 Martin - February 2008 I started caving in 1977 after reading books by the great French cave explorers Norbert Casteret and Pierre Chavalier. My first caves were in Dovedale accompanied by my friend Steve Johnson and his sister Caroline who we made sit outside the caves in case of problems. (Poor girl! Although eventually, as we gained experience, she increasingly accompanied us on trips.)
Not knowing where to buy caving gear, (or even if you could), we made our own helmets out of paper mache and taped bicycle lamps to them. We also carried painted metal arrows to leave at each junction so we could find our way out! (We also carried a small first aid kit, just in case.) Our first 'proper' caving trip was after walking (in wellies!) from Rugeley to Wetton Mill via the Weaver Hills, the Hamps Valley and Beeston Tor, where (on our first trip mind), we found two caves not even in the 'Caves of Derbyshire'! (The current caving guide of the time.) They were subsequently surveyed by us, but not otherwise documented until the Manifold and Hamps Cave and Mine Conservation Audit published in April 2005! We then started to explore the caves around the Wetton Mill area. On one trip we went down Elderbush Cave and came across the deep looking climb down into the main chamber, so we went home and got some wire rope (don't ask why) to allow us to descend it. When we returned to the cave we encountered 'Graham' a climber who was already exploring the cave and who had a proper rope to get up and down the pitch. Together, and with several other friends from Rugeley we formed Trent Valley Caving Group and over the next few years explored Hillocks Mine near Monyash, (where we had an overnight camp in one of the entrance series chambers), P8, Giants Hole and Dr. Jackson's Cave near Castleton and Carleswark Cavern at Stoney Middleton among others. By 1979/80 we were starting to make our first Manifold discoveries with the exploration of Rabbits Hole, then the discovery of Darfar Pot, Moonmilk Pot, T-Pot and Wednesday Pot. I also found the way into the new series of Darfar Ridge Cave around this time. However, things were not to remain so rosy, (due to incidents concerning Darfar Ridge Cave), and by 1982 I and several other T.V.C.G. members had split from them to form our own club, Trent Valley Cave Exploration Group, later to become Darfar Potholing Club. Initially, based at Beeston Tor we took over the base at Wetton Mill after T.V.C.G. lost interest in the area's caves. Over the next 13 years, I and other D.P.C. members met at Wetton Mill most weekends and caved all over the Peak District. We also paid regular visits to the Yorkshire Dales, (once or twice a year), and did caves like the Swinsto or Simpson's to West Kingsdale through trip, Tatham Wife Hole, Gingling Pot, Great Douk Cave, Alum Pot, Dissappointment Pot and the top part of Meregill. (All SRT trips, of course.) I also had a trip to South Wales with the club and had a great trip down Little Neath River Cave. (A highlight of my sport caving 'career'.) I also did some cave diving for a while, the highlight of this period being when I dived through Treasury Sump in Peak Cavern and helped sherpa John Cordingley's diving gear to Main Rising. Then while he was diving I had a look at Cliff Cavern, which was VERY impressive! However, the majority of my caving interest lay in original exploration in the Peak District, esp. in the beautiful Manifold Valley, and much work was done extending T-Pot, Redhurst Swallet, Wednesday Pot, etc. During the winter months when the River Manifold was flooded, (and during some particularily wet summers I remember), I was involved in extending several other caves, mostly with Pete Mellors, who eventually joined D.P.C. Together we extended Gutterholes and discovered and explored Hemmingslow Swallet at Cauldon Low, extended Critchlow and Ricklow Cave in Lathkill Dale, dug into and explored/extended Picnic Passage in the Dynamite Series of Carlswark Cavern at Stoney Middleton, (along with other Darfar P.C. members), and did a lot of digging down Deepdale Pot near Grindon and later in Waterways Swallet (near Swinscoe) to try and find an easier way past the boulder choke than scaffolding down through it.
In the mid 1990's, I was part of the team that created the top entrance route into Darfar Pot, the new entrance of T-Pot and later in the decade started working with the National Trust to clear several of the caves in the valley of rubbish left by previous generations of cavers.  Looking back at Crib Goch From 1999 to 2003 or so, I took a complete break from caving, instead exploring above ground for a change. I walked many, many miles all over the Peak District and did more climbing and scrambling. In 2002, I did the complete Snowdon Horseshoe (over Crib Goch) in Wales which was fantastic, then camping, walking and gill scrambling in Great Langdale in the Lake District. In 2003, I did the north ridge scramble of Tryfan in Wales and went up Helvellyn and along Striding Edge in the Lake District. I also started doing some climbing at Black Rock near Matlock. From 2004, I again started visiting the Manifold Valley more and more, as I was doing research and taking photos for the new Manifold and Hamps Cave and Mine Conservation Audit which took around 18 months to produce and in 2005 started doing a lot of the conservation/restoration work which had been identified as issues in the audit. (And several others besides!) I also become a regular visitor to Harborough Rocks near Brassington for some excellent bouldering and short climbs with minimal gear. In spring 2006, I was continueing with this work when I bumped into Ian and Eddy as described elsewhere on this site. After this meeting, and accompanied by Eddie, Ian and Pete, (another 'newcomer'), I was able to start going down some of the caves again, as it had been unsafe to do so on my own. (Especially after not having been caving properly for several years.) In the process of showing them around the caves, I was able to assess and then improve my 'cave-fitness' to the point where I could do things that some of the others couldn't, despite being a bit overweight! So in 2006/2007, it's been nice getting some decent caving gear again, (for myself and for the new club members), getting underground properly and starting some interesting new cave-related projects in the Manifold area... Which leads me on to April 2007, when I started to survey the parts of Darfar Pot that were previously just drawn on the survey as rough 'memory-only' sketches. During the course of this work, I inevitably started finding passages I'd not seen before. (Always seems to happen on surveying trips!)  Me outside Darfar Pot - April 2007 In late 2007, after more survey work in Riverside Swallet and on the surface to link in Riverside 2 and the nearby gully to the rest of the survey, a small amount of effort by all DPC members established a top entrance to the cave via Tumbledown Aven, discovered by Tim Pendleton in 1988 and bolted up by him and sometimes me. This gave a 14m (46ft) pitch into the cave. There will definately be more discoveries over the next few months... Cheers, Martin Milner
Some non-caving info about me:-  My place in Branston I've had a number of sports cars over the years, my last 3 being Mazda RX7's with the lovely smooth rotary engine.  My 3rd Mazda RX7 I've also done a fair bit of climbing over the years. (Nothing too serious mind!)  Me leading Medusa (150ft) back in the '80's |
