He had started packing, and whatever had been packed had been stored in his car, so we took mine. I made sure I had my satnav with me, and, in case the battery ran out, also written instructions on my phone. I didn't hink of bringing a map...
We were off. We had to travel a long way along a road I didn't know very well. Just after a specific village, of which I knew it didn't have a village sign, we would get off it. We were happily driving through a village that might or might not have been the one when, without warning, the satnav quit. No battery! And I don't have a cigarette lighter in my car. So I looked for indications that this was the village in question, while I dug out my phone, handed it to Hugh, and told him how to use it. I didn't see any of the landmarks I saw on google Streetview, so I just continued. And shortly afterwards I saw a familiar car behind me - Alex! Would he not know the way?
Before we came to a village that might have been the one we reached the A30. Bad news! That meant we had gone too far. I gestured to Alex I was confused, and pulled into a layby. There I explained the situation to him. It turned out that as soon as he had seen me, he had switched off his satnav. oh dear! But no reason why he couldn't switch it back on again. So now it was me following him, rather than the other way around. And this way we got there.
We jumped into our kit, and walked to the entrance. there is choice; you can get in through the top or the side. We chose the top, as we expected to come out through the side. And we found many fellow cavers! It was a well-attended trip.
Some of the nice green flowstones in the mine
I had only been there once before, and I enjoyed seeing it again. It isn't big, but it's nice. One of the sights is a shaft you can look into from below. I always wonder if you could free-climb it. This time I also wondered if the frog we found underneath it had fallen in. he probably had! As even a frog can't jump out I put it in my little tackle bag. I'd bring it back to the surface! I was a bit afraid, though, I'd forget; this would, at best, lead to me having a frog hopping around in my house, and at worst a frog dying of hunger inside a bag.
We went back. At some clamber Lionel halted. I was wondering why. He said you could get out that way. Really? I looked at it, figured going up was easy, that going down would be hard but not impossible, and chanced it. He went off to the right; i went off to the left. I found an inclined shaft, with beautiful yellow flowstone. The green stuff in the lower level (pic above) might give some idea. I decided to have a look! It was really beautiful. Imagine an inclined shaft entirely covered in yellow ripples. And water flowing down. It was most magical!
Finbar, Dave., Lionel and another Dave light up the flowstones of the previous picture (having many Daves is a thing of all times!)
After a while I heard Hugh below me. And then Lionel. And Alex. Apparently, we were checking this place out! I was careful; I wasn't sure if this woul really lead out, and I didn't want to go up anywhere I wouldn't want to come down again. (I learn!) But it went and it went and it went. And then it stopped. It seemed to end in a collapse. But that was only appearance: I turned a corner, and saw daylight. It really did lead back to the surface!
I clambered out, and released my amphibian passenger. When I opened the bag, I found him sitting serenely ion my water bottle. Not an excitable lad! But that's for the better.
My temporary friend
We got back to where the others came out, walked back to the cars, changed, and drove to some pub I hadn't been before. It turned out to have a band playing! And they had more enthusiasm than talent, which, as far as I was concerned, worked out fine. Not everybody agreed! And after a pint there the only things to do then were to bugger my indicator lens on Rick's car (no, I'm not good at parking, including the getting out of a parking space) and get home. Nice evening! And I trust Hugh will find his way down, either with the club on a trip out, or without the club altogether!
No comments:
Post a Comment