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Today every club member met Martin at Wetton Mill where he'd arrived early and ferried all the gear to the top entrance of Darfar Pot. After descending to Glory Chamber, (and confirming the length of some survey legs on the way down), the majority of the party 'milled around' waiting to be 'led' somewhere. Then Graham and Martin started drilling the large rock blocking the way into the potential bypass to the 3rd pitch. It quickly started to move when the chisel was driven into it, so some persuasion with a crowbar soon sent it crashing down and the way was open into a 2 metre drop to a boulder blockage. (No more drilling necessary!) Fearing the others might have gone down through the waterfall at the base of Chamber Pot, (instead of having a look around the Wind Tunnel and Canyon 2), Graham and Martin made their way to the top of Chamber Pot where Martin placed a ringbolt from which to belay a ladder to make the pitch easier to climb for less experienced cavers. Unfortunately, the others had gone down through the waterfall and all but Eddie, (who had recently bought an undersuit off ebay), were getting cold. (Surprise, surprise!) Graham and Martin descended the pitch and chastised the others for not having rigged Pedigree Pot by now. (Instead they were just sitting there shivering! Except Ed, of course.) Martin quickly rigged the pitch with a ladder and a rope, (in case the existing handline which had been down there for over 20 years was rotten), and all except Graham descended the pitch. They found the river flowing strongly through the walking sized passage just before the Toboggan Run and so couldn't see the very bottom of the cave, but it was an invigorating experience anyway. They then climbed back up the pitch. However, as Martin reached the top he noticed that there was no-one about. (Had everyone really sodded off?) After a while Eddie rejoined him, shouting to the others that he was going to help Martin de-rig the pitch. Well, it's a good job he did, as every other member had buggered off out of the cave leaving Ed and Martin to de-rig 4 pitches and get 3 heavy tackle bags, 1 SRT rope and 4 ladders out of the cave. (Bastards!) After rolling up two ladders and coiling the rope they made their way back to Glory Chamber for a rest and a bite to eat, then continued the survey from the eyehole into Prospect Chamber. At the bottom of the chamber, Martin found that some of the silt had moved since the early 80's and a way could be seen down towards the roar of the water below into negotiable passage. Two medium sized rocks needed moving and a much larger wedged rock needed splitting at it's narrowest end to allow entry. Unfortunately, while trying to move one of the 'smaller' rocks Ed caught a finger between it and a wall, which mashed it up quite a bit so the pair started the long slog out with all the tackle, reaching the surface at around 6pm. (Much cleaning of gear then ensued.) So despite the mass desertion, a useful visit with more of the survey completed and another new passage discovered! However, the incident had left a nasty 'after taste'. It was the first time in 30 years that something like that had happened on a trip Martin was involved with let alone leading. Much trust was lost. It doesn't bear thinking about what might have happened if Ed had had a more serious injury and there was no-one around else to help. If it happens again, all the gear will be left down the cave...
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