The pot hole thread.

[SpokeyDokey]

I can get the heebie jeebies with heights, particularly so on the above trip. I was last down the shaft so at 40m intervals I could see the lights of the other 5 members of my group with the furthest one nearly 200m straight down! The rope is bolted to the wall every 40m or so, so once someone's changed over at the belay, the next person can start their own abseil.

Further along in the trip there is a tightish bit - "La Turbinia" where the hitherto massive cave narrows down to a squeeze so the wind really roars past you. As well as the noise, back then we had to use naked flame carbide lamps for long trips and the wind would blow the flame out. There's a short abseil half way down the The Turbine which is sufficiently constricted that you have to have your abseil device at head hight on a short line as there's no room to have it in the normal place at your waist. It's only a short squeeze, but quite committing. There's a rubber dinghy section later on too; an epic trip altogether

Regarding the "getting stuck" scenario, it is objectively a very low risk - perhaps a valid comparison might be the risk of lightening strike for a cyclist, thus a non-zero risk that you might have to consider in some cases but not something particularly to concern you as a rule. I've been "temporarily inconvenienced" in tight passages a few times, but as I once said, to the amusement of my comrades "I'm not stuck, I just can't get out", after rather foolishly blocking my exit by moving a large rock. I've never felt claustrophobic in a cave, but did get a claustrophobic panic attack in Ikea on one rather unpleasant occasion. I ended up barging down the up escalator to escape but had managed to hold it together to avoid kicking open the fire doors. In retrospect I rather regret not doing just that, given I'd been deliberately manipulated into the state I was in. Hey ho

That does sound exciting but I just couldn't do it myself.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Pretty cool!!

I'm not sure about the 'Quadrophenia' trailer though?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervan...l-camper-trailer-show-van-for-sale/1493769466

 

[Drago]

Pretty cool!!

I'm not sure about the 'Quadrophenia' trailer though?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervan...l-camper-trailer-show-van-for-sale/1493769466

I'd be worried about being beaten up by the Black Widows driving that.

 

[presta]

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Pretty cool!!

I'm not sure about the 'Quadrophenia' trailer though?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervan...l-camper-trailer-show-van-for-sale/1493769466

Sorry, I put it in the wrong thread

 

[ColinJ]

View attachment 765856

Oh, come on - that's not exactly truly representative of a typical UK street in 2025, is it?




I mean, how many roads do you know with that much tarmac round the potholes!!

 

[Drago]

View attachment 765856

And not a single car parked on the footway.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

This is an interesting 'pothole'
I've walked up there, from Clapham a couple of times, & descended

https://gaping-gill.info/

 

[ColinJ]

This is an interesting 'pothole'
I've walked up there, from Clapham a couple of times, & descended

https://gaping-gill.info/

I almost killed myself in something like that on one forum ride!

We were climbing over Buttertubs Pass and I stopped for a roadside pee into one of the holes.

I clearly wasn't thinking straight because I decided that standing on a slab of wet limestone over a deep inky black void while wearing cycling shoes with slippery plastic cleats on their soles was a sensible thing to do! My feet slipped and I came scarily close to going over the edge into the darkness...

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

This is an interesting 'pothole'
I've walked up there, from Clapham a couple of times, & descended

https://gaping-gill.info/

At ‘Spring Bank’ & ‘August Bank’, local caving clubs have a ‘winch meet’ & set up a system where anyone who turns up, & can fit in their bosuns chair can descend

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Gaping Gill is a good pothole if you’ve never been down it.

 

[ColinJ]

Gaping Gill is a good pothole if you’ve never been down it.

View attachment 766067

It looks amazing but the only good potholes are ones that I am not down!!! (Claustrophobic shudder...)

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Gaping Gill is a good pothole if you’ve never been down it.

View attachment 766067

On my 2nd visit, I set off from home quite early, parking in Clapham & walking up
I arrived before the cavers had tested the winch/checked out for the day, so got the first trip down & an extended tour of the cave
Probably taken on first visit, so a queue

It's a weird sensation, after the 'trap-door' is withdrawn, as you're going side-ways & backwards to avoid the walls

Nearing the bottom

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It looks amazing but the only good potholes are ones that I am not down!!! (Claustrophobic shudder...)

You could fit Wembley inside. If you go down on the bosons chair you won’t be feeling claustrophobic

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

You could fit Wembley inside. If you go down on the bosons chair you won’t be feeling claustrophobic

York Minster is the accepted analogy up here, but it's been postulated that, if all the material that forms the 'floor' was removed, it might be twice/thrice the depth