Avengers assembled for what was a pretty average trip but packed to the gills with talent! We had finally decided on making a start on stapling Namread Aven (part of a bigger project of eradicating SRT from the higher level passages in Bagshawe). Joe was to be chief stapler, accompanied by Jimmy ‘Underground’ Thompson and new member Sam Burgess (Location Unknown UK) in tow. I was purely there for motivational purposes and to make sure we used our four (!) staples wisely.
We made quick progress to the first gate and Jim led us beyond at furious pace. We cajoled on how Pool Chamber was sumped before Sam and Joe had reached the junction but it was actually bone dry, the same with most of Bagshawe at present. We headed through and noted some fresh graffiti as we entered the Aven Series. Here on the wall are some bold “X’s” five in total which are from the original exploration team and survey markers, however, just above these markers someone has took it upon themselves to write “HOME” and an arrow pointing back to Pool Chamber, which is a shame as it’s only cavers who get to go beyond the gate…
We made our way over to Namread, Joe and I free-climbed the first section as I was conscious of our small selection of staples. We had one surplus staple from the Madame Guillotine venture which was coupled with three random staples left over from the original DOOM exploration back in 2011. These staples were different in size to the MG staples and required a larger drill bit, the size of which was relied on solely by guess work, as per usual EPC standards. It was Joe’s first time placing staples and boy was it a learning curve! The first stemple went in quick as we were using the twin powered makita, he gave it a jolly good bashing and hammered it down into the holes. But… once he’d climbed on it and weighted the thing, he realised it was loose and pulled it straight out in a comical fashion! We debated our options and decided it would be best to leave as is and return with some proper bonder to complete the job. Next staple went in better and we were almost at the top already, The third staple went in as poorly as the first! Getting towards the end of his tether, Joe placed a stainless bolt up top to belay the fresh rope we had brought down. All old rope was then cut off and dropped to the floor. On down-climb we realised that the three staples still left a massive gap to the bottom of the flattish calcite slope which leads from midway up the aven (the safe point). Joe begrudgingly placed the final staple, this one was of the Madame Guillotine blend but to his dismay, placement methods were completely different to that of the Doom blend and thus he thoroughly cocked it up. Now at about boiling point, he widened the holes and smacked our final staple home, which seemed to be the only one which felt reassuringly firm.
At this point Joe was done but I asked him to place a bolt just underneath the overhang so we could start to belay the traverse line for clipping. This section of the cave is heavily calcited and once the bolt had been placed he began to tighten the thing up and it just span itself around like clockwork! Now completely bemused by the whole operation, Joe muttered some profanities under his breath, unclipped all the tools from his harness and passed them to me. “Here you go, YOU can do it! – I’m done!” He then down-climbed the next section and proceeded to exit the cave! I confirmed the bolt was spinning and followed him down as we had plans to meet the ADR diggers in the pub and I still had a little side mission. All this time Sam and Jim had been having at heart to heart at the base of Namread Aven. I eventually managed to convince them to check out the Great Aven which was a few metres behind them but instead they went over to EGAPL and turned around at the spike. Luckily once down at the bottom of Namread I managed to convince Sam to join me in the Great Aven for a quick photo as I’d dragged the camera here. Once done, we raced back out and met the gang at the anchor for refreshments.
DISCLAIMER: The staples in Namread Aven (and the job itself) is far from complete! Use at your own risk!