Much Wittering on the Moors
By Peter Glanvill
1999 was the tenth anniversary of the Mendip invasion of the Assynt region. Little did we know back in 1990 what we were to start when Brian Johnston, Tony Jarratt and I arrived in the old shed at Knockan at the start of a gloriously sunny week.
Ten years on we have the longest caves in
It has to be said during the same period of time that many members of the Grampian Speleological Group (not sputum article society as my dictation software would have it) have devoted their lives to construction of the magnificent new hut Taigh nam Famh which has turned at least one person into a caving softy.
It is always sad to leave those distinctive hills behind in my rear view mirror as we drive south until the next time we can return. My great satisfaction is the huge library of photos I have built up over the last ten years. This year, I took the opportunity of donating to the GSG four compact discs containing a collection of my best photographs of the four main systems in the limestone of Assynt. Copies are available at £10 a throw. These contain 25 MB TIF files which will comfortably enlarge to A3 or bigger.
The high waterfall- photo: Pete Glanvill
This year was a quiet year with no major discoveries being made. However we enjoyed some magnificent weather, did some exciting diving and I was very pleased to come home with yet more satisfying images of those remarkable Scottish caves.
This report has been delayed by my deciding to use dictation software to compose it. The original reads like Finnegan's Wake - if bits of that creep past the corrections forgive and (perchance) enjoy. In fact you can play spot the error for the next few thousand words. No prizes will be awarded though as I have made it easy by putting the dictated errors in italics!
This year Peter Rose decided to subject the Grampian's theological group and also the rest of
his family to more of his wittering so they, Quackers and myself were the
vanguard of the Mendip invasion for 1999. At the start of the week I had only one objective which was to gain
access to the tantalising
We had planned to climate
Bray bag (that one's easy) but it remained obstinately shrouded in cloud
for most the day (that's climate for you) and accordingly we changed our
objective to the bluff overlooking the
Derek, who is working at Lochgilphead as a Jeanette assist (say it fast) for asylum
brooding operation (something fishy) then struck up a conversation with those
running the salmon farm and we were taken on a brief tour. In the evening Crackers and I headed off to Kylesku where we had a short dive
examining the famous boy
The next morning dawned reasonably beautifully and we decided that some air should be obtained. Shortly after this I discovered that I had a bit of a problem as I had locked the keys in the car and it's central locking. An hour later a friendly AA man from Lochinver was demonstrating how to break into centrally locking cars using guess what - they caves hangar as well as big man monitors cuff and surpass the wages (come on, come on you're too slow).
J'Rat and the strange mud formations in Upholes Passage - Photo: Pete Glanvill
When all had returned from Lochinver it was decided that we
ought to attack Abbas cave again and
charged uphill ahead of the recently arrived other Mendip contingent which
consisted of Tony Boycott, Rich Blake, Tariff
(who he - guess) and Tony Jarratt. They
couldn't resist the magnetic attraction of the Allt as they drove past so it
was that I found myself and a pile of maypoles behind the wittering Rose in the
connecting crawl leading to the Farr series. After a few minutes order was re-established and steady movement
continued through the rather loose environment around Sotanito chamber
inexorably towards sump four. In the
process I took the precaution of re-belaying the rope on the climb out of
Sotanito chamber to a somewhat larger boulder than that to which it had been
belayed previously. I don't like the
idea of relying on something lighter than myself! A wave of beer fumes and some cheerful
shouts indicated the presence of the
After a lot of pissed mutterings most members of the party seemed to disappear leaving Derek and I to explore those bits of the Farr series that I hadn't seen before. We were soon to discover why Goon had seen fit to describe the cave as a vertical maze when I started to drop down a slot in the floor and found I had descended something like fifteen or 20 m before I got anywhere near the stream. In fact I dropped out of the roof with Derek closely behind at the upstream end of sump 3, right beside the diving line. A dull roar ahead indicated that we were near the base of fund aghast (another easy one) falls and a short crawl took us towards them. The falls certainly are impressive and after some scrambling around and examination of a funny little hole in the wall beside the falls (and a mysterious rope dangling from the ceiling) we returned to the falls and completed the roped climb up the side. The route then led past some small cascades and wallows until we found ourselves just downstream of sump four. After completing the photography Derek and I left the cave, ate some of Angie's famous apple cake and headed downhill. Unfortunately we had the car keys and the wittering from Rose could be heard half a mile away as we came over the hill.
Thunderghast
The next morning started unpromising with grey cloudy skies
and the original plan to tackle Suilven was scratched in favour of a walk to
the highest waterfall in
As we approached Kylesku we noticed to see Mr (the sea mist actually) rolling in up the loch so we crossed the road bridge and around the corner. Some entertainment followed when I turned the car in the middle of the road just as the only other car we saw that evening came roaring around the bend. We then took a series of pictures of Mr rolling around the basic rheumatic (some times known as Quinag) in the most spectacular fashion.
Derrick Guy in Knockers - Photo: Pete Glanvill
Shortly after I started kitting up for my dip in the harbour Jake and Becky arrived and Becky proceeded to jump into a kayak and disappear out into loch Glencoul not to be seen again for some time. Pete surfaced with a few scallops and he and Crackers departed leaving Jake not a little concerned still waiting for Becky in the gathering twilight.
The next morning Derek and I headed off to do some shopping in Lochinver and obtain air from doom (Jim) Crooks. After the usual crack with Jim we wandered back via the tourist office (where is the cave at Kylesku? (- the cave at Kylesku (Uamh Ruaidhridh) apparently dropped into the sea many years ago and has not been seen since! - J'Rat) and pie shop and then later on in the afternoon I decided to introduce Derek to the joys of clan light (this is a cave not a beer - think about it). I think we must have chosen one of the driest spells I have ever visited the cave which made the trip a lot more pleasant in dry gear. After a rapid trip to Sump 3 we slowly made our way out taking pictures as we went. We also undertook the opportunity to have a peek at the Capital series that I am ashamed to say I had never visited before. In the evening we had an excellent Scott male (not cannibals - think shellfish) which rounded the day off very nicely.
On Thursday I decided to join Tony Jarratt and Rich in the
new dig at
ANUS Horribilis with J'Rat and Rich Blake - Photo: Pete Glanvill
Back at the hut we met up with Tony and Crackers for a planned drift drive underneath the
Derek, who'd been on a tour of salmon farms the previous day, returned that evening and so, on the Friday, I decided to initiate him into the delights of the Traligill valley. After a leisurely start we arrived in the company of Quackers (dictation software off from now on) (Thank f**k for that!!! J'Rat aka proof reader!!) for a speleological ramble starting at Knockers. As we prepared to kit up by Glenbain a soft spoken gentleman and a young lady appeared. They were leading the Oxford Uni. Geology field trip staying at the Inchnadamph lodge. For a) presumably intelligent people, b) geology graduates they asked some amazingly gormless questions of the "How far do you go in?" and "How much is unexplored?" variety. I found the male of the pair amazingly effete (Quacker's blunt comment: "He's a prat") so decided to spice up their lives with some caving education and a short trip into the stream chamber in Knockers. I hope they were suitably impressed and educated.
Derrick and I knocked off Knockers in an hour or two taking in the worms by Boycott's sump plus some of the Rabbit Warren and took a few snaps on the way before emerging for a stroll to the bottom of the Water slide and visit to the sump. J-Rat's dig there still looks promising with the inlet stream emitting a healthy echo from beyond the currently constricted end.
After a brief poke at Uarnb an Cailliche Peireag we bimbled
down the dry streambed to
Hens - Tav and Colin Coventry - Photo: Pete Glanvill
Down at the Inch the diggers were in full swing when we
arrived closely followed by a hen party. It all seemed reminiscent of that old rugby song except for the absence
of virgins (from
The next day was the great diving and curry day. Tav had persuaded
On the bottom there were bottles galore! We shovelled them into our goodie bags with gay abandon and struggled back clinking into the boat. I was quite chuffed by relocating one of Estelle's ankle weights in 10m below the boat - search for known object completed. After a brief lunch break the dive party shrank to Estelle and I although everybody got to watch the seals. We emerged after our dive with enough scallops for a good couple of meals and headed back to the hut ready for the great curry evening.
When we arrived at the Alt near sunset a crowd of Meghalayan tribesmen seemed to have arrived. This turned out to be J-Rat and Co. in appropriate costume for the theme night. The meal was terrific - thanks to Eric and team and the evening ended in a slide show with suitable heckling. A strange board game was played and more beer was drunk. I ended up making two journeys to the hut due to a pissed communication breakdown but we will pass over that!
Sunday was my last day's caving so I decided to give Fraser and Simon Brooks a hand sherpering into ANUS where an assault on Sump 4 was planned.
Seal watching - Photo: Pete Glanvill
Both divers found the sump low and silty but everything was set up for what turned out to be a successful later push to a large airbell by Simon.
Quackers and I returned south the next day. Next year could be the year of the Rana/Claonaite exchange.
P.S. Regarding those bottles. I took them to our local bottle expert - Nick Chipchase, a week later. His comment "See that bottle bank there - put 'em in that". Apparently the collectors only like hand made bottles and these are too modem.
Peter Glanvill August 1999
Curry Night at the Allt - Photo: Pete Glanvill