Martin Sweeney's day off

So a day off in the middle of summer can only mean one thing right? A Ferrari-propelled adventure into the bright lights of downtown Chepstow!

Unfortunately not.

My first free day in 2 weeks turns out to be an admin day, catching up on reports from Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, course material for Borderlands First Aid courses and watching the tidying-up fairy clearing away the mountain of kit that seems to have invaded the living room over the past week or so! It's certainly been a busy couple of weeks around here.

Caving In

My nocturnal activities continued with a couple of trips down Eglwys Faen, a compact but interesting cave on Llangattock Mountain in South Wales. I'd never been into this popular group cave before, but managed to squeeze in (no pun intended) a couple of trips over the course of a few short days. Exploring 'The Warren' in the upper series turned out to involve an inordinate amount of squeezing and scurrying, but we found time to reach the far reaches of the cave, finding 2 active digging sites. The vintage pit-props at one end didn't inspire much confidence, so we made a careful retreat.

The second visit took in the lower sections of the cave. We reached the sump in the eastern series but, not having the time to pump the water out of the flooded channel, we didn't push on further. The entrance to the western chamber, with it's ancient and very nicely written graffiti dating back to the 16th century was an unusual element to the cave, and points to its history as a secret chapel (the name means 'Stone Church').

DofE Journeying

My role as a Duke of Edinburgh expedition assessor took me to the Chilterns and Exmoor recently. It was nice to see some of the teams growing in confidence over the course of their bronze overnight expeditions, and despite the natural beauty of the Wye Valley, it's good to have a change of scenery every now and again!

Full marks for effort have to go to one of the boys in the Chilterns who finished the first day with a very sore hip, woke the next day in great pain but still managed to plough on through the second day. He demonstrated the very best of what DofE is supposed to be about; character, commitment and teamwork. Unfortunately a couple of the participants on the Exmoor weekend had a somewhat different approach. Having been forced to do what is supposed to be a voluntary award, one lad in particular made no secret of his disdain for the effort required, and seemed to think that he and he alone knew what was best. It's very sad when you have to constantly correct poor behaviour, even more so in a young adult.

Outdoor First Aid

Mid June found me delivering an ITC Outdoor First Aid course at Viney Hill. An eclectic group of candidates, from a forest school teacher to outdoor instructors and a couple preparing for an overseas adventure all worked hard over the course of the two days with a successful outcome for everyone. 

I love the fact that the group were so enthusiastic, throwing themselves into every aspect of the course, including wound simulations. Top marks to one candidate for some of the bloodiest make up on the course!

Following on from the course I've been busy making a few tweaks to presentations and investing in more training resources. 

Looking forward to the next course on 21-22 September now!

Only 2 more days off now until I head out to Tanzania for a month, taking a school group away for True Adventure (although that doesn't sound quite as soon if I say it's in 3 weeks' time!)

Busy in the Borderlands

Even though the outdoor season has now well and truly kicked off, I've somehow managed to find time for some personal caving and canoeing in the Forest of Dean. I suppose the odd couple of jobs working in the Peak District and the Mendips count as a bit of a break too, right?

Night Shift

A busy week for Viney Hill Adventure found me leading 9 straight sessions of raft building on a windy Mallards Pike lake. Despite the repitition of the sessions, it was fun to work with a number of different groups from Cirencester and London. Evening sessions with the London school were a rare treat, literally seeing the lake in a different light as night fell.

Evening Activities

My nights off this week turned out to be equally busy, with an evening jaunt into the warren of passages that make up Miss Graces Lane cave, near Chepstow, followed by a night on Symonds Yat rapids fine tuning some canoe skills. 

Miss Graces Lane is an extensive system with a 30+ metre entrance shaft, complete with ladders bolted to the wall. The work that went into opening up the cave in the mid 1990s doesn't bear thinking about, but the end result is a pretty impressive cave - the 2nd longest in the Forest of Dean - that still has plenty to explore.

We made our way to the narrow rift with a high level route known as the Satanic Traverses. The intimidating drop beneath us makes it easy to see where the name came from. Ever narrower squeezes and chimney climbs followed before it was time to make our way back to the entrance via the Phraetic Causeway (Google it. It makes sense, honest!)

After an evening training new SARA recruits in basic ropework, my final busy evening took me back to Symonds Yat. The boulders that generate the waves on the rapid have shifted around since my last visit, so despite the high water, some features felt unfamiliar. I have to admit to being a little rusty in an open canoe, but some helpful observations from Bob and Callum aided me in getting back on track. The best part of Symonds Yat? Always the Saracen's Head Inn.

Nose to the Grindstone

After such a busy week it should have been a relief to have this week free, but still keeping busy as ever!

Admin time spent promoting first aid courses for Borderlands Outdoor gives way to climbing time tomorrow and another trip down Miss Graces Lane on Thursday. This summer seems to be shaping up pretty well so far!

A busy summer kicks off

Another busy couple of weeks have got in the way of blogging, but never mind; busy is good!

I've been training teams for their Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, caving on the Mendips and have just come back from an expedition first aid course in preparation for travelling to Tanzania this summer.

Hills and Mountains

The various Duke of Edinburgh groups I worked with this month couldn't have been more different from each other. From a mixed day teaching map skills to bronze students on the Mendips to day one of a gold award practice expedition in the Black Mountains I felt as though I'd seen pretty much the entire spectrum of ability, enthusiasm and attitude.

The gold group were particularly enthusiastic, and although they were a little overawed by a first trip for most of them into a UK mountainous area, they took to the challenge with an energetic, positive attitude. It was a pleasure to deal with a group who understood the value of the skills they were being taught and who listened to the information given to them.

A Cave to Remember

A day caving on the Mendips found me squeezing head first and on my back through several inches of water in GB Cavern, where the reward was some of the most fantastic cave formations I have come across yet. A vast chamber with a pyramid of boulders was filled with stalactites and curtains: I really do need to get a decent camera that I can take underground with me to do justice to trips like this one!

Middle of Nowhere

After several days of high ropes, climbing and stream walking at two local centres, I headed off to Shropshire for the World Challenge Middle of Nowhere Medicine course. The two day course covered a lot of details about treatment and monitoring of illness and injuries over extended periods of time: a perfect refresher for the school expedition I'll be leading in July and August this year.

More to Come

A busy summer now beckons with more climbing and caving in store, as well as a couple of Duke of Edinburgh assessed expeditions. It should be fun to see the groups develop their friendships and coping skills as they progress through the expeditions, but that's it for now!

Caving In

I'd been looking forward to my Local Cave Leader course in South Wales for a few months and it lived up to my expectations, right down to the frozen feet and aches and pains across my shoulders. I got into caving a couple of years ago and had long thought about doing cave leader training, but now on a chilly couple of winter days, the course finally came around at Trewern Outdoor Education Centre.

Floods of Information
The first morning consisted of a lot of discussion around personal and group equipment, as well as some close study of ordnance survey mapping to determine the catchment area of different caves. This information, along with knowledge of the rock type, vegetation cover and steepness of the ground helped us to gain a better understanding of the likelihood of flooding in different caves. More discussion followed on risk assessment and the responsibilities of a leader before it was time to hit the cave.

Going Underground
Leaving Trewern we started out on the 'hour long' drive (more like 2 hours) to Llygad Llywchwr cave on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons, not far from where I recently paddled the River Towy. The cave has some beautiful calcite formations, including some amazing curtains high above the underground river that flows through it. We worked on underground navigation and a little technical ropework before emerging from the dark into, er... more dark at 7PM. Heading for home I was shattered, but had enjoyed a fun and informative day.

Deeper Underground
The second day of the course began with some sobering presentations on the dangers of cave flooding including real life scenarios, one of which ended with a fatality. Although many of the caves in South Wales are dry, or do not flood to a significant extent, there are several extremely serious caves where a fanatical level of attention to detail is required in order to stay safe.

We headed out to Bridge Cave, so called because of the bizarre Indiana-Jones style 'bridges' formed by wedged boulders at high level above the Nedd Fechan river within the cave. The far side of the 'bridges' contains some very vulnerable areas of the cave, and given the hazardous approach required to reach the far side, it would be surprising if many people took the risk. We were happy to admire the cave without needing to take undue risks in an already hazardous environment.

More ropework was followed by a couple of emergency scenarios, which served to highlight the extreme difficulties that would be involved in evacuating a casualty from a cave, even if they were relatively close to the entrance. The main lesson I will be taking away from this is the need for high levels of preparation and vigilance in any cave trip.

A Year of Caving?
With an awful lot of further experience needed before my assessment, it seems as though much of the year will be spent underground, just as the paddling season begins to wind down! A great way to keep busy if nothing else.