Date 22/06/2023
Team: Rob E, Dylan K, Hal D, John G, Allan B, Victoria K, Chris H.
Having been in and out of Cussey a few times now, tonight was going to be My first through trip and the plan was to go up to Rock Cottage and enter Moorwood Sough and exit via Cussey. How great would it be to have this entrance in your back garden. To negate the need to walk back from Cussey in a Loppy sweat-suit, Rob did a sterling job, planning to meet Dylan at the Cussey car park and leave his car there then meet the others in the Stoney Lay-by at 6:30. Post caving refreshments were also strategically placed inside the Cussey lid.
Kitting up in the layby was pleasant in the warm evening sun although Victoria did need a little help from Rob and Myself to don her wetsuit (I’ll leave the details to your imaginations…). Allan decided that he’d give his newly repaired dry-suit an outing only to find that there was a tear in the foot. Wetsuits on and SRT kits packed we head up through Rock Cottage Garden to the entrance. John gave us a quick brief on the entrance Ladders and his plan to place some datalogging salt detectors in the water at the bottom with strict instruction not to get tangled up with as it was very expensive.
Rock Cottage Entrance to Moorwood Sough - Photo by Vic K
We all made swift work of the entrance ladders and were all glad of the cooling water in the sough, especially Hal who was yet to fully zip up his wetsuit. It had been 9 years since I’d been in the sough but could still remember key features with the help of Rob’s running commentary. The first stop off was at Victory Level to change detectors and record conductivity.
Continuing up the sough we soon reached the bottom of the ladders. John dispersed salt into the water the aim being to calculate the transit time to the previously placed detectors downstream. Rob ascended the ladder to set up a lifeline. Dylan and I decided we’d follow and take our chances. Getting to the top of the first ladder flashbacks from years ago of the dodgy stretch to the second ladder made me regret my choice not to lifeline. With words of encouragement from Rob the second ladder was passed, and the rest of the team were belayed up into the start of the Glebe Mine section.
We made our way up to the detectors that had been place in Glebe to swap them out and take conductivity readings. It was now 8:30 and time to split up with Hal, Vic, Allan and John going back out of the sough and Rob, Dylan and Myself heading out of Cussey. It would be a race to see if either team could make the pub. But with detectors to swap in Elastic Passage, Static Passage & Upstream SMMC, I was glad we’d placed refreshments at the Cussey lid.
It wasn’t long before we were at the bottom of the Doom ladder where we left our SRT kits and set off to swap the detectors there, Rob also gave us a quick hydrology lesson and explained what the readings on the conductivity meter translated to. Back at the bottom of the ladder Dylan set off with tremendous haste and only stopped to take a quick breath before launching himself at Boil up sump 2. Rob and I a little slower arrived at the sump and realised we could hear an excited Dylan on the other side and there was in fact 1” of airspace all the way through. It was a quick job changing the detector upstream and Dylan again set off with the same haste as before however his attempt to tackle the sump at the same pace wasn’t as smooth as on the way through and he seemed to take on a little water.
Loper Lust was as usual like slop and I still think it warrants an eye wash station at the bottom of Inglorious to assist in seeing whilst getting your SRT kit back on. Dylan set off first up Inglorious and Rob now a little cold due to the diminishing condition of his wetsuit set off second. I made my way out at a steady pace and was elated when I reached the lid to find my Cussey Draft-Cooled Moretti waiting. Apparently, I was 8 mins ahead of Dylan and Rob’s projected exit time.
The other team must have had a quick exit as we were greeted by a WhatsApp picture message from the Pub. With Dylan’s car rammed full of dirty caving gear we set off back to the Stoney Lay-by. In all it was a great trip and the first Rock Cottage – Cussey through trip, this really is a great system to explore with plenty of options for trip variety.