Tim Dobson

Samantha and I in our bubbles

16 March 2021

Last year, Samantha and I went (in our bubble) to P8. It was a memorable trip!"I loved the traverse""I wanna do the SRT again""Let's explore round here more"Read on to hear why these quotes from Sam are questionable at best. Sam's first reply on seeing the entrance was "wow, how are we possibly climbing out […]

Sam and I went to a mine last year

16 March 2021

Last year, Sam and I went to a mine near Matlock. When I visited this place last in January 2020 I noted that there were many spiders, antique bolts and only crawling available. So it was interesting when we arrived and discovered we only had two kneepads between the two of us. At the start […]

Judith and me attempted to kayak last autumn

14 March 2021

Last autumn Judith and me attempted to keep the unofficial Caving Crew motto "every hole's a goal" alive with a happy surface walk through Stoney Middleton Dale. We visited: Layby Shelter:Judith's opinion: "uninspiring toilet crawl, not much to recommend" Deliberately not named Mine: Judith fell for the game of "Catch!!" much to my mirth, and […]

Lockdown 2 made social caving a challenge

14 March 2021

Lockdown 2.0 made social caving a challenge, and Sam wasn't feeling it, so in the autumn we tried something we'd not done before. We went for a walk around Stoney Middleton Dale, trying to find and visit as many cave & mine entrances as possible. For every major cave we do a trip to, there's […]

Alan Siobhan Samantha and I last year

11 March 2021

Last year Alan, Siobhan, Samantha and me headed to Giants. This was Samantha's first, long-anticipated trip to Giants. For a long time she'd complained about me saying negative things, but with lockdown looming, we decided it was an appropriate trip. Sam: "I'd prefer to do the entire rest of the cave than the crabwalk again" […]

Lockdown looming and the last Bagshawe trip

8 March 2021

Lockdown was looming and the last Bagshawe Giggletrip was last year. Barbara, Leanne and Emily joined me and Alison for their first caving trip: to Bagshawe Cavern. Memorable moments:Œ´Looking at the desiccated coconut shavings on the roof˜®Discovering the first gate, and the second gateŒ‘Turning the lights off and seeing the darkŒ¿Leanne leading the way through […]

Jon and me took Helen Amanda and friends

7 March 2021

Last year Jon and me took Helen, Amanda, Martin and Chloe to Bagshawe Cavern. This was Amanda's second time caving with us, Helen's first time caving with us, Martin's first time in a year and Chloe's second trip since Covid. Helen tried everything we threw at her, taking on everything her first caving trip offered […]

Jane Mark Kirsty Charlotte and friends

7 March 2021

Last year, Jane, Mark, Kirsty, Charlotte and Siobhan headed to a classic peak District cave for a classic tourist trip: Eyam Dale via Ladder to the sumps (via Dynamite Series) and back out of the Gin entrance. Some of my most memorable moments:'œ”Getting everyone through even the bits they weren't sure about™„Me saying the wrong […]

Not eager to name this aven but the location

7 March 2021

I'm not eager to name this Aven but the trip here has to be one of the best decorated in the region. One of the things that stood out about this trip for me was how everyone pushed themselves, but everyone also brought skills. ‘Matt pushed himself at SRT and lead the gnarly climb ˜²Jas […]

Occasionally people confuse me for a caver

7 March 2021

Occasionally people confuse me for a caver with lots of experience. I'm not. I have some caving skills, and some experience in certain environments and some transferred skills from other sports… But there is more to learn. (There's always more to learn!) Painfully aware of my own limitations and weaknesses in SRT, I took myself […]

On Sunday in autumn Neil Amy and Jasmin

6 March 2021

On Sunday in the autumn, Neil, Amy, Jasmin, Judith, Samantha and me headed to Yorkshire for a daytrip down Mistral to visit Hall of the Mountain King. This trip was put together to commemorate the fact I had reached 30 years old the day before but still was still a complete child. Amy and Neil […]

A Wednesday last autumn with Sarah

6 March 2021

A Wednesday and a bit ago last autumn, Sam, Matthew, Becky, Jane and me headed to a south peak area mine for midweek mooch. This time we saw the mine in a totally different light – and that's not a cheesy joke about head torches. I've visited this mine a lot, but for Matthew, Becky […]