Oxford University Cave Club

Club Caving Meetings, Trinity Term 2022

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Other meets may be organised - please check at Wednesday meetings or via the OUCC mailing lists.

Details of the trips will be advertised closer in time. They will mostly be advertised on the "oucc-all" mailing list.
So if you want to stay up to date, please sign up following the instructions on the website: http://www.oucc.org.uk/current/mailists.htm

PLEASE help and volunteer to organise a weekend. If no-one organises the weekends they won't happen.
There is a detailed crib sheet on the website telling you exactly how to organise a weekend. Take a Look!

Trip Details

1st week 15th-18th April Mendips, staying at the Wessex  Cave Club Cottage

Easter caving! Totally a coincidence that this is the same place some of the TSG cavers including Tom are having their Easter trip... But we did have two ideas for Mendip day trips (Reservoir Hole and St Cuthbert's) so why not make a weekend of it and do both? I'll try and get the permits for those, plus there is the possibility of going to GB and seeing Bat Passage now several of you don't count as novices. There are also suitable caves for first caving trips here and Hunters Hole is good for first SRT trips. The Wessex has an SRT tower so we may be able to fit in a little SRT practice after caving if anyone needs it.

2nd week 6th-8th May Northen Dales, staying at Bull Pot Farm

Bull Pot Farm is an excellent hut, right on top of the extensive Easegill system which combines SRT with plenty of horizontal caving. Lovely meandering streamways, big fossil passages, orange cave formations and more. If we can get our routefinding right, we might be able to do exchange trips between two different entrances! There are also a whole lot of other caves a short drive away, Yorkshire has a huge variety. There are a few entrances that can be done without SRT, so first caving trips aren't out of the question, but bear in mind that we might want to keep an SRT focus as that's how to see Yorkshire potholes at their best. The other weekends would be better for beginner trips.

4th week 21st or 22nd May Forest of Dean day trip

Yes, we were going to have the daytrip later in term, but all the huts we wanted are booked up at this point so there's been a swap. It does mean we don't have two weekends back to back. since we're having a Mendip weekend, the day trip will be to the Forest of Dean. Most likely to Slaughter Stream (which we can enter with either ladders or SRT) with a great streamway to stomp along and some interesting climbs. Though I could organise a day looking for the Pancake caves of the Wye Valley if there's an interest.

5th week 27th-29th May Wales, staying at Whitewalls

Wales! Wales has fantastic caves, this time we're staying in a slightly different part, near Agen Allwedd and Daren Cilau. Aggy often gets left for Sunday trips as it has a less arduous entrance series than Daren, but it is in fact a very extensive system. Wouldn't it be nice to have a longer trip there and give it the attention it deserves? That said, we can do beginner trips in Aggy should any new cavers wish to join us. As we are staying at Whitewalls, we will need to be on our best behaviour. The upside is it's a bit nearer to Oxford than the other Welsh huts, so there's some chance of getting back at a reasonable hour.

7th week 10th-12th June Peak District, staying at  theTSG hut.

The Peak District has great trips at all levels. It's home to Titan, the deepest shaft of any known cave in Britain, but there are also some lovely beginner trips in Peak Cavern and Giant's Hole, and Oxlow makes a fine introduction to SRT. We're staying at the TSG, a brilliant hut in walking distance of six different pubs, so we'll have no problem celebrating the last weekend of the academic year.

Accommodation:
BEC: Bristol Exploration Club; BPC: Bradford Pothole Club; BPF: Bull Pot Farm;
LCCC: Lancashire Caving & Climbing Club; MCG: Mendip Caving Group;
NPC: Northern Pennine Club; Orpheus: Orpheus Caving Club; SMCC: Shepton Mallet Caving Club;
SWCC:  South Wales Caving Club; TSG: Technical Speleo Group; UBSS: University of Bristol Speleological Society; 
WCC: Wessex Caving Club; Whitewalls: Chelsea Speleological Society; WSG: Westminster Speleo Group;
Yorkshire Dales Guides: (Hornby Laithe Bunkbarn); YSS: Yorkshire Subterranean Society.