P8 12/11

We often are able to help people get there with a combination of driving and public transport.

On our signup form, we'll ask you where you're travelling from and if you need, or can give a lift.

We'll try and match you up with transport options that'll support you.

It can help a great deal if you're able to make your way to the centre of Manchester or train stations like Chapel-en-le-Frith, Glossop, Hope, Buxton - if you can get to these places, we almost certainly can get you a lift the final distance.

People tend to meet from 6pm onwards, though some people arrive earlier, and some people get there later.

We tend to discuss arrival time in the group chat on Tuesday evening.

• We arrive at the cave's meeting/parking location - often at slightly different times.
• We get kitted up
• Everyone is really friendly
• We go caving
• We chat, laugh and share picnics together
• The Messenger group chat is there to help answer questions now and on the night
• Bring a cave snack, water and have fun!

Unfortunately, you won't be able to come caving with us this week.

We need enough time to figure out the right locations, so that there is the right balance of leaders, seconders and the right transport options at each cave.

Once we've done this, we're not keen on people joining late - whatever your skills and transport situation - as it can unbalance the groups, and undermine the process where everyone else has to sign up by a deadline.

It would be ideal if you didn't need to cancel after midday on Monday.

We need to know if you can't make it ASAP. The best way to tell us is by Messaging Us.

If you cancel at last minute, it can stop other people from caving, so please give us as much warning as possible - and try to tell us before we make the groups.

These evenings take hours of time behind the scenes to run smoothly, so we ask everyone to play an active role in taking on some of the admin to make them happen. Everyone takes part at some point or other.

Whilst a small team of permanent volunteers run the evening, and are always on the lookout for new faces, everyone does a little bit to help make these evenings happen.

At each crag, each week, there's a Cave Coordinator who is in charge of the evening at that crag, an Kit Coordinator whose role is to make sure that we all have the right equipment, and a Cave Reporter, who's job it is to share back to the Crew what happened that evening.

Other roles exist too.

• Bagshawe Cavern (main, lower series, gated series)
  
• Carlswark Cavern (Big Dig Series, Dynamite Series, Tourist Series)
  
• Merlin Mine
  
• Knickergrove Mine
  
• Mouldridge Mine
  
• Wapping Cumberland Caverns
  
• Giants Hole (Upper West/Upper Sumps/Round Trip/East Canal/Boss Aven)
  
• P8 (many variations to the sump)

And there are many others in our sights.

You can see see a bit more on this page about how we organise our outdoor caving events.

We'll tailor the trip to the people going. We may split groups to accommodate non-SRT and SRT attendees.

Sign up with the skills you have, and we'll accommodate you.

Before 7pm on Monday, you'll receive an email telling you where to go to, and you'll be added to a Facebook Messenger Group chat where you can coordinate lifts and arrival times.

If you don't have Facebook Messenger, you won't be able to receive a message or join the group chat to coordinate lifts etc, but you'll still receive an email explaining where to head to.

Some Crew members who are less keen on Facebook have set up profiles which they specifically use for communicating with Crew events.

The UK weather is never predictable, and looking at the weather forecast is rarely particularly helpful ahead of time - unless you want an excuse to stay at home and not cave.

We're likely to adapt our trips around the weather - eg during a rainy period we'd be more likely to head to a dry, unfloodable mine.

We try to match people to caves with the right level of challenge.

We don't always get it right, and as we're a mixed ability group, it can require a bit of understanding at both ends of the spectrum, but mostly we do a pretty good job.

Caving is just like anything - it ranges from very easy to very hard.

These evenings are for people of all caving abilities so whether you've done your first trip to Bagshawe or you're a Daren Cilau veteran, you'll be welcomed and supported.

The minimum skills is just to have caved with us at least once before.

One of the places you can cave with us before is the Extra-Welcoming Giggletrips we regularly run.

If you're an experienced caver with years of experience keen to join us, please drop us a message.

Probably not. These are fun social caving evenings rather than training evenings.

You should get to cave, whilst people may be willing to pass on skills - the expectation is that you have a fun evening cave rather than anyone shows you how to do things.

The more you volunteer with the Crew, the more we'll push training opportunities your way, and be keen to support you on your learning journey.

Yes.

The Gear Coordiantor's job is to make sure that anyone who doesn't have the right kit is got the right kit from the tacklestore in Glossop.

Unlike some trips, there's not usually a break where everyone stops caving.

The best way is usually after you get back to the cars - put the cakes/snacks in an obvious place and tell everyone where it is.

People will usually be very grateful, and think you are a wonderful person.

Don't take the cake into the cave, unless you know the cave very well!

Sadly not.

For these sessions, they need to have been on a session with before.

They're welcome to come on one of our indoors Extra-Welcoming sessions

If they're over 18 - yes, please do!

These events are specifically organised for over 18s only, in accordance with our over 18 policy.

Everyone needs to be signed up through this page so that everything is done properly.

In general, the Crew loves well behaved cave dogs, but caving is rarely an ideal sport for dogs, and we'd generally suggest you left them at home or in the car.

We do our best to support cavers with all mobility and accessibility requirements who meet the minimum requirements for these events.

If you have specific requirements, please sign up and put them in the comments section of the signup form.

If you want to talk it over with someone beforehand, please feel free to message us.

We are not perfect, and we're developing our awareness of different venues' strengths and weaknesses for different people, but we will try to support cavers as best we can.

In the past, we've supported pregnant ladies, and the Crew is very supportive of cavers with different requirements.

We are keen to support as much caving activity as we can.

We know that not all cavers have a good understanding of what caves are best for them, and what's nearby.

By organising our events like this (feel free to read about how it actually works) we manage to support more cavers of different skill levels than we otherwise would be able to.

We're also able to diversify the caves we visit more, and help the planet, by sending small groups to caves nearest them, and support lift sharing.

Our approach is not for everyone, and fortunately, we're lucky to be in an area where many caving groups operate and some may have approaches that work better for people who prefer the other approaches to organising caving events.

We need everyone to have membership before they come on our outdoor events to make sure everyone has 3rd party BCA insurance as required of us by the BCA.

Every week we send out feedback forms, to gather your feedback and input.

Every piece of feedback is read and considered in detail, and this is by far the best place to pass on information to the team.

Often messages get lost, conversations quickly get forgotten, but when we're contemplating places and ways to improve our events - the feedback from our feedback form is the first thing we consult.

Feedback is super useful, and constructive thoughts and things we could do better are things we're very grateful for. Even "it was ok" can be surprisingly useful.

Here’s what you should bring:

• Some warm older/less nice clothes to wear as a base layer underneath the caving-specific clothes we will provide. Some examples
  • Fleece jumpers
  • Leggings
  • Thermal base layers
  • Outdoorsy t-shirts

Avoid anything made from cotton or untreated wool (such as t-shirts or wooly jumpers); synthetic fabrics that keep their warmth when wet work best here. You will be provided with a thick fleece layer and a protective outer layer to wear over this, so if all you have is cotton you’re better going without.

• Change of socks/underwear/replacement clothing. Anything you wear into the cave will likely be too wet and dirty to wear afterwards in the car, so make sure you have spare clothes for the drive home.
• Wellies (we do have spares if necessary, but the sizes and stock are limited). These aren’t special wellies – £12 wellies from go-outdoors or sparkling pink wellies with fur linings are great for caving.
• Towel
• Any important medicines you take
• Contact lenses or string for your glasses.
• A full sealed snack you enjoy eating (eg a mars bar)

What will I be borrowing?

If you don’t already have them:

• Caving Oversuit to go over your undersuit
• Caving Undersuit to go underneath your oversuit
• Caving Helmet with Caving Headtorch and fully charged Batteries
• Gloves
• Kneepads
• Wellies
• SRT Kit

We’ll also be carrying the appropriate group equipment.

This is what we'd expect from experienced cavers:

• Undersuit
• Oversuit
• Helmet + Light
• Wellies
• Kneepads
• Gloves

SRT Kit:

• Descender
• Ascender + security link
• SRT Harness
• Chest Harness
• Cowstails

• At 12:00, signup will close and we will review the skills and locations of everyone who has signed up.
• Before 7pm, you'll receive a Facebook Messenger Message confirming the crag you're headed to.

• We arrive at the cave meeting point - often at slightly different times.
• We get kitted up and head to the cave
• We have a fun trip together

• The Cave Reporter will share a post from your cave about what happened there before Thursday