Mendips caving#
4th to 6th October
Me, Olly Rees, Dan, Alec and Dave
After some last minute potential problems when Mick was diagnosed with suspected appendicitis which meant we wouldn’t have a suitable sized vehicle for 4 of us, we arrived after a long drive to the Wessex caving club hut full of noisy, drunk Southampton University caving club students. Thank god for ear plugs - 3M from Boots, the best. On the plus side at least half of the students where female and they didn’t have beards.
I learnt a few things on this trip.
- Mendips caving is actually quite good.
Alec and I went down Swildons on Saturday and it was a beautiful, clean washed stream passage. We visited Sump 1, which we thought was not open but everyone else told us it was, and Mud Sump 1 and 2. A return trip to see more of the cave is required.
- Mendips bolting is rubbish.
Everything we saw is bolted for ladders, not SRT, although this doesn’t excuse the rub points and poor positioning. I’m sure Mendips cavers have a reason for not doing SRT but it can’t be a sensible one.
- Most of the student cavers we saw in Swildons haven’t got a clue what they are doing safety wise.
We saw groups with no kit bags or safety equipment but with team members who were shivering on their way into the cave having fallen into pools. One whole group were lowered down 20 Foot pitch on caving belts, none of which were doubled back. If they ever had to claim on their insurance I’m sure it would be thrown out due to bad practice.
- Always cave with someone bigger than yourself.
Usually I seem to cave with racing whippets but this time I caved with Alec in Swildons, who, as they say, is a BIG UNIT. Not fat, just BIG. The smug feeling you get when you slip through a constriction and get to watch your partner struggle is a beautiful thing.
Frozen Deep in Reservoir Hole, the second biggest chamber by volume in Britain after Gaping Gill, is certainly impressive. Not as impressive as Gaping Gill as a space, but still impressive. The formations are very good and the digging that was required to get through the Hard Times crawl is testament to the diggers perseverance. The most impressive thing in Reservoir Hole though is Willie Stantons digging exploits and engineering. They are fantastic. He believed in not using wood or scaffolding; his dig had to last a lifetime, not rot away in 30 years. He has been described as a gentleman caver and consequently everything is beautifully built with dry stone walling. Every time you need a hand hold or foot hold there is one and everything is built solidly. It takes a lot of effort but it looks great and will be there for a long time.
Thanks to Nigel Ball and Mick Ellerton, both of whom unfortunately couldn’t make the trip, for organising everything.
Thanks to Dan and Alex for driving.
Thanks to Dan, Olly and Dave for thrashing the students in what ever competition they dreamt up on Saturday night.
But especially thanks to Alec for making me feel like a racing whippet.