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A QUICKIE TO YORKSHIRE
At the May
committee meeting, Clive and I discovered that we were
both free for some subterranean scrambling on the bank
Holiday Monday (May 26th).
A quick
call was made to my friend and all round action man
(complete with movable eyes), Nige Rixon. He had been
nagging me for a while to take him underground.
Late on
Sunday evening, Nige and I collected Clive, sold our
sole for a tank of petrol and headed up the M6 to the
Yorkshire
dales.
I had
planned to camp in Ingleton, but the site I used to
stop at had closed down.
We headed
towards Clapham, and after some begging, got a couple
of pitches at 1030pm.
Once the
tents were up, we sat in Nige’s tent sampling
Clive’s 50th birthday whiskey and talking
nonsense into the small hours.
A good
early start saw us clogging our arteries in
‘Bernie’s Café’ (a must for all Yorkshire
weekends, it is a café and gear shop all in one!),
then we headed towards Horton, paid our dues, and dropped
into Upper long Churn cave, which is a fantastic first
trip for any new caver.
Nige Rixon,
Chris and Clive, Long churn entrance
Nige on the entrance climb
We had a
great trip in low water, and were soon burning the
pixels on Clive’s camera, with a few on mine as
well. The two skinny boys slid through the cheese
press (immortalised by Kate humble) while those of us
with more manly physiques (!) took the high route. The
water was so low and clear that we were able to see
fish in the stream way. Once all the climbs and pools
had been reversed, we popped back out into the sun
(the rest of the
UK
was wet) and headed to
Wilsons
cave, which is a short cave with no roof for half its
length, so you have a fun, sporting mini canyon. Then
the roof comes on, spiders as big as elephants appear,
and it gradually gets lower and wetter to a flat out
exit in the stream.
Nige Rixon,
Long Churn (photo Clive Bennett)
Clive exits the ‘cheese press
From
there, it was a quick drive across the valley to the
flanks of Penygent, and a trip down Old Ing cave,
which is a pleasant and photogenic stream cave which
is part of the system resurges at Birkwith cave. We
Headed to the sump, before more photos, and the walk
back to the car for the long drive home. A cracking
day of fun trips that Nige said, had him buzzing for
days. A future caver???
Chris Haines
Chris
in the streamway, Old Ing, photos by Clive Bennett
Chris
Haines
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