Refreshers' Day Trip to Cat's Hole and Lower Cradle - 11/02/24
Written by Matthew Peacock
On Sunday, February 11th, the eight of us (Peter, Aoibhinn, Ajax, Ritchie, Abhiram, Mohit, Lilah, and myself) met at the PEC and gathered any gear that we needed to borrow. After splitting into two groups, Peter and I embarked on the long drive to the Marble Arch Caves.
Stopping briefly at a spar in Enniskillen, we bought some cave snacks and headed to the show cave centre.
We checked out the centre and then got ourselves kitted up. Following Peter, we entered the first cave I had ever been in and the first one of the trip - Cat's Hole.
As we climbed into the rocky pit, I saw the light slowly fade as the looming darkness engulfed the rocks like a blanket of shadows. We didn't get much further than about 10 metres before head torches were necessary. I loved the darkness and the earthy smell of sediment mixed with moisture flying through the air creating an atmosphere that was unique and incredibly fascinating.
Walking through the relatively straight cave we observed many stalagmites, stalactites and other speleothems, before reaching our first squeeze. I was particularly looking forward to this and volunteered to go along with Ajax, Aoibhinn and Ritchie.
I was the third to make it through this 10 metre tunnel and realised the pocket at the end was maybe big enough to hold 3 people comfortably. Ritchie soon followed and things got cramped. At this juncture, the 4 of us spotted Mohit crawling up the tunnel. "No more! Not enough space! Ho back! No more room we're cramped in here!" we all shouted. Mohit couldn't turn and had to crawl the entire way through and try to pivot around. It was too much for Ajax who had been in there the longest and demanded he exit first. Clambering over the other 4 of us, Ajax escaped, followed by Mohit, then Ritchie, Aobhinn and myself.
The funny part is that, because Peter did not want to get covered in mud yet, I then volunteered to show Lilah and Abhiram the tunnel as well, entering a second time.
After leaving Cat's hole, the next cave was Lower Cradle.
Lower Cradle was like a maze. Muddying our way through, the group eventually split up. I found my way up and into a crawl space with Ajax and Mohit. Seeing a tunnel going downwards, I decided to explore. Peter soon arrived and assisted by confirming it had been explored previously, this allowed us to loop down and around to the main area once again.
All of this exploring and crawling got us incredibly dirty and covered in mud. Ergo we vouched for a quick dip in the partially flooded Upper Cradle cave. To get down into this aquatic hole we first had to slide down a muddy verge. This entire escapade took all but 5 minutes and after some quick cold water plunging and scrubbing, we ventured out and trodded homeward.
After cleaning and packing away, there was only one final job. We needed food. And no better than the local chippy. We drove down and tucked in, satisfying our hunger and leaving us all in a state of total ecstasy (This may be slightly exaggerated :D )
The trip to the Marble Arch cave area was my first caving trip. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it would definitely not be my last. There is no other feeling like it in the world.
Upcoming Trips:
This Saturday 09/11/24 to County Fermanagh. Join the whatsapp group here. It’s a Freshers’ day trip, loads of people have signed up already so there might not be enough space… But don’t fret…
We have an intervarsity trip from 29/11/24 to 01/12/24 with TUDCC, staying at the Scout Hut also in County Fermanagh. More details will be announced in the main groupchat!
Final call for CHECC: 22-24 November in South Wales. Any experienced cavers - here is your time to shine (and party). Ticket sales end on the midnight of November 8th. Join the groupchat ASAP to make sure we can get you over!