Trip to Marble steps Yorkshire summer 09

Trip to Marble steps, summer 2009


I have been asked by our venerable leader, the Miklemonster, to provide a trip report for our trip to Marble steps in Yorkshire, the actual date of which has been lost in the mists of time but it was early summer 2009.
It is often said that as you grow older three things happen to you, the first is that the memory loses some of the sharpness that it once had, the other two escape me.
So here is the shorter version of the trip report, the longer version being entombed in my crumbling grey matter, whereupon it resists all attempts to prise it out.
As I recall, the trip went very well, I was travelling with Linda and John, we travelled in three cars and met Guy at Bernies as we often do for the essential Bernies breakfast.
It was not, and I will repeat this, not raining, yes this was a UCET trip to Yorkshire, but so far dry, we parked up by the water pumping station where we got changed and set off up the hill and over the stile to the left.
Twenty minutes trudging across the fields brought us to a group of trees in a hollow and there was the entrance, a deep, wide fissure hidden by nature from general view.
We clambered down a boulder strewn path to the fist pitch which Guy and Mike were already rigging.
The first pitch was a split affair which led us down and around to the right, still in daylight, at the bottom, about 50 vertical feet, a sharp left turn led us into the active streamway and into the darkness.
The streamway passage then, lead us down and around to the second pitch, which was accessed via a narrow slot into a shear 100 foot drop.
At the bottom we got our breath back while Guy and Mike were rigging the next pitch.
The last couple of pitches were easy enough though the bottom one was a bit tight as we lowered ourselves into a keyhole shaped passage, along which we crawled, scrambled and slithered until it led us into a high bell shaped chamber.
This chamber was the end of the road, so we sat and had our lunch.
After twenty minutes or so we set off back towards the surface, with John and myself leading from the rear, as we were de rigging.
I must say I struggled a bit at the top of the high middle pitch, as it was a bit tricky to get off the rope through the tight slot.
John and I continued to de rig as we followed the others to the surface, where we found them all sitting, drinking coffee and complaining that it had taken us so long.
Back at the cars, Mike found a pair of reading glasses that someone had left hanging on the door handle.
After asking everybody if they had lost their specs, he gave them to me, as they were the same dioptre as mine.
We got changed and set off for the pub.
In the Marston arms, while we were all choosing our drinks, Mike was searching for his glasses to read the menu, (you don’t need me to tell you where they were).
This was a good trip, I was promised a wet trip by Guy, and thankfully, for once he was wrong, I got away without so much as a wellyfull of water.

another brill trip report douge (could'nt read it properly without my glasses . you don't know were they are do you douge !!) you'll have to do the ireland one as soon as you get back , before it goes into the ether again