Details

Written by: Josh

Published: 24 October 2025

Hits: 420

It was a cold and wet Thursday evening, the kind that makes you question your life choices. The time had come for me to go on an actual caving trip with the Eldon lot. The venue of choice was P8, a nice and easy one to learn some SRT and do my first professional caving photo shoot.

We gathered at the usual car park just after 6:45 PM, where I met the team: Jim, Chris, Jon, Luke, and myself (Josh). There was a brief round of introductions, then some light small talk that lasted barely 30 seconds before quickly graduating into heavier stuff...  I was then given the Eldon's spare gear, which took me a good minute to work out what I was looking at before being helped by the others. The rented gear also included Luke's undersuit, which kept me warm throughout the trip but at the cost of being slowly strangled; a fair trade-off.

With five of us ready, we set off toward the cave entrance. This sparked a few friendly debates about its exact location, with several “it’s definitely this way” moments. By the time we arrived, the stream was running low; apparently, it can become quite aggressive during periods of high water, which makes for an entertaining climb into the cave.

Once inside the cave, I meandered through the twists and turns, impressed by the many fossils embedded in the walls, though for others, it was probably like looking at wallpaper. I also quickly understood why cavers often ditch their SRT kit at the first opportunity; it can become quite cumbersome.

Soon we were at the first pitch. I got an in-depth explanation on how to use the descender and cow tails, then after a few failed attempts, I was able to gradually get to the bottom of the 8m waterfall. 

As I got to the bottom, Ben Marks, who was taking some freshers down, joined the queue to make the pitch. I then tried to pull myself up a ledge and ended up embarrassing myself by falling flat on my back in the pool below me, before succeeding on my second attempt. 

My embarrassment was thankfully short-lived as it was at that moment that Jim, while attempting to impress the newbies, found himself momentarily “paused” on his short cow tail mid-pitch, right in full view of our group and the freshers. What followed was a lengthy struggle of him attempting to unhook his carabiner from the rope while dangling mid-air. Despite the wait, I'm sure I can speak for myself and the freshers when I say that we are grateful for Jim taking the time to teach us a valuable caving lesson: no matter how experienced you are, there's always room for improvement. 

When Jim had finally freed himself and reached the bottom, we then climbed up a large boulder bridge straddled on top of a rift to continue the journey. Similarly to above ground, navigating the cave caused various discussions around which direction was the right way to go. This was not something I was expecting to hear while caving with the mighty Eldon, but it can be forgiven, as none of the group had been in P8 for at least a few years. Fortunately, we did eventually manage to find the second pitch, which is slightly larger than the first. I attempted again to set myself up for the pitch, but Jon kindly pointed out that my descender was set up wrong before I made the jump, saving my life in the process. 

Other highlights from the trip included a vice-like squeeze similar to the one in Giants and the end chamber, where you meet the first sump, which had a high ceiling with various impressive formations. The group decided that cave diving is most likely slightly outside of my current skill range, meaning we had to turn and make our way back to the entrance.

On the way back, it was time for me to learn how to ascend the two pitches. The second pitch went much better than the first as I slowly learnt to use my legs to push rather than pull with my arms. During my ascent, I made sure to let everyone know that the reason for my slow speed was “leg day”, and nothing else.  

During the final pitch, I also received my first cave shoot, courtesy of John and his fancy photography equipment. Even though it took a while with my foot getting cold in the waterfall, it was well worth the wait. My only complaint is that the gormless expression on my face was due to myself being under the impression that it would not be visible. Regardless, this will still make for a solid inspirational post on LinkedIn.

The first pitch - zooming in is not allowed

Eventually, we made it back out and to the car in decent time. The anchor, being the pub of choice, was unfortunately closed, but to be tried again next time.

Overall, it was a great first trip with the Eldon as I’m easing into the art of caving. Despite the many sights and challenges in the cave, most of my entertainment came from the conversation over the few hours together. I had wondered what caving groups would talk about on these trips, and while it wasn't what I expected, it certainly did not disappoint. On to the next one. 

Details

Written by: Ben Shannon, Joe Buck & Chris Hibberts

Published: 22 October 2025

Hits: 436

*Foreshadowing* It took longer to wash my wetsuit than I spent underground! And I have elbow bursitis!

I’m in a layby putting on tight neoprene with other men…must be time for an underground adventure of the wet variety. The three of us were very excited as the worlds greatest glory grabber had sent enticing pictures of sections of this cave that are normally off limits due to being sumped. In a rare state of Dryness, Rob had explored the far reaches of Lower Cales Dale Cave and set us a task of digging in the fume room.

The walk in is nothing short of absolutely stunning as we wound down the high sided valley for 20 minutes. After some time and a jaunt over a small footbridge we climbed down into a dry stream bed to the entrance.  Joe who had been here before seemed happy about the dryness which was a promising sign.

Normally im super organised with my caving gear, but having not been underground for far too long and just being so excited to get out, I didn’t check my bag properly and was missing my elbow and knee pads and gloves. Not to worry, it’s not like I was going to be crawling over sharp rocks…….

We slid into the cave and began the arduous crawl on, after some time we came to the dog house junction. All seemed good, so we pressed on, some puddles began to appear but we thought nothing of it. Gradually we made our way to the Figure of 8 Chamber junction. We continued on left and came to a fantastic vertical squeeze.  Feet first, arms in the air and just post your self down the slot.

I enjoyed that squeeze so much and did not appreciate how soon I would be doing it again. After a few minutes came the sad sounds of a Joe realising the way on is sumped. Chris and I joined to lie down next to Joe, sure enough the water came up to the ceiling just ahead. There was a small stream of water coming in from high up on the left of this chamber. I lay there, 10 or 15 minutes into the cave after a 2.5 hour drive feeling very deflated.

We all decided to have a poke around in everywhere that we could, so we made our way back up the vertical squeeze which is a smidge harder going up as there are few foot holds, but a fantastic feature for sure.

At Figure of 8 Chamber we had a poke in every crevice. At the far end Joe and I took helmets off and squeezed our heads in as far as we could so see a big crack in the rock. At the far end of this crack was a huge boulder covering where the water sounds were sinking. Chris, Joe and I took turns digging out the thick mud with the crowbs (northern word for crowbar) I managed to get the boulder moving but couldn’t quite remove it. Chris stepped in and gave it a huge tug and before we knew it there was a huge bit of space to get our heads in to hear distant water sinking away. Certainly a promising prospect to bypass the sumped passage.

We did as much as we could without caps and so headed to the Doghouse for a poke around. There is a technical vertical squeeze to get into the chamber with a distinct lack of foot holds. (im sure there’s some sneaky beta) Joe went through first, taking a little longer than I would expect of him. I followed suit and then it made sense, I had slotted my upper body into the squeeze, im off the floor now, but nothing to push off. Add to the fact that you are staring at some timber supports and stacked deads infront of you; it’s a careful decision on what to pull on.  I opted for a muscle up in the end and just pressed upwards. Chris came next, he had no issues with upper body strength, but required a few rests as he fought to get through. We deduced that his wetsuit was slightly thicker than ours (wink wink). This is quite a spectacular chamber with stacked deads high up into the aven. At the back of the aven is a knotted rope leaded up maybe 4m or so. I was incredibly tempted, but as neither Joe nor Chris were keen I chose not to go alone. Instead Joe explained about an old dig that had been blasted out and pointed to a slot at ground level “it only goes a short distance “ he said as he slipped inside. Chris peered in and decided that he had zero enthusiasm for it. Waited for a while before shouting down “is there room for me?”

A muffled “yes come down, its further than I remembered” I crawled flat out for a decent distance before turning a sharp left onto rubber matting, this then turned into a tight rift where I could stand and slide through. The rock was fractured throughout where the explosives had been. Really quite impressive. We got to the end and Joe explained that this was the way on……..potentially. Apparently it drafts, but its blasting purely into rock so would be some work; but if it goes somewhere it would be a fantastic bit of passage.

We turned back and began making our way out. I was now aware that my wetsuit had a hole in the elbow and I was digging into sharp rock as I crawled along. We joined Chris and headed into the main passage of LCDC and began the crawl out. This was beginning to be agony on my knees and elbows and I had to stop a couple of times to swear and give myself a talking to. *note to self – never ever forget knee and elbow pads again*

As we had been underground such a short time we decided to look in lathkill dale resurgence on the way back. The stream being bone dry as we headed to the entrance. Oh this is gorgeous, a big opening similar to giants I thought to myself. I love crawling in caves, but I was done with it tonight due to the pain and was looking forward to some walking passage.

*more foreshadowing* lying on the floor almost reduced to tears as my right elbow got spiked by a sharp rock.

We climbed over a boulder into a low crawling passage. “fuck sake” I said internally. I dropped my tackle sack at the entrance as I couldn’t be bothered to drag that again. We made our way on with no knowledge of this cave. We crawled for some time until we reached a crossrift, a quick poke around showed us that we needed to drop down through a boulder choke. This was cool as the entrance to the choke required a bit of a yoga move to get in.

“I’m nervous about being in a boulder choke when no one knows where we are” uttered Joe as he entered.

“People passing by will see Bens bag if it goes tits up” said Chris cheerily. (I was unaware of this comment, and thus didn’t explain the significance of it) we all met up in a low chamber, lying on boulders. We could hear strong and loud rushing water. As neither of us knew this cave, and had not told anyone of our whereabouts in this one we decided this was far enough.#

The retreat back out was seriously painful and I was actually for once very happy to have finished a trip. "oh jesus Ben, i didnt realise you had hidden your bag" Joe said as he saw a formerly yellow, but now very brown bag hidden behind a boulder. There was no way a passerby would have seen this. 

The long walk out was nice as it was a still and warm evening. Quick change and we headed to the pub. It was not the trip I had hoped for, but nothing beats getting underground and having a good time with your mates, even if it’s just for a short time.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 05 October 2025

Hits: 777

Friday 3rd October 2025 - A trip I will remember for a long time.

The main precursor for this trip was last Sunday when I bumped into Simon Cundy who mentioned that a few weeks after Jon and Joe went to Lower Cales Dale Cave (and found the sump still high) he was walking past and noticed the draught at the entrance unusually high, suggesting that the sump had dropped further and may have become open. Whilst this was very exciting it had rained quite a lot since then, especially during last week whilst I was in Albania, so probably conditions have changed. However later that day I visited Lumb Hole and Cressbrook Dale and they were exceedingly dry still, suggesting that water tables were still very low. I was keen to check out LCDC but I then had to work away for a week, during which I kept thinking about it. 

I eventually got home and my planned work for the Friday was cancelled and without much hesitation I went to check LCDC out. Driving there through rain and with “Storm Amy” about to arrive that afternoon I was not hopeful, nor at ease! I parked at the head of the dale, donned a wetsuit and started jogging down Lathkill Dale in the rain. I knew my callout time could (hopefully) be quite tight and i wanted to create some videos of the journey, so I was automatically in a bit of a rush. I arrived at the entrance and my excitement started to race as I felt the wind draughting in my face! However I knew that even when the sump is up the Dog House draughts into the second chamber quite well so wasn’t counting my chickens just yet. However once I got past there and below Figure 8 chamber and still with the draught I was very confident it was going to be at least slightly open. 

I’d never been past Figure 8 Chamber before but the stories I’d heard of the sump area were vivid like I’d been here before, so when I get to the junction into Armoured Mudball Chamber and saw there was no water at all my excitement went through the roof! For 22 years of my caving life I’d wanted to be in this exact position and here I now am. 

The way on is mostly dry apart from a few deep puddles here and there, and the deep mud cracks remind me that I’m in a sump. After 50m I pass an aven with quite a trickle of water coming down which instantly puts me a little on edge as I’ve no idea how quickly this place reacts. Does that aven always flow? How long would it take to fill the sump? I try put those thoughts to the back of my mind and push on. Another 50m on gets me to the first aven. This is probably 10m tall and gave me a weird bit of comfort knowing that if the sump does fill behind me then at least I can sit here for a few days before I die of hypothermia.

Beyond a low gravel crawl had to be dug open which took 5 or so minutes. I think this is called the “Sand Blaster” and according to John Beck’s old notes it also needed to be dug in 1976 and 1990, the only other two years that I’m aware this cave has opened. After this it’s easy hands and knees crawling for ~200m through Friday 13th Passage until a large T-junction is reached and shortly after the choke up into Twilight Zone. I climbed up the choke very waringly and for good reason as from above it looks awful, big boulders perched everywhere. This put me into a tall, drippy chamber with what looked like a few ways off at the top, but I carried on the obvious and draughty route back down the other side of the choke towards the Thursday 13th Passage, the breakthrough point from 1990. 

As I slide feet first down this boulder choke and into the bedding passage below I feel I sharp spike in my right leg. Kinda committed to the descent I push on through and eventually get my head down low enough to see the splintered end of a rotting sledgehammer sticking through my wetsuit leg. Thankfully it hadn’t pierced my skin. Funny I had totally anticipated the danger of natural objects (big heavy rocks) and not from man’s crafts. 

Thursday 13th Passage is much of the same, lots of hands and knees crawling intercepted by tall cross rifts. A small section that’s stooping height helps the mind and body. After 100m I reached the turnoff towards Dawkes Crawl in Lathkill Head Cave. Amazingly this was taking a draught, meaning that the passage beyond here draughted even more. It also suggests that the main source of the draught is not LHC, making the digs further on more exciting. Also this inlet looked very clean washed, whereas the passage upstream is quite muddy, suggesting that Dawkes is maybe the main active feeder for LCDC?

Another 100m and probably another 8 cross rifts laid ahead. One of the rifts has a boulder pile that the way on is squeezing through the blocks in the floor. Again a little scary given my remote situation, but all fine. Next was the Datbob choke, which I tried to pass in a similar low level route, but it got too tight. Eventually I squirmed up into the chamber above and found an easy route back down the other side into the continuing passage. 

Rob Eavis in The Cales Dale Stroll

From here the cave finally gets going as I start The Cales Dale Stroll. For basically the first time in the whole cave (valley) you are rewarded with the ability to walk along a passage. It feels detrimental to akin this to Carlswark as this location this is so much more rewarding. I soon passed the low and uninviting Fallopian Tube to the right and then reached the terminal choke. This is indeed terminal looking, such that it doesn’t even look like anyone has bothered to dig it. It is large boulders totally surrounded by thick sandy mud, giving an impenetrable feel. How dare the cave just start to give and then quickly deny the explorer so stubbornly.

It is obvious that no water emerges from this terminal face, whereas 10m back a pile of clean, black boulders under an aven suggests that at least some water may come down from above. And easy climb up and then a tentative final manoeuvre got me into a low wide bedding chamber. Loose boulders delicately perched over my route up ensured I explored this chamber very carefully! I headed north first into a low passage which looked like the water sometimes came out of. This went for maybe 10m, and a little digging got me slightly further. A good draught and an open sight beyond make this a brilliant spot, and I’m sure with only some light tools progress could be made here. Across to the southern side of the chamber I only checked out one lead and it didn’t look very promising. There seems to be quite a large, old collapse here which makes this area different to the rest of the cave and hard to judge.

Now at the end of the cave and my roughly calculated turn-around time to make my callout having already past I knew I had to make a move. Climbing back across the chamber and down the aven was the first obstacle and I wasn’t comfortable about doing it, but all fine. Next hurdle was the choke out of The Twilight Zone. I was really careful downclimbing this and still quite a bit of stuff fell and collapsed as I descended. Thankfully mostly small stuff and I made it through fine, but I was certainly glad to be past that. I was making good time but it’s a relentless lot of crawling and through Friday 13th I had to stop and catch my breath a couple times, heart beating audibly through my thin wetsuit. As I approached Armoured Mudball Crawl I was relieved to see it was still dry and open, those silly mindgames of being sumped in finally put well to bed. 

I emerged on the right side of the sump section in only 45 minutes, well ahead of schedule and calculated I had time to go take a quick look at the Fume Room, a draughty side passage which I’d heard a lot about from Moose many years ago. It’s about 60m to the end, through quite a muddy passage following a bang wire throughout. The end is a large, airy choke with a way on above which I was not comfortable to climb on my own at this late an hour. However to the West there’s a small hole into blackness that I couldn’t fit through. Maybe this is accessible from the above route, but if not it looks an easy dig and the draught is strong from it, so a good prospect indeed. Annoyed to leave this opportunity unclaimed but relieved to be heading to safety, I turned around and headed out.

I made daylight after 3 hours and 10 minutes, nearly 3 hours more than I was worried I might be underground! The walk/jog back to the car in torrential rain helped clean my wetsuit but not raise hopes of ever(!) getting back in there. In fact in the 24 hours after leaving the cave it rained 55mm, which is more than the average monthly rainfall from February to August this year! Fingers crossed other’s get to enjoy this cave in the next few weeks and maybe even extend it a little….

Video from the trip available here: https://youtu.be/P3HnaZq62c0