Andy Sparrow, Euan Goodland, Ken Passant, Lawrence Wilson, Peter Sanders, Peter Hall, Rachel Sparrow, Seán Tidey, Will Puddy, Yvette Mayo

I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone?

Having had a couple of weeks of rain and a forecast for more rain on the Wednesday this trip was advertised as “very, very wet” and boy we weren’t disappointed!

The stream was at the very top of the dam and judging by the debris had been going down the grid not long before, in we went, the noise was incredible.

We decided to go straight down the Wet Way as not sure we would be able to come up it against the flow of water.

The Eyehole was interesting, as soon as you where in it your body formed a plug and the water almost immediately backed up and flowed over the top of you, nothing for it but to allow yourself to get washed through, unfortunately Rachel managed to find the foothold on the other side that wedged her in position until she too was washed through, having had a near death experience she and Andy battled their way out.

The next challenge was the Lavatory Pan, it was very nearly sumped, thankfully the much braver than I Pete Hall was at the front and dived through, when it was my turn I just sat in it feet first and within a second I was spluttering on the other side.

The old Forty was in full flow with the water hitting the far side, very glad of the hand line especially on the way up.

The Twenty was thundering. Standing immediately at the top the water came halfway up my thighs

After battling our way back to the Water Chamber a few hardy souls returned via the wet way whilst the rest went via the Short Dry Way that had a sizeable stream flowing down it the whole way.

It was a relief for our ears to finally exit the cave and escape the noise. A truly wonderful trip that I will remember for a very long time. I know upper Swildons “like the back of my hand” but the water transformed it into a completely different beast. Congratulations to Euan as it was his first trip to Swildons, I hope he isn’t disappointed in normal conditions

A very welcome catch up at the Hunters as could only hear shouts down the cave we hadn’t chatted much.

— Lawrence Wilson 28/04/2024