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.
- Details
- Written by: Jon Pemberton
- Hits: 1110
With the recent realisation of The Doom discovery being nigh on 10 years old followed by a meagre two Pemberton brother riding solo, rather than do anything productive Sammy P and I went for a tour of Doom to mark this awesome milestone!
Armed with only wetsuits (due to the change of plan, Sam didn’t even have Wellingtons or knee pads!) we headed straight for top level Doom. This is found at the end of Loper Lust and is the original entry point to the discovery. I told Sam the fantastic tales of how we thought we were just going to drop in this top level when we found (but not dropped) Inglorious Bastards pitch – oh how we laughed!
We checked out one lead which does indeed require bolting up to but doesn’t look good, then shot off down the ladder to the main line. After a brief pause and photo stop at Static Passage we headed to the end of the pipe caverns to where Rob nearly jumped to his death then retraced our steps for a look at The Black Lagoon. A brief visit to the lower passage with small trickle of water emitting from Elastic Passage we turned around at 10pm and was back to the car for 10:40pm ready for some post cave beverages.
Crazy place! These workings are so extensive its hard to get your head around on a trip like this with many side leads. Needs a good survey really – Rob?
Above and below: Sam in the upper level of Doom
Sam in the Static Passage Squeeze
- Details
- Written by: Joe Buck
- Hits: 1221
Team: Rob, Jon and Joe
Rob and I had spent the whole week with bated breath patiently waiting to see the destruction from last trips efforts. The possibility of Sump 2 being open again, and therefore allowing non-diver access into SMMC, had also coerced Jon and Luke into joining us so they can have a wonder round the new streamway. I had arrived a little late and so Jon and Rob were pre-beered by the time I arrived, and with no sign of Luke we quickly changed and headed in.
We slithered along the passage approaching RAT excited to see what levels of devastation we’d created. Rob approached first in stunned silence. My hopes began to rise. As it transpired, he was stunned because everything looked exactly as we’d left it - failure. To add insult to injury there was no draft through the sump into SMMC, and further investigation confirmed the water had risen a few more inches and sumped the duck into the airbell. Jon set about starting the siphon back up so potentially it would be lower for the following week. Meanwhile, not wishing to let it get us down too much, Rob and I began to form a better strategy and see if we could be a little less greedy. We formed a plan and set about the lengthy task of drilling. Being already laden with gear, Rob had only packed one battery which promptly ran out just as the last hole was drilled.
Jon had managed to get the siphon trickling and had then set about breaking the wall holding the perched pool in place and had made some progress. It felt a bit ridiculous that so far the most progress had been made by chipping away at it with a crowbar!
With our very short and easy digging trip complete, we made a hasty retreat, all the while Jon was singing Venga Boys “Boom, boom, boom, boom!” with alarming lyrical accuracy, and recalling Eldon stomps of times gone by. We capitalised on an early finish and headed to the Mechanics again to top up our electrolytes and discuss tactics.
- Details
- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 1064
Team: Dream (Rob and Joe)
Just the two of us tonight, after a late farming related excuse from Sam, and we formally renamed our duo the Dream Team. After giving up on Black Draught in an immature spat of frustration last week, I was now totally psyched to be donning my wetsuit and heading for Vulgarious. Water levels in the crawl were at their normal low, but we were both surprised to see that Sump 2 was actually open (just) and pulling a draught!
We ditched out gear and excitedly went to inspect. The first section of the sump had maybe 50mm of airspace so we each navigated through on our backs, helmets off. The lowest bit was only 1-2m long and pretty easy going. We stood up in the middle airbell, reminiscing of being here all those months before on our short diving foray. Joe then went ahead for the second section of the sump on the basis that he hadn’t ever seen it before (he’d been behind me on the diving day and vis had reduced to zero once I’d inelegantly dragged myself through it). This section had much more airspace, maybe 300mm, and was very easy to navigate through. Joe pointed out the tiny squeeze he’d managed to accidentally navigate through by accident, oops! We crawled up the mud bank on the upstream side and basked in the glory of being the first non-diving trip here. Rather than be tempted to go off for a gander we decided to turn around, this time simply freediving the downstream section as it was so short and easy.
Now nice and cool we started the slow job of drilling. Today’s job was to start the lowering of Sump 2, or at least have a go. After a bit of discussions we agreed on a plan and set to work. This started with emptying a perched pool of water with our helmets and wellies, an age-old solution we’d both never tried before and were impressed with the effectiveness! This then allowed holes to be drilled lower down, hoping to get more depth.
Once all 3 holes drills and the gear was installed, we packed up and retreated up Vulgarious to a safe distance. It’s proper filthy in this section and I nearly managed to keep everything clean, apart from the one expensive bit of electronics I had with me, oops! The gear went off with a very satisfying triple boom and we turned tails and fled. Back at Inglorious Joe stepped up and took the tacklebag off me (he’s a star) and after only 2.5 hours the Dream Team emerged into the glorious sunshine. Refreshments purchased in the Mechanics whilst we discussed all the possibilities of how successful the operation may have been. Too much anticipation for my liking…
- Details
- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 1469
Team A: Luke and Jon
Team BD: Joe and Rob
Team C: Jim and Sam
Continuing with our theme of caving as antisocially as possible, we agreed to split into three minimally-sized teams tonight. Whilst me n Joe were getting ready (pre-beers in the glorious sunshine) the other teams started to slowly appear, so we headed straight down. We were to be stationed at Black Draught tonight, popping the last boulder out of the “roof” and having a look beyond. Meanwhile Team A were to go around to Rat Roof and try get a light connection with us, or at least an idea of direction. Then Team C, slightly at a loss on what to do, went for a look around the other side of Cussey (the nice side).
I was last in the Black Draught dig so I explained the objective to Joe as best I could and let him set to work, especially as he was keen to learn “the tech”. Whilst he was in there Team A came past, had a quick rave with me, then disappeared down Loper Lust.
Once all done Joe came back to Inglorious and we fired the gear. Nothing… Oh dear.
Hoping that one of the wires may have come undone whilst Joe crawled back I went in to check. Unfortunately they were still attached well and actually looking much better than how I would have done it. Whilst there I hear the jovial vulgarness of Jon approaching from beyond. He sounds so close. We do a light check but nothing. I therefore untie the cables and squeeze through past the boulder, as I had done the previous week. This is a very tight manoeuvre and one that needs to be done very carefully so as not to apply much pressure to the boulder which is directly above you. Once through I spend a little time trying to locate Jon’s voice and unfortunately realise to my big surprise that he wasn’t along the crawling passage heading off west, but actually behind me to the south through a very tight bedding plane. This is not good news. I carefully change my position to get a better vantage point to see and hear into the bedding and for sure his voice is at the back of there. I can see ~2-3m but it’s no more than 20cm high at the biggest bit. The floor and roof look like solid bedrock throughout. Oh dear. Surprisingly a light check in either direction doesn’t work, so there’s a chance I’m wrong, I do hope so.
Deflated, I eek my way back through the boulder blockage, rewire the cables, then head to Inglorious. I bring the big drill back too, so we can try fire with a bigger battery. Nothing again. Double bugger.
Joe goes in and cuts off the wires from the dud so it’s left as “safe” as possible. We then head out with our heads down, knowing that the Black Draught connection it still a long way off being realised….
Luke and Jon emerge to the surface not long after us. Seems that Sump 2 in RAT was very low and Jon was able to navigate through to the first small airbell. Only maybe 200mm more and the whole thing would be open. They set the syphon going so hopefully next trip we’ll be able to get through to SMMC.
We then all head to the Moon for tea and medals (beer and pork scratchings) at the Eldon monthly meet and discuss what to do now!
- Details
- Written by: Jim Thompson
- Hits: 1169
Team: Sam P, Jim T
With an impending Eldon monthly meet and more bodies than you could shake a stick at, I decided it was time Sam took a look at the magnificent east side of Cussey, through Timewarp and into Rocky Horror whilst the Awesome lot went to have a chat between Black Draught and RAT.
This direction was my first taste of the cave, and although, having just returned from a lengthy hiatus, I found it really hard and the squeezes desperate, I’d been absolutely mesmerised by the scale of the place with clean washed walls adorned everywhere with antlers of chert. Progress had been slow as I had to remove and re-don my SRT kit every time the going got a tad snug.
This time there was no such faff. We shot downwards and were soon at the vertical squeeze above the NCA pitch. I slid through, SRT kit and all, and soon enough I was once again admiring Timewarp. It felt a lot smaller than last time but nonetheless I was still in love with the ambience of the space. Sam joined me and we had no trouble finding the way down over a big hole thanks to Jon’s description of the route before we parted ways.
A big stretch is needed to get on the Rocky Horror rope but it’s easy enough and I headed down. Sam went first through the squeeze into Gloom Room and I followed, finding it really rather awkward so progress was incremental to say the least. Before I committed to the final push Sam announced how filthy the remainder was and started on his return. Slightly relieved I squirmed back out.
Climbing back over the big hole provided a heart stopping moment when I carelessly used a chert nodule as a foothold and it immediately detached itself in protest. I managed to hold myself up, arms at an angle they shouldn’t really be at, and get my dangling legs onto something more suitable for feet.
Jon caught us at the entrance pitch and seemed to freeclimb it in the time it took to get my jammers off the rope and out of the hatch, although hatch egress may have been longer than necessary as he was ‘hilariously’ hanging off my footloop. The gimp.
