Gang members Eavis, Buck, Hibberts accompanied by both Pemberton's (The Pembros) assembled for tonight's adventure. The plan was a round trip of the upper series in Bagshawe Cavern via the Hollywood Bowl, hoping to make use of the current drought conditions.
After some swift pre-beers we descended the cavern around 7pm and made quick progress through the first gate towards the aven series. Our turn off here was the second to last aven - Namread. Namread Aven (8m) Is a relatively easy climb for the first part but is rigged for SRT as the last 3m are vertical (insert Staples here).
We all ascended with relative ease and started making way down Fairholme Passage which is an awkwardly tight bedding crawl at roughly 45°, prone for getting stuck in! The crawl leads downhill for 5 minutes before reaching the ominous passage named Namread. For the majority of the time, this is sumped, but in serious drought conditions, the passage dries completely gaining the intrepid explorer access to the Hollywood Bowl, a magnificent Cavern which feels out of place in Bagshawe!
Namread was bone dry, this gives a good indication of the low water levels so it may pay off to go seek some more of these aquatic locations - food for thought...
Once all in the Hollywood Bowl, we marvelled at its grandeur before separating. Chris and Sam were to head out whilst Joe and Rob and I were to complete the round trip via Madame Guillotine.
We gingerly ascended the 18m which climbs out of the chamber, on ropes which have been there since 2005. Most of the hangers still look okay, but again it's probably one which may need some further attention in the future. From the top Joe took a wrong turn and got seriously stuck which left Rob and I to head the correct way up the slope and through a series of tight calcite squeezers towards Nathan Gate. From here it's easy sailing, typical Bagshawe crawling, walking and stooping interlinked by flat out squeezes. After about 15 minutes we reached Madame Guillotine where now you can easily descend the Via ferrata route down the 15m pitch just using cows tails.
It was now 9:30pm so we promptly got to move on and descended through the boulder choke gaining access to the French connection. At the moment this is bone dry and an absolute chore to negotiate minus the lubrication. We continued crawling and eventually met Full Moon Chamber with just a short section left before reaching the gate and exiting back into the main drag. A good romp led us to the steps and we were out by 9:47pm. Quite speedy for this round trip and we weren't going fast by any means. One I definitely recommend whilst Namread Is currently bone dry.
Anchor for post trip refreshments and debrief.