Little Waterfall Swallet

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Written by: Rob Eavis, Luke Cafferty, Joe Buck, Herr Fabian Ehlers and Ben Shannon

Published: 21 December 2024

Created: 21 December 2024

Hits: 895

  - GERMAN AGGRESSION -

The darkness is intense, pierced only by 5 sources of torch light as we search this big shake hole. I could hear the loud unmistakeable roar of water. As I scan the landscape a surprisingly large waterfall is raging away. It’s a still night with a small mizzle of rain. Eventually in the far corner of the shake hole we discover a hole surrounded by tree roots.

Crock pot was the main plan for tonight. It was serendipitous how this trip occurred with the original explorers of this cave messaging Rob stating that a picture from LWS looked like crock pot. Rob unearthed a survey that screamed team awesome as we read phrases like “not entered”.

I decided to ditch the tackle sack because it looked like it would be a tight trip. We followed the obvious way on to begin with, negotiating some squeezes until we hit the floor of the rift. Right looked like t’owd man but shut down very quickly. Left it is then.

There was a gap in the rift to the left and so joe climbed up and in to have a look. I continued onwards with Fabs, we got to the end, poked into all of the crevasses which all shut down. Well it’s not that way then. Heading back Fabs pointed out a mat on the floor on the opposite side of Joe. I climbed up over a chockstone to enter a tight rift, this then dropped down and through a squeeze. This maybe the way on I thought, but then voices got more excited and louder on the opposite side of the rift so I made my way over. Luke and Rob had found a way down nearer the entrance. Joe, still in the rift was searching around for a way down as we could see Rob and lukes lights below.

“It looks a long way down, I have an idea” said Fabs who picked a rock up and yeeted it into the rift as Joe and I both shouted at the same time. The rock bounced off Joes arm and made its way to the floor, pinging off the walls on the way down.

“Jesus Fabs, what’s with the German aggression” I said as Joe still wide eyed in shock at the sudden blitzkrieg that had headed straight at him uttered something similar. Soon there was a call for the ladder from Rob so we all followed down into the rift where they had entered.

 - Snagging my Gentleman Sausage -

There was a scaff bar hanging out over a tight rift around 8m high. Rob rigged the ladder onto the scaff, which was anchored by simply being wedged shallowly into a bit of rock. Then he slid into the rift. From high above it looked awkward and very tight. Lots of grunting followed by “I’m fully 500 commited here boys” Hmmm, when Rob thinks it is hard then it is worth taking note.

Luke equally made it look tight and awkward. At the bottom I could see it was then a sideways flat crawl to a cross rift. They did not sound overly optimistic, Joe went next as I wanted a better look at the squeeze. He slid into it and just dropped to the bottom, easy as you like. Well that didn’t look bad at all. I followed next, went at an angle as I entered the squeeze and slid easily to the bottom. It was a very fun controlled fall which I think was position dependant. At the bottom for me it was a helmet off job as I inched sideways trying not to snag my gentleman sausage on the sharp chert sticking out. I joined the boys in the cross rift to find that this wasn’t going anywhere. Joe had a poke up high into a tight rift. Rob consulted the survey and we concluded that we might have been in north rift. Fabs had come down the squeeze but decided against the sideways squeeze crawl through and worked on sorting the ladder for the return upwards. Content that we had exhausted this bit I exclaimed that I thought I knew the way on and so we made our way to the south rift. We climbed up and down and up and down and around tight squeezes and rifts. I led the way following my nose until I saw a small rope and some hangers. Boom, this was the way. Fabs rigged the ladder and dropped down first. I heard a very excited voice with one hell of an echo. Joining him at the bottom was fascinating. We had been in tight cave the whole time and suddenly we were in a huge thin, long and tall chamber with a hole at floor level surrounded by scaffolding. Poking around we concluded that there was no way on. Rob chimneyed up by the rope to search high but felt that he needed SRT kit to get to the top. Content that we had exhausted Crock pot we made our way out uneventfully. It had felt so good to be underground again and I felt sad that we were done already after only an hour or so.

We got back to the vehicles and much to my delight Rob stated that we could do LWS and still make the pub. He and Joe were keen to survey the new section. I had left my SRT kit in my van, but Luke kindly offered his to me. “You aren’t coming with us?” Rob asked. “No I don’t want to get muddy” came the reply. So we kitted up and left Luke to burp the worm.

- I Don't think femurs bend that way -

It was still mizzling lightly and as we got into LWS shake hole I saw another waterfall, but this one was much smaller with a lot less water. Rob pointed out the dam that had been built to divert water into V2. There was a small steady flow into it as the dam was working well.

As I entered V1 Rob was giving me the history guided tour explaining each break through session. It was fascinating and the work completed was impressive in such a small environment. Soon we were at the pitch and all dropped down, past the deviation 24m to the floor. Rob and Joe went right into 1st Reich. Fabs and I dropped our SRT kits and went left, sliding along Brooklands Straight we eventually reached the end and a large slopped boulder. Fabs explained that he thought there might be a way on there. I climbed up onto the boulder to see a dry mud bank but couldn’t see any way on other than digging out the mud and seeing where that went. This part of the cave is just a large boulder choke so I imagine there would be something.

Fabs started climbing up here. I had forgotten my gloves and by this point my hands were really really sore. Minimally travelled caves mean sharp rough rock. It’s a mistake I will only make once. (as a climber i'm used to getting sore hands, but caving in muddy caves mean you effectively have a constant grinding paste on your hands. Very different wear to climbing)

At the top of the climb Fabs pointed out a small keyhole squeeze at floor level of the ledge that we were on. Through that gap I saw a lot of water and muddy, ah, here is where I get cold tonight. I slid into a small chamber, half submerged in water. Ahead was a big boulder with a way on left or right, both leading to the same point. Right looked worse so I went left. I slid my body through fine but my thigh got pinned. I was firmly stuck. “What’s beyond here? Is it worth looking at?” I shouted back to Fabs. From what he said I decided I should go on but didn’t fancy breaking my leg so I retreated and went to the other side of the boulder. I decided to go in chest facing right as it looked like it curved around to the right. I got my body through but then weirdly it started bending me backwards. Aware that my spine shouldn’t be bending this way I retreated once more, flipped around and went back in. this felt really easy except for a sharp flake sticking up that was jabbing me in the ribs and back but eventually I was through. There was a small slot ahead, I peered through and could hear a lot of running water. That sounded interesting. Looking up I saw another vertical letter box style squeeze, again it looked like it might be hard but once I stepped up on a foot hold I popped through no problem to be stood up in a rift. It was super tight to the right. I could hear the running water again, but conscious that I had left Fabs alone a way back I chose not to push on in this squeeze alone. I went left into a large chamber, which felt quite impressive after what I had gone through to get there. There looked like a way on in the floor but again, aware of Fabs I chose to head back. I dropped back down into the small chamber, went feet first into the flake squeeze which I thought I had managed to avoid a stabbing until my shoulders had to pass over it. Dam that needs capping.

- Wetter than an Otters pocket -

As I returned to Fabs, caked in mud and grinning from ear to ear he said “did you move or disturb something?” I said that I didn’t think so. “oh, its just that there's some water flowing out of that squeeze now.” We could see it gently trickling over the edge where he was sat but thought nothing of it. As we down climbed to the floor we became aware of the sound of water that we hadn’t heard earlier. I climbed back over the slopped boulder to see water GUSHING in through a small crack, filling the mud bank and could also heard loud water behind the flake infront of me. Fabs exclaimed that it was flowing down Brooklands straight.

We mooched back to our kit to see it swimming. “I definitely put that down on dry ground” I pointed out. “yeah, weird” came Fabs. “I might go and see where they are surveying” I said to Fabs, he climbed up the rift so that I could squeeze under him to get passed. I walked past the rope and into 1^st Reich. “Oh, tell Rob that there’s some water flowing” came a shout. I got to the small duck that looked like it was a bit of a dog leg. Rob had heard me coming, “are you coming through Ben?” “yep, what’s the best way through this?” I shouted back as I assessed the puddle which was about half full. (Oblivious at this point that it was filling up) I went through on my back for some air space and contorted around the corner and popped up into a tight rift. I could see some tools and allowed myself to fall forwards at a 45 degree angle and slid forwards bit by bit. “You coming to the end?” shouted Rob. “Yes mate………….Oh, Fabs said to let you know that there’s some water flowing” I said calmly, completely ignorant to the impending danger. Rob and Joe, normally cool as cucumbers clearly took a moment to process this and then came the shout “GET OUT, it’s going to sump!!!” still in my Winnie the Pooh bubble of ignorance didn’t quite grasp the situation and replied “ok, I’ll head out then shall i?” and began working my way back. Hmmmm. The duck wasn’t that full when I came through. This time I got a mouthful and ear full of water as I negotiated the awkward squeeze.

Now, my hearing isn’t the best, and as I had passed through the squeeze Rob had been shouting “build a dam!” but I didn’t hear that at all and so Rob then Joe came barrelling through even wetter. Standing by the squeeze Joe exclaimed that 1 minute after he came through the water had not only sumped the squeeze but had put it 20 cm under water. “You don’t realise that you just saved our lives there!!” Rob said maniacally.

Deciding this was no longer an optimum place to stay rob started to climb up as I got on the rope. I was using lukes gear as mine was still in my van. Lukes hand jammer didn’t have a handle which I found most odd, it was effectively a chest jammer being used as a hand jammer, the pantin was different to mine and I could quite understand the closure system as it kept popping open. This made for a laboriously ascent in a tight rift. Half way up rob was resting and giggling. “where else can you SRT up next to someone freeclimbing” he said with a massive grin. In fairness I very nearly unclipped from the rope to freeclimb as it looked like a much easier task. Eventually we both got to  the top of the pitch. “I can’t believe you just saved our lives back there” we were buzzing as the Fabs and Joe joined us. As we exited the cave we could see the dam was overflowing into the cave. V2 was a torrent and the waterfall was raging, and yet it was only mizzling, so where on earth was all of this water coming from? Hoping that Luke had finished poaching the egg we headed back to the van, dekitted and hit the Mechanics.

One thing I really love after caving is the reactions. Still caked in mud the landlord did not even bat an eyelid; it was the norm to see muddy cavers. On the way home Fabs and I nipped to McDonalds. “guest 48” came to the call so I stepped forwards. The server handed me my bag and looked at me properly for the first time, took a step back with a strange expression on his face, looked at Fabs and asked quizzically “Have you been shagging in a field?”

Vid on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/wgCodFNVG98?si=vmuweSXBB9pSCwCJ

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 14 December 2024

Created: 14 December 2024

Hits: 678

Team: Rob and Jon (TAP)

I was reyt excited about tonight’s trip, feeling pretty confident we’d make new ground. Somehow, it was just TAP again—basically a repeat of last week’s attempt. But with water levels much lower, surely luck would be on our side. After some pre-beers and a bit of Fake Taxi in the car park, we headed straight down a much drier cave and directly to the 1st Reich. It looked unpleasant but was most definitely open—we’re on!

We put our slightly considered plan into action, with me pushing over the dodgy squeeze, turning around, and then Jon and I working together to install the two stemples (designed to prevent you from slipping down and getting wedged). This worked pretty well, though one of the stemples was a bit too long. It had to be installed higher than ideal, making the crossing harder than necessary. After 10 minutes of squirming, this became Jon’s excuse for not joining me at the exciting frontline. Instead, he decided to spend some time widening the squeeze. To be fair, digging here is really a one-person exercise anyway, so not a bad shout.

Two trips ago, Joe had left the dig face with a narrow slot at floor level that was waaaay too tight to pass but had a tantalising view through. He hadn’t realised that, above the slot, the rift was significantly wider and only filled with sediment. My plan tonight was to dig this out and see if I could fit. Feeling optimistic, I got my 360 selfie camera ready to film my one-handed, axe-wielding epicness.

After 10 minutes of hacking, I was through—and instantly surprised. The rift about 4m ahead simply closed up, totally. But a weird slot down in the right-hand wall looked like it dropped into a parallel rift. After five more minutes of digging, this looked passable but seriously committing. At the bottom, I’d have to lie down and squirm forward along this unknown rift. If I couldn’t turn around, reversing up and out of the slot would be totally impossible. With a mix of stupidity and the encouragement of a few followers inside the camera, I gave it a go—500% committed now—and slid down into the unknown.

Once down and into this parallel rift (Brooklands Narrow), the view ahead wasn’t very encouraging. It was indeed very narrow, but at least it continued. I soon managed to get up vertically, which, although more difficult for forward progress, felt a lot less committing. Hopefully, I’d at least be able to turn around if necessary. Helmet off and some bits so tight I had to adjust my breathing—this was pretty hardcore pushing, and of course, excellent for content!

After maybe 10m, the rift finally widened enough to stand properly. Some fine stal in the roof made it almost rewarding, but unfortunately, the way ahead was completely filled with sediment, floor to ceiling. Very strange indeed! Where does the water go? Where does the draught come from? And where is the river we hear during floods? Certainly not here, it seems.

After a final look around, I started heading back to Jon. I was cautiously optimistic about getting back through the slot, and whilst it was quite technical—requiring careful body and leg positioning throughout—it wasn’t too difficult. With sadness, I grabbed the digging tools on my way. Taking tools away from the end feels like failure, yet I reminded myself that we don’t really dig for caves; we dig for answers. And tonight, we quickly grasped an answer that now allows us to look elsewhere with newly found knowledge.

Traversing back over the stemples was a breeze compared to the manoeuvre without them there. Still, it may be that the new way on is actually the dangerous slot below. Maybe that’ll be the next chapter in this Awesome project!

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 08 December 2024

Created: 08 December 2024

Hits: 760

TAP: Rob n Jon

Little Waterfall has been our “all weather" dig, strategically picked after realising our other main projects (SMMC, Bagshawe, Victory Level) were “dry weather only" digs. Last week gave us a foreboding taste that things might be changing with the 1st Reich squeeze being quite wet and the passage upstream covered with bubbles. The last 2 days had been very wet so this trip, which was actually a backup after Rowter being too wet for us to venture there, was always a risky choice. However we reckoned that even if we can’t get in, the high water levels may give us some useful info and maybe even some always welcome enthusiasm. 

After our pre-tea (!) we spent 15 minutes loading piles of old digging junk into the van to be skipped, thereby completing our first cave conservation project of the year. 😊

Van full of old digger's crap

We then arrived at the shakehole to quite an impressive waterfall with unfortunately a good quarter of the water going down the main V1 entrance. Not a good start! We therefore built a better dam and dug a trench to divert the water down V2, the old scaffolded shaft now mostly abandoned. 

Jon digging under close supervision

Heading underground it was interesting to note which bits were wet, and it was obvious other bits had been wetter quite recently. We got to the pitchhead and could hear a good sized stream running along the bottom of Brooklands Straight, indicating that indeed we weren’t going to be digging today. We left the drill and gear at the top and went off for a lightweight explore, armed only with the 360 camera. 

1st Reich squeeze was taking all the stream with the roof approx 30cm underwater, and the bubbles on the walls indicated levels had been at least 1 metre higher very recently. This may be very inconvenient for future digging and exploration trips in the future so we’ll have to see if/how we can improve the situation soon. 

No digging today! 

We then went up into 2nd Reich which has a visual connection to beyond the new sump and indeed we could hear quite a large rumble ahead, as had been heard one time whilst I was digging up here earlier in the year. Considering how much more water there was today I was a little surprised it wasn’t a larger rumble though.

We then went to have a look at the Far Left, which was super wet and it looks like at least a large portion of the water going down V2 enters into the cave here. Today this was flowing down into the large Far Left Rift where it flowed away below a sediment blockage. This is weirdly similar to the current dig face in 1st Reich and heading in the same direction so, although it wasn’t draughting, this now presents quite an interesting prospect which we’ll need to have a proper look at sometime. The water is certainly not the same as in Brookland Straight, actually more; maybe it’s what we can hear up ahead?! With plenty enough to be pondering on, we headed out to the surface. Cold, wet through and filthy, but now very enthused for the next few trips.

Instagram Vid of the trip

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 01 December 2024

Created: 01 December 2024

Hits: 763

Dream Team: Joe Buck, Rob Eavis

After being snowed off last week, me n Joe were keen for a proper sesh down LWS tonight. At the shakehole it was evident that A LOT of water had flowed down the entrance during the recent floods and all the way along the crawls to the pitch head there was flood debris. I went into 1st Reich passage first and had to practically swim through bubbles to get to the low squeeze, which as we now expected was indeed half full of water. Boooo.

I went through and to the very end, trying out my new camera on a stick, feeling like a proper influencer, mainly to see if we could ascertain anything about the way on. There has been quite a lot of discussion about whether we stay high or drop down; well, others discussed whilst I was sure we’d stay. The way on does look good. It’s a tall rift but it’s tight so it is going to need a lot of capping. Me n Joe guess that based on the progress rate down here so far, it’ll be a month of work. Joe comes through the wet squeeze and we manage an intimate passing to allow him to go start capping. I go back to get the second set of gear and start widening some of the passage back from the front.

Rob n Joe intimating each other

Having two of us each with drills was mega, such an efficient bit of digging. And incredible success too! After not much more than an hour I see Joe’s feet disappear ahead. He’d managed to remove loads off of about a whole metre of the lefthand wall and managed to squeeze through into the rift ahead. As this is taller it’s possible to actually stand up and shuffle/squeeze along for a good 6m! Joe the GOAT just achieved a month’s worth of digging in an hour!!!

Ahead a sediment wall stops progress but a draughty hole at floor level can be looked through to see the rift continuing ahead. Joe starts capping the wall low down whilst I work on widening the squeeze to get my ageing body through to him. In the process I seemingly manage to remove a very important handhold, such that when I actually push ahead I find it almost impossible not to slide down the rift into the blind hole below! It takes a lot of effort and swearing but I eventually make it one I find that I can brace my right arm above me (hand on one wall, elbow on the other) and kind of hang from this as I inch my torso forwards over the gap.

Joe is pretty knackered by now so he comes back to me and we have our second intimate passing (twice in one night, impressive right!) by him laying on the floor in the rift and me squeezing over the top of him. Indeed the rift near the end it surprising tall and there may be a way on by climbing up, but certainly ahead at floor level looks really good.

Now really excited for next week we head back, each finding the squeeze really hard especially in this direction. We agree a stemple or two here would really help you to not fall down the gap and give you something to work with in this otherwise greasy, slidy, shitty little squeeze. We head straight to the Mechanics where we share our enthusiasm with Luke over some well earned pints.