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Howburn Digger 986 posts |
Apr 16, 2015, 18:43
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As a habitual visitor to Arran I have become well acquainted with its many caves - and they are many. Most are beach caves and the others are raised beach caves. They range from the small to large and I have visited most of them. The Black Cave, King's Caves, the raised beach caves south of Lochranza, Catacol and Blackwaterfoot. There are also some up above Corrie. None of them are in any way disturbing or strange. And unusually for me I don't find exploring them claustrophobic or nerve wracking in any way. However, a few years back, during a mild October visit, we called upon the King's Caves. We walked in from the car park near Tormore. Because it was October and all the greenery was down, some parts of the cliffs were more visible than usual. I noticed an entry in the cliff which I'd not seen before. Myself and my son scrambled up. Normally in summer it was obscured by ivy, rhododendron, long grass, shrubbery etc. The entry was a narrow crack in the cliff face about the width of a person and as high as the cliff. I climbed in and followed the narrow passage and started feeling rather "hemmed in". The sheer rock walls rose high above me on either side and might even have met in the middle at the top. The passage ended abruptly after about 20 yards with another passage/chamber leading off to the right. I had to step into it to turn around as the passage was so narrow by that point. By this time I felt that I had to leave - immediately. I huckled my way past my son who was following me in. He came back pretty sharpish too. Neither of us could bear to be in the chamber off on the right. We both had head torches and it wasn't the dark which panicked us. To me it was the weight of the rock "closing in" on me and the unknown qualities of the chamber on the right. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/img_fullsize/91647.jpg I've just checked - it was the year of the Chilean Mine Rescue - 2010. It actually happened while we were over on Arran. I'd have been useless at Copiapó!
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The Eternal 924 posts |
Apr 17, 2015, 20:39
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Hi Rhiannon, I used to do a little bit of caving in the late '80s, early '90s. Two particular things used to bother me, but I persevered. One was a situation which is fairly common; making my way, un-roped, along a fluted passage (a vertically 'S' shaped horizontal passage) where there is an unseen drop below you. You don't slide or fall down because your body is contorted into the 'S' shape, thus providing friction, yet the yawning, unseen, black abyss is beneath, waiting for you. The other was a 'cheese-press'. This involves crawling flat on your stomach along a horizontal passage. In these the floor and ceiling were getting closer together until I had one cheek (of my face!) flat against the ground in order to give clearance of the ceiling for my helmet (on my head!). This usually went on for about 50 yards or so (seemed longer). Eventually, on one occasion, we entered a huge underground cavern called Lancaster Pot. So beautiful it was worth it. As were all the other times I went through my fear. All the above experiences were in the Ease Gill system on the Lancashire / Cumbria border. All the best, TE.
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Rhiannon 5291 posts |
Apr 18, 2015, 09:43
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Good grief, thanks for that image :) I wouldn't be physically fit enough for all that at all, I don't think. But I can see you'd need to be mentally fit as well, you'd definitely need to be able to keep a lid on it when you're inching along with your face pressed to the rock. I guess if you're confident in your physical ability and bear in mind that other people have been through there before, there's less reason to freak out and get stuck? Maybe that's the difference slightly, that most cavers are going in places that have been previously explored, you kind of know where you're going and theoretically what to expect. But with Howburn Digger's excellent anecdote above, what strikes me is the element of the unknown. Maybe it's easier for human beings to damp down the bit of your brain that deals with 'aargh I'm squeezing through a tight gap in some rock' than it is 'what ghastly things could be lurking in the dark round the corner'. The first being a bit more rational (don't ask me to do it mind) and the second being something wrapped up in instinct and superstition. Your horrid sounding s-bend sounds like it contains both though, ugh. God I'm such a coward. But I might crawl through some stuff to see cave paintings of animals in the light of a flickering torch. That might motivate me :) But you must have seen some cool formations down there. It must give you a different slant on the daylight world, when you know what's down there, unseen, unthought-about by the people scurrying about on the surface. I still think it's a freaky thought. In amongst the solidness of the earth, squeezing about in little gaps. (pulls face involuntarily)
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The Eternal 924 posts |
Apr 19, 2015, 01:07
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Rhiannon, Howburn Diggers experience sounds a bit more adventurous than mine. He was really giving what you'd call adventure a good go. Me, I was just being led by an older, vastly more experienced caver, who had been on international caving expeditions to find the deepest caves in the world. If he said 'follow me', then I gladly did so, safe in the knowledge that he was leading me through what was, to him, a relative 'piece of piss'. Having said that, I had to hold it together on numerous occasions, as I am a tad claustrophobic in tight situations. It's definitely a case of mind over matter. I was never afraid of what lay down the caves, just my fears of constriction. In fact, every trip resulted in an adrenalin rush when emerging into the light. What was really interesting was the smell of the air when exiting. Caves are pretty dull in terms of air smell. When coming out, after a few hours, you really do smell the outside air to the extent, especially in Spring, of the sweetness. For a good 15 minutes or so after you don't half appreciate fresh air. Very strange, and something I've never experienced except through caving. The mixed showers at Bull Pot Farm afterwards were a greater test of mind over 'matter. to be honest, certainly at the age of 21 or so. Ahhhhh, happy memories. TE.
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