Sunday 10 December 2017
Saturday 18 November 2017
Sunday 5 November 2017
Monday 28 August 2017
Thursday 17 August 2017
Saturday 12 August 2017
Tuesday 27 June 2017
Sunday 11 June 2017
Mossdale Exploration Group
The cogs have been in motion for some time now, no more so than recently. I am very protective of my efforts and investments, and the way I see it; nobody got me here but me! Which also partly translates to; nobody will be getting a free ride either... Although the organisation may never reach full official status, and it's members will be few, the very act of the group and it's continued existence certainly will.
Copyright
© Simon Beck, 2017. The copyright for this article and photographs remains with the author. It should not be reproduced without permission.
Copyright
© Simon Beck, 2017. The copyright for this article and photographs remains with the author. It should not be reproduced without permission.
Thursday 8 June 2017
Thursday 16 March 2017
The Mossdale Connection
Twelve years since my first trip down Mossdale. Even though I've clocked up a respectable number of visits, somewhere in the 30s, it's only recently that I've felt I'm really getting started with the place. The inevitable shift appears to have been made, from sport to exploration.. The past few years worth of visits have all been memorable and noteworthy, some of them were downright strange. My partner on at least one of these will testify to that. Mossdale Caverns has been with me for what seems a long time. Looking back it appears to have largely governed my course. Coincidences relating to my life both in and out of caving appear intertwined with Mossdale, as if the place has always transcended that boundary. I will attempt to write a piece about these events one day. But for now I will just refer to it as The Mossdale Connection.
Copyright
© Simon Beck, 2017. The copyright for this article and photographs remains with the author. It should not be reproduced without permission.
Copyright
© Simon Beck, 2017. The copyright for this article and photographs remains with the author. It should not be reproduced without permission.
Monday 30 January 2017
WRPC MEET 28/01 - Bar Pot - Gaping Gill
Over the last half decade or so I've probably only attended a small handful of official club related meets. I was reminded of this today as the experience felt rather alien and I seriously racked my brain to remember the last time...
I was also reminded how isolated we are in the Wharfedale region where meeting other cavers is usually a rare occurrence. In the space of ten minutes in Clapham I'd bumped into just about everybody.
I was also reminded how isolated we are in the Wharfedale region where meeting other cavers is usually a rare occurrence. In the space of ten minutes in Clapham I'd bumped into just about everybody.
Sunday 22 January 2017
2017AD
Not much of a report really and more of a 'new year start as I mean to go on' type of thing.
After the overdue nature of my previous two pieces I'm going to try and keep my online logs up to date.
Recent activity with Ian (Cummins) has felt reminiscent of those bitter winter affairs of past, spent down some three peaks test piece.
The 2017 opener down Meregill Hole was like an ice cold wake up. Meregill's defences were under siege from the elements that day. The noise alone was enough to make me feel unwelcome. It was an experience that blew the cobwebs off my nervous system for sure. Ian did a great job of rigging in the face of such hostility, sometimes feet from falling water and no doubt wondering what the return would be like. I looked on mainly in awe at the situation and hoping like hell he wasn't continuing purely for my sake. We turned around at the base of the fifth and final big pitch feeling we'd seen enough. The de-rig was initially rather intimidating but for the most part still a good distance, just. If only we'd had a camera with us that day.
Recent activity with Ian (Cummins) has felt reminiscent of those bitter winter affairs of past, spent down some three peaks test piece.
The 2017 opener down Meregill Hole was like an ice cold wake up. Meregill's defences were under siege from the elements that day. The noise alone was enough to make me feel unwelcome. It was an experience that blew the cobwebs off my nervous system for sure. Ian did a great job of rigging in the face of such hostility, sometimes feet from falling water and no doubt wondering what the return would be like. I looked on mainly in awe at the situation and hoping like hell he wasn't continuing purely for my sake. We turned around at the base of the fifth and final big pitch feeling we'd seen enough. The de-rig was initially rather intimidating but for the most part still a good distance, just. If only we'd had a camera with us that day.
Tuesday 17 January 2017
Langstroth Pot - Straw chamber & Goat Inlet - Article & Photos
The photos below were taken over the course of two trips during the spring of 2016. The first of these, a trip to photograph the beautifully well decorated inlet leading to straw chamber was undertaken rather impulsively one evening during very dry conditions. Had I known plans to visit Mossdale with Alex Ritchie the following evening would definitely be going ahead I would have given this trip a miss. Mossdale had featured heavily that month.But the weather felt close to breaking, so I decided to get something done (then and there) just in case...
Although, documented by Alex and myself elsewhere our trip that following evening must surely have been a record breaker in terms of us reaching the end of Mossdale and back in-between 'Home and Away' and 'Eastenders'...
Although, documented by Alex and myself elsewhere our trip that following evening must surely have been a record breaker in terms of us reaching the end of Mossdale and back in-between 'Home and Away' and 'Eastenders'...
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