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
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Team: Dylan, SamP, Rob
The date and objective of this trip was juggled about loads, with people dropping out and yankie tourists threatening to join us, but we eventually got a team together and made it happen, just! I’d not seen Dylan in over a year so was mega excited. Our objective today was to continue the bolt climb started last week and hopefully gain access to what looks to be a big passage in the roof.
The trip down was uneventful, apart from for Dylan who managed to go the wrong way and started descending into Impending Doom. Thankfully Sam spotted him. At Inglorious Bastards we spread our SRT kits between two bags and set off through the crawls. At first these were tedious but nowadays they are merely the well-trodden route and flash by without complaint. Although the last section of Vulgarious, past the last duck, is getting even sloppier such that we arrived at the Boil-up Sump 2 totally filthy.
I had GoPro on which I used as an excuse to go first so that I got some vis for the footage. Having done this freedive quite a few times now it really is smooth and enjoyable, certainly the best in the Peak, if you’re into that sort of thing. Dylan and Sam pop through behind me, all nice and clean now, and off we head.
Before the sump....
Lovely, clean and happy after the sump :-)
In awe we all head upstream, forever grateful that we get to push and enjoy a place like this. We lucky few. I hope more do come and enjoy this place before the winter waters likely prevent access.
We reach the aven in good time. I head up the rope first and give the others a big warning about the hanging death you have to prusik through. Once all safely above it we discuss the idea of dropping the boulders but agree that there is a definite chance that they could block the route down, which would potentially ruin the day, so we agree to not touch them!
Whilst the others do a good job of keeping warm I begin the 5m bolt climb. Faff was the main flavour of my technique today, but thankfully I was able to freeclimb on the flowstone quite a bit of it so got up with only two bolts. At the top I was presented not with a passage but instead a small traverse to a short climb into something small. I rig a Y-hang among beautiful stalactites and large, clean scallops, allowing the others to come up and join me.
The climb leads into a low chamber with a (far too) small passage at the back, but a few minutes digging a choke on the right leads up into a larger chamber, which is very well decorated. Dylan poked one way, up over a flowstone boss and into a small ascending tube which unfortunately closed up. Sam went the other way leading to a narrow section with a calcite bridge blocking the way on. Beyond is a tantalising view into another chamber but it’ll need more digging than we could do with only a bolting hammer.
Dylan at the breakthrough into the top chamber
Dylan inspecting a lead in the roof
With nothing else to do we head down, Sam stripping the climbing gear as we descend. The surveying and photographing of the place will need to wait until another trip, but it’ll definitely be worth it as it’s a lovely little find. Once at the bottom we sorted gear again then headed back sharpish as we were all pretty cold. The freedive back again lovely and easy. Sam had a theory that last week he got out and to the pub in less than 30 minutes, which I impolitely called bullshit on and set my stopwatch. I was at the back so couldn’t confirm his time. I was 45 minutes, but he was already fully changed, so maybe…..
Craziest of all Dylan smashed down one of Sam’s pasties then got in his car a drove to London! Ahh, the energy of the youth…..
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- Written by: Jeff Wade
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Team - Jon, Kristian, Rob and Jeff
The plan for the evening with team foursome would be to head back in to SMMC and then form two separate groups; one team to head downstream and look at potentially drafting chokes and take photos, and the second team to start bolting at the aven near survey station 34 some 150m upstream from the entrance of Winking Passage.
However before any of that nonsense, the team refreshed themselves with some French beer and compte cheese provided by Jeff on a brief visit back to the UK.
Rob and Jeff planned to bolt, and Jon and Kristian would go wander, poke at chokes and take photos.
Entering Cussey at 6:45pm , the passage down and through went smoothly, and the Boil up sump 2 now a 2m long free dive, passed without issue. At SMMC the teams split upstream and downstream.
At the aven Rob took to climbing and Jeff took belay. After the first few bolts Rob had reached the top of the initial 8m part of the aven and was now beneath a constriction of boulders and rocks wedged around the small hole (0.5 X 1m) leading up into the next section of the aven. Jeff moved up a stance to escape any ensuing debris from above, but little came, as Rob managed to cling to one solid wall to climb up through the hole.
Once through the constriction Rob finally got a clear view on the pitch above. Some 6m more awaited to be climbed and the phreatic roof and potential passage leading off looked enticing. Unfortunately due to lack of gear and time, this team had to call it a day and make the rigging safe to access back up into this second part of the aven.
Meanwhile the others Jon and Kristian had made the most of their time to try and photograph the downstream of SMMC, had briefly said hi to the climbers on the way past, and then headed fully upstream to have a look-see. This being only the start of explorations it is of benefit to search and take time to review.
Kristian Brook in the downstream vadose passage, by JonP
Kristian approaching the main upstream chamber, by JonP
Jon and Kristian on by-passing the SMMC 1st upstream sump and continuing to the next went through a section of breakdown that didn't feel natural compared to the rest of the cave. Based on the smaller bits of rock found and by type, it is likely to be work of the miners. Jeff agreed to this having seen this section the previous Sunday helping Rob Middleton and others. This also marries up with Rob Middleton's and Mike Butcher's records further beyond the SMMC 2nd upstream sump which show clear mine workings at that end of the system.
Jon and Kristian did have a look at other chokes along the way in the SMMC, but most didn't sound safe enough just to push direct.
A steady slog back to surface, having missed the pub, the team arrived back at the parking by 11:30pm to discuss and finish the cheese!
- Details
- Written by: Jon Pemberton
- Hits: 1897
We met at Cussey for 6pm, another early start. Joe, Rob and I (Team Neoprene) ready to venture to the Stoney Middleton Master Cave.
We’d faffed enough trying to lower the upstream sump in Race Against Time; syphoning, rock removal of varying varieties, more than you “shek a stick at!” Now the time had come… As Rob had said last week just as we were about to exit the cave, “people are just gonna have to MAN TF UP!” i.e. free-dive the sump – gulp.
My free-diving sump days never really started. I’d done Lake Bassenthwaite in Torca la Vaca (Matienzo) which is a pretty intimidating free-dive but this was way back in my caving career when I used to have psyche! The only other free-dive I’d done (about a million times) is the duck/sump in Gautries Hole, having said that I’ve not free-dived owt in years so it’s safe to say the intimidation was present.
It’d been on my mind most the week building up to the trip, various breath holding exercises and deep breathing which was quickly forgotten about come crunch time. I’d made special effort to repair my holey wetsuit and even bought a 2.5mm neoprene vest to wear under it to keep me warm. The only thing that was going to stop me getting through that sump now was me.
Joe and Rob supped pre-beers whilst I supped water, I was in that deep! We made quick progress through the cave and I remarked on how warm I felt in Vulgarious with the extra layer of neoprene. The sump was most definitely up but luckily the mysterious inlet above the sump had stopped flowing which meant the level was about as low as it could be without un-roofing. Rob gave me his diving mask which I'd specifically asked to borrow, not to see where I was going but to stop water getting up my nose. I faffed somewhat getting it to seal around my face whilst Rob made the plunge through to the large airbell beyond.
I was to dive next…
I got myself in to the sump pool and tried to adjust my body to the temperature of the cold water. My main problem is I’m positively the most “NESH” person I’ve ever met, so once the water was up to my shoulders I could barely take another breath whilst hyperventilating which doesn’t bode well for free-diving. The mask was now making me feel claustrophobic so I hastily chucked it back to Joe and did a couple of under water line pulling exercises from the lip of the sump back to the bolt (mainly to get my head under the water). I think I confused Joe at this point but he assured me it’d be fine. I was getting very close to calling it a day here and Joe had to talk me down once again off the ledge. I asked if he’d be ok going through just to tell Rob I was faffing as the vocal connection is very shit through the inlet but also I could gain a true account of how the sump was as Rob’s very vague when it comes to describing stuff like this. Joe went straight through with no hesitation which made me feel even more inferior. I could hear them chatting on the other side then Joe suddenly reappeared. He clarified how easy it was, about 2 meters length and a quickly rising airspace on the opposite side. With plenty of reassurance I got back in to the sump pool. A few deep breaths and down I went… “THWACKKK!” I cracked my head on the lip of the roof – not a great start. I realigned took a few more breaths and went for it again. Within seconds I felt my helmet rise out of the water and saw a blurry Rob jumping for joy elated that I’d cracked it!
I stumbled off my knees and on to my feet simultaneously high fiving Rob feeling super proud. I think we both couldn’t believe I’d finally done it, Joe appeared behind us and that was it – lets go photo the SHIT out of this master cave.
Winking Passage is the continuation of Race Against Time which eventually hits The Stoney Middleton Master Cave (SMMC) at a t-junction with upstream on your right, downstream on you left, roughly a third of the way up from the downstream sump. I was shocked by the size of Winking Passage and its lovely shape, clean washed walls and vibrant colours. We stomped along while the echo increased and began to boom! I was over the moon to finally be here after months of patiently waiting and digging this was a true moment to cherish. I can only compare the experience to the pioneers who undertook the first exploration trips in Peak Cavern. I’m literally the 6th person to visit SMMC, Rob and Joe having dived through once previously with diving gear for a very brief tour While Rob Middleton, Jack Dewison and Mike Butcher have concentrated all their efforts on doing what they do best – pushing sumps. This humongous piece of cave is literally there for the taking and did I mention it’s in Stoney!
Joe Buck traversing the stream pots, by RobE
We headed upstream first inspecting one of the various leads; a clean washed, choked aven which looked very inviting and from there on I struggled not to trip over my jaw which was hanging somewhere down nearby my feet. Even though the streamway was barely flowing, it’s like someone has copied and pasted a large section of the Peak Cavern Streamway or something from the Dales, definitely not something that should be found in Stoney. its got everything a good streamway should have in all the right places. One of the first things I said to the lads was, “Well John (Beck) got it right – somewhere beyond must lie a large vadose passage heading NW towards the swallets.” I find it hard to put in to words the size/beauty/grandeur of the place and I’m sure in time there’ll be plenty of photos circulating from various different perspectives but yeah - wow!
Joe Buck looking up into an un-entered inlet, by RobE
Jon Pemberton in the main rift passage, by RobE
We continued upstream negotiating a large choke just after a very enticing aven. More stomping and boulder hopping follows before eventually reaching the final chamber with the upstream sump. The lead above the sump didn’t look as enticing to me as it once did looking at a survey but it's certainly an easy climb for when we get around to it. We dropped through the choke and Rob quickly got excited thinking the upstream sump was almost passable. His excitement was short lived as it turns out, the sump had completely silted up leaving only a dive line heading off into a silty floor – meaning we’d need a big flow of water for the sump to re-open. We started our return trip back to the junction, now with Rob leading camera in hand. We stopped at various places along the way whilst he made quick work of snapping glamour shots for Joe's portfolio. Once back at the junction Rob dumped his camera and we headed downstream. We were all pretty chilly at this point (mainly thanks to me) so we legged it down the passage in a bid to warm ourselves up. The downstream section felt like a completely different cave to what we’d just been in. The water flows here at a lower, impenetrable level leaving the upper section feel like a much older part of the cave. We reached a chamber where Rob spotted a roof tube and with a bit of fuckwhittery we managed to post Rob head first in to the entrance. He pushed the body size tube for some way and started to retreat but with the return being much harder than the push he shouted for us to go look at the downstream sump whilst he attempted to exit on his own accord. Joe and I ran down the passage to the sump, the passage had changed once again but for the worse; a gloopy quagmire. We got to 30m from the start of the dive line which showed how much the water has dropped over the summer. We headed back to Rob who was still stuck in the crawl and struggling. Eventually after much faff we finally saw his feet pop out some 3m above us and managed to safely guide them back to the floor. The roof tube was still going but needed some dedicated pushing as it is only just Rob size.
Joe Buck with some scallops, by RobE
Jon Pemberton nearing the upstream sump, by RobE
We made our way back to the sump where Rob briefed me on not faffing as we were all cold. I didn’t hesitate this time and within seconds I was back through feeling safe and somewhat closer to home in RAT. Once all back through the sump we started our return journey to surface an were greeted by a lovely warm night, the only let-down was a certain someone forgetting his post beer so I gratefully shared.
Another cracking trip which I won't be forgetting any time soon.
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
- Hits: 1378
Just Rob and I tonight (TAP) and you know what that means? – Cool shit normally happens.
Well tonight was cursed!
We met early (6pm) expecting the sump to be open and a good stomp around the Master Cave. The first problem was warm beers, closely followed by problem 2 – unable to get wetsuits on! This was really problematic and I managed to nearly de-glove my fingers trying to stretch the neoprene over my sweaty carcass. Temperatures eased once we made our descent, almost a little too cold. We dumped SRT gear at Inglorious and headed for Vulgarious. The pool enroute in The Wet West felt ice cold and it made me wonder how cool the duck would be. We progressed along Vulgarious and popped out in RAT. When I hit the T-junction I felt no extreme draught which seemed a worrying sign and Rob soon hollered up that it was definitely still sumped – Joy! For whatever reason the tube heading over the sump which creates a vocal connection to the airbell upstream was pissing out water! This has never really flown before so quite why it has decided to start in the middle of an extremely dry period is baffling. The only other thing that seems to flow at the moment is For Buck’s Sake and this never seems to change. (Note The Master Cave was barely flowing!)
So with that dampening our horizons we started off drilling the large 16m x 500mm hole for Rob’s tablet. Rob was excited (literally) and with only 30mm to go he had a quick breather to note how hot the drill had got. He continued with his hole and in seconds pulled the drill back out with half the drill bit missing – bugger! He hastily slammed the drill down in front of me and threatened to drown himself in Sump 2. After talking him down off the ledge we didn’t have many more options left for this evening’s trips and it was only 8:15pm. Rob, now angry with the world decided he was going to free dive through sump 2a and rig a hard line for the free dive. He made it look easy, tied to a rope with the drill halfway along said rope – I worried for what seemed like a few minutes but in hindsight was probably 10 seconds. We made vocal contact through the pissing inlet tube but could audibly hear nowt! Next I heard drilling and all seemed ok. Rob soon arrived back with me in RAT declaring it was the best free-dive in Derbyshire. I asked how sump 2b was and he declared that he’d forgotten to look so off he went back through the sump. He ran all the way along Winking Passage to the Junction with the Master Cave just to check it was still there (hence noting the flow in there).
Once Rob was safely on my side of the sump we headed back along Vulgarious and Rob managed to twist my arm and drag me up the Wet West Caverns for a look at the sump at the end and the Ireby Sump Buster. The sump was pretty low but not open. After inspecting the equipment and declaring it doomed I had a quick look at the cross rift which spent a few trips on way back when and noted it looked a lot more enticing than from our previous trip at the back end of last year. Rob noted a draught going up it which he said changes everything (read that as you may).
The return trip was rancid and definitely warranted miner’s knee pads. We retreated for a well deserved pint in The Moon – early night for us, wasn’t the planned trip but could’ve been worse!
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
- Hits: 1212
Just Rob, Sam and I this evening for a potential SMMC trip. Pre beers were essential with the weather and the entrance was blowing a hooley! We quickly made our way down Cussey and along Vulgarious. I was at the sharp end and raced to the upstream sump anticipating it to be draughting with a little bit of airspace but as always this wasn’t meant to be and was greeted with a definite sump! The tiny hole at head height at the entrance to sump was draughting inwards massively which was nice to see as it means the sump's open beyond the airbell.
Plan B – Sam and Rob headed off to survey Rat Roof whilst I made a valiant attempt to remove the dam wall creating the sump. Before Sam and Rob returned I had capped 5-6 times and made very little progress due to the exceptionally hard bedrock which forms the floor of the passage. Rob arrived back and had a go for himself and made a smidge more damage – Ho Hum!
We retreated as we were due an early night (monthly meet). On the way out Rob surveyed Black Draught so we could tie in the BD – Rat Roof debate and headed to The Mechanic’s for refreshments and the Eldon's monthly meet..
