| First dug by the Wessex
Caving Club we must undoubtedly give a great deal of credit to Aubrey
Newport, Pete Hann and Colin who made it possible. However a number
of ways on had not appeared to manifest themselves in any obvious fashion
after a considerable number of years digging. With their assistance
vocal connections were established on a trip with Pete, Aubrey, Barry,
Andy and Rachel. After some negotiation Andy Sparrow in the early part
on 2007 got permission to resume the dig with Cheddar Caving Club. He
was following a hunch about the purple coloured rock in both caves that
he and Rachael Payne had noticed which maybe indicated a genuine link
between the two. Although a vocal connection had quickly been achieved
no obvious way on seemed apparent. A short time later there was a bad
spate of weather and on return it was noticed a large amount of debris
had shifted due to flooding in both caves. A large amount of spoil had
disappeared down a plug hole and a quick recce of Rods Pot showed it
had dissipated into the Bear Pit- there was possibly a connection at
least. Boulders had also fallen in Bath Swallet during this wet period
and a bypass was found past them. The diggers followed a route which
then began continuing up. To prove the connection Andy drove a bar into
the Rods Pot top end where we suspected the caves to meet due to the
purple rock theory. For many weeks we dug, still unsure this was the
right way on, but eventually the bar was discovered in Bath Swallet
by Chris Lank who thought it was a boulder he had been working on. It
was proof of a connection and digging began in earnest through what
has now come to be known as Purple Pot. Members of the team on breakthrough
night were Robin Gray, Matt Amner, Alun Williams, Brendan Hanley, Barry
Hulatt, Chris Lank, Danny Burnett, Andy Sparrow and Rachel Payne. Rachel
made club history by being the first to make the through trip from Bath
Swallet to Rods Pot. It's been a great and exciting time to be involved
in such a historic event. It goes without saying that there were many
others in the club who assisted with the dig including Zoe Wilson, Andy
Hebdon, Meg Whyte (formerly Hulatt), Martin Lee, Danni Gorman, Steve
and Karen Pointen (Mark Whyte was injured so could not cave, much to
his disappointment). We were able to announce this at Hidden Earth 2007
to great applause. We hope that we have given cavers great pleasure
in this trip we have helped to create.
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Damocles
Rift Dig The club has
been digging at this site for over three years, a period of time
which members may expect to result in a huge report, detailing vast
and dramatic discoveries. Alas, it is not like that. Progress has
been erratic and extremely difficult and therefore slow, resulting
in a meager 30 metres of passage - BUT!... with great potential,
if only it would take a more horizontal trend. |
Damocles
passage is off the northwest corner of Sand Chamber in the Adventure
Caving Area of Gough's Cave. It is a high rift passage heading
almost due north, and after 30 metres ends in a boulder ruckle.
This can be climbed for about 6 metres to a chamber leading to
two ways on. One, to the right, wriggles through boulders for
another 20 metres but does not appear to go anywhere, although
it has not been thoroughly looked at. The other, to the left,
leads to a muddy slope with scalloping in the roof, formerly terminating
in a boulder choke. and this was our chosen site. Descriptions
of caves are usually difficult to follow without a survey, and
although we don't have a decent one of the dig, it doesn't matter.
Just keep a mental image of a way going almost vertically and
you won't go far wrong. It
had been looked at before. In the early 80s the BEC did
some banging, bringing a few rocks down but apparently lost interest,
despite the flowmarks. I had been told that 200 feet of passage
had been found but a collapse had blocked the way on, which gave
initial excitement. However, our investigations, plus some personal
communication with one of the earlier diggers, showed this to
be slightly inaccurate, it was more like 2 feet.
The club first had a look-see on 28th
May 2000 after which it was agreed to fund the dig and I obtained
the necessary permission but it was to be over a year before work
started.To be continued.... |
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Waterwheel
Swallet
This
site is Cheddar Caving Club's adopted cave under the Descent "Adopt-a-Cave"
Scheme.
As
some members will know, Waterwheel Swallet contains many of Dr.
Stanton's digging aids in the form of small dams, water collection
piping and stairways. |
Over
the years some of these features have deteriorated. After
some consultation the following "improvements" to
the man-made structures in situ have been done.
1) The tube/swim dam has been deepened by about two inches,
thus making it a very fun feature of the cave. It remains exceptionally
cold and is still very "Ohmigod!". 2)
Another dam has been installed downstream from the tube/swim
dam (see why below). 3) The large (final) dam
has had the major leak plugged and it should now
partially refill in times of flood (and when the bungs are pulled
on the three previous upstream dams, thus "flood pulsing"
the final large dam). This final dam holds about 90 cubic metres of
water and in order for the "lake" to fill it is necessary
for "water in" to be more than "water out"
and therefore the three upstream dams collectively hold almost
enough water to half-fill the lake. In times of rainy weather,
the dam should be about half full anyway - it has many small
leaks at about the half-way up level. On progressing down through
the cave, a visiting group should be able to pull out all three
bungs on their way in and eventually arrive at the lake as it
begins to fill. 4) The old rusty chains (with dangerously
worn/thin links at the fixing points) at the entrance and on
the climb down at the pitch have been removed/replaced respectively.
5) A fixed ladder is presently propped up against
the final large dam; this is a precaution. When the final dam
is full there is a possibility that some cavers may be out of
their depth. For this reason the ladder is in situ
for cavers to use should they need to get out of the water quickly.
6) Four eco-hangers have been placed on the right
hand wall as you approach the 7m pitch; a traverse line and
Y-hang/ladder can be rigged from these. Many
cavers will approve of these improvements/ restorations
to the man-made elements of the cave and enjoy their future
visits to this fine, fun and interesting site. I believe the
work has been sympathetically done with reference to Dr.
Stanton's article in UBSS Proceedings, 1987, vol 18.no..
In order for the dams to work properly it is important
that cavers make sure the bungs are a good fit when they replace
them upon exiting the cave. A sign has been placed
in the first chamber, below the entrance tube, notifying cavers
of the recent work. The sign will be removed in due
course once it has become more widely known that the cave is
now a much wetter experience than has been the case
for many years.
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A
Rock and a Hard Place
A Rock and a Hard Place is a Third
Eye films production that chronicles the discovery and exploration
of the Fairy Quarry Cave Systems. Many of the cast and crew are
Cheddar Caving Club members, as is the films writer and director
Andy Sparrow. The film is available on DVD and also includes a
short film - Solo, an audio story - Floodpulse and the stirring
Original Soundtrack.
For more info visit:
www.mendipnet.co.uk |
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