Yorkshire Subterranean Society

 

(Titan is Britain’s largest shaft and is in the Peak Cavern/Speedwell Cave System. At over 130m/450ft in depth it dwarfs Yorkshire’s Gaping Gill).

After a beer or several, following the Christmas dinner and meeting Keith and Tony, talk turned to arranging a trip to Titan in Derbyshire. I thought no more of it until I got an email from Keith a couple of weeks later with some dates and we were on. Several e-mails, phone calls and e-group messages later and we had a plan. We would enter Titan and exit James Hall Over Engine Mine, which Tony and Keith would rig during the week before.

We finally ended up on the day with 6 of us in a very wild and cold Castleton (Keith, Tony, Stuart, Chris, Paul and me). A quick change and walk to the impressive entrance workings and we were soon on our way down the 4Om entrance and then sitting in the tunnel to the window to Titan itself. There was a short wait while Keith rigged and set off down. We could hear the sound of water crashing below and also the echoes of the team shouting to each other as they surveyed the shaft, all of which added to the suspense. Finally my turn came and under Tony’s encouragement I was soon hanging above nothing.

The initial descent was quite hard due to the weight of rope, but this got easier the lower I got. I enjoyed the descent, looking around the truly awesome shaft and soon saw a narrowing beneath me (the Event Horizon) around 70m down. Over the lip I found the re-belay and also the water coming in. After passing the re-belay and now, in a sizeable flow of water, a further 60m abseil to the very distant lights completed an exhilarating descent. Tony soon followed and after all agreeing we were glad we didn't have to ascend the shaft, especially with the water, we were off to find the way through to James Hall.

The plan was that the group surveying would lock the entrance and Keith and Tony would come and de-rig on Sunday. Down through boulders, along crawls, up and down climbs and across the traverses in Stemple Highway led us to the connection crawl to Speedwell. We were expecting a low wet section, so after a belly crawl, with one ear in the water, we felt things were going well. A bit more crawling led to Paul declaring that the gate to Speedwell was locked! However, after a brief panic, we realised this was one of Paul’s ''Jokes" A couple of minutes more and the call came back that the passage was sumped. Another joke? Not this time. ‘Oh dear’, we thought.

The first thought was to have a go at bailing it out. Off with wellies and 10 minutes later the water had dropped slightly. Meanwhile Chris and Tony went back to ensure the bailing water didn't cause a problem further back, blocking us in. Paul had a couple of goes submerged to see if he could feel a way through, but with no joy. Looking at the time, we thought the entrance would now be locked, but decided the best bet was to send a fast pair out to try and catch the survey group. Keith and Paul set off like men possessed. The other 4 of us set off at a slightly more leisurely pace - there was no rush.

Our thoughts now turned to how long we might have to wait. It was 2 o'clock and our call out was for 7pm. We could sit it out between the top of Titan and the entrance pitch. We'd be cold and fed up, but we'd be OK. We waited in a small chamber just before the pitch - the last dry area. Tony went through first and I followed after about ten minutes. As I got through the boulders Tony was kitting up and there was a light way above at the Event Horizon. We wouldn't know what was going on until the pitch head. A few shouts of “rope free” and before long I was on the rope. The amount of stretch was considerable and it seemed to take a while to make progress. The water was quite powerful and it came in waves as the force pushed you out of the main flow and then you swung back into it. After what seemed like an age, l could see a yellow bag above at the re-belay. I could see the lights of Chris and Stuart below and got a “rope free” from Tony above. Past the knot and then another minute of prussiking without moving whilst I pulled the slack through. Above, the Event Horizon was much drier and visibility better although my light was still lost in the vastness. After more prussiking and admiring the shaft I could see a light flickering across the walls above. I reckoned I was about half way up the top section – only about the height of Bar Pot main pitch to go now.

The sight of a light above was comforting, but it also meant that not everyone was going straight on up the entrance pitch. Was this because we were locked in? Reaching the top, Keith was there to greet me. I hardly dare ask – “I assume we’re locked in then ?” “Nah, it’s fine buddy” came Keith’s chirpy response. Thank f**k for that! Now all that remained was for everyone else to ascend, and the entrance pitch to go. Once we could tell everyone was on a rope, Paul and I set off up what seemed like the most bouncy rope ever. Finally on the top, we were followed by Tony and Chris, where we were treated to a brief hail shower in the howling wind. Next came a bag (which meant that Stuart had de-rigged, as we’d hoped, but had not actually discussed in the heat of the moment) and Tony and I set off as we were frozen. Shortly after, we were all back at the cars getting changed in a foul wind, sharing hot drinks and sandwiches and a few laughs.

We had to drop Paul off en route - so called in for the obligatory pint and to finish things nicely they were serving Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. That done, and still freezing cold, we set off for home.
Certainly a memorable trip, in an awesome place!

Many thanks to everyone for making it a good trip, despite it not going quite to plan. In particular thanks to Keith and Tony for organizing permission and pre-rigging JH (even though we didn’t use it), to Stu for de-rigging (when it was the last thing he wanted to do), to Paul for racing up the pitch (to stop us being locked in ) and to Chris for finding a fabulous butty shop in the morning (which as it turned out – we all deserved)!