Crack of Noon start in true DCC style, though to be fair James had a 4 hour drive to get here, and anyway what can be more humane and enjoyable than brunch in IngleSport café to discuss ropes and routes down that Yorkshire classic Alum Pot. Very quickly we decided to the full Monty and go in via Dr Bannister so we finished up our nosh (when it eventually arrived) hit the cars and headed for the Selside lane , the Gods were smiling on us today gorgeous day and amazingly absolutely nobody else at Alum (it can get a bit crowded in there), a quick nip to Selside farm to pay our dues (4 quid) then I and Pete emptied our respective car boots of rope like so much, neatly arranged, intestines and worked out the lengths and bagging sequences (gotta say I'm amazed how much small 9mm is compared to the monstrous coils that the equivalent 10mm makes). Counted out the carabineers - holy carp Alum uses a lot. The trip ran as smoothly as a new babies bottom, nice and peachy with the occasional poo from me on those ruddy handlines (I really do need to learn how to grip a rope). We reached the first pitch down to the chamber with the window and I must say I thought I rigged it quite well (thanks to Kieran that lesson on the last pitch in Oxlow paid off). The reaction of Yvonne and James when they saw the window was exactly what I was looking for, Pete and myself of course know Alum very well but the awe of the place never fails to move us. Yvonne rigged the greasy slab , well truth be told she rigged the entire rest but I could have done it (said Piglet). It was then simply a matter of abseiling down the slab and the bridge , gotta say I was very pleased with myself (a couple of years ago I couldn't even go up step ladders) this was the first time I properly abseiled with my feet at right angles to the wall and James tackled them too like a trooper. We did decide after the bridge that it would be better for myself and James to head back given that James is novice to SRT and well his leg loops and ascender were not at all ideal. Yvonne and Pete carried on to bottom out Alum. Myself and James headed back truth be told a little inelegantly we both have a lot to learn on ascents at 45 degrees but hey SRT like there is no-one looking right? The final proper SRT ascent, a little struggle getting off the top of that pitch , everything seems to be in not quite the right place and then a pleasant wade out up the hand ropes (thank duck for handjammers) and we headed to The Wheatsheaf for a well earned dinner then on to a variety of amounts of alcohol and the company of Glasgow University Pot Hole club in Bull Pot farm and a snore laden sleep in the communal bunk , you know who you are Callum, Lucy and Phil joined us for the night read for Sunday's fun.

James Booth, Phil Lilley, Callum Ewan, Lucy Platt , Yvonne King, Andy Collins, Robert Stevenson
Crack of Noon start in true DCC style - though to be fair James had a 0 minute drive to get here! Nah its no good, templates for trip report simply don't cut it - every trip is different. All except Andy were at BullPot farm so we had a very very human wake up call at 9am with a slow gradual rise and we made it IngleSport café for 10 (ish, very ish). Another fine cuisine driven chat about what to do - this, that , the other and finally back to the original plan of Great Douks Cave. Off we went in convoy on another fine Yorkshire day , crashed our cars and vans into the layby (well givne that the layby is six inches lower than the road crash is more appropriate than park). Whatever anyone says I was NOT lost we found the entrance very quickly and without (whatever anyone says) incident , look the guides don't say anything about a footpath over a walled barbed wire enclosure. You can just about avoid SRT in Yorkshire but never water a quick climb up the middle of a waterfall and we were into the phreatic tube that makes the bulk of this cave , extremely bimble, well you can up the challenge and play the game the floor is water and try and not get your feet wet , it is a very beautiful and quite long walk through meandering tubes and flow stones. Phil got his 3 quid ultraviolet light out and we proceeded with minimal lighting to follow the route guided only by the glowing green of the calcite , we eventually reached the low crawl. At this point we split and Phil headed back out the way we came because the survival pack he had brought wouldn't fit the stream bed and Yvonne accompanied him so he wouldn't be on his own (see I told you guys I wouldn't mention that you don't like crawls Phil and Yvonne you didn't want to get freezing cold and completely wet). Its not all really a flat out crawl it is very low and very hands and knees and a total bugger if you don't have knee pads (and none of us had knee pads) but hey we persevered and got to what calamity Rob thought was a dead end till I looked up and saw the hole above that leads to a continuation. We made it out in good time and order, headed back to the layby , we decided NOT to grace the ice cream van with our trade but opted for free hot Chocolate from the back of Uncle Phils van then back to The Wheatsheaf for beer, nosh and a loooooong wait for a Meringue and Blue Berry pudding (Phil)

Type of entry: Caving

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