The Frozen Fields of Hagg Gill

Ahhh I remember it well. Matthew Chubb had journeyed up from London the night before and together we set of from Derbyshire to The Dales. We picked up Stuart from Skipton and indulged in (too damn cold) coffee and hot bacon rolls from the station and set off in earnest for the Shark Christmas Caving Do and cave 1 of 3…Cherry Tree Hole.

Ohhh there was snow everywhere and the temperatures were comfortably in the zeros and as we got further into Littondale the ice began in earnest. Sadly my front wheel drive Toyota estate car on worn summer tyres couldn’t penetrate the ice and we had to turn (slide) back down the road from whence we came. I was crushed but as president I am always planning and decided to take my team to Hagg Gill.

The drive was much longer than I thought but we were in moderate spirits and excited for the trip. When we reached the destination we parked up and the ice was no trouble here although there was a goodly amount of snow on the ground and an otter in the river!

Anyway it proved to be quite some time finding the entrance but eventually Stuart was successful and we slid the lid open and began our caving trip.

I was the rigger. I tied a fig 8 onto the lid bar and descended the shaft. I put on a sling and dropped the rope down the squeeze and then down the pitch. I tested my rack and wiggled into he squeeze…I didn’t fit. It was tight I tried again and again. After some thinking I decided that as I had been down before I would reluctantly head back and allow Chubb and Stuart to go on alone. I went back up, cold and sad.

Now if I’m honest I do think I probably would fit with more enthusiasm but one thought was going through my head, “no one knows you’re hear, you’re callout is for Cherry Tree Hole” I decided it wasn’t worth being stuck in the cold and ice. Instead I went back to the car and made tea with a portable stove and bided my time for Shuttleworth Pot but that is a story for another day.