Ferret: 2013

York Minster

So I went to York for just a couple of days break two weeks ago, I had never visited there before. Had a great time, particularly enjoyed the National Railway Museum, and the sight of York Minster with scaffolding all over it. I love Gothic architecture, the present cathedral building dates back to around the year 1230. Being face to face with a gargoyle up Chester Cathedral last month was amazing, the Minster is a lot bigger...

Salford ♥ Manchester

A roof at Salford Quays and a crane in the Northern Quarter.

Somewhere I have wanted to see for years

Lunch in the sunshine

Sunny day in Manchester

A sunny day out in Manchester with Paul.

Barton Arcade

Cwmorthin

My second trip to Cwmorthin with Ed and Olly, Simon and Briony. The original plan for the day was Snakes & Ladders at Dinorwic Quarry, however the weather was shockingly bad, even for Snowdonia. The rain refused to relent, and while a few hardy (foolish) members of UCET braved the weather, the four of us decided that going underground was a far more appealing prospect.

Old tourist sign

The Sunday after the club dinner is traditionally a hung over caving trip to somewhere in Derbyshire. The only takers were Me, Tom and Olly. By midday, after several cups of caffeine we were sat at Olly's house and just about decided on doing Nettle Pot or something. Then I mentioned that Joel was in Manchester. Tom looked at Olly for a minute and so we were off to Manchester...

Best View in Manchester

Yesterday I met Joel, Jay and Paul in Manchester...

Manchester - Salford Junction Canal

With thanks to Suboffender, Barlow, and Olly.

Ratchwood Founder Mine

Gutted I forgot my camera.

Many thanks to Steven Dalgliesh and members of the Wirksworth Mines Research Group for organising the trip and showing us around :)
http://www.wmrg.org.uk/

Engine Vein Open Weekend

The Engine Vein Open Weekend had an excellent turnout as we have come to expect over the last couple of years.

Gorgeous George our mine mascot enjoyed taking part in the evenings frivolities, and his first taste or SRT went down well :) Thankyou to Alley for her idea of bringing along stick on moustaches to add to the general hilarity- I look forward to seeing the photographs. And also thankyou to Damian who provided everyone with generous helpings of his Polish hash hot pot, sadly I was the only person who didn't like it. I urge everyone to sponsor his speed hike on the Clapham Circuit in aid of the Cave Rescue Organisation. His just giving sponsorship page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/Damian-Skrzelowski1

For details of the next open weekend please see www.derbyscc.co.uk

Bit Windy in Mancland

Hastily arranged mooch about Manchester with Suboffender. Bloody windy on the roofs today!

Photography in Engine Vein

Bit of a last minute thing this arranged with Dan Sutton from UCET, seeing as none of us were going to Nenthead this weekend, Dan, myself, and Olly decided to go down Engine Vein on what turned out to be the nicest day of 2013 so far weather wise!

Olly looking at Blue Shaft

Derbyshire Caving Weekend

Saturday morning nice and early for the DCC Derbyshire weekend, myself and Oggy met Tom at Peveril Stores in Castleton, but not before a quick trip to Hitch and Hike who have aquired an extra sock courtesy of Owen lol. We were not sure if anybody else was going to turn up so had a butty and waited around, when it became clear nobody else was joining us the decision was made to do Oxlow Cavern. Kieran had lent Tom some rope and after a long time getting ready and faffing about with bags and stuff in the freezing wind, we set off with a bag each up the slightly snowy hill to find the entrance shaft to Oxlow.

Bage Mine Winch Trip

A cold and early start found Damian driving through the snow with me and Olly to meet Gary and Daggers in the Rising Sun car park, once we had determined nobody else was turning up for the trip we went up to the Wirksworth club hut, and were all suitably impressed by the facilities there.

Many thanks to Steven Dalgliesh and members of the Wirksworth Mines Research Group for organising the trip and showing us around :)

Simpson Pot

Drinking cider and red wine the night before a caving trip is obviously never a smart idea. But I'm not really known for my smart ideas so I woke up with a headache and not much feeling like breakfast or caving if I am honest! And worse we did not end up going to Lancaster Hole as previously planned, instead myself, Tom, Damian, and Pete joined Simon and Kevin on their trip through Simpson's Pot. This had been sold to us novices at the New Inn the night before: "a classic Yorkshire trip" -Simon, "well I've always wanted to do it" -Tom, "Nah you won't have any problems in there" -Steve.

This turned out to be a fair step up in terms of the difficulty level of caving trips I have previously been on. When we were getting ready, I forgot to put my kneepads on, buried at the bottom of my bag somewhere. When I realised I wasn't wearing them I heard someone say "well you don't really need knee pads for this trip anyway". Which you don't, but I really should have worn them anyway...

Before the Trip

A steep walk brought us to the entrance of Simpson Pot, part of the West Kingsdale system of caves in North Yorkshire. Ten minutes after crawling in my hangover seemed to have vanished as we were straight into fun cave stuff. This was my first pull through trip all done on two 9mm ropes, I can't remember how many pitches there were or how deep; I wasn't counting! The through trip until reaching Kingsdale Master Cave is fairly tight in places plus features plenty of high level rift climbing and traversing. The first problem I encountered was "The Pit" also known as Bob's Pit. This is a circular natural shaft that you have to cross while traversing through the rift. I was told its around 30oddft deep, Kevin and Tom were straight over it, crossing it on their knees using two little ledges. You can't stand up, theres not enough room, the only option is to cross it on hands and knees staring face down into it. I tried it one way and then another but felt like there was a very good chance I could fall down it. I was causing a hold up "Whats going on?" I heard Simon bellow from the back. Tom noticing a hanger on the wall told me to attach a sling to my cowstail and chuck it over to him, so he secured it to the hanger. Not an accepted method of lifelining, but it gave me the confidence to cross the pit after giving myself a mental shake. By this time Simon had worked out what was going on, and squeezed past Damian and Pete to rig a traverse line across the shaft for them. I was later told by Kevin (who is a member of CRO) that quite a few rescues have happened when cavers have descended The Pit, believing that at the bottom is the way on, then pulled through their rope and so stranded themselves at the bottom. (I have since found out there is a way through to Storm Pot? at the bottom of the pit but its described as a very tight "committing" squeeze through.)

As I mentioned earlier, much to my amusement Simpson Pot involves a fair bit of rift traversing. Now up to this point in my caving career, my size has mostly been a useful advantage. Being 5ft nowt is not so useful in the bigger sections of rifts. Trying to move through one section I was finding the going tricky, my left boot lost grip on the wall, and I slid a few feet until my right knee jammed in the gap and I could brace myself again. My first thought was "ah sh*t that felt bad", then "why the fuck do I not have knee pads on!" but I found upon moving it was not so bad and I could still walk and climb normally without any real pain. The next bit I remember was funny, a little duck through the Blasted Hole. We had become a little more spread out at this point waiting for everyone to descend the previous pitch and then Simon to pass the rope forwards. I found myself alone in a pool of water and shouted to Kevin and Tom for the route, after some confusion I found the duck where they were waiting on the other side. They shouted at me to go through feet first which seemed insane but thankfully I did as they told me. Unlike Damian who after several minutes of shouting located the hole and ignored or didn't understand feet first and so went through on his hands and knees only to find that the water on the other side is deeper and so his face went plunging in to our great amusement!

The rest of the trip was comprised of several more traverses and pitches of various heights. I gave up on one of the climbs as the earlier fall had knocked my confidence abit I reckon, but I could get down to the bottom of it, walk along and climb back up.

Minera Lead Mine

Damian admiring the Calcite Formation beneath Cabin Shaft

Me, Damian, Pete and James met Tom who arranged this trip on this freezing cold rainy morning. Kitting up was bad enough in the weather, and we couldn't help but imagine what it would be like getting changed afterwards when we would be even colder and wetter after the trip! We walked over to Cabin Shaft which Tom rigged with a rope to abseil down, I think its about 30ft deep from what I remember. Once underground we were all suitably impressed by the huge calcite formation, which has been very well preserved considering its location near to the entrance shaft.

We all followed our knowledgable leader Tom who reassured us he has been down Minera many time, he told us the goal was to get down to the 'lake'. We all agreed that the mines passages are reminiscent of caving, and this is certainly not the easiest mine to navigate with many twisting turns and slopes that look very similar to each other. We all enjoyed some good fun bits of scrambling and climbing, especially James who I am sure loved every second of this trip :)

Calcite Formation Close Up

It took us about an hour and a half getting to the top of the deep stope at the bottom of which Tom told us was the lake. Tom and Pete rigged this to abseil about 50ft or so I think to the top of a big pile of stone that has fallen down and built up over the years. The descent itself is straightforward, but getting onto the rope involved clipping on cowstails and walking along a scaffold bar out to where the rope drops. This was not so fun as the drop below was hard to ignore whilst threading my stop to descend. The lake was bigger than I expected but I did not expect it to be yellow and it did whiff abit!

Back at Cabin Shaft and considering our options...

Alderley Wander

Me, Olly, Nigel, Ed and Richard decided to meet up for a wander around Alderley to take a look at a few of the lesser visited areas around the Edge. It was a nice day and lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine. I was pleased to collect my aditnow calendar from Ed and also the new edition of the Alderley Edge Mines book, updated by Nigel Dibben. First we went to Findlowe Mine in Finlow Hill, my second visit to the small mine which not a great deal is known about, but is suspected to have been worked primarily for cobalt. After a good look around and some photographs, we headed back to the car park for a quick bite to eat, and also to pick up an electron ladder for a look in Doc Mine. On the way we observed channel 4 doing some more filming near the Old Alderley Quarry for the programme Skins. And also a strange and well built shelter practically in the quarry, maybe it was being used for filming purposes? Nigel pointed out old marks on the lower side quarry walls indicating plank props and bits of grafitti which I have never noticed before, having not previously spent a great deal of time around that area.

The Alderley Edge Mines book

Moel Fferna Slate Mine

My first trip to Moel Fferna was my first time using an electron ladder. For this my second time we would all be using SRT for access. Suggested by Ed as primarily a photography trip, our group met at the roadside cafe which was, to everyone's annoyance, closed being out of season. We then divided ourselves into two cars and headed up the rocky track, Tom catching us up as we were getting changed.

The walk up was pleasant, surprisingly no rain fell on the 'bleak hill', however we witnessed the damage from the incessant flooding during 2012 that had evidently turned the trickle of a stream into a torrent and torn its way through the farm. Fortunately the stream had since calmed down again and the track up to the top of the incline had survived in good condition. We paused for a quick look around the crumbling old mine buildings and a quick breather before the last steep walk up to the entrance. Nobody wasted any time getting in, SRT kits off and happy to be underground, we went straight to The Cog and watched Briony, Ed and Daggers set up their photography equipment. The rest of us (myself, Pete, Olly, Tom, Oggy, Colin) then wandered off to explore with the aim of finding the "Bridge of Death".

Moel Fferna is technically called an underground slate quarry, worked for slab and on the whole in large and stable chambers. The supportive wooden crib work of the cog is quite magnificent, showing the later work of coal miners in the quarry. This mine has some very nice and photogenic features The cog, the adjacent chamber with its beautifully flat patterned roof and the old chained bridge of death.

Ed's Photographs