Present: Dream Team (Rob and Joe)
Following some significant rainfall in the preceding days, and with winter clearly well on its way, Rob and I formed a plan in the damp, gloomy car park. Jon and Sam had decided to take a trip down Cliffstile to have a look at some fairly aquatic unexplored mine workings, so Rob and I decided we would try to make the most of the access through Boil-up Sump 2 while we still could. We had a couple of choke leads to investigate and Rob realised our diving comrades had marked on their survey an aven near the downstream sump, which we hadn’t noticed previously. Due to the recent rainfall, as a back-up plan in case Sump 2 was, well, sumped, we took in survey gear to tie in the passage beyond the Vulgarious junction and the Inclined Cavern.
With only one small bag to carry, we made quick progress and were soon climbing down the bendy ladder into the old mine workings of the Wet West, apprehensive to see what effect the weather had had on the conditions below. This was soon answered as there was indeed a reasonable flow heading down the pitch off to one side - this was probably not a good indicator. We continued the rest of the approach to RAT, which was drippier, but definitely not too unpleasant. (If anything, the drips provided some fresh water to clean the grit out of your eyes!)
We rounded the corner and both sat next to the sump like gargoyles staring at it to assess the water level. It was definitely a lot higher than previously, which meant we had no access to the first air bell and so immediately extended the dive by another few metres. How much the rise would have extended it on the other side, we couldn’t only speculate… There is a small gap above the sump through which we’d previously been able to (just about) make a voice connection with the big air bell. Rob noticed this was still draughting into the SMMC, and confidently stated that this was good news, as it meant the low passage beyond the air bell still had air space.
I was apprehensive but very comforted by this. I had previously been trialling how far I could dive through the sump whilst the water was low and reasonably low consequence, and knew that the air bell would be there to come up in regardless of the conditions. Rob looked at me like he was expecting me to get on with it, so I slipped into the water, took a couple of deep breaths and plunged in. Knowing this was going to be a longer dive, I decided it would be better to be efficient with my breath and remain calm, moving slowly through the passage without thrashing. Gliding along, hand over hand on the rope, I reached a point where, if I’m honest, I’d expected to surface. With my helmet still crashing along the roof, the bolt the rope was tied to just didn’t appear. I’m picking up the pace now, starting to think that breath efficiency was a stupid idea - I’ve done the equivalent of a sprint by crawling, and without any air. Mercifully, the rope rose out of the water and I emerged into the safe haven of the air bell. Three tugs on the rope to indicate it was safe for Rob to come through, and we were reunited.
The passage beyond, which has until recently been a waist-deep wade with a couple of feet of air space, now had as little as 10cm above the water. Rob warned me to take it slowly, as we had to go through backwards with our lips pressed to the ceiling and no way to see where we were headed. I immediately veered off to one side and fortunately had Rob to direct me through. He had little to worry about in this regard, and navigated his way through the scalloped roof without any trouble.
Buzzing from our exciting entry, we skipped off down Winking Passage to go and have a poke at the potential leads. The first on the list was just to the right after appearing from the t-junction, and was a choke heading upwards and back towards where we’d come from. I had a quick look first and wasn’t immediately enthused by the wall of stones glued together by mud. I stepped out of the way to let Rob make a more informed assessment, to which he concluded there was an interesting tube off to the right, but not hugely inspiring digging conditions. Rob had left his aiders further up the streamway on a previous trip, so we took a quick jaunt to go and collect them and warm up a little. We both agreed it was amazing to see the passage properly flowing after the dry summer - an actual streamway again!
Next, we headed back downstream to check out the aven, stopping occasionally to feel for a draught in the smaller sections of passage. We stopped for a while in the chamber before the vadose passage heading off at head height to discuss rocks ’n stuff, concluding primarily that we didn’t know why it had formed the way it had. As Rob set off in front of me towards the downstream sump he noticed how foggy the air was, until suddenly it cleared, showing the draught was obviously pulling inwards. Arriving at the spot where it had been marked on the survey, we looked up to see an obvious slot in the roof which I had never noticed before despite having sat underneath it on previous trips. Rob had a quick go at free climbing in to it by standing on my knee but quickly decided I should just stand on his shoulders instead. Not sure who was getting the worst deal I bridged across, stood on Rob’s shoulder and hauled myself into the gap. The draught heading upwards was clear, and despite looking small, it looked possible to fit. The complete lack of handholds, coupled with being the wrong side of a fairly committing freedive, meant a decision to return with bolting gear was made, and I slid back down landing with a thump.
We began to head out, stopping only to check another choke on a corner along Winking Passage. Rob poked his head in and concluded that, whilst not dead, it would make for pretty grim digging with boulders above your head. He stopped to fashion a belt from a sling so he could take his aiders through the sump, and then we crawled back into the water. Rob navigated his way back through the deep water towards the air bell and I followed shortly after. The water was now so deep that I had to walk backwards on my toes to keep my face out of the water and, with my ears underwater, I couldn’t hear the directions Rob was giving me. Apparently I was starting to drift off to one side and, coupled with my unsteady footing, I dunked my head under. I tried to resurface but couldn’t seem to find the small air space at the top of the passage - every time I tried I just came up against rock. In a bit of panicked underwater aerobics, I spun round and swam back from where we’d came to find a bigger airspace. Feeling a bit shaken, I carefully tip-toed back along, this time listening more carefully for Rob’s instructions. Unfortunately, Rob had a bit of a left and right mix up, and so I very nearly veered off to the same fate once again but luckily managed to get back on course. We had a bit of a nervous chuckle about the mix up, but it hadn’t served well to settle our nerves before heading through what we now knew to be a very, very long dive. I stepped up first and wasn’t going to hang around this time - I found it much better at speed, but probably not one for every week. I lay on the bank catching my breath and could hear the water gurgling as Rob made his way through. I couldn’t believe how long it actually took for him to resurface.
Pleased to be on the right side of the sump once again, we couldn’t help but laugh. Rob joked that it was inevitable we were going to have some sort of adventure when it’s just us. We made good pace back out and were relieved to be back washing gear in the now-flowing salt pan by 9:30 and headed to the Mechanics shortly after for beer and free scampi bites - what a winner. We stayed for a few, and had hoped to hear from Jon and Sam as to how they’d gotten on, but still no word. Given they’d just gone for a bit of an explore, it was getting pretty late. Rob received a text later on that they were out. They’d taken some photos which we hadn’t factored into our estimations, and seemingly they hadn’t either as they nearly run out of light on the trip.
After the trip, a quick look at the dive survey through the sump puts our free dive at somewhere close to 10m…
