Just In Time - by Denis Bushell

Read it here

Hi Ian, Faye, Leif and Dennis,

My apologies for the late letter of thanks for 'Hosting' me and for taking me through both Diccan and Alum Pot.

The caves were [for me] definitely challenging, as they say 'anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger', Diccan has the longest series of pitches that i have ever had to pass, and dealing with the noise of the water, the cold and the physicality of the cave was at times almost overwhelming and made for some 'interesting moments', I apologise to you Dennis for re-rigging the 'Short redirect' on the second last pitch before the sump, I was buggered and just couldn't get it at the time, now i have had time to think about it I would have done it differently, but at the time i just couldn't put it together. 

The exit up Alum was spectacular! I took far more time than i should have taking photos of the bridge, the Long Churn window, and the view and was very upset when I found they were all out of focus except for a few 'not so bad ones', the climb out was exhausting but very rewarding, in all this trip is now my bench mark by which I will rate other caves. [time to visit 'Tassie' I think!] 

I would like to say 'thank you Ian' for rigging, It was impressive watching you lead the way, you made it 'look' extremely easy! and for making 'almost' every pitch easy for me to pass! also a big thank you to Dennis for your patience and words of advice along the way, Faye and Leif: thank you both for choosing and rigging such a beautifully challenging exit pitch, It will stick in my mind for ages.

I didn't get on any caving trips the next day so my wife and I did the touristy thing and visited Malham Cove, saw the nesting peregrines, then Gordale Scar where I chatted with a couple of Aussies from south of Sydney who were on a climbing holiday around Europe. 

On the Monday we did the Gaping Gill winch meet. My wife had never been in a wild cave anywhere, and had never been on a winch 300ft above a cavern before either, so i was surprised that she lapped it up and spent ages poking around the cave. We didn't get to leave the main cavern but it has whetted my appetite to return and have a proper look around!

So again my thanks for a great introduction to UK Caving, I hope that in the future I might be able to do the same for any of you here in Oz, although the caves here on the mainland might be very tame in comparison! what ever happens you can contact me by email or through the club: http://bmsc.caves.org.au/ I hope to make your acquaintance again in the future, Safe caving.

Kind regards Ric Webber

Phil Ryder believes that one of the interesting things about our club is that we do caves that are off the beaten track.  So it is and I often follow in the footsteps of another connoisseur of the unusual, Peter Ryder of Moldywarps fame, in exploring the obscurities of the Northern Dales.  Think of such neglected gems as Elph Cleugh and Whirley Gill and you get the idea.  In fact there is a cave that I have searched for several times and failed to locate – Yad Moss Cave – that has driven me to such distraction that a 200-foot grovel has no right to!  Hence I record a few meanderings through the area to remind readers of these obscure gems.

Sometimes I am drawn to do visit a cave or climb a route by its name – Juniper Gulf for example conjures up images of natural grandeur, so Hazel Bush Hill Hole might similarly invoke thoughts of a grovel beneath a shrub, so maybe that wasn’t the case this time!

Lying in the bleak moorland between Bowes and Tan Hill, in a region normally only seen by gamekeepers, grouse shooters and Pennine Way tickers, is a rare Northern Dales sinkhole cave, Hazel Bush Hill Hole, which I visited several years ago whilst exploring this wild area.  Parking up south of Bowes, a short walk through peat bogs and heather finds a stream running along a limestone bed, with a small crevice in its north bank forming the entrance to HBHH.  In truth it’s a simple crawl through non-descript passage ending at a too-tight slot, but investigation lower down the valley finds the imposing resurgence of Eller Beck Head – not to be entered without a wetsuit, whilst further upstream on the opposite bank, some recent shoring by a crevice led me to investigate what I later found to be another MSG find of Lost Pool Sink – which can actually be found online featuring a stuck moldywarper!

An afternoon of solitude wandering around these largely forgotten areas is a welcome change from the honeypots of the dales – go on, have a look.