Charles Read's "gold list" -

1. Oxlow Cavern

   First cave (actually, disused mine) I did on my own. Down to the Pool Chamber by the standard route.

2. Sell Gill Holes (fossil route)

   A joint trip with Matt. Matt was very determined about crawling all the way to the final sump.

3. Sunset Hole

   My 35m rope was just enough to do the main pitch and the climb down which immediately precedes it. First did it solo, then with Matt.

4. Whalf Mine

   Down the climbing shaft, up & down the engine shaft, back up the climbing shaft de-rigging the rebelays. Good workout (solo).

5. Hardrawkin Pot

   Bottomed the non-diving part of the cave. Of course, then there's the sump......

6. Hillocks Mine

   Third way in to the Whalf/Knotlow system. Narrow passages and route finding slightly tricky at the second pitch.

7. New Goyden Pot

   It's very easy to get down to the first sump in NGP so it makes the "gold list" without your humble servant having to sweat as much as usual. Really I ought to do a little scuba diving here.

8. Heron Pot

   Matt and I hit this one for first caving trip of 2011 (on January 3rd). The GPS found the hole (reputed to be hard to find) for us, and we slid down the chute and into the upper entrance crawl. Nice when it opened up to stooping height, then walking height. We got to the (wet!) pitches and rigged them with no hassle except (like others before me) I failed to find the rebelay on the 2nd pitch so the last 10 feet of it were seriously wet. Then walked, then crawled in water to the lower entrance and out into the sunshine. Reversed our previous move (I don't do pull downs when it's my first trip to the cave, being mindful of the problems facing a lobster in a lobster pot), for a total of about half a mile of caving each way.