Memorable trip to Bagshawe Cavern with Tom, Liberty and Jimmy and supported by Jon A few weeks ago!
Here’s how Tom described it:
“Thanks to an invite from that nice man, Tim Dobson I finally managed to do something I have always wanted to do; go caving.
I’d warned him in advance that I was a ‘big lad’ and he assured me that the club has a caving suit for every body size. This turned out not to be the case and so having failed to squeeze inside every suit in the club, including the XXL extra long special from the emergency box, I instead went inside in a fleece onesie. It was soon observed that I looked like ‘the worst Teletubbie’ and this naturally led to the coining of I imagine will always be my caving name – ‘Cunty-wunty’.
But I had a great time, not being in the slightest bit claustrophobic, I was only really bothered when my beer belly went underwater in a low crawling section.
It really was everything I’d hoped it would be; very physical, and I enjoyed figuring out how to use my body to get through the obstacles. It was at times amazingly beautiful, especially the underground river and a real sense of earned achievement.
Thanks to Tim again for the photos of the day. I’d definitely do it again! The best day out this year.”
From my (Tim’s) point of view, sharing the cave with Jimmy, Liberty and Tom for the first time included some special moments:
Jimmy bravely exploring where noone else felt was possible
The entire group loving the darkness and almost falling asleep
‘ Tom’s complete loss of sense of time
Liberty when she said “she was less freaked out than she thought she’d be”
Jonny sorting out a group issue before I got the opportunity to myself
ª Jimmy having a go at everything we threw him at (which was quite a lot!)
Realising I was likely to feature in one of Tom’s books
Tom’s achievement despite claiming to be “unsuitable” for caving
¦ Liberty’s eagerness to return to see more watery bits
© The way the group supported and encouraged each other through the obstacles
If you fancy getting involved in a future novice friendly trip, search “The Caving Crew” on Facebook.
Oh, and we now have the right suit for Tom!
Originally posted on this post on Instagram
