Cussey Pot

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 29 January 2021

Created: 29 January 2021

Hits: 1989

With the new lockdown rules limiting exercise to two people, we've split up the team and are now actually getting more done per week! Here's a summary of the last couple weeks, written up by Rob and Jon...

19th Jan – Rob & Jon (TAP)

Where to attack? After Rob’s little breakthrough the previous week down Impending Doom we decided to attack the Pankcake Dig located slightly more west and above. We removed a couple of large boulders under the Pancake Boulder which made the place feel slightly safer. We dug down following a tight rift for a few metres before our attentions waned as it was rather tight down there and the walls were collapsing in on you. I went to inspect Pearly Gates which was howling! I shouted back to Rob to sack off his efforts and join me up here. We agreed the inevitable and started to dig Pearly Gates. Unfortunately this was small and heavily calcited although the rift next to it was howling too and looked a lot better. Rob then proceeded to get himself stuck inspecting under a huge boulder, it was here we decided to leave it and see what the other two thought of the place.

Jon heading into the Pearly Gates

21st Jan – Jeff & Luke (TB)

Team Buxton went to inspect the new stuff unfortunately they didn’t manage to complete it missing out Pick Axe Rift. They agreed that the rift next to Pearly Gates was the best looking dig. Jeff had dug out the floor enough to make it look very enticing but gave up again when the walls started to fall down on his head.

26th Jan – Rob & Jon (TAP)

Rob in the Shattered Dreams extensions, by JonP

So Rob and I went to smash the crap out of Pearly Gates and attempt to get a photo somewhere. Unfortunately Rob forgot his phone so live coverage wasn’t an option. Jeff had made it sound worse than it was and we just decided to start pulling things out as we didn’t have anything to shore up with plus we didn’t have anything to remove large boulders. After 10min we had 2 large boulders laying ahead of us in the dig blocking a view through to an open rift with a howling draught.

Somehow we eventually managed to remove said boulders (mine a whopping 18lbs), Rob now dug out the floor and had a cracking view upwards but it looked tight. Luckily nothing fell down from above but we kept an eye on the roof as it didn’t look amazing. I took the front having chilled right down and instead of smashing the calcite floor I dug underneath for 5min and after a quick smash with the hammer had removed a calcite floor to a black hole going down. I created enough space and chucked a boulder down the shaft I was now peering down which looked to be 2m in diameter, the boulder rattled down a pitch for a long way – BINGO! This must be it. We spent the next 30min frantically digging the fractured rock below the calcite floor and left a downward sloping slot just impenetrable but easy digging. Next trip should see us through – Great trip again.

Enticing black space...

28th Jan – Rob & Jeff

According to the survey the Pearly Gates dig lies directly over known mine/cave so today’s expectations of a connection were very high. Luke managed to bail so i nicely stepped forward. Jon was sad. Jeff worked the face first, trying and failing to get a block out from under the calcite ramp so instead chiselling away at the shattered floor. I was getting cold waiting so we swapped shortly before the end when there was enough space to get through. Bolt and rope installed and through I went. A short muddy slope popped out over a large black hole, which got bigger and bigger as it went down! Y-hang installed quickly and I was off. Oh yes, it a fine, mostly freehang down. Big boulders littered between fluted walls, all belling out into the biggish chamber below. But this is all new, no sign of people being here before, and no connection yet?!? Jeff came down with the tools and we went to explore our new chamber, Inglorious Bastards.

Jeff looking across Inglorious Bastards

At the other side of the chamber a tall rift continues up to what looks like a level heading off North, roughly 10m up. Should be a relatively easy bolt climb. A few holes in the boulder floor looked potentially interesting but don’t have any draught. That all comes out of a well decorated bedding plane crawl to the north west about 2m off the floor, which you can hear from the other side of the chamber! Jeff stuck his head in first, being careful not to knock off more formations than he had to. It’s tight but quite wide. Unfortunately the floor is a mixture of glutinous mud and pools of water, so with the blast of cold wind it’s really not very pleasant going. A coating of black soot over the mud gives this place it's name Black Draught. I had a look and got a bit further to a part where it’s even wider. The biggest way on is straight ahead into a small pile of boulders, with the draught issuing right from the middle of it. This is going to be a hard place to dig, but it’s great to finally have a proper horizontal passage in here.

Rob emerging from Black Draught

Back in Inglorious Bastards on the opposite wall is another passage, seemingly the downstream continuation. Jeff inserted himself and could see a good few metres over a clay mud floor. Again no draught, but an easy dig this time.
So, we took a few pictures and started heading out, adjusting the rigging as we went. It’s left me with a strange feeling of excitement but also frustration. The connection is constantly avoiding us, whilst the cave keeps giving us more. What a crazy project this has been so far!

Looking up Inglorious Bastards

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 15 January 2021

Created: 15 January 2021

Hits: 1842

Another solo trip to get my allowed daily exercise, always fully within the law me, and check out the new extensions again. During the survey trip I spotted a rift near the bottom with a big draught coming out, Impending Doom.

En route this time I collected a lump hammer and crowbar and carefully made my way to the dig. I set to work, diggin out boulders and knocking off churt nodules to make the rift big enough. Lonely work but I had Arthur C Clarke reading an audio book to me and time flew by happily. After about an hour I had dropped down the rift feet first onto a muddy floor and tried to work a big enough way horizontally. After a bit more hammering I slithered through feet first (yey) into a low chamber within a boulder choke (boo). The draught was literally howling through a small gap above the mud floor below a big boulder, black soot powdering all the surfaces. I had a quick dig at the floor and quickly made a right mess, deciding that there must be a better way...

The dig face at Impending Doom

I climbed out of my newly dug hole and had a sniff about elsewhere. When we found this new place (only two trips ago) me and Jon had a good look around everywhere but there was no draught that day to guide us. In comparison, today it was blowing a hooly, so my eyes and ears were fully open. Halfway back up a dodgy climb I noticed a strong draught coming out of a small hole between some large fallen chunks of flowstone. A quick dig out of the hole, whilst being careful not to fall down the climb or not have any rocks above me disturbed, and I could see into a small, well calcite chamber, but no big open way on obvious. Not quite the improvement I had in mind. Another quick video for the Team at home and I continued looking about.

Where the dig is below the Pancake Maker

In the next rift further west there's a hilarious perched boulder, the Pancake Maker. Right under this is a small hole which on closer inspection emits a huge draught! A few boulders moved and a clear way down can be seen, however there was enough loose stuff around the entrance to encourage me to leave this lead for another day, ideally not on my own.

A lovely trip out with no tackle bag and up to chapter 37 of my book, a very good evening.

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Written by: Jon Pemberton

Published: 09 January 2021

Created: 09 January 2021

Hits: 2639

Just Rob and I (TAP) on this evening's escapade back in Cussey after a few weeks break in IDM, I was keen to get back and see how the boys had progressed with the Shattered Dreams dig. Lurking in the far Western extensions some 5 mins from the entrance. After a couple of pre-beers we made our way through to the dig. Rob described it as, "we need to cap the shit out of the floor!" So once there Rob set himself up at the base of the pot with me perched a metre above amongst the boulders. Luckily the draught was small tonight compared to what the lads have normally expressed which meant I wouldn't get too cold sat about. 

Rob started capping and within minutes had the bar stuck! This seemed to be the theme for the next 30min as everything he did seemed to bugger up. I told him to increase the dose and things soon started to go his way albeit after hilariously lobbing a hammer down the unexplored hole below never to be seen again. Shortly after the removal of two large boulders Rob deemed the squeeze passable and passed everything back up and placed a bolt to secure a ladder just in case, then attempted the squeeze. He spent approx 1 min trying to turn his head through the squeeze it being just about helmet sized and suddenly he just popped through.

FIRST BREAKTHROUGH OF 2021!!!

Rob was through... standing in a funnel of boulders at the head of a short pitch leading down to some chocked boulders. He dug out the squeeze from below which was much easier and then we de-rigged the ladder to use below, luckily I found an extra through-bolt in my oversuit pocket as Rob had only brought the one. I squeezed through to join him beyond with the ladder. He guided me down so I didn't fall down the pitch as he whooped away super excited convinced we'd accomplished a goal we set out to achieve years ago, if not we'd discovered something pretty significant in Stoney, again. We had a quick look around this upper chamber which was superbly decorated with some large straws and beehive slopes but got carried away and sacked off the lead heading west for the big space below, worried we might not be able to reach the floor.

 Jon in the breakthrough chamber

Happy Jon

We gingerly climbed down to the chocked boulder platform and could see a boulder floor at least 10m below us. Rob sparingly placed our last bolt albeit a little too high as we were still some 5m from the floor at the bottom but luckily it was easily climbable. The walls were smothered in calcite down here and in front of us heading east was a large boulder slope which seemed very out of character as it was a little too clean for the place. We decided to head west as west is the place to be in this place. A further climb down a boulder slope amongst a huge fallen beehive formation led to an enticing black hole below. I went for a quick look see and after cobbing a rock from above the whole floor dropped from where I was stood. Rob seemed keen and pushed down through the hole to a not so nice void below but a promising looking dig in the floor which was draughting on a night with little draught - Impending Doom!

We both safely exited this area and headed west at this level to a pretty chamber with large straw formations and a dig in a small tube heavily blocked with stal which we aptly named The Pearly Gates due to its resemblance to the dig in Eyam Dale House Cave, this was draughting inwards. We went a short way back and climbed up and over on some delicately balanced calcited rocks which felt flimsy. A short bridge over a deep hole gave access to a further boulder slope up to a higher level chamber. Here a boulder blockage and a low muddy slope stopped us progressing any further west.

Jon climbing back up to the bottom of the ladder

Back East at the bottom of the pitch we climbed the clean washed boulder slope to a large boulder lined floor section. Here a couple of inlets led in from above and a couple of dodgy ways led off through the boulder floor. Rob pushed the first one and after a few minutes and a jump completed the first and only round trip in this extension which led back to an aven in Impending Doom. I pushed the second hole thinking I'd hit it big. I could see a cross rift below me which was wide open and what I thought was a pick axe resting on a boulder (it was only a rock). After moving a few boulders and scaring myself Rob inserted himself and with brut strength moved a large boulder just enough for it to be out of the way and hopefully not block us in the new extension. Rob pushed down into the rift and I quickly followed him and then passed him,  a climb over a boulder led to a short free-climbable pitch. From here we traversed the tight awkward rift over a further pitch which we could down climb from beyond to a draughting muddy dig in the floor amongst a large fin of rock.

It was now getting late so we started to make our way out, it was only meant to be a 2hr trip which had now doubled. It was now 10pm when we reached surface, super excited with over 100m found and 3 enticing leads.

Rob returned on 7th December and surveyed the place, plus also confirmed that both the Impending Doom and Pearly Gates leads were draughting out really well. The former is now seemingly only 10m away from known passage!

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 December 2020

Created: 12 December 2020

Hits: 1606

Friday 4th Dec – Rob & Jeff

Another Lockdown duo to continue down Shattered Dreams. The end of last trip was starting to look really good so we excitedly (and unfortunately very optimistically) took a short rope and SRT kits to the dig. A breakthrough however did not happen as all we really managed to do was move a bit of stuff out and then collapse two huge boulders back into the dig. Need to return with lots of caps!

Friday 11th Dec – Rob & Jeff

The duo returned with lots of caps, a bigger bucket, and no SRT gear! Roughly 20 holes later and lots of fighting with large boulder pieces we had cleared the “pitch head” and boy the draught is big now, even with the entrance lid shut (which we do now to try to keep us warmer!). However the pitch is through/down a narrow slot that is currently too small to get through.

Before - During - After

It does look good beyond though, definitely bigger, and at least 5m of pitch, maybe 10. Get the feeling that Doom is not far away now!