Halleluja
Swildon's
Hole our favourite cave.
We
don wet suits,
boots and
helmets;
strap
on NIFE cells and headlamps
ready
for adventure.
Across
three grassy fields
the
last we'll see of sunlit colour for a while.
An
iron trap grating greets and swallows us
sitting,
sliding, soaking in the stream
that
gushes and gurgles underground.
The small
entrance belies a vastness below.
Clambering
and scrambling over rocks
down
into the dark, murky earth,
creamy
limestone walls
rise
beyond lamplight above us.
Boots
splashing in the stream
that
carved this cavern out.
At
the Forty-Foot Pot
attaching
our electron ladder
to
the rawl bolt loop at the top.
Gripping
the metal rungs
climbing
down, washed by the waterfall;
a
heart-throbbing descent into sooty blackness.
At
Sump One we firmly grasp the guide rope
suck
in lungs-full of air,
plunging,
head-first into the pool,
helmet
bumping the rocky ceiling
that
dips into the water.
Pulling
on the rope; relieved to be through.
Swildon's
Two.
High
on the left
shining
stalactites
and
calcite pillars
parchment
and gold
aeons old.
We
leave the stream
climbing
to a high-level passage.
narrow,
squeezing through
headlamps
searching the darkness.
The
sound of the stream receding;
On,
up and along exploring we go.
Then
a fork.
Suddenly
lost!
Fear
grips my stomach -.
which
way forward?
I
whisper a quick prayer for help,
crawl
down a passage alone.
Then
the faint sound
of
the stream far below
touches my
ears.
Hallelujah!
The exit passage!
.
May 2018 & 13 July 2021