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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), George Taylor (TSG)

I'd been in Far Sump Extension recently doing the Ride of the Valkyries pitch and had since heard about the impressive silt-filled tube of 'Western Highway'. I'd also got a bit of an errand to run up at the top of the Ride so thought it would be good to combine this with a nice dry wander down Western Highway. Since work means that spare weekend days are rare at the moment I thought I'd see if anyone fancied joining me for a trip one long evening. Most people sensibly declined but George Taylor replied to let me know he was keen. Unfortunately on the only night that we could both do he'd got a French lesson which finished at 8.30 p.m. in Sheffield. George is possibly the only person that I know who wouldn't necessarily see this as a barrier to getting out so it was arranged on the basis that we would have to get going tout suite. At some stage during the previous week I realised that I'd not got enough rope so Ann Soulsby kindly lent me some of hers. George had mislaid his wellies but I'd got some to lend him. I've no doubt he'd have been perfectly happy in his winter climbing boots - he's good like that George! Packed the rope for the Leviathan Normale during the day and picked George up from his house apres le French lesson. We drove straight to Rowter Farm and walked over to the entrance. The lid got opened and the entrance shaft rigged. I abseiled in at 9:30 p.m. and George followed. From there we headed along the Cartgate with a couple of bags to the top of Bitch Pitch. Water still very low in the holes along the Cartgate and you can see right down into them. I'd got the bag for the Bitch Pitch and upper Leviathan so set off rigging. Soon we were at the top of Leviathan so went straight across the Workshop and rigged the top part of Leviathan to land next to the eyehole. I'd run out of rope about here so waited for George to pass me and we handlined our way down through the eyehole and along the traverse to the head of the second part of Leviathan. George rigged the main hang from the alcove and we were stood at the bottom of Leviathan after an hour of caving. Down the short slope that leads to the old Stemple Highway Inlet sumps (which seemed particularly grim this evening) and through to the junction with Stemple Highway. Went left here to Calcite Aven and up the ropes to Fingernail Chamber. This was George's first time up here so we both had a good look around. I think I'm right in saying that it was during the initial upward (solo) exploration of Calcite Aven that John Cordingley's drill packed up and he free climbed the top bit. We both agreed that this was a 'good effort'. From Fingernail Chamber I went down Fingernail Chamber pitch to the top of the Ride whilst George prussiked up into Western Highway over some very poised-looking boulders. I joined George in Western Highway and we had a walk along. Quite unusual place this being a large, dry, phreatic passage filled with silt. SUSS have been digging it and looks like they've been making steady progress. On the way out George de-rigged the lower part of Leviathan and I did the rest. Back on the surface around 1:45 a.m. to drop the key through the farmer's letterbox. Missed the pub! Arrived home around 3.00 a.m. Tried not to wake her up, failing as usual when I fell over a rucksack in the dark.

An excellent trip in an outstanding cave/mine. J.H. is a great way in and the Far Sump Extension and Western Highway are impressive places. One of the most enjoyable evening trips that I've done recently.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4856

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Dave Cowley (EPC), Dunka (EPC), Pete Pollard (EPC)

This trip was suggested by Pete as a bit of a recce before the Eldon Giants trip in October. I'd not been in the Filthy Five before so was looking forward to seeing another new bit of Derbyshire cave. Pete and Dave had arrived earlier in the evening and headed into the cave whilst me and Dunka arrived afterwards. After changing me and Dunka went down the ladder on Garlands and into the Crabwalk. I'd never seen that water in Giants so low and we were hardly getting wet. Through there to the Eating House and carry on past the Bad Step Traverse towards Geology Pot. Pete had a rope rigged on there so we abseiled down that, through The Curtain (usually an easy duck but plenty of airspace today) and down to the East Canal. Pete had mentioned that you can traverse around the right-hand wall of the East Canal to get to the rope at the bottom of the Filthy Five and since I wasn't wearing a wetsuit I went for that. I'd previously never explored around this right-hand wall of the East Canal and expected it to be a longish traverse over very deep water. In fact, it's about three nice climbing moves around the corner and you can wade if you'd rather. Soon we were at the bottom of a short handline climb that leads upwards. The first handline climb is easy and lands you at the bottom of a proper pitch. A short prussik (up an incredibly muddy fixed rope) leads to the pitch head and a short traverse off. From here a 45 degree slope of wet mud leads up through an easy squeeze to the base of another pleasant (though very muddy) pitch. Up the rope here leads to another couple of steps up with particularly manky rope (some of it hawser-laid!) and the base of the first pitch. This is a nice prussik up which leads to the top where we met Pete and Dave. After posing for a couple of photos and a quick look at this side of St Valentines sump we headed out down the ropes. On the way out a good wash in the East Canal allows you to get most of the mud off and we returned via the Giants Windpipe (which again was as low as I've seen it).

The Filthy Five is actually more muddy than I expected and is an interesting place to do SRT. From the moment you step onto the rope you're struggling to figure out which is your Stop and which is your hand jammer cos they both look the same, being metal and covered in mud. The bolts and rigging are as bad as I've seen anywhere in the Peak. Looks as though the bolts are the original ones that Ken Pearce and friends put in on the first exploratory trips and they certainly weren't installed with modern caving traffic in mind. Definitely a place to go carefully and be careful what you trust. It's a good trip and perfect for an evening.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4827

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Chris Schofield (EPC)

After a trip down Eldon Hole we had some time left and since neither me or Chris had been in Perryfoot Cave we went for that. It's not a long cave (less than 200m of passage) so we didn't expect that it would take long. After getting permission from the farm we walked to the entrance and headed in to the cave. We quickly found ourselves in a chamber with a tyre in it ('1st Chamber') and the guidebook said that two alternative routes were possible from here to the final chamber at the end of the cave; one via the Iron Maiden squeeze and the other easier alternative. We went straight ahead dropping down into a low section with cobbles on the floor ('The Rack'). This emerged in a small chamber with two possible routes on. This was a bit of a surprise as CotPD just says that a series of crawls and pools leads to the Iron Maiden and the final chamber with a sump. We had a very brief look up and right and could see what looked like a small sump with a black flexible pipe in it. Everything else this way looked blind. Given that everything looked impassable here we took the left-hand option (the 'low road') which led up over a short wall and into comfortable crawling passage. This continued for a way until a body-sized horseshoe-shaped hole at floor level. Chris went through the hole and I followed him through. On the other side of the hole the rifty passage seemed to get too tight. It seems that thispart of the cave maybe what's called the 'low road' which eventually becomes too tight.From here we re-traced our steps back to the 1st Chamber and followed the alternative route to 'Flood Passage'. This was easy enough to follow and eventually led to a sump pool and concrete dam that had been used for bailing. According to the guidebook the route through the Iron Maiden etc. should emerge in this chamber but despite looking everywhere we couldn't really see where the Iron Maiden route could enter. We exited the cave after a couple of hours. Have since seen a survey and it all makes more sense. Will be returning for another look but it seems that there's more water in the lower parts of the cave than there used to be and it's possible that some parts of the cave can't be accessed any more.