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Here's a little bit of information on how i got into this wierd and wonderful (if slightly different) hobby...
It started March 2006 when me and Ed (also a member) became curious after Pete (also a member!) showed us one of the Mine addits (Dale Mine) which gave us a taste of this new underground world!
Shortly after this we heard of a caving shop in nearby Buxton. After a lengthy chat with the ownerwe left with copies of pages out of a book about Derbyshire caves. This contains some handdrawn maps of where the caves were (or so we thought!). We went in search of the various caves by walking along the dry riverbed, found the obvious ones but became easily confused.
It was about then when we stumbled across Melissa Milner (our club chair!) who was pretending to be a walker sitting eating her lunch on top of an entrance to a cave. She obviously saw us all kitted up and wanted to steer clear! It wasn't until we noticed a climbing rope by her that we realised "walkers dont carry rope!". So we asked. Somewhat reserved at first, she agreed to show us where the caves were 'hidden'. Soon after we realised she knew this area like the back of her hand.
We arranged to meet up again as it was obvious how keen we were. From then on it became a weekly event. We purchased 'the gear' and introduced Mel to Pete and the others (Chris, Graham then later Dave - all have since moved on).
This left just the 4 of us to enjoy some exploring, digging and conservation of the local caves.
Then we were joined by Marg who was inot caving years ago and found our little group and more recently Rob who like us was a novice that was very interested in learning more. There are 6 members at the moment and other friends and villagers that like to join.
I enjoy abit of digging and finding new passages but find the trips the most exciting and exhilerating.
Pete and I also have a healthy interest in Landrovers which helps greatly with transporting ourselves and gear to the entrance of some harder to reach caves.
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Here's an insight into my non-caving life:
I'm a lover of performance cars and currently drive this Audi S3.
The old Series 3 had to make way for a more road going Landy. The Discovery makes a great blend of on road Horse towing ability with off road grip and luggage carrying:
Me at work as a an Field Service Engineer!
Old work - giving the driver a good telling off!
Home - front (mine is 3rd door from left but none of the windows)
Lounge! (abit messier than normal!) Spot the caving pic!
My Fiancee Holly and I
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