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: Joe Buck
- Hits: 1483
Kristian B, Rob M, Rob E and Joe B
Four of us met in the usual spot for another mid-week slop extravaganza in Vulgarious. Those of us who’d remembered the five Ps supped a beer as Rob 2 described how terrible diving is (I don’t think that was his intention), and we were soon headed over to the lid.
Up until this point the dig has managed to avoid too many corners and sharp protrusions, but after the last few sessions it had reached a dog leg which could mean a lot more work and bodies would be required. Rob elected to take a stint at the back to prove how easy the hauling was and that four was enough people. I took pole position at the face, with Kristian just behind me, and Rob 2 as a mid-point hauling rope changeover. My strategy was just to lie on my back with the tray on my front and just throw chunks over my head, trying not to fill my eyes with slop in the process. I’d then slide this down myself to my feet and worm my way back towards Kristian where, by the sounds of it, I would then cover him in filth as I kicked it towards him. This went well and we were managing to maintain a good rhythm with trays arriving just as required.
After about 3 or 4 m progress, the tantalising sound of trickling water and a bit of an echo could be heard ahead. The passage started to rise and open out to the point that I could start to progress just by ploughing my hands into the mud and making room as I went. After another few meters of this it popped out into a small chamber around 3m high and similar widths. At this point Kristian had started to grow concerned after I hadn’t replied for a while and he started to head through with the others hot on his tail. After pats on the back from my comrades to celebrate my first proper(ish) find, we began to look around for ways on.
We immediately spied the continuation of the passage at floor level which was an eye-hole with about an inch air space above the water and was generally uninviting. We inspected the roof, desperate not to have to investigate the previously spotted misery eye-hole. Mostly the roof is choked with no obvious way on, however, there was a small rift which could be accessed. Not wanting to trash any more neoprene we focussed on floor level. Rob had a quick dunk in the continuation, and concluded that whilst not ideal, it was drafting and therefore not sumped. It was floated (sorry) that if we could lower the water level then it may be possible to dig. The Robs set about shifting rocks in the chamber to clear a channel, whilst Kristian was lowering the floor in Vulgarious so the water would have somewhere to flow. The Robs were having an ordeal removing the rocks, to which Rob 1 suggested I have a go as “he’s really strong”. Much like every time I’m asked to open a jar, Rob 2 and I fumbled and slipped on it and left royally defeated. It was slightly disappointing the way on only looked to be getting more vulgar, however we vowed to return with a hammer and crowbar to tackle these next time and hopefully get the water running through more easily. There is plenty of stacking space, but it would probably benefit from the sand bags to contain the slop.
In the interest of determining what else to bring next time, Rob inspected up into the rift to see what may be required. We cowered at the side as he began to start kicking rocks down. It tightened significantly, however Rob suggested there was a vadose inlet at the side which is worth further investigation - maybe with an oversuit. Time was ticking on, so we made a hasty retreat through the now very spacious Vulgarious and back to the cars for beers and medals. From my perspective, I was ecstatic to add a minor contribution to the cave and excited to continue, even if this isn’t the way on. Same time next week?
- Details
- Written by: Kristian Brook
- Hits: 1576
Everyone bailed. I met Rob in the dogging park at the agreed time, expecting a 'proper' cussy digging trip where he informed me that Luke had bailed due to catching covid and Jon had some other urgent business. This would mean the digging would be postponed and we would survey up to a boulder choke that Rob think is heading toward the Stoney Master Cave. Beers consummed we changed into wetsuits and headed down. This would be my first time down Inglorious Bastards and through Loperamide Lust and it did not disappoint. Lovely slick mid made for easy progress in a wetsuit and I must thank the diggers for finding such a lovely bit of cave.
Rob Calibrating, photo by Kristian
After reaching the base ladder below Doom, Rob Calibrated the disto and we set off for the main mine levels surveying as we went. We arrived at the large mine level where I had a piss and we shot many splays all over the shop as rob enjoys data. We headed down a side passage which name I cannot remember and passed though a very pretty bit of breezeblock construction to entered 'the wet bit' where my willy got wet and I will never forgive Rob. A bit of hip height wetness was surveyed and we managed to work our way through a lower section (thank god) and we were at this boulder choke.
Ladder below Doom (Can't be bothered to rotate it), photo by Kristian
No evidence of miners however there is a lot of dramatic sheering in the rock as well as natural development. These were all Rob's observations as I did not care. I just wanted to see his lead. It turned out to be a small hole at the end of a rift with quite a sizable echo beyond it. The constriction requires you to leave the floor at the end of this rifty section of choke. The hole is a slit to your right and is in typical fashion just small enough to allow for a little wiggle room if your fully exhaled but the constriction is just long enough that you might run out of breath whilst still in it. Rob's thinking of going back with some bang for it. The echo suggests about 15m of space to me leading upwards so where it goes we don't know but it could be caverns measureless to man. Rob had a look at another lead in the choke but it did not look as promising.
Record time out with no drama besides a nose dive by myself with a side of whiplash into the loper duck. We got out, got washed, and had a quick pint in the Moon before heading home to our respective duties.
Good trip. Going again Wednesday.
Your Author post Loper, photo by Rob
- Details
- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 2021
Warning
Many parts of the cave are tight and loose and a return trip from Doom is a strenuous undertaking, especially with tackle bags. Rescue from anywhere beyond the entrance rift in either direction would prove difficult.
Entrance
The entrance is located in a small tree-lined enclosure opposite the entrance to Eyam Hall car park on the opposite side of the New Close Road and to the west of Delph Close. The lid requires a large Derbyshire key (requires a 90 degree turn/marked on lid in marker pen) and must be closed when underground which can be done from inside. The entrance pitch is a 12m hading rift with scaffolding at the top.
Time Warp and Rocky Horror
Once on the floor east leads to a squeeze along the left wall at floor level into a small ante-chamber roofed by a large boulder. A hole in the corner leads to Nomenca Rift, a 6m down climb to a small chamber with stacked rocks from the dig. A 6m down climb through a scaffold boulder choke (Nomenca Choke) leads to a squeeze at floor level which quickly opens out to where you can regather yourself at the top of NCA Pitch. The pitch starts as a tight rift, a sideways thrutch on good ledges leads to a 5m down climb to a gulley which can be followed down to the pitch head. Here the shaft opens up and a 10m abseil leads to the start of Time Warp, a large rift passage 15m long which ends in a large chamber floored with boulders. Only one route down can be descended at present a tight rift (Tight’un) which ends too tight in shatter rock. Straight ahead in Time Warp a climb up and over the choke leads to Black Rift which is a choked, clean washed pothole. A roped traverse over the top leads to Walsernice which continues for a further 20m, all ways on are choked except for a rift in the floor at the entrance which can be descended for 8m until too tight. Time Warp Aven stretches up for 20m to a choke at the top.
The main route to Rocky Horror is via a short down climb between boulders next to Black Rift. This leads to the Movie Room, a small chamber between boulders. Various routes head off but all are choked except for one in the far corner, a short climb up and down leads to a descending passage. At the far end a duck through boulders leads to the head of Rocky Horror Pitch (15m) through large boulders following a solid back wall. The pitch ends in a large chamber with evidence of T’owd Man. A squeeze down at the base of the pitch followed by a squeeze under a boulder leads to several unstable chambers/voids (The Gloom Room) which heads close to Diceman in Glebe. Back at the top of the Rocky Horror pitch, a squeeze between boulders (not obvious) leads down to a muddy chamber. Halfway down the climb a flat out crawl on the right leads to further chambers and rifts which also come close to Diceman in Glebe.
Shattered Dreams and Inglorious Bastards
Back at the base of the entrance pitch, west leads along a large rift choked with boulders at floor level. A traverse line takes the best route across on ledges and at the far end a tight rift aided with wooden stemples (Coconut Airways) drops for 4m to a further squeeze to a small chamber lined with boulders. A route up the boulders leads to a pretty chamber (Poetry Corner), which is a dead-end. The way on is down between boulders in the floor to a further squeeze which leads to a 3m down climb on flowstone to the top of Shattered Dreams Choke. A crawl can be followed to a too tight rift but following the choke down a further 4m (beware loose boulders) leads to the very tight Shattered Dreams Squeeze (aided with hand-line). Beyond the squeeze is a 4m climb down (careful of straws) which leads to the pitch proper (12m). At the base of the pitch a climb up and over boulders to the East leads to Pick Axe Rift, 8m deep and choked at the bottom. Heading west at the bottom of the pitch various holes head off but all are choked except for one at the far western end which is the start of Inglorious Bastards (careful of straws and loose boulders). The pitch (18m) starts as a funnel of boulders and mud which soon opens to the main shaft of impressive proportions. At the base of the pitch a bedding crawl (Black Draught) can be followed for 10m to a choke, whilst a rope up in the far corner leads up to T’owd Man workings and a further blind climbing shaft and internal shaft. At the eastern end of the chamber a crawl through mud leads to a squeeze down against a boulder which is Loperamide Lust. This can be followed as a crawl which is flat out in places for 20m to the Connection with Doom and the Wet West Caverns. This connection can become impassable in very wet weather.
Survey available here.
- Details
- Written by: Ben Shannon
- Hits: 1578
Rob E, Jon P, Joe B, Ben S & Fabian E
I sit down for lunch at work to a message from Rob. “Bring everything and a wetsuit if you have one, I have some options”
I normally pack so that I can go straight from work; but as I hate being cold I raced home on the strike of 4.30 to grab my wetsuit and made my way to the usual watering hole, which happened to contain the entire population of Eyam. In a shock turn of events it was decided to forego the digging tonight and go for an explore around Doom.
Ben Wetsuited up ready for the trip, by RobE
We took the long walk to Cliffstile and as Jon was suffering from “neck arm” he declared that he was not going last as the hatch is heavy. This was an 80m descent with 2 re belays. Sounds simple right. Well, you would be correct, unless you are me. After Jon’s declaration of it being a fast rope was expecting a swift descent, however it was the complete opposite. I was using a simple and a braking krab as standard but I had to work hard to feed the rope through and was getting arm pump. I passed the first re belay with no issues. The second is a Y hang in the centre of the shaft. My first mistake was to clip one of my cowstails into the bolt rather than lower all the way to the Y hang itself. The second was not paying attention to the ropes as I clipped my simple on. I tested the simple, unclipped the cowstails, was ready to lower and then realised I had got the rope tangled with the re belay loop. Now, normal people would just clip their cowstails into the Y hang, redo the simple and go again. For some reason my brain thought I needed to get back up to the bolt and clip there so I faffed around do all sorts, standing in the rope loop. Using my hand jammer and foot loop. I was spending a lot of energy trying to get to this bolt. Conscious I had Joe above me at the first one waiting to come down and the 3 on the floor also waiting.
A moment of clarity made me realise what an idiot I was being and I knew what I needed to do, only, I couldn’t get the hand jammer off the rope despite trying to unweight it. I realised I could bridge in the shaft and eventually sorted my life out. I dropped to the floor of the shaft and made my apologises. “You got a bit of a sweat on there Ben” said Jon laughing. I couldn’t tell if it was sweat from embarrassment, the effort I had put in to sort things out, or the 5mm wetsuit I was wearing.
We slipped into chest deep water and followed a sough for around 15 minutes. This was a pretty little section with varying depths from shin deep to neck deep with beautiful brickwork archways. I was now very grateful for the wetsuit. Eventually we hit a ladder and climbed up to a step over to another ladder. “Don’t die” came a voice with a giggle as I was looking to step over to the other ladder. Good tip duly noted.
This took us into Glebe mine. Rob Jon and Joe have been here plenty, however, for Fabian and I, it was our first time. So there was a lot of (and for the whole trip) “WOW, this place is incredible” as we tried to keep up whilst also trying to look at everything.
At the end of this section we reached a chamber with some pools. On the right we passed a duck and followed the water to a climb back on ourselves and made our way crawling up some tubes. Rob and Jon pushed through a boulder choke to explore a draughting lead. I followed through the choke but had lost my sense of humour trying to manoeuvrer in tight spaces with an SRT kit and decided to make my way back to the other two who were playing around in another pool in a dead end. We followed the pool to the left which lead us to a dead end eventually. So we turned back, found a ladder and climbed on up and followed some passage.
Passing through one of the ducks, by RobE
Once again we reached a ladder, but this one I knew because at the base of this ladder you drop down into Doom. Here the world renowned Eavis Mine Tours began in earnest. We took a left and headed into a tight rift for Static Passage. This amazing passage gets better the further in you get. Jon, whilst not enthused by the start of the passage got excited as he slipped through the keyhole squeeze into a large walking rift that took us into a phreatic tube decorated in pristine stals.
Back to Doom and only a few steps further on “and on your left we have the unclimbed aven” we slid under a small gap to enter into a huge impressive dripping aven that went far higher than my fenix light could reach. This is still unclimbed and I could see on Rob's face how much he wants to get it done.
Back to the main passage again and as we ambled on Fabian asked where the waterfall was. Rob stated it was at Elastic Passage. “Oh cool, I love a waterfall” exclaimed Fabian. “not today you don’t” Rob retorted as we took a left turn just before Elastic Passage to head on deeper into Doom.
This section feels like stepping back into time. “Oh my god, look at all the hoof prints. Can you imagine what it was like for the donkeys” Gasped Fabian. After a moment of bemusement we all realised he was pointing out hob nail boot prints from t’owd man. Naturally we then mocked him about donkeys being sent down the shafts.
The hobnail boot prints were everywhere and led up a slope to a curved dry stone wall, this slope continues up to a windlass they had stone steps leading up to it and onwards. From here a manicured smooth slope winds upwards lined by dry stone walls. It feels like this area had a lot of care and attention given to it when being built. We poked left to look at a rotten stemple ladder and then pressed on to the T junction. Now my directions will get vague here because we went everywhere. We headed left at the junction which eventually lead to a dead end with a shaft that Rob had bolt climbed in the past. The impressive bit was looking up and seeing the stope rise up to darkness with stemples everywhere. On the way back to the junction we poked into other areas that were looser than a taco bell bowel movement which provided a bit of excitement to the trip.
Back at the T junction we headed over the wall and went to the Black Lagoon. This is as the name suggests, a dark black pool that we waded through with black stals and allsorts of yellows and oranges all over the far wall.
Once we had sufficiently poked in to most places we headed back to the entrance of Doom where we had stashed our SRT kits. Everyone opted to put their kit on, but having to crawl through Loper Lust I didn’t fancy it, so I chose to push my gear ahead of me. Loper lust in a wetsuit is a slip ‘N’ slide which is great on the flat and down, but to get out of Loper Lust it's mostly uphill. Once again I removed my helmet for the duck and dipped my head under to pass the low ceiling. Fabian however decided to dunk his face.
Fabian's mud facial, by RobE
So we are now in Inglorious Bastards of Cussey Pot. I wasn’t looking forward to prussicking in a wetsuit, however it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I adopted the strategy that I had used all trip in the dry areas, to unzip fully, much to the teams disgust.
This is my 3rd time in Cussey and I am starting to finesse the obstacles. It's a highly technical cave that can be insanely hard, or relatively easy depending upon whether you can find the subtle hand and foot holds. I climbed the second pitch with my chest jammer as back up. Its a lovely climb and far easier than prussicking due to the confines of the rift.
I removed my chest jammer for the vertical squeeze because that always becomes a pitch point and the gouges in the chest jammer make me wince. This did make the squeeze much easier. Although this time the tears were for the sounds of sharp rock scratching and catching on my wetsuit. The final feature that I find a challenge is the stemple climb in Coconut Airways. Today however my feet found the elusive footholds and it was almost easy, I popped up between the two stemples and knew that I was basically out now. Just a simple traverse over a drop and you are at the final pitch. Again much easier to free climb so I made my way out into the cold winter at midnight. Rob and Joe headed to secure Cliffstile's lid before we all piled into my van for warmth, snacks and the obligatory post session drink. Quite possibly the finest through trip I have ever done, Fabian agreed as he handed over an Eldon membership form.
- Details
- Written by: Rob Eavis
- Hits: 1779
Team: Rob Eavis, Jon Pemberton, Joe Buck, Alex Ried
Written by Alex
If you think the title is the peak of unoriginality, wait until you read the rest. A couple of months ago Rob had an episode as a broken tape recorder stuck on: Are you single, Are you German, Are you coming to Cussey. Apparently I led him on about the first one, which Jon says really isn’t very nice. The Eldon were known to me for pushing shit promising digs, and as I had my own shit enticing digs to pursue I couldn’t be arsed with 2h of driving for an evening session. But after being stuck in quarantine for two weeks in Munich I probably would’ve crawled through a sewer just to get underground.
That’s how I found myself legging it from work to make my way up the M1 and to the Eyam Dogging Society meeting point. Miraculously I was the first one to arrive, but was soon joined by Rob, Joe and Jon. Being woefully underprepared, it was fortunate that Joe had a beer for me. There was some discussion over wetsuit vs. furry, I normally overheat so went with a furry. So did Jon, whereas Rob and Joe opted for wetsuits – thus ensuring they’d be the ones digging in the slop. I had no idea what awaited me, and was slightly worried at the mentioning of tight bits and warned Rob I didn’t fit through the Freeze Squeeze. He then proclaimed he didn’t even touch the ceiling on the way to Derbyshire Hall. What a dick. After a long and arduous journey to the cave entrance Jon and Joe disappeared and Rob stayed behind to babysit me. Quick pitch/ slide down to a traverse, shout up to Rob to make sure I was going the right way, and then just followed the draught and sounds of the other two. The general appearance of the cave is complex with highly textured rock, as opposed to say sth. formed in deep/ lagoonal limestone. Good amount of calcite, too.
Classic Cussey Pre-Beers, by JonP
Psyched Alex, by RobE
A constricted rift that I just knew would be an arse on the way back up lead to the squeeze, which didn’t look too horrendous so I tried it with SRT kit on first. Nope. Then undid my central and shoved it to the side, had a good wriggle, but something kept getting caught. In the end I just took my kit off and wriggled through; it’s not outrageously tight (maybe Long Churn Cheese Press tight but a lot shorter?) but I wouldn’t complain about a cap or two in the right place to make it more accommodating for us fatties. Another little pitch down soon leads to the head of Inglorious Bastards, and soon we all de-kitted at the bottom. Loperamide Lust is a convenient downhill slide for the most part, but also includes some fairly wet crawling with a nice ear-wetter at the end. The side light on my helmet did an excellent job of pushing my head underwater, and like an idiot I must’ve left my eye open and got a nice load of grit in it. The way on through mine workings and then natural again quickly lead to the dig where we assumed our positions. Rob was bursting for a piss in his wetsuit, but Joe didn’t fancy digging in Rob’s piss so took the first shift in the slop at the front, Rob behind him, me at a corner in the passage hauling, and Jon at the junction emptying drag trays. And so we spent an entertaining two hours or so chatting and hauling, Joe and Rob definitely had the hard work whereas I’ve had the most relaxing digging session I can remember. The mud and water quickly combined to form something comparable to drilling fluid which gives the drag tray great buoyancy. Jon and I had a nice chat, one of the gems I recall was on the topic of running: Rob proclaimed all fell runners joggers, to which I said “Well, if you had to lug 85kg up the hill you wouldn’t be going any faster, either.”, followed by Jon’s: “85kg?! What are you made of, lead?”. Over that we discovered that Jon and myself both sink like a rock when put in water. Best stick to caving, really.
Joe and Rob swapped places so Rob could finally have his wee, and eventually Jon and myself started to feel a bit chilly which coincided with Rob having a small breakthrough of a few metres and then deciding to stop and have a rethink for next week. Rob and Joe both proclaimed how “absolutely perfect” their temperature was thanks to the wetsuits, which drew a supportive: “I hope you cook on the way out” from Jon and me. The way back through Loperamide Lust is a bit more engaging than the way down, on account of trying to work your way up a greased slide. I definitely learned from my mistake going through the duck on the way in, so instead of pushing the right side of my face underwater and getting loads of grit in my eye I went for the left side this time.
Joe lobbed some nice rocks down the Inglorious pitch, one of which got quite a bit closer to me than I would’ve liked. After Rob Jon headed out to warm up, but promised to wait at the squeeze, which turned out to be better on the way out but I still didn’t fit through with SRT kit on. Having undone my central the harness decided to strip itself, so by the time I was through it was dangling from my ankles. Didn’t exactly distinguish myself in the stempled rift section either, which took me a good amount of upwards wriggling. Internally I excused that with not being familiar with the cave, and it is true that these sections get easier the more often you do them. Just the final clamber up to the lid, and out into the surprisingly warm night. Rob and Joe were fully de-kitted, so set off for The Moon to keep it open whilst we washed our stuff in the sewer.
All that was left was a pleasant debrief in the pub where I was treated to a pint – my 2nd free beer of the evening, now I’ll have to come back for at least one trip to repay the favour. We also had a good moan about sub-par pork scratchings and then went our separate ways into the night. Great first trip of the year!
Joe happy with his wetsuit choice, by RobE
Hats off to the Moon for letting this in, by JonP