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
- Hits: 1979
Work and garden commitments meant we were down to 2 (TAP) and as Jon missed out on the easy trip last week I figured we go back there again to show him the dig. Quick pre-beers in the Eyam Dogging Society’s carpark and off we went. The cleanliness and ease of the trip surprised Jon; it really does feel like a different cave to the other way.
At the dig I went first, capping a few big rocks, and then let Big Guns Pembo shift it all out. Working at the bottom as pretty awkward, your legs are totally in the way so you end up doing a weird passing of the rocks up between your legs and then a push up in the air for the person above to reach and remove. I once tried reaching down head first and indeed managed to collect a rock but then failed totally to get my body or the rock out of the hole; a very ungraceful time for me.
The top of our dig for the day, by JonP
We could see down a small rift but there was two annoying rocks just jamming the space and stopping us dropping spoil down, which would be much easier. We swapped again and I removed the big rock by capping it and then the littler one by kicking it down. After a bit of tidying and kicking stuff down I ended up waist deep in this tight rift, facing the left hand wall. Behind my legs there was space that I could kick back into and it felt like it might be big enough to get into. I came back up, turned around, then went back in, having to breathe out slightly to get myself down the rift. Once in the undercut a slope down continued away and I gingerly kicked stuff down and slid through into a bigger space beyond, nearly big enough to stand up in. Here I’d reached the opposing wall of the rift and the roof was made up entirely of large, water-worn boulders. To the left (after checking my handy wrist watch compass setting I can confirm this was South East) I pulled a thin mud wall down to reveal another slope down heading off, this time with solid(ish) rock making up the roof and walls. I shouted up to Jon and he was keen for me to continue without him.
I headed in head first, trundling a few small rocks away to make space. A larger one blocked the way so I pushed it a little way forwards then was able to head over the top of it. Unfortunately I did this poorly, managing to make it roll forwards as I did, eventually trapping my legs between it and the roof above. I tried but was unable to push it back up the slope or to the sides, nor could I reach my kneepads to try push them around the boulder. What an idiot. Eventually I ended up digging a bit of a trench under my groin (with my hands, obviously) then successfully risked pushing forwards down the slope and dropping the boulder into this hole sufficiently to free my legs! Phew.
After about 7m I got to a small chamber, again only just tall enough to crawl in. There was a muddy collapse to the left and a clean one in front. Both looked like miners collapse and would need tools to make any progress. I had a careful look around and found a few pick marks in the roof along a lead vein, proving my thought that we had indeed made it through the choke and back into old mine. Just such a shame that there was no open way on, nor any draught. This area is about the right height to line up with the levels at the top of the climbing shaft in Sooty, although that is still +30m away horizontally and was a pretty conclusive end, so the prospects are unfortunately not great.
I went back to Jon and we made our way out, checking out all the other holes in the choke on the way. We’ve obviously missed the draughting way on somewhere, although it has to be said none of it draughts as strong as Nomenca, and certainly not Sooty, so there’s definitely more going on.
We made it out in time for the pub, a rare occurrence for TA these days. However it was shut so we enjoyed a quick can before heading home.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 1822
Luke, Jeff, Rob
Due to a vaccine induced dropout we had to change plans last minute. Not something I’m very relaxed about, I have to be honest. During prebeers in the carpark we discussed options. The plan had been bold, with one team of 2 heading to Sooty to dig through into the big chamber beyond and then to try to establish a voice or radio connection to the second team who were going to be wombling about Rocky Horror. With only three of us this was not an option. Nobody was that keen to hit Sooty so the three of us went for the wombling option. This turned out to be awesome.
After 7 months of going left at the bottom it was great to turn right and head down Nomenca. Each hard won corner brought back memories of Hobgoblin and excitement, until you get onto the NCA pitch and drop into the blackness. The sight from the bottom looking along Timewarp has got to be one of the best in Stoney.
This trip we dekitted (lush) and made our way through to the Rocky Horror choke. Back in November 2020 we found a route into few small boulder chambers here with quite a few draughting holes we hadn’t previously poked. Now with the Sooty extensions this area has become a lot more interesting.
Luke had his mind on a certain place and to be fair it was probably the best looking of the bunch. We each took it in turns to dig rock out of the floor and slowly we started to descend between some very big boulders, following a wall down. A few scary moments slowed down progress, but in general it was pretty easy work. After a couple hours work we were left with a sight down into a small rift where rocks dropped away for quite a while. The draught certainly increased during this time also, although maybe from our warm activities. It’s not a draught anything like Sooty!
It was gone 21:30 when we turned around and I think we were all a little surprised to all be out before 22:00! This side of the cave is so easy compared to Shattered Dreams and Loper Lust!
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
- Hits: 1895
The unfortunate thing about heading to the arse end of Sooty in Cussey Pot is that we don't have lots of time for the Pub. Unfortunate because we do love a good pre pint but wanting to get out before midnight is also a priority considering how much Lukey boy is beginning to hate the place from constant repetition. Anyhoo...
We met at the usual time in the usual place and started to kit up, albeit a tad slow because the heat. We headed straight to Inglorious where Luke dumped his kit as we only needed one, this proved to be a crap idea but anyhoo... Rob and Jeff pushed on to the draughty downwards choke in Sooty underneath the climbing shaft. I was convinced this would be the one! Luke and I stopped for a quick look at some potential leads along the 280 level which we'd noted on some previous trips, all of these proved to be nothing of importance. By the time Luke and I had finally climbed our arses up the sooty pitch and made contact Rob and Jeff they had already broken through (it took about 15min). After a quick snap at the pitch head squeeze we quickly ferreted through.
By the time I reached the choke Rob & Jeff were already through and Luke was engulfed by boulders at the top of the choke, within seconds he had dropped through. The route through involves a tight rift/boulder squeeze which drops you vertically for 2m onto a steep mud slope in a rather impressive but rather filthy chamber. We're unsure of what this place actually is. It feels natural but the obvious evidence of T'owd Man with some large old timbers but no shot holes suggesting its old, old workings.
In front of us a small continuation headed on the right but soon ended at a solid wall with a boulder run in on the left. Follow this back and a clean washed route led through some large boulders which is where the mega draught was heading! A quick peak up and we got a visual of a chamber above the choke with a strong echo. We all had a quick peek. Rob managed to get his phone and helmet through to get a proper visual of the chamber above which was awesome but a few boulders would need removing before you could squirm your body through.
Now freezing we decided enough was enough and started the long journey back out. We must be so close to the bottom of Rocky Horror now but Cussey has still yet to reveal its secrets.
Onwards and upwards - Literally.
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
- Hits: 1735
Dave B, Jon P, Rob E.
We needed an easy trip this week after the gone midnight trip last week plus Rob was feeling a little soft and I wasn't much better. Groggy was the appropriate word we came up with. Long on the mind had we wanted to take another look at Pick Axe Rift which lies just in Shattered Dreams (a 10min trip). After a quick pint at the Miners We headed over and slowly kitted up clearly unmotivated.
In the roof of Pick Axe Rift, by JonP
Once at Pick Axe Rob installed a ladder for the climb down and after a quick photo for prosperity Rob made the first valiant attempt at digging the mud in the bottom (which was super filth). From our memory this looked alright but tonight it shone differently. The dig looked crap and although there was a slight inwards draught indicating the continuation is probably not the mine below - we rapidly came to the conclusion that this dig wasn't for us! We all had a little poke then slowly made our way to the surface, Rob even skipped the post beer - which says a lot!
Another question mark ticked and sacked off for someone with keener eyes.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 1704
Sooty proving tricky – 10/06/2021
JonP, DaveB, RobE
After the success of last week’s trip we were fully stoked for finding loads today. Quick pre-beers at the Miner’s and straight down to work.
Highlight of his trip
Loper Lust as crap as always and Sooty feels like quite far from home. Jon and Dave went in first to push the horizontal level whilst I spent a bit of time enlarging the entrance crawl and putting in the Y-hang. Unfortunately they had not progressed far, finding a partially natural bedding passage which ended quickly at a choke. Massive draught going in and a pitch could be seen and heard beyond, but hard work to enter. I left them trying whilst I had a look at the climber shaft.
The start looked like a pretty free climb and as I was already totally covered in crap I didn’t really fancy dragging full bolt climbing gear up there. After a little consideration I decided to freeclimb it and pull up the bolting gear after. Turns out this was an OK option, but probably a silly choice in hindsight as the top 4m of the 11m shaft was very slippy and wide. The level off the top was very small so made a really poor landing spot to get my harness on and to bolt a rope into place. Finally this was done and Dave came up to join me. A quick dig through a small collapse and we entered a small level heading both ways. We could see a long was left (south) but it was too full of sediment to make any progress. Either way north was more of interest to us and we crawled along this really old feeling level for a short way until we reached a small, drippy chamber we could stand up in. From here the passage only continued a few more metres before the fill got too high again. No draught in any of this extensions disheartened us and we didn’t bother push either of the ways on and simply surveyed our way back to Jon, leaving it rigged for now in case anything changes.
Looking down the climber
Meanwhile, Jon had done nothing without tools other than get cold, so we all started out. We surveyed on the way, tying into a prominent corner on the main 280 level which we can pick up from old maps. By the time we were all out it had been over 5 hours and well passed midnight. Getting a bit long for an evening trip now.
Results show we are about 50m away from Cussey and at a good elevation to connect with some draughting leads in Rocky Horror. However 50m seems like a long way unless it gets a bit easier going. Only one way to know…