Plan ‘A’ was for Hungerhill Swallet, but a general deluge for much of the day meant that this would have been at best uncomfortable and – at worst – dangerous. We therefore opted for plan ’B’ - P8 via old entrance and the high level traverses.
We were somewhat surprised to find the water levels had not risen significantly so the ‘normal’ entrance was very easily passable. Alan was dispensed down this and sent off to rig whilst the remainder of the party headed in through the old entrance. Glyn declared it tight and suggested that John went in the usual route. Elaine followed Glyn and ended up reversing out as, whilst the snugness was acceptable, doing the crawl in total darkness was not as her lamp helpfully went out each time the contacts were squashed.
We eventually reached the bottom of the pitches and set off to investigate Ben’s Dig and Christmas Aven. Shortly after descending the latter Elaine checked her watch and we realised that we had missed the pub as it was already 22.20!
A gentle amble out meant that we reached the surface about an hour later, with an additional team member. Glyn’s chivalrous nature and undisputed good looks meant that he managed to attract and rescue a damsel in distress*, who was close to hurling herself down the second pitch. When we reached the surface she was seated contentedly on his knee, only to vanish shortly afterwards before he was able to ascertain her full name! Such are life and the whims of women.
The rain had stopped and the skies were clear as we headed back to the cars after an excellent evening’s caving. Elaine had a slightly fraught journey back to the Dales as someone had decided to dig up the M60 around Oldham and forgot to put out the diversion signs.
* A female toad. The common toad is Bufo bufo, the Natterjack toad is Bufo calamita.
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