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| Cave | Hunters Hole | |
| Date | April 2022 | |
| Speleologists: | Tim, Paul, Mathias and Axel | |
| Style: | SRT |
Written by Axel Willerup
To start of this trip report i would like to say thanks to Tim and Claire for a place to stay with food and great fun. Also a big thanks to Paul and Lyall for good caving and a lot of laughs and banter at the Grain Barge. So why did Mathias and I want to go to England? As some may know we like caving, pubs and wonderful people. England has that and a lot more. We were here in December 2021 and we said to ourselves that we want to do it again soon. So a trip to England was planned in April.
Friday 31. March
We woke up to a beautiful morning with birds singing their heart out to wake us up. After breakfast and our different mornings routines we headed down to the local forest to a brief session of quick SRT. Everything went as planned and we were on the next flight to Bristol at 2 pm. Four babies and some empty seats and we were of. Fearing the worst, the baby beside us started crying. We thought we were doomed for next 2 hours but then it calmed down. I was convinced that the baby would scream for the whole trip but it didn’t and we had a great flight. Tim picked us up and we drove to North Green St. the home of The Wilkinson Family. We got pizzas from the local shop to start our caving paradise we had upon us.
Saturday 1. April
I woke up at 10 am and came down to Mathias and Tim planing our caving day. The cave we had in mind was Rhino Rift. Everything was done and we were ready conquer this adventures cave. Arriving at the car park, Tim seemed a little bit confused. A walk that could have taking us minimal time became a long hike through the landscape of southern mendips. Crooked trees, disgusting moss and grass that needed cutting were just a fraction of things we saw on the walk. After what felt like hours of walking we arrived at Rhino Rift. After putting the caving gear on and checking out the topo, Tim went down to unlock the entrance gate. Mathias first leading and rigging, me following and cavemaster Tim in the back. When you are in the middle you don’t really have a purpose. Wether you like it or not it’s actually a chill place to be in. You just follow the rope, shout “ROPE FREE” and amuse the other while they do the hard work. We reach the bottom after some time and everybody was in good shape. Ascending was the next task. Tim and I had a protein bar while Mathias was going up. It was easy for both Mathias and I but Tim was derigging like he had never done anything in his life so he took a little longer. At the top y-hang I continued while the two old lads were packing the rope. As some may know caves are a bit confusing and I became lost. I climbed through and at some point it clocked in that I was in the wrong place. It turned out that I had missed a left turn in a T-junction. Realizing my mistake, I climbed back to were I could recognize and called out for the others but of course they didn’t hear me. I was alone.
Silence. Nothingness. Then Mathias popped out of the other end and said that it was the left turn. We headed out, walked to car, took every bit of caving gear and cloth of and then we drove home. At home Claire and Oscar were waiting for us. Lasagne, garlic bread and salad. Delicious. Trust me very delicious.
Sunday 2. April
Everybody was tired from yesterday’s caving. The plan was to drive to Wales for 2 hours and walk for one hour, but then Tim suggested that I should lead a trip instead - locally. A wonderful idea became reality as we parked at Hunters Hole. While Tim waited for Paul, Mathias and I walked excitedly for 30 seconds arriving at the cave entrance. Mathias pushed the cover and then I climbed down. Was I ready? Was this really a good idea? As I unscrewed my first maillon I knew that I was ready. I was born to be a caver. From my point view I did a very good job with rigging and I think Tim, Mathias and Paul can agree with me.
As a rappelled down I gained more confidence. To see 3 grown men using my rigging and telling me that I did a good job was fantastic. We did 3 different routes, it was almost like a school. Everybody ascended and descended on their own route and the other routes. After some time getting up and down, we finally decided to go up. In a rare case of messing up - Paul got his rope stuck so Mathias and I got out of the cave and headed to the closest pub in Priddy - 3 miles away. Another lasagne, garlic bread and a pint of coke we were all set. We had taken Tim's car thinking that Tim and Paul could join us in Pauls car, but then Paul’s car keys were in Tim’s car that was now with us at the Pub. Realising this, Mathias drove back while I had another pint but with lemonade. The day ended in Bristol with delicious pancakes and relaxing in my bed.
Monday 3. April
I woke up at 7 am a bit early compared to where I usually wake up. As planned, we headed out the door to go to BTP (Boston Tea Party). I was a bit sceptical because of a 30 min walk. It seemed long but when you talk and look around enjoying the scenes it didn’t take long. Looking at the menu Mathias and I decided to choose “The Boss Breakfast” (a normal English breakfast). Everything was incredible and tasty. Beans, eggs, bacon etc. After an amazing breakfast we both were full and ready to head home to Denmark. The flight was departing at 15, so we drove to airport at 12. Everything went smooth. Minimal amount of people because it was a Monday. Sadly, the flight from southern Scotland was delayed with 30 mins. 2 babies this time, but luckily with no crying. We took of the land of England and said our farewells.
