earlier at Inglesport café we set off to
look for the other two members of the party, Nige and Steve. Also they
could not be found so the four of us made our way to the large layby
about ½ mile past the White Scar Show Cave.
The day was incredibly foggy, with only 50ft or so visibility. It was
going to be entertaining finding 'Tatty' in the first place. This
proved to be the case as it took over 1 ½ hours to locate the
entrance !!
Once inside, we met some other cavers who were on their return so a
wait was required at the first pitch. At this point Paz subtly took
over the rigging and we descended down the first pitch getting rather
wet on the way.
A god bit of steady caving can be found down Tatham Wife Hole, nothing
too serious, however the duck was pretty full and as Paz had a
'designer' three piece oversuit with no arms on he was not too
impressed at having to get well and truly soaked!
We continued to the bottom of the fourth pitch where the streamway
continues as a canal until the final sump, which is passable by divers.
Returning the same way, Rob took the derigging and we were all out on
surface within 3 ¼ hours of initially entering the cave.
It took 20 mins to walk back to the car, which was by this time in
darkness except for the headlights from Nigel's van. They had finally
arrived and reported that they had been up to the limestone pavements
but could not find the entrance! Never mind, they can get a trip in
some other time, and at least they got to go to the pub. After not much
time Bob Toogood turned up stating that he had a quiet day, just a
quick run up Whernside!
After a few in the Marton Arms the seven of us made our way down to the
Dalesbridge Centre where we were just in time to get seats for the
evening's Stomp - see above.
Lower Long Churn - 25/11/2001
Report by Steve Rider
Nigel Strong
Steve Fellows
Stik
A good, clear-headed, early start was made (not! - see stomp report) to
Bernies Café and then on to Selside for a little trip through
Long Churn and down into Alum.
That's what we thought! After very heavy rain during the night most
places were totally flooded, and Long Churn (upper) was no exception.
Having been warned by fellow cavers not to venture in we made a quick
decision, - let’s go and have a look for ourselves. So Stick, Nige and
Steve set off for Alum accompanied by Jase who was feeling the worse
for wear.
There were plenty of nutters going up and down Alum Pot and we even
bumped into our friend the Beer Fairy who was dropping Alum with
another team. We carried on past and arrived at the Diccan entrance -
this was in flood and would not be passable. We carried on up to the
Long Churn Lower entrance and popped our heads in. Again, this was in
flood. However, not to be out done by the water we decided to use the
ropes (which were for Alum) to rig the stream passage to enable a safe
and controlled traverse of Lower
Long Churn to take place.
This we did and after much fun and excitement we could leave the fast
flowing stream way at the point where the water leaves Long Churn for
Diccan. At this point the stream way carries on dry but there was
evidence of recent flooding…
After following the stream passage past several deep pools and cascades
we finally arrived at the Dolly Tubs pitch which was wet today. We
descended down using our last available rope to gain the vantage point
in the side of Alum Pot, a stunning location to say the least.
This was an excellent little trip on a day when the conditions meant
that the undertaking was serious and the place was not full of school
kids.
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