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Written by: Joe Buck

Published: 31 July 2025

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Rob, Jon and Joe

Between holidays and Rob being away with work, we had had a bit of a quiet period on the digging front. To rectify this and to capitalise on the recent dry weather Rob, Jon and I intended to make a trip into Lathkill Head Resurgence and have a look at Dawke's Crawl. This heads in the direction of Lower Cales Dale Cave and is thought to connect on the far side of the sump, which rarely dries up, and would allow exploration beyond. We’d received previous reports of it being ‘claustrophobic’ and ‘demoralising’, which sounded right up our street.

The crawl is relatively low – not quite tall enough for hand and knees crawling, and is mostly around 1.5m wide for its entire length. The water flows inwards towards Cales Dale, and the reasonably featureless nature of the passage means it has a consistent level of gravel along its length, with the floor of the passage only occasionally being stripped bear.  Jon wasn’t enticed however, and decided to call it a day shortly after entering, opting instead to go and meet Jim and Sam in the pub as agreed.

Dream Team forged onwards heading for a choke which had had been the previous breakthrough point. An abandoned tackle bag and the end of some wire indicated we must be getting close. The choke turned out to be a few boulders which had blocked the way and was now just a pile of rubble which is easily bypassed. Beyond this however, the passage completely changed, splitting off into two ways on. The current passage lowered to a 10cm high bedding, and a small tube headed off left, potentially a small oxbow reconnecting further ahead. The bedding was obviously too small, but I tried to wriggle my way into the tube with my helmet off and with as much conviction as I could muster.

I could just about view 3m into the space beyond, however there didn’t seem to be any significant opening out ahead. There was more gravel beyond, which may indicate some widening of the passage, but a lot of rock removal would be required in far from ideal conditions. We decided this probably required more commitment than we are typically capable of, and so elected to make out way out.

After an extended period with craned necks in the crawl, entering into the standing room chambers in the main passage was delightful, followed quickly by brutal headaches as the blood re-entered our brains. Presumably this is why we’re all a bit stoopid… As we were wending our way back up the dale Jon jumped out on us from the bushes halfway down after he’d come back down for some photos, causing Rob to jump out his skin. He might have even let out a ‘Gosh’, which is peak Rob swearing.

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Written by: Jon Pemberton

Published: 31 July 2025

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Just Joe and I this evening trying to make a stride in our new catchment. Rob had been piping on about going for a look in lower cales dale for a while and with parched conditions we thought it apt and made use of Rob being away to go glory grabbing.

After a quick brief at the cars we made the walk down the dale which is about 20 minutes. We had a small capping kit just in case we couldn't get anywhere in the main drag. So once inside the cave we left this at the entrance to the dog house. 

From the dog house we popped over into the next chamber and drop down the short hole into the lower passage beyond. My previous limit (2010) was a few metres down this passage but today I was quite shocked to see it bone dry. We continued forward and eventually met the climb up into figure of 8 chamber. I noticed a small route down to the left but didn't look too appetising so we carried on, up and over some rocks to the roof of the chamber. After a quick consultation of the survey, we soon realised that we needed to head down the not so appetising crawl. I dropped in it feet first not knowing what was below and didn't want to commit. Luckily there was turning space just inside and we progress forward and it really did feel like we were going to be away. Still no water in sight. We passed figure of eight chamber from below and the passage started tending down dip. From here I began to see pool of water. The pool then became a canal and it wasn't long before I was up to my ears which was as far as I could muster. I could see a corner in front but the water was too low to pass and the sound of the water glooping on the roof didn't bode well for the sump being open. Once again, we consulted the survey to check our position and realised we probably weren't too far away from the junction with armoured mudball crawl perhaps even a few metres!!

We decided to turn around and headed to the dig in the dog house. Having last been here around 15 years ago with Dan hibberts I was a bit confused as to where we needed to be. Eventually I offered to tackle the low flat out crawl and after a few bends arrived at the promising rift that I vaguely remembered from the past. This a place has been blasted to smithereens by the previous company! I shouted Joe to come through with the capping gear and once there I showed him the dig. It didn't look too promising. A tight aven at the base of a rift with a slight draught. We were here now and Joe said you may as well give it a go. So I started capping to enlarge the rift just so we could see around the corner to see if it widened. With none of us having any watches, I guessed it was maybe an hour's worth of capping before we called it a day. We'd made enough progress to see that it wasn't opening up anytime soon, but it was an easy and sociable dig. Maybe worth heading back a couple more times just to confirm as who knows caves are where you find them. 

On the way out, I did notice that most of the draught was coming from a bedding halfway along the crawl to the Aven. It makes me wonder why the original digging company didn't decide to pursue this as it looks an easy dig. Easy in essence, that it's a flat out crawl and you're digging mud. 

We made it back to the car for 10:30 p.m. and debriefed with the description, survey, beer and pringles.

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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 21 June 2025

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Tuesday night rolled around and Grace suggested Winnats Head Cave. I haven't done this cave for a few years so I was game with one provision. We need someone taller to accompany as you might have noticed that Grace and I are a bit vertically challenged. Of course in caving that doesn't raise too many problems but the dreaded postbox slot in Winnats can be challenging. That being said Grace assured me Jenny was coming so we planned to meet up.

Parking up I met Jenny, Jess and Pete from the Bonsall crew. Another tall caver for the trip. Welcome! It was Pete's first time visiting winnats head cave. I had heard the report that some really inconsiderate person left a large deposit at the mouth of the cave.  Yep it was still there. I enjoy being the DCA conservation officer and pick up more than my share of rubbish but I draw the line here. We carefully moved around it and started the wriggle through. We took our time as we were looking for formations and conditions for the Conservation Survey. We took some photos to support what we found. I was keen to take a photo of the wooden support beam that has been reported as cracked. We came across some nice cave mud art left behind from SUSS  that pointed the way to the pub.  Cheers. Once we made our way down we saw the beam. It seems to still be supporting but the crack is very clear and needs someone with some expertise to assess. We finally made it to the slot and with gravity slid through. Once at the sump we all remarked how clear and green the water appeared. There is new dive line in since I've been.

We had a chat and decided to make a move. Jess led followed by myself, Grace, Pete and Jenny. It was quick enough until we reached the bottom of the slot. I think I've done it once on my own but usually require a knee just to get started. Jess started to give it a go, then used my leg for a boost and started up. Once she reached the top after a good wriggle Jess informed me that she was certain she heard a pop in her knee and could feel that something was wrong. I waited until Pete came through and he gave me a boost and I made it through. Jess being a veterinarian could tell she had done some damage but insisted that she would just continue as she didn't want to wait. Off she went but could not put direct weight on the knee. Tough as nails that gal and she made some quick progress. I could hear Grace behind me groaning away as she pulled herself through, but I set off shouting some words of encouragement. I spotted Jess on a few of the trickier ledges just to block any gravitational errors. The crawl out appeared Jess pulled her way through dodged the faecal like and set down to rest. Jess said she needed the A and E. I assured her my van was waiting . We didn't wait for the others knowing they were a good team. Jess made a very strange meander down to my car . Once we got our oversuits off the others appeared at the gate. We let them know our plan, checked with the farmer about leaving a car and said goodbye. Off to Chesterfield A and E and a very long night for Jess. We wish her a quick recovery.