Tim was there bright and
early with a ladder erected to the roof repair scaffolding, giving us about 25
feet to practice with….Bill (Osborne) came with me for moral support.
After being given some good
tips on how to keep the ladder close, and prevent myself falling into my usual
bad habit of taking most of my weight on my arms, with my wellie clad feet
struggling to find rungs beneath me, I made it a good half way up the ladder.
One or two members drifted by from inside and had a go, demonstrating some good
techniques, which I observed with envy. Greg and Andy joined us and I braved
another go up the ladder, feeling I did slightly better that time.
So, that done, the ladder
was taken down and we were shown how to roll it up, such a neat job when done
properly, and demonstrated expertly by Tim. A couple of us had a go under his
watchful eye, then it was off to Bull Pot of the Witches to try it out ‘for
real’.
Tim, Greg, Andy, Bill and
myself, all trudged the short path to the entrance. The descent on the ladder,
down a twisting quite narrow shaft, had lots of sticking
out handy ledges to grab or get an elbow or knee on, and take some weight off
my arms as I tried my best to use some of the ladder skills I had just been
shown.
We all popped out of the
hole at the bottom and into the cave proper, following Tim through winding
walkways, climbing over boulders, standing on Tim’s knee and Bill’s a couple of
times to reach high enough to get over a couple of big slippery obstacles, and
having a great time sliding down the other side on my btm! We came to some
hands and knees crawling sections and I wished I had worn my knee pads!
Occasionally there’s a benefit to being a shorthouse, and whilst the taller
ones were on knees I was able to get through much of the passage by squatting
down and moving along sideways like a crab, saving my knees a good bit of wear
and tear!
We caved on to the big
chamber and on the way Tim pointed out the route to the Gour
Chambers for Bill to explore on another visit. I felt like a kid on a fantastic
muddy planet, enjoying a good time out with my pals! I was tempted to singalong
with Andy, who was in fine voice bringing up the rear, but the chorus…B---s to
your partner….etc. was more of a man song I thought! Hahaha!
Greg had a really fancy set
of lights on his helmet he was lit up like a Christmas tree. I named him Vespa
Man. He brought some camera equipment with him and took some nice shots while
we were down there.
As we headed back towards
our entrance point, my thoughts returned to the ladder….all the way down…and
now, all the way up.I had enjoyed myself so much scrambling and crawling about,
I hoped I had enough puff left to get to the top……well, I nearly did. Half way
up I was hanging on with tired arms trying not to panic. I remembered the
lesson and I gripped the ladder between my thighs and held it close so that I
could stand and take the weight with my legs……a few more pushes and a well
needed couple of yanks on the rope from Tim (thank you soooooo much!) and I
made it to the top. Yippeeeee!
Back in the daylight, my
shiny blue, nearly new caving suit was a beautiful shade of mud, and I didn’t
mind a bit. I’d had a really good time.
Next day, feeling rather
sore in far too many places to mention, and bearing wounds in the form of large
bruises to my inner thighs from trying to grip the ladder (see pic) I decided I
needed some R+R for a while, and in future……well, more caving of course!
Susan Bohm.