Manchester University Speleology Club

08/09/2018 This was my first time doing Notts 2 and after putting off actually caving for as long as possible that morning by getting a second breakfast at Inglesport and stopping at the Co-op for snacks, the four of us (Todd, Tom, Alex, and I) finally made it to the cave entrance by about 1 o'clock. The entrance is probably one of my favourites - about a fifty metre climb down on scaffolding, wobbly ladders and breeze blocks until the streamway is reached. Once there we headed downstream at quite a rapid pace, had a quick look at the sump then turned back to head to the prettier, upstream parts of the cave. We made our way to curry inlet where we saw lots of pretties including some lovely white stalactites and curtains and some helictites at which Todd exclaimed 'they look like pubes!'. After we reached a muddy looking crawl we decided we were feeling lazy and didn't want to head further in that direction so we turned back to the main streamway and headed to inle...

5th - 7th October 2018 This was my first caving weekend and I can say I discovered a lot of things I like about caving. I loved the traversing and climbing parts and I also really liked the squeezing. The stream was also great, but I could be biased because of Lisa's and Issam's unnatural desire to jump and splash in ice cold water. But I think the most important thing I discovered about caving is the fact that cavers are very weird people. Except for the music, the drive to the hut was quite normal. But the moment we got into the hut, cavers see every little hole as an opportunity. I had never seen how furniture could be used in so many different ways. Cavers have a great desire for squeezing themselves through small holes, this became even more clear when they found a squeezing machine. Also, when the amount of alcohol in a caver becomes high, the more they feel they are able to get through it and the more they get stuck. The first 10 minutes I watched this spectacl...

29/09/18 I had never intended to go caving, but nonetheless, on one otherwise - pleasant day in September, that's exactly what I found myself doing. Having signed away our souls and £20 to the Speleology Society, my fellow "Freshers" and I (we do have names) had little choice but to go along with whatever the club had planned for us. Since Todd was in charge, and having heard a rather worrying tale about him, I viewed this with some trepidation. The trip was much more enjoyable than expected. It began with a slide, which I probably enjoyed more than an adult should, and we then proceeded to a rather roomy, if a little wet, cave. The bodies of water through which we waded resulted in some cold feet (get in?) and not everybody wanted to swim when the water got a little deeper. Now quite wet despite the oversuits, we should all have been miserable, but it seemed only to add to the experience. Squeezing was initially limited to a narrow crack in the floor which allowed ...

I'd never done Pipikin before. I'd heard lots about it, mainly the tightness and squeezing involved. Isn't this what the squeeze machine was all about? Isn't this what we trained for? I can only speak for myself when I say I felt ready. All those bruised hips and scraped skin finally seemed to have a purpose. So we trekked across the Yorkshire Dales, fought through jungles of ferns for what seemed like an eternity and finally, we arrive at a small clearing with a small hole hidden beneath a rock. I smoothly slipped down inside and immediately found myself at the top of a large pitch. I descended with little grace (simply because I don't have any) to a rocky floor where we waited for the rest of the group. It was me, Todd, Alex, Rhiannon and Caleb. We had decided to stay at Bull Pot Farm for the week so we could finally get around to some caves that had been on our list for ages. This was the first day, we were in high spirits and excited for the adventures of th...