Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett
(EPC), Carl (Bog) Bergman (EPC),
Chris Schofield (EPC)
We were after a trip
with a decent bit of SRT and
some proper caving at the end and since Chris and I hadn't been to the
end of
New Oxlow this seemed like a good idea. I had recently heard about a
poised
boulder in the Oxlow entrance shaft and it would also be good to have a
look at
this. I'd packed the rope in the afternoon and since I'd chopped up my
100m rope
this needed a bit more thinking about. However, finished with one large
bag for
the first pitches, one medium bag to get us down to the bottom of the
Pilgrim's
Way pull-down thing and then a smallish bag with the pull-down rope and
North
Pitch rope; the luxury of caving as a three! We met at the Oxlow
parking around
7:00 p.m. and the sky was darkening already as the nights draw in.
There was a
distinct chill in the air as we got ourselves sorted which reminded me
that
autumn is well and truly here. The only issue that I had was being
unable to
find a decent pair of gloves so I was wearing a pair of gucci fleece
ones that
are really too good for caving. We walked over to the entrance and
started
rigging down the pitches. Rigging was uneventful and we arrived at the
bottom of
the pull-down thing that leads up into Pilgrim's Way. Once here Chris
took over
the rigging and found the pull-down thing to work fine. Weaving the end
of our
rope between the strands of the pull-down rope worked well and Chris
pulled the
rope through. Bizarrely as he was pulling the rope down a pair of
gloves fell
out of the sky and landed next to our feet. They were mine which had
been
knocked off the top of Pilgrim's Way and come to rest on a ledge last
time I was
here! These were much more suitable for Pilgrim's Way crawling so I
swapped.
Once into Pilgrim's Way SRT kits went in a bag and we made our way
along
comfortable crawling passage towards Mecca Aven. Last time I'd been
here was in
full neoprene on the way to Giants Hole via the Connection and this
trip felt
much more relaxed. Once past Mecca Aven we were into lovely cave
passage which
allows walking to Jacob's Ladder and eventually to North Chamber. SRT
kits back
on and Chris rigged North Pitch to land us at the bottom. Bog has been
here
before so went off exploring along Pilgrim's Way having given us an
idea of the
delights that were to follow in the Portcullis and the Sewer. From the
bottom of
North Pitch we crawled through the Portcullis and continued to the
Sewer. This
is described in Classic Caves of the Peak District as a diminutive,
aqueous
crawl which it is but it's very short. Finally the passage enlarges
into a high
and narrow rift at Boulder Chamber and following the water forwards
leads to
some very impressive dams and a sump. We returned to the top of North
Pitch to
meet Bog and made our way out along Pilgrim's Way. Bog and Chris kindly
de-rigged allowing me to escape back up the ropes with a smallish bag.
Had a
good look at the poised boulder in the entrance shaft and it does look
as though
it could do with propping up or something like that. On the surface by
11:30 p.m
to a lovely clear evening with loads of stars. Pub missed but that's
OK!
One of the
best trips in the system; not difficult and
even the passage between the bottom of North Pitch and the final sump
is
enjoyable really. Oxlow is great fun to rig and it's great to do some
proper
caving at the bottom in New Oxlow. I'm planning a return journey to
have a look
at stuff like Icarus' Crawl and Henry Mares' Crawl. There's also the
inlet that
Bob Dearman passed but I'll have to find out which one that is.
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