By Keith Mason
It started out as a normal Saturday, pick Paul up on route to the dales, breakfast in Inglesport, and meet up with Tim Allen and some of the crew who were going to be digging in Ireby on the Grand Day Out. So after breakfast and the usual supply of tea, we set off for the drive, and having a 4x4 it seemed rude not to drive up the lane to the stile……so we did. After getting changed and the walk over to the shakehole, we had soon dropped the entrance pitches and caught up with the others at the sump, which they proceeded to pump out as it wasn’t totally empty. Once through the sump we were soon at the dig site were we started work getting the sand and mud back to the end of the passage to dump into the canal.As we approached the hour and a half mark, several other cavers turned up eager to get stuck in. So at this point Paul and I took advantage of this to go off and have a bit of an explore around Duke Street Two, and as Adam had said that Escalator rift was worth a look, this was where we headed. So we set off upstream to find the rope which marked the start of the up climbs.
After finding the wrong rope up into a muddy boulder choke, we soon found the right rope and set of to prussic several pitches and negotiate several crawls to eventually reach the chamber at the end. Must say this was well worth the effort, as very pretty up at the top and well worth doing. At this point as time was getting on we decided to turn round and make our way back towards the sump.
As we came out of the rift into the main streamway it became evident that there was a lot more water about than when we had first gone up into the rift. This was confirmed by the water now being above our knees instead of our ankles. Stopping on the way back to the sump to change batteries……bad idea as light decides to pack up totally, switch to back-up and on our way again.
Once back at the sump we realised we may be in for a bit of a long night, as it was totally sumped, so first things first, we went back along the canal section to the dig site to see if the other guys were still in there. This was easier said than done as now the water was chin deep and in some places even deeper, after finding they had all left we turned round to head back to the main passage, this proved even harder going as we were now fighting the flow.
When we finally got back into the main passage we noticed that some fairly large boulders were now only visible by about 6in, so we set up camp up on the mud bank and pondered our position. As we were now soaked to the skin and starting to get very cold, we needed a way of getting warm, this was achieved by digging in a high level passage a short way upstream.
After an hour of digging and feeling a bit warmer we returned, only to find we could no longer see the boulders, so we placed another boulder at the waters edge and went for another dig. Returning after another hour to find the water level up by another foot, so off to dig again for another hour, this time when we came back the water level was starting to go down………..hip hip hooray!!!!!!
After finding we were sumped in at 4 o’clock and it was now 8 o’clock we decided to try and get some sleep, figuring that if the others were the right side of the sump at 4 o’clock and on their way out then we may see CRO by about midnight. How wrong we were as unbeknown to us they were also trapped by water levels and sitting it out on the other side of the sump.
Levelling out the top of the mud bank to make a flat area, we surveyed our bedding for the night, this consisted of a tackle bag and some bits of plastic sheet…wow! After the first hour or so, Paul suddenly realised he had a plastic bivvi bag in his helmet so we both squeezed into this and tried to keep warm, easier said than done though as it was bloody freezing.
Felt a bit sorry for Paul though as it was his first wedding anniversary and he was supposed to be elsewhere not in a plastic bag with me for 11 hours, isn’t life a bitch!!!! As the hours passed by the water kept going down but still no sign of any rescuers. This didn’t happen until about 7 o’clock Sunday morning, when the first diver came through the sump. It was one of those moments, when you’re really glad to see a friendly face.
After checking we were OK and nobody else was in this part of the system, he offered us two choices we took the first one which was to be dived out the sump. So after making his excuses Tony set off back through the sump to return once again bringing the other divers, Rich and Martin and some kit for us. Once kitted up we did our first cave dive and popped out on the right side of the sump.
Here we were greeted by some more of the CRO who promptly fed us with hot soup and chocolate, which was really appreciated as we had, had nothing to eat or drink since Saturday morning in Inglesport. So once watered and fed, so to speak, we offered to assist with getting their gear out of the system. The rest of the way out was to say the least still a little bit sporting in several places.
At last after 23 hours we were finally out of the cave and were once again given hot drinks before making our way back across to where we had parked up. After getting changed I drove Rich and Tony back to the CRO Depot at Clapham where we were treated to hot soup and tea, which really hit the spot. Then it was back to Inglesport for a cuppa and a quick chat with Paul about our exploits. All in all a Grand Weekend Out.
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