Waterways Swallet - Alan Brentnall

Sunday was a lovely morning for a drive across the White Peak and down to Blore in Staffordshire for a look at the sixth deepest cave in the (slightly extended) Peak District. I'd visited Waterways Swallet with my other club (Crewe CPC) a few weeks ago, in order to clear down the scrubbery in the Cavers' Car Park. It's a condition of the Okeover Estate access agreement for this cave that cavers do not park on the narrow lane between Waterings Wood and Waterings Farm, and the estate provides a space in the wood for cavers to use for parking - we just have to maintain it (a old Orpheus job, now taken on by Crewe).

After doing the work, a couple of Crewe cavers and I took a look at the cave itself, and realised that some work needed to be done at the entrance, including fixing the wobbly stile, replacing the bendy swivels on the lid and scrubbing off some graffiti in the Main Chamber. Today, along with Phil, Dominika, Christine and Glyn we were to make a start on those jobs and also bottom the cave.

We quickly realised that the wobbly stile was even more rotten than I remembered (although it was still useable!) so a complete re-build, including legs, will have to be scheduled some time in 2019. Christine measured up for new swivels and we then made our way through the tortuous entrance series to deal with the graffiti. It's not a complex cave, and it's a wonder why anybody would need to waymark it - especially considering that this is no trip for novices or youngsters. Anyway, it's all gone now, including a few more daubings down in Rift Passage just before Keyhole CC's main dig.

The trip itself went without mishap, although it was a bit more drippy and wet than I've ever seen it before. We descended via Room 101 and Richard's Kennel and the handline climb into Toad Haul. After a visit to Wotno Sump, we re-ascended via the boulder choke (missing out the handline climb out of Toad Haul) and then opted for Blore Street and Floodgate Pot instead of Room 101.

It's a terrific trip, packing a lot of caving into an hour or two, and certainly worth the drive down to get there. We'll no doubt be back sometime next year to create a new stile and fit new swivels if anybody wants to join us.