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: SamP and RobE
With a nouveau Team Average off pushing Bagshawe tonight, it was up to me n Sam to try make some decent progress down our old fave. I missed out on the Cussey action last week so was raring to go, armed with the new Eldon drill and plenty of snappers. Trip was off to a bad start when I realised my pre-beer had punctured and leaked all over my gear, and the remaining half can was certainly not the satisfaction I’m used to.
At Inglorious Sam went in first as he knew what the crack was from last week. This first involved using the new drill to retrieve a stuck drill bit! He then opened up that hole with our new 8.5mm bit and loaded her up. When he returned to Inglorious he woke me up and we fired the beast, giving a very satisfying kaboom.
I went in next and was pleasantly pleased with the destruction. After clearing the debris the way on was a small gap over a solid wall of calcite and rock. After too much deliberating on a hole location I put one in on the left and returned to a cold Sam in Inglorious. The passage Black Draught is truly gross to work in, covering you head to toe in heat-zapping sludge. Thankfully the dig face itself isn’t too bad, but nevertheless we were both now fully marinaded. Even with very little stemming my hole fired very well and it was Sam’s turn to head back in, although his enthusiasm was elsewhere at the time. I did a quick time check, 20:36, so plenty time to get busy still. When he got to the face the report back was good and that he might be able to get through. Thankfully he chose the wiser option of drilling another hole, this time in the righthand side of the face. By the time he was back in Inglorious it was 21:22, it’s crazy how time flies when having fun!
The kaboom was a pleasing one, giving me enough enthusiasm to dive back into the crawl for more wallowing glory. Indeed there was destruction all over so I cleared the mess into the last remaining stacking holes and went for it. The hole was very tight an awkward, with my right arm totally in the wrong place no matter where I put it, so I just pushed hard at it. I eventually got my torso through into the void beyond which give a great view to the left of 3-4m of body sized passage, all nicely decorated with stal (for now). This we believe is heading straight for Race Against Time so is great news. Unfortunately the view behind me was that the roof was in fact a precarious looking, fridge sized boulder. I quickly yet carefully slither back, making sure not to push on the roof this time!
I gather the tools and retreat back to Sam who’s already with SRT kit on, just waiting for the drill before heading up the rope to some warmth. As Sam had the bag (again) I loved the trip out, feeling at one with every useful foothold and handhold, and even managed to do Coconut Airways without needing a one arm pullup for a change. We were greeted on the surface by torrential rain so we skipped any Saltpan washing and changed quickly, heading straight to the Mechanics Institute for a pleasant pint and snacks. Surprised we hadn’t tried this place before, cheapest pint in Eyam and spitting distance from Cussey.
Now we need to formulate a plan of attack for next week…
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- Written by: Jim Thompson
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Team: Sam P, Bog, Jim T
With all efforts currently focused on Black Draught, the Cussey team have fragmented into pairs on different evenings to maximise time at the dig face which provides less-than-ample accommodation for one, with no home comforts laid on. We also have a brand new Eldon drill at our disposal to mitigate against any protest from the old one at being expected to operate in conditions that probably don’t feature in Makita’s design process.
Sam headed off to make a start whilst I accompanied Bog down the entrance pitch, at the bottom of which I left him to have a look at Timewarp and continued on to join Sam at the mucky end. Tonight would be our night, the one in which the breakthrough would happen, another piece of the jigsaw slotting into place.
A rapid descent was made, enjoying the solitude and singing my heart out the whole way. I got the digging tunes started and stood by for Sam to come out of the dig and give his assessment.
The up slope boulders had been prepared with the necessary encouragement so we quickly released the energy with a satisfying report, I donned balaclava and headtorch, left my helmet behind and plunged into the squelch of the bedding and slid, well lubricated by the six inches of mud, up to the 90 degree turn and wriggled to the face. The scene was one of success, little fragmentation – but with even less in the way of stacking space or places to move my arms, I shifted all the tools and wrestled the rock out of the way, got things ready and retreated backwards, feeling the way out with my feet.
Back in the chamber we tried and tried again to repeat the process to no avail, until eventually we heard a barely audible pop, so Sam gathered the necessary supplies, including the ‘well loved’ Eldon drill, and returned. A few seconds of that familiar sound of SDS+ into limestone later, I heard a new, never before encountered sound – angry shouting from Sam. He returned to inform me that not only was the drill stuck and unable to drill any more in the right direction, it wouldn’t reverse either and had let out a lot of smoke in the process of refusal. I had a look, and it was well and truly dead. Unfortunately the brand new drill was still at Rob’s, awaiting delivery of a lovely cover courtesy of Josh, one that the old drill would probably have appreciated at some point a long time ago.
So that was that. We packed away the kit, I stuck my helmet back on my head, closed the Pelicase on the speaker without turning the music off and set off back up the rope. The ever lovely prusik out of Inglorious flashed by, I climbed the Shattered Dreams pitch (why hadn’t I thought of this before?) and by the time I was at the foot of the squeeze, Sam was behind me again. At this point things got a bit ethereal and zen… The Orb’s ‘Star 6 & 7 8 9’ played on the speaker, semi-muffled by the Peli. I stood into the squeeze. It wasn’t a squeeze. My eyes were closed and I vaguely heard Sam exclaim something about having gone through without trying.
Unfortunately I didn’t quite manage to levitate up Coconut Airways but like last time it was just a climb and we were soon back on surface.
I’d been keeping my post-beer in the ice box of the van fridge all week and fate had a silver lining up her sleeve as it was just still at the point of being a liquid.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
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Team: Sam and Rob
After Monday’s frustration we were keen to score for a draw against Black Draught tonight. I sub’d Joe for Sam and upgraded caps to snaps, so hopes were high. Pre-beer in the glorious sun before descending into the cool darkness. This was the first time me n Sam have caved together for maybe 10 years, so we were each keen to impress the other.
Once at Inglorious we dekitted, turned on the digging tunes, and I headed in first with the firing cable, planning to utilise one of the failed capping holes from the last trip. However I couldn’t get the snapper in all the way, not helped by the small Rowan twig I was using as a stemming rod (I realised last minute that my proper one was too big for 8mm holes). Needless to say when fired from back in Inglorious I’ve been more impressed with some of my kids farts.
Sam went in next, this time with the drill. Working at the face is not the easiest, it being awkward, very muddy, and you’re also in a puddle to ensure the howling draught really cuts through you.
The whole process of return, drill, stem, wire, return, fire took 20-30 mins, so it’s not quick. Thankfully this one went off properly and when I returned the rock was gone. A good sight now through the next rocks into a reasonably spacious rift which is encouraging, however more was needed off the large slab in the floor to get passed comfortably. Optimistically I just drilled right into the centre of it.
The big noise from Inglorious was encouraging and whilst Sam went in to fettle out the spoil I kept warm by starting digging another tube off Inglorious. He was back 20 mins later saying he could now get through to the next bit but there’s more rocks and calcite in the way. Also he’s lost the beloved Rowan twig so no more bangs tonight. I went in, cleared from rocks from ahead, and predrilled two holes ready for next trip. So it's been good progress tonight, but more hard work to come. By the time I emerged back in Inglorious I was shattered, even though we’d only been underground 2.5 hours. I was also freezing so keen to head out, and Sam was good enough to take the bag which made me very happy.
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- Written by: Rob Eavis
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Team: Joe and Rob
Following last week’s positive voice connection from Black Draught to RAT Roof, the plan now is for small, alternating teams of 2 to hit Black Draught with as much as we’ve got to make this connection happen.
Tonight was the first of this renewed effort and we arrived equipped with loads of energy and loads of caps. Unfortunately I’d managed to pack a slightly undersized 8mm drill bit, meaning that my capping rod wouldn’t fit in the hole, so I was restricted to firing the caps with the drill. This is a far less efficient method (and the rocks were bigger than I had anticipated) so the 2 hours of effort was not rewarded with much progress.
We consoled ourselves successfully in the pub after.
Joe emerging from the delights of Black Draught
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- Written by: Jon Pemberton
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A - Team: Rob & Jon
B - Team: Joe & Sam
Nowhere to be seen team: Luke, Jim & Bog
Super early start today for rob and I as we got to Cussey car park for 5:00 p.m ready to head through to RAT on what we were hoping would be the big breakthrough trip! - It wasn't. Don't get your hopes up.
We quickly kitted up and Rob managed to twist my arm into a pre beer. Sam and Joe would head down later but were meeting later at 6:30 p.m for their old man trip. I've got to admit this was the most fun I'd had going through Vulgarious, The passage has enlarged massively with traffic and just in a wetsuit you could slide through gloriously, bar getting coated in mud. It was fairly pleasant for the first time. It didn't take as long to get to where we wanted to be and after Rob had started the syphon on Boil-up Sump 2 we headed down to the RAT Hole and the choke above where hopefully we would connect. When Rob and I first broke through Vulgarious back in April we managed to push the boulder choke to a crawl in the roof and on a previous trip we managed to get a good vocal connection here with Black Draught in Inglorious. Only little digging had been done here previously so tonight's trip was a proper go at it.
I took to the dig first and made good progress shifting out the floor and almost blocking myself in in the process. Rob was stationed just behind me at a precarious ledge above a large greasy drop. I managed to dig to what looked like a solid wall in front but was actually a large slab which appears to have fell from the roof. The draught to me seem to be coming from the right so I managed to uncover a decent sized rock in the floor and it was at this point Sam and Joe decided to show their faces, well I say faces… we could hear them very well but we definitely couldn't see them!
Sam was positioned at the first dig in Black Draught whilst Joe was at the sloppy end. Sam and I were having a conversation like he was sat across a table from me it was that clear. At this point I was done. My little kitten arms had failed me and it was time for me to retreat.
Enter Rob.
During my dig Rob had squirmed his way off to the left to what looks like the end of the large fallen roof slab. He said it was interesting as it could potentially skirt around the slab. Once he was in the dig he noticed that instead of going right left looked a better option. Albeit he dug right and managed to remove the boulder in the floor and bring it back almost blocking himself in and killing me in the process; it wouldn't be the first time he's tried throwing a rock at my head. Rob continued to dig whilst I went to check out the Rat hole. The passage here is beautiful. One of the best small passages I've ever seen with a prominent shell bed in the roof. I was amazed and would definitely like to come back and try and photo this and maybe try the round trip through the tight squeeze I failed to get through… after a short dig at the end here in zero draught I retreated now warm again to Rob who had about given up to. Unfortunate but fortunate we were now ready to exit via Vulgarious again. Downhill this time though It was quite a pleasure and the rest of the cave seemed easy enough to negotiate through. It was the first time in a while but I didn't feel too knackered after this trip, although it does help not having to carry a bag.
We even managed to make the pub too as it was the meet so a lovely pint in the Moon inn afterwards accompanied by some out of date pork scratchings. Nom nom.
We decided it wasn't worth digging the connection from the RAT and and we just concentrate on digging it from black draught.