The CUCC Blog

A weekend of Notts (trip report, 12-13th October 2024)

Saturday’s caving trip began more slowly than we hoped, as our plans for a prompt entry to Notts pot were foiled by a series of road based hazards. These began with navigating passing a large tractor, two horses, then the main event, of at least a hundred sheep, whose relocation to a new field turned out to be exactly along the road we were trying to drive up. The sheep were clearly unaware of how much SRT our Great Leader Russell had planned, and spent half an hour ambling up the road, stopping regularly for a snack on the hedgerows as we passed. We were eventually free of them however, only to be immediately faced with a rapidly oncoming land rover and large trailer, which proved another challenge to navigate around. The final straw of the car journey was the suicidal pheasant, who fortunately just managed to miss the front of our car. On finally reaching our destination, we quickly changed into full caving kit, filled all possible pockets with titan bars, and headed off on a rapid walk across the fell to the cave, filled with optimism and confidence. The entrance itself was a steep sided hole, perfectly set up for Ben, Marie and Buck to observe as I, under the excellent tuition of Russell rigged the first pitch and rebelay into the cave system. This was both harder and easier than I’d imagined; I did fortunately remember the knots but didn’t anticipate the number of readjustments required to make everything the right length. After the rigging was eventually complete, and we descended into the cave, followed a short crawl and quick in situ pitch into Three Ways Chamber. A gentle traverse and another short pitch took us to the beginning of the harder SRT, when Russell took over rigging, displaying remarkable agility and fearlessness as he rigged a pitch down onto a ledge, an exposed traverse around the side of the cavern and another pitch into the yawning abyss, which it was possible to reach only by wedging one leg either side of a huge drop while attaching the descender with your hands. An excellent descent was then followed by another traverse and pitch and deviation, ending at another ledge next to yet another large drop. Ben and I began to realise that this was more technical and exposed than we had ever done before, and when Russell asked how the pitch had been, Ben replied that “it was fine, it just violates my evolutionary bias towards survival”. A final pitch took us into the lower streamway, which we ascended gently to another awkward traverse. Ben and Marie were then descended upon by a very lost animal, possibly a bird, or a bat, but definitely far deeper in the cave than it should have been. Next came one of the more complex pitches, involving a tri-hang expertly rigged to avoid rope rub, and a very tight descent, swinging at the end into a ledge that involved another slightly chaotic Kitty crash into the cave wall. A slightly complex manouevre then ensued, as Buck moved to the front of the group to rig with Russell, clambering above and below Ben, Marie and I whilst we balanced above the rift. A final traverse then took us to the top of the last big pitch, which Ben and I decided was beyond us, and we eventually managed to communicate a collective U-turn. This was delayed slightly by the loss of Marie’s light, which seemed lost but serendipitously washed its way back down the stream to where Russell had descended to rescue it. A team meeting then followed, all safely clipped into the same bolt as we perched on the largest ledge available to us, where we refuelled, and made an Exit Plan. Buck was to rapidly ascend to ensure we didn’t miss our callout, followed by Ben and I, with Russell and Marie derigging at the rear. Ascending to the top of the first pitch, I was for once glad I was small, as the very tight top of the pitch meant very little space for your knees when prussiking. I awaited Ben sat wedged in the rift with the streamway far below me, musing how odd it was that it felt like I was really high up, when I was actually very low down. A series of formidable ascents then followed. We were fully acquainted with the challenges of tackle sacks, how to tangle yourself up in cows tails in the most annoying ways possible, and the best and worst ways to navigate rebelays. A few choice swear words, exclaims of “I’m actually going to die” and plenty of encouragement from other members of the team brought us up the final few pitches, climbs and traverses, and I exited into the open air to find Buck and a clear starry night greeting me. Ben then appeared, unclipped from the final pitch, and embraced the earth beneath him, his delight at being both alive and on solid ground evident. “That”, Ben said as the clock struck 10:15pm and the last of the group exited the cave, “was powerful”. Sunday’s trip was everything that Saturday wasn’t - largely flat, wet, and entirely SRT free. We, Kitty, Ben, Joel, Josh, Lara, and Lara’s Dad, headed back to Leck Fell for Notts 2, described by some as the perfect cave, with one of the lowest effort-to-reward ratios possible. Spirits were high as we descended through the iron kiln, a majestic array of scaffolding, ladders and breeze blocks engineered to take us down to the Notts 2 streamway. A few short climbs then followed, before we met the stream itself. The journey through the streamway was excellent as always, easy going, pretty and scattered with stalactites for constant entertainment. The depth of the stream steadily increased, until it was up to my shoulders and we decided it was time to turn around. A light picnic of the obligatory titan bars followed, before a return through the streamway, a couple of climbs back up and a very enjoyable ascent up the iron kiln. After 2 hours in the cave, we decided we had done enough for the day and earnt a trip to the Cowan Bridge tea room, which despite being closed, had a very kind owner who recognised the caver’s need for tea, and readily bestowed upon us large helpings of tea, cake, scones, jam and cream. The valiant efforts of Joel meant nothing went to waste, and after the last of the cream was scraped from our plates, we headed back to the car, and concluded that it had been a thoroughly excellent day.

-- Kitty Knight, Feb. 8, 2025. Category: Caving