Meet report, 13-15 December 2024

Voice from the Kitchen: “Harvey!  You’ll be going into Settle, won’t you, would you mind picking up a couple of things for tomorrow’s meal?”

Harvey: “’Course not.  What do you need?”

Voice from the Kitchen: “Just fennel seeds and a bottle of white wine vinegar.”

On the face of it mid-December is not a propitious time of the year for an outdoor recreation meet: short days, often cold overcast wet weather, and everyone busy with other seasonal demands. But this meet is one of the most popular gatherings each year.  In recent decades it has often been an opportunity for some social caving, and for those members now less active to meet up with old friends, catch up with what’s happening and chat to some of the newer members.  Taking on the catering for a meet which includes a Christmas dinner for 33 is an organisational challenge.  It was clear from the above overheard conversation that Yayoi and Rod Smith were not simply ripping open catering packs.  We were in for a feast.

Early arrivers were out on Friday in cool and cloudy conditions.  Though the Dales tops were clear with no rain, over in the Lake District hills it was apparent that they were not faring so well.  This was confirmed by Solvig who had tried climbing there.  

Michael and Helen warmed up ascending Gregareth from Yordas Cave, sploshed north over Green Hill to gain just one metre and reach the highest point in Lancashire. This is a bit of a comedown for Lancastrians since before boundary changes that point was the Old Man of Coniston. A right turn from the col and along the Occupation Road took them across Kingsdale to head straight up Whernside.  During a short break for a snack there, they saw nobody, a rare occurrence on a Three Peaks summit.  Indeed, they only saw two people all day. South along the ridge and they could drop almost directly back to their car.

Others walked into Crummackdale returning past Norber, or up towards Trow Gill.

Friday evening saw many more arrivals.  Maps and guidebooks were out planning for next summer’s meet in the Alps.  There were a couple of departures outside to camp for a quieter night.  They needed a good flysheet as there was overnight rain both nights.  

Saturday dawned colder with wreaths of cloud drifting up the valleys and around the felltops.  First off were Andrew, Helen and Michael, heading over fields towards Ingleton to traverse Ingleborough from Crina Bottom to Trow Gill.  They had not gone 400m when they saw three deer bounding away.  A little later they disturbed large flocks of lapwing impressively flashing black and white as they rose.  The trio took a lunch break by the summit shelter walls but did not linger on account of the freezing wind and wetting cloud.  This was Andrew’s first meet for well over a decade.  A knee problem had recently kept him off the fells but he was pleased with its performance today.

Those conditions deterred other groups who headed instead for Crummackdale.  Mick, Robert, Conrad and Beverley took John Sutcliffe’s geological tour along Thwaite Lane and below Robin Proctor’s Scar to the Norber Erratics to view the unconformity between the Carboniferous limestone and the Silurian basement rocks at Nappa Scars brought to the surface by the North Craven Fault.  They returned via the Wash Dub, and The Gamecock.  Roy and Mike motored to Hawes to visit old haunts and reminisce.  The biting cold and damp eventually called a halt to that and they headed back via Ribblehead.  In search of a warming coffee, they tried Horton, Helwith Bridge and Stainforth without success until reaching The Courtyard to purchase exotic cheeses. They met up with several other members taking refuge in the Gamecock, and later moved on to the New Inn.  Not far away, Iain, David, and Christine arriving in the afternoon walked the estate lanes above Clapham.

Back at Lowstern, most members moved upstairs making space to set out tables for the meal. Up in the long dorm they heard from five of the summer’s Bolivian party as photos and video clips were screened.  Then Mick gave more detail on his Ubaye valley visit.  All returned downstairs to rooms heavy with promisingly rich cooking aromas.  Every chair and bench in the building and a small side table or two were needed to seat everyone.

Ged, as President, welcomed us all, the meal was then served and a small mountain of food disappeared accompanied by wines and hearty conversation.

After the meal, for the first time since Ged sat down, silence fell as Harvey took up his guitar and gave us three folk songs.  Those unaware of his talents in this field were suitably impressed.  Each song received warm applause.  Tables were cleared and conversation continued long into the night.

Sunday’s weather was milder but distinctly wetting, this did not discourage Ged’s planned Long Churn caving party consisting of Conrad, Tim, John Sutcliffe, Michael, Robert, and caving novice, Solvig.  The water level was up but not as high as your scribe had managed before.  After a short splash up from the lower entrance the dry route through Baptistry Crawl and the Font took us to Double Shuffle and Plank pools, each giving someone a thorough wetting.  Undaunted, it was down the Slot to the top of Dollytubs for a glimpse of daylight and, for Ged, Solvig and Michael, the Cheesepress.  Heading back upstream, John steadily tackled every obstacle with perfect technique against a rising flow.  Joining that flow close to where it was heading off into Diccan, some opted for the dry oxbow bypass.  The others continued upstream against the increased flow in which Solvig wasn’t a match for the force of the current, which managed to rip off both her wellies during successive attempts to push her through the torrent of white water. Her wellies, one brushing Tim’s leg as he brought up the rear, were lost to posterity. After taking a breath and reassessing possibilities, Solvig made good use of her remaining socks on the rocks to climb over the flow. In a push-me pull-you pantomime scene reminiscent of the Chuckle Brothers, Conrad pushed her over the gushing rapids, where she landed face-first into the water at the top, and Ged pulled her out. Even after such a comic introduction to caving and underground wild swimming, Solvig still looks forward to more social caving escapades. She is grateful to have been loaned a caving suit, especially when told that some have lost their trousers to the current.               

A snack back at the cottage, a clean round, and 2024’s meets were at an end.

Attendees:  Carol Baker, Peter Baker, Mick Borroff, Ged Campion, Solvig Choi (Sunday caving), Alan Clare, Robert Crowther, Roy Denney, Toby Dickinson, Andrew Duxbury, Beverley Eastwood, Iain Gilmour, Mike Godden, David Hick, Tim Josephy, Anne Latham, Pete Latham, Adam Linford, Alan Linford, Harvey Lomas, Christine Marriott, Kim Randall, Steve Richards, Wendy Richards, Helen Smith, Michael Smith, Rod Smith, Yayoi Smith, John Sutcliffe, Richard Taylor, Conrad Tetley, Carol Whalley, John Whalley.