Birkwith Area Caves (27 Aug 2006).
An excellent turnout of ten completed the Calf Holes – Browgill traverse including the pretty upstream bits.
A trip through the fearsome chasm of Gods Bridge (Browgill) was also completed as was Old Ing and Rough Hill Inlet with the watery bits bringing forth the customary ‘Oooohs’ and ‘Awes’ in the deeper parts.
Shortage of time left no option but to call for a Return to Birkwith to complete the schedule on Sunday Sept 10. Meet at Birkwith at same time. Everybody welcome.
Birkwith Area Caves: Dave Walker, Ian Cummins & Steve Warren (10 Sept 2006).
A return to Birkwith on September 10 revealed more to this superb caving area. Dave Walker disappeared quickly whilst new boy Ian Cummins and yours truly spent a fruitless half hour trying to get into Dismal Hill Cave through the original entrance. The crawl into the river passage from the bottom of the entrance climb looked quite impossibly low, much lower than the almost impossibly low crawl experienced some years before. Now beginning to miss Dave we came out of that hole and went for the new shaft a few yards. With a new ferret to do the tricky bits, Ian readily investigating, we found that the new manhole entrance is quite an easy climb directly into the river passage. This, of course is a brilliant streamway with deep, very deep, canals and swims. No sign of Dave until regaining the surface an hour or so later. He had taken the upstream route via traverses over the lake and a new route via Micks End to emerge from Old Ing. Brilliant stuff!
We realised that the old entrance being little used had probably silted up in the bottom crawl.
Turning efforts to Birkwith, our pet ferret was only too eager to give his new hybrid suit a further trial by swimming to the end of the lake and back. More brilliant stuff
This took place on a stunningly beautiful late summer day, and you all missed it.
The White Rose Pothole Club 