Cussey Pot
During Lockdown 2020 a new hole was spotted to draught bigger and stronger than any cave in the Peak. We dug it open and this is what happened....
Full description of the trip can be viewed here.
The current survey can be downloaded from here.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
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Joe Buck, Jon Pemberton, Rob Eavis
The first time a team hit a dig is always fun. However it’s normally downhill from then on. This dig promises to be different. Firstly, we’re heading uphill. Secondly it’s a long way to dig so we arrived aware that this could indeed be the start of a long, sloppy slog. And finally we left the dig looking much much better than how we arrived.
Pre-beers in the Miners where we had hoped to meet with Mark to discuss important things but he got held up with other important things. None of us had a bag so we made easy work of Cussey, especially as Loper Lust was still dry and getting easier with each trip. On the way we collected drag buckets and hauling ropes ready for their repurposing.
Without much of a plan Joe went digging whilst me and Jon developed a hauling system that kinda worked. A few tight corners made it hard work and digging the face was the quickest bit. After 30 mins or so I swapped with Joe and very quickly he changed our setup and the hauling efficiency increased dramatically to everyone’s benefit. However we were digging a square trench through a round passage and hilariously the side walls kept falling in on us, one time Joe needing Jon to help dig him out. Nevertheless progress was good and we’d progressed maybe 4m after another 30 mins.
By this point Jon was moaning about the cold and his tired back (to be fair he’d done a lot of hauling) and it turned out Joe had an early start for work, so we all headed back to the now filthy mainstream passage. Before we left I quickly got on with shooting a little video tour of our new dig as a record for our day one of many. Once I got to the end of the dig I pointed the phone around the sharp corner we’d just reached and saw on the screen an open passage. Then commences 4 minutes of video of me squirming my way forwards along a further 10m of passage whilst desperately trying not to drop my phone in the slop below. It seems that in this section the trickle of water than emanates from the passage has cut a channel in the mud mostly wide enough to pass. I realise now in hindsight that my enthusiastic hollers back to the others that’s we’d broken through were maybe a little hasty, but at least it got Jon to have a look at the end. I stopped shortly after at a bit where it narrowed slightly too much, but it looks like it wont take much to enlarge the trench and carry on into the draughting blackness beyond.
Back out Cussey was tiring but again glad of now bag. Washing off in the Saltpan afterwards, post-beers in the carpark under a starlit sky and chatting shit about what lies ahead. The Game is on.
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
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After months and months of putting it off and fueled on the most exciting discovery of the decade (for Derbyshire) we decided to go for a second look at the Wet West in Cussey. This passage originally explored and surveyed by The Eyam Exploration Group in the late 80's has been somewhat of a "mindfuck" for us avid Stoney fans. A large section of natural caverns was entered heading WNW towards the main feeds (Waterfall Hole, Hungerhill etc.) which eventually hit a sump. This sump was siphoned/bailed in an extended dry period to a further chamber with and continuing passage with only a boulder blocking the way on. Access was always tricky and the caverns could only be reached by an epic slog up Moorwood Sough - enthusiasm and access agreements being sketchy the lead was shrugged off.
It was picked up 20 years later with a few more trips being made this time fueled on the back of the "Credit Crunch Expedition". The sump was again siphoned and the passage explored and pushed to reach a further sump. All hopes to bypass the sump failed and the dig was abandoned, again due to access restrictions and effort levels.
Then Doom was found...
This took excitement away from The Wet West Caverns as a shit load of T'owd Man's stuff was found intersecting many natural passages. Lots of effort went into exploring Doom and pushing certain digs but with nothing "wide open" and Doom not being an evening trip enthusiasm was lost. We needed a back door in.
Enter - Cussey Pot.
Rob coming through the Loper Lust connection from Cussey to Wet West, by JonP
Our main reason for this Cave was the almost certain potential for it to connect to Doom/WW. We eventually made the connection after Cussey unraveled itself to around half a mile long. Instead of reaping the rewards so to speak we pushed a draughting choke near the Boil Up to enter a large natural cross rift "Diceman" which is still yet to be pushed. This lies just underneath Rocky Horror in Cussey and an artistic connection was dreamt up which would create a grand circle so to speak. Much easier than pushing Diceman our attention went back to Rocky Horror for the connection to be established but with no great luck we soon gave up.
After a brief hiatus back in IDM and with the recent Discovery of the decade our attention has immediately headed straight back to the old Wet West Caverns. In 2009 a small team dug a side passage in this section heading south, a Stoney size phreatic tube (1.2m high) filled with the sloppiest mud known to man. It was dug briefly but abandoned due to pushing the sump. Luckily for us I was on this digging trip. I remember Mark was keen to inspect this passage and having not been to the place for 20 odd years it must have been a half decent lead to be cemented in his mind. The passage heading south was heading straight for the Discovery of the Decade we assumed so this was a key lead to inspect. We also wanted to have a proper look at the Inclined Cavern which heads off north from the passage gaining some good height before ending in boulders. This lies just under the edge of the New Close estate in Eyam.
We had a brief stop at The Miners' before heading over to Cussey. The cave was warm and I soon had to take off my balaclava once we reached Inglorious. Loper Lust was bone dry, surprising after all the heavy rain as we thought at one point that it may fill with water over the winter but this might not be the case. We headed straight to Mark's dig making sure to check every hole en route. We finally reached the dig which lies just before the infamous boulder choke which had to be cemented during the original exploration - handy as its rather awkward. Rob started to make a video showing the dig and the way the water had originally flowed down this passage easily identifiable from the shape of the roof. The draught was definitely present heading in and a small stream was emitting from the end carving out a small trench in the mud. The passage continued almost double to that of the survey and headed prominently south as expected straight toward the great new discovery. When I reached the dig face there was approximately 10 inches of airspace tapering off to the right and now with my body constricting the passage the draught was howling by. I was psyched for sure but it would require some work to drag back the spoil. Rob took a second view and declared we go on no further as that was it, we'd found our next dig.
Our winter project
We did go on further and had a thorough inspection of the Inclined Cavern. This took us by surprise as its much larger than we thought and very complex. It heads North from the main passage so not of much interest to us unfortunately except for a potential further connection to surface through someone's garden. We continued on after completing a round trip through the Inclined Caverns and eventually got to the sump after a quick look at another large side rift, this time on the southern side with a couple of possible digs maybe to checked out properly at a later date.
The climb up into the Inclined Cavern
Looking West along one of the levels in the Inclined Cavern
Job done we slowly plodded our way out which seemed much more a struggle than the likes of IDM. I was knackered by the time I hit surface and grateful for the post beer.
Next week we dig.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
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LukeC, RobE
This was a pre Eldon pub meet trip so we had to be quick. Luckily the prebeers didn't touch the sides and we were off into Rocky Horror with only a crowbar and survey gear between us. The draught was bonkers today and on our way passed we noticed a few draughting near the Movie Room which may need a closer inspection some time.
We continued to our objective of the day, to survey the breakthrough area we found a few weeks ago and push the end. The breakthrough point is a vertical squeeze that is not difficult for thin-ish people, but definitely committing. I surveyed through then from below dug the mud off the back wall to make it a little easier for Luke who was making a few small concerned noises. Once he was easily through we surveyed on to the end and started to have a look around. There's two potential leads. One is a choke to the north, but after a closer inspection with the crowbar this looks pretty meaty and not enticing enough for us. The other lead is straight ahead, due South East (which is directly towards Diceman). This choke consists of unusually clean rocks and after pulling a few out issued a solid draught. Looking up into the choke is not totally enticing but due to it's location and the draught we've got to give it a go. Luke then also found a hole in the floor which gave a draught, so we're seemingly in the right place.
Cute Luke actually looking like he's enjoying caving
20:20 so it was time to scarper. Getting up out of the squeeze was fun, involving first laying on your back and passing through a hole as if it was a duck, and then sitting up and squidging your legs up underneath you to then stand. It's an unusual one, i like it. In the pub just gone 21:00 for a very enjoyable Eldon social.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
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Just me and DaveH, his first trip into this half of Cussey. In their absence Jon and Luke had suggested a dig at the far end of Walsernice which i'd not spotted on the day we broke through. Armed with capping gear and pre-beers inside us we set off, Dave commenting that our photos didn't do Timewarp justice, which is high praise in a weird way.
The dig is situated at the far end of the rift, up a 3m climb to a roof passage that is bhocked by a big boulder. I was skeptical of the dig, mostly because i didn't see it first time and that Luke and Jon said we should dig it without them. Turned out on arrival that actually it did look pretty good, and even had a small outward draught. The boulder was indeed pretty big and it took quite a bit of capping and hammering to get it big enough to move. We had to be careful (unusual for us) because if it fell out of the passage it would potentially block our way down and out!
Once it was safely out of the way Dave then had a good clearout and found one more boulder in the way which i capped. Beyond this we could then see the well decorated roof continuing for a good few metres, sloping slightly downwards, but unfortunately the floor comes up to within a few inches. I can't decide if this is a horizontal passage or just a bit more of the vertical rift, but either way dig killed.
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
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Rob Eavis, Dylan Kocher, Jon Pemberton
We managed to snag Dylan back from the U.S.A for a once in a lifetime trip - Cussey Pot.
In all seriousness this was to be a O.I.A.L.T. sort of trip as we eventually decided we'd make the first through trip from Cliffestile to Cussey Pot. After a year's absence from the game we gave Dylan a quick refresh on SRT on the walk over to the cave before he commenced his 80m abseil with some free-hanging rebelays. Not to worry as he managed it with awesomeness! We made our way through the cave taking it steady for Dylan to take in the sights before finally heading into Cussey and Loper Lust. We managed to barely pick up any mud which made the trip sail by with ease and within a couple of hours we were out on the surface having traversed our way below Eyam.
Awesome trip with Awesome company and a first to boot. Dylan would definitely be TA material if he'd stop pissing about in the US and return to Derbyshire.
Dylan descending Cliffstile, by RobE
Dylan climbing up Inglorious Bastards in Cussey, by RobE