Andy Sparrow, Euan Goodland, Judi Durber, Lawrence Wilson, Peter Sanders, Seán Tidey
Some caves have reputations, bad air (Tyning’s Swallet), awkward entrance (Longwood), dodgy sumps (Stoke Lane Slocker) non-of which you would know about if you were just going by the name of the cave, but some are named for good reason. Sludge Pit being one such hole.
I have been in before, curiosity when if reopened; showing someone else, (& confirmed there are some very dodgy rocks hanging about!); cave rescue training & to support the club at the dig site. (Yes there is very sludgy mud in there.) This trip was supposed to be different. Having opened new passages, thus linking more passages to other passages a challenge had been set by the fiendish Mr Sparrow that would take you to parts of the cave not normally explored if you followed the numbers set down. And so, I joined the club trip to see how much I could do before it was all dismantled behind me.
The first challenge was to get a lid off a tub so that we could all sign in. Well we all failed that one but still paid our money. Andy rigged the pitch with some rope that I think had definitely been in before. I doubted its flexibility & ability to run through my new descender but I did manage with a bit of bouncing to get down. Surplus dangly bits where thankfully packed away in the now empty rope bag. And so, I was pushed forward to find the first number. Quite easy but going forward sticking my head in all the side pockets number 2 had to be pointed out as it was flat against the rock. We slid forward over a nice slab of a rock to do a one leg hop to keep high in the keyhole passage. I think this was skeleton Passage as Andy said look down & you would see it … mmmm no I didn’t. There is a fair amount of squeezing and then round a bend to a traverse rope as there is a bit of a bold step and with most of the rock spiky would do you some damage if you slipped. It certainly kept snagging my leg loops as I slowly pulled my way through Four Pots Rift.
I think I recognised where we were. Ahh yes, the site of the next dig Andy is undertaking, evidenced by shattered rock that is quite pretty, streaked with calcite, blue shiny fragments. Up the mud slope, whoops, wasn’t supposed to be going backwards … wellie grip is going, did it at the second go & dived into the muddy crawl that leads to one of the new connection sites. It appears the digging has unstopped a trickle of water that now runs down the hole making everything very gloopy. Thanks Guys.
Slithering down, clinging desperately to the hand line, I thought this was the pitch !! no that is a little further on. Time to retrieve kit for a nice descent to the rest of the crew who are having a bit of a SRT practice session. A few paces on a rope is dangling from the roof in the middle of the passage. A voice from above assures us that they are okay, Dave eventually appears. My turn next up, it looks short so don’t use foot jammer, (thankfully). Getting around the deviation proves easy but I find in the next 2 prusiks the rock has bulged out and the roof closes over my head. I am in a smooth squeeze, I can’t get my feet out of the loop & I have to force the Croll up a few inches at a time and slowly the weight is off my feet, I wiggle round so one leg can lead and I pop through the top of Link Pitch.
Immediately off the top you see the next section is a sideways squeeze. There is enough space to tuck all my equipment round me tightly before dropping in to the slot. The leg loops still dig into the mud as I inch forward to find the rest of the group have got there before me (there always appears to be an easier way around!) are chatting cheerfully watching me struggle.
It’s time to go out, The Hunters call, but one more obstacle and Dave leads the way up The Max Traverse. I watch carefully as it is a bold step in, then straddle high up, cross the rope & and then an easy step out. Love it.
Next would be down the rope back underneath to do the last loop picking up 13, 14, 15 but Andy pulls the rope up and ties it off over the last bolder (the rope is staying in) and we head out as Seán goes off to collect the last numbers.
I watch as the team climb out just using a hand ascender on the rope. I must give it a go. Pete & Seán are encouraging. I start way back, get the first 2 footholds then have to turn … give myself a hard talking to … and step across the void. Breath & I am up. Rather pleased with myself.
I head out into the fog. The only way to find my way across the field is follow the tracks. The lane seems strangely long when you cannot see where you are and there is no-one to chat to.
So glad I did it. Thanks to Andy for setting it up and the rest of the crew for a great evening.
— Judi Durber 23/01/2025
Andy Sparrow, Euan Goodland, James Howarth, Peter Sanders, Will Puddy
Guest: Josh Bakes
That was an interesting night! Hopefully others will write their trip reports but here's a summary. The plan was to reach the well decorated Regent Street in the notorious West End Series of Eastwater. There was myself, Sean, Will, Peter, Euan, James & Josh. We got going by about 7.20pm and made good progress down through the Woggle Press to the pitches. I belayed James, Josh and Euan down the ladder first, gave them two laminated surveys and advised them to get going rather than wait for the whole group to assemble. In hindsight I should only have given them one of the surveys, but I am prone to senior moments. Anyway the rest of us all got down and crawled through to Harris's Passage. I was expecting to still have a voice contact with the lead group but all was quiet, and without the survey it took us a few minutes to locate the way on. This was a tight upward squeeze that everybody managed apart from me and I was forced to admit defeat. Peter, Sean and Will continued and I returned to the pitch just in time to meet another group we'd changed with at WCC. I joined them and exited the cave.
Back at WCC I got changed and then Sean, Will and Pete arrived. They had soldiered on, finding their way without a survey almost to Regent Street but had turned around when the clock struck 9. They had made no contact with the others. This generated some anxiety as we knew they were not all that familiar with the cave and would have to navigate their way out. Oh dear, cavers missing in Eastwater - that sounds familiar! After some brief agonising about going back down we all decided to go to the pub and wait there. We gathered by the Hunters fireplace imagining various grim scenarios when, to our considerable relief, Euan arrived (to a chorus of cheers). All was good - They had reached Regent Street, but because they couldn't be sure everybody was up the pitch they had left it rigged.
So, all good and a memorable night but Dolphin Chimney and Pitch are both rigged. What a wonderful opportunity this presents to club members to have a trip down Eastwater without carrying tackle! Wasn't there some talk of another trip to West End? Now is the time! (and please can you de-rig and bring the kit out).
— Andy Sparrow 23/01/2025