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Present: James C, George T, Ian W

Awoke late in the morning to Bob Marley (eurgh!) and sat around drinking tea for a couple of hours. An almighty breakfast was cooked and consumed and more tea drunk. Al and Stacey said their good-byes and we three headed off to Masongill in the rain (by motor, naturally) in anticipation of a caving trip. We climbed into our wet gear and set off up the track towards Large Pot. A little searching preceded our finding the entrance (as you would expect) but soon we were in. The entrance pitch was rigged, so we just sailed along to the next pitch, where we rigged our own rope in parallel with the fixed rope. This pitch was a little tight and I wasn’t looking forward to the return. Afterwards there were more pitchlets and a long crawly-crawly bit, which was awkward at times because of the greasy-clayey mud which stuck to everything (but prevented us from sticking to the walls). There was an awkward roof-tube moment as well, but this all passed and we were soon at the head of the last pitch: ‘Colossus’ – 46m. It was big! It drops into ‘Necropolis’ – a 91m long chamber with a large block-strewn floor which makes for perfect scrambling.

The return trip was very much easier than anticipated (much, much easier without SRT kits on) and the calcite squeeze, the roof-tube (actually easier at stream level) and the tight pitch all passed without a hitch. It was raining slightly as we walked in the dark down the track to the cars. It was still raining as we changed and I got a wet back which was to remain wet until I got home – d’oh! By consensus of agreement, Large Pot was a fine cave to visit. With the stay at Bull Pot Farm and the previous days (and nights) antics, the First Annual Easter Escape certainly was a success. Hurrah for sophisticated, charming, good looking, clean shaven men with one eyebrow raised suggestively, and for semi-naked ladies.

Ian W