Present: Al Cook, Ian Walker, Pete Hall (First trip), Ralph Leech
We stayed at the Shepton Mallet hut in Mendip from Tuesday the 27th to early morning on Friday the 30th of December. The SMCC were quite the hosts and made us feel very welcome.
Tuesday soon wasted away, what with travelling down and shopping to be completed, stuff to be unpacked et cetera. Whilst doing the shopping Al and Ian paid a visit to Wells cathedral, and we decided that it was most interesting and beautiful. It costs £2500 per day to run the cathedral; still we didn’t give them anything for the pleasure of looking round.
Wednesday was another day of phaff, for we came to realize that we were without lamps. We took six hours to get sorted out, calling in at (among others) Wells, Glastonbury and Bristol. We settled for Petzl Tikka XPs – these have proved to be very good indeed. Having got back to the hut, eaten tea and all the rest, we at last set off for the first cave. Al’s dieselmobile was keen to put Pete’s convertible through its paces, and we whizzed off only to find out a quarter of a mile later that the road was more icy than it as first appeared. Steadier running followed.
Ian