When we arrived at the point-of-no-continuance, it was raining. In fact it was raining quite heavily. I decided to err on the side of living and said that I wouldn't go down this one, today (OK, I wimped out!) I did take a walk to the entrance with the others, though and by this time the rain had stopped, the wind was blowing the clouds away and the sky was rapidly turning blue (we were soon to know the feeling!)

After a few minutes looking at the sky and thinking 'What else can I bloody well do?', I decided that I'd go down after all. I left the others to try and find a way in while I went back to the bus to change. Getting back to the cave, Dave was waiting for me. He took great pleasure in telling me that the water was cold, even with a wetsuit on. I, incidentally, only had my furry suit as my wetsuit had shrunk.

The water was indeed cold, but it wasn't too bad - it only half filled the passage (mindst, the passage was only about 2'6" high!), the level being about half way up the thigh. The water soon changed level - we now had to swim for a few yards and the water was rapidly reaching the parts that nothing would ever reach again! This bedding plane continued low and wide round several bends until it was possible to walk again.

Here were some amazing formations. Stals and straws were everywhere and flowstone was in abundance. At one place, two boulders were completely covered in calcite. A bit further on we came to a rather deep pool, the water level quickly rising to a rather uncomfortable point! A large passage doubled back to the right and straight on was a smaller passage. Dave suggested that I should have a look up this one as it was probably the way on - it wasn't. It was, however, very tight & wet and I came out cursing Dave profusely.

Off to the right, a roar of water could be heard and we set a cracking pace in search of a dramatic waterfall. We soon reached it - it was about 2 feet high! The passage was now much narrower and higher than before and was shelved, giving a good traverse level out of the water. A few climbs up & over boulders led to a short crawl with an obstacle in the roof on which everyones' lamp cable snagged. I suggested that they all tied a knot in it, just below their helmet, making it much easier to handle. Dave thought that this sounded much too painful and decided to stick with the extra length.

The rift continued in much the same manner and, eventually, most people got fed up (and cold) and decided to make a return. All went well on the way out. Reaching the deep pool, Richard went straight across.

"I don't remember anything this tight", he said, after a while.

"No, I don't either," I lied. "It's this way!"

Through the traverses, Chris came like a bat out of hell past us and shot up the passage, screaming at how cold the water was. Through the deep stuff and round the next bend was... the other half of the group who we'd left behind us! Yes, we'd gone round full circle and through the deep water for nowt!

Back through the pools and the crawls, we were soon at the point near the entrance where we had to swim. But, now, the swimming section was about three times longer than before. The water had risen by several inches while we were down there and we were now crawling through a passage with no more than 6 inches of air. Everyone increased speed, hoping that the entrance would not be sumped and, when the first call of "Daylight!" came back, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Having got out of the cave, the only thing left to do was make a mad dash down the beck to the coach and get changed, after first removing a quantity of grit from my body hair (it's amazing where the stuff actually gets!). A new game then followed - Let's help someone off with their wetsuit & then drag them through a cowpat. I'll not mention who either party was, to save embarrassment!

In the end, I'm extremely glad I went down - but I'm pleased that we weren't down any longer!

Kev Sheard