Topic

Saturday morning, sunny but verrrry cold.

With a bit of a hangover and after eating rather too much breakfast I was in no mood for a long trip so when I was told that Thrupe Lane Swallet was a nice little trip I was quite happy.

I knew that we were not doing any much SRT, just a small pitch at the entrance then free climbing down and up the rifty bits.

The pitch was rigged and we set off down in the spray from what seemed like an insignificant, small stream.

As soon as the water hit my head I got one of those headaches that you get when you eat ice cream too fast, “Be brave” I said and continued to descend the rope. At the base of the shaft I unclipped my gear and set off free climbing down a sloping rift.

The walls of the rift were made of shards of rock that I am sure moved to grasp onto any bits of kit within reach, every movement was an effort, I had to unhook SRT kit, over suit, boot laces, gloves, tackle bag .. you get the picture… everything. It was quite an effort.

The small stream seemed to be getting bigger and the spray was getting colder, how can water flow at minus 20 degrees?

The party was moving slowly, the now vertical route through the rift was a bit tight for me and getting wetter. We were not far out of sight of daylight when Bean, who was at the front, suggested a retreat.

Going out was harder than going in, and colder, I was out in minutes and changed into warm dry clothes before the rest of the team surfaced.

I spent the rest of the day exploring Wells and Wells Cathedral, far more sensible.

Wikki….“The swallet is a small, single pothole cave system that is dominated by a series of deep (117 metres (384 ft)) and mainly vertical passages, which follow fault lines, natural joints in the rock and mineral veins. It shows a form of cave development not seen elsewhere in the Mendips and contains the tallest vertical shaft in any known cave on the Mendip Hills, Atlas Pot, which is 60 metres (197 ft) deep] The stream that flows through the cave is one of those that feeds St Andrew's Wells in the grounds of the Bishop's Palace in Wells. “

Thanks Alex - sounds like an interesting cave

Thrupe is a nice cave and well worth visiting however the hydrology has been changed by surface work and it now seems to be taking a stream under "normal" conditions whereas before the early part of the cave was mostly dry. There is an argument for not wearing a full SRT kit through some of the early parts of the cave and kitting up later on before you get to Atlas.

That said you got to visit Wells Cathedral which is impressive!