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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Jim Alder (Orpheus), Niki Adlam-Styles (PDMHS), Mat (PDMHS), Andy Tickle, Andy's mate Shaun.

Derbyshire's not exactly full of quality through trips and this was one that I'd fancied doing for a while. After spending a day gorge-scrambling in wet clothes on the northern flanks of Kinder the last thing I wanted to do was rush over to Matlock to put same wet clothes on again but that's what bad planning does for you! We had arranged to meet at the parking for Jug Holes which was fine until I found that the road that leads from the centre of Matlock up to Jug Holes had been blocked off. With an idea that this might have something to do with the new Sainsburys and a vague thought that a new road had appeared there which headed in approximately the right direction I drove around to Sainsburys and found the road that eventually led to Jug Holes. Here Jim, Mat, Niki, Andy and Andy's mate Shaun were already kitted up and ready to go having already done some car-shuffling. We made our way on foot towards Masson Hill Quarry and just before reaching the quarry headed off into woods. The shaft top is not obvious at all and is partially hidden under a limestone boulder. The shaft was rigged from a large thread and in-situ scaffold bar and we descended to arrive in a chamber at the bottom. SRT kits were tied to the bottom of the rope ready to be pulled up later. From here the route goes down hill and after a very short distance an in-sit handline is reached. There is loads of very impressive mineralisation here which continues in places throughout the route. The route goes down the handline and past an obvious white wall of stacked deads covered in calcite. Continuing north-east along the obvious route leads to some animal bones at the bottom of a shaft that looks to be blocked above. A short section of crawling here leads to the main stope where the climbing starts. From here climb up on clay-covered holds to a point high in the stope. The way on from here isn't obvious but there's a hole going up on the far side of the stope. Chimney up through the hole (exposed) to arrive eventually in a good-sized chamber with a rock bridge, small cairn and an excellent thread belay at the back. A well-worn traverse high in the roof of the stope needs care and eventually the route starts to descend until finally some vertical chimneying leads to a slot at the bottom of the stope. Pop down through this to arrive at a T-junction where left is silted up. The route continues as an obvious stope through some larger areas where there are loads of minerals including very impressive dog-tooth crystals. The obvious route leads to the impressive 'Overseer Chamber' with ancient graffiti. Straight across through the 'Overseer Chamber' following the water leads to a crawl with water flowing down it. The route descends with a clay bank on the RHS. At the bottom of the bank is a triangular hole where the water disappears. A kibble and small shovel allow you to dig the hole open if it's become blocked with gravel. It's best tackled on your back as there's water in the bottom but is very short. The route continues as a hands and knees crawl as far as the second squeeze. This one is a bit more roomy and similarly short. From here the route goes into Old Jant Mine and it's really just a case of following the obvious route. At a T-junction a minor detour left leads to an original jigging box. More gravelly crawls lead to the dam at the start of Youd's Level. Here it's a load of stooping and hands and knees crawling until eventually we arrived at the ladder which leads up to the lid at the Artists Corner car park. After a trip back up to Jug Holes to de-rig we headed to the Kings Head at Winster.

Abseiling, climbing, ancient graffiti, a couple of squeezes, loads of minerals and some tricky route-finding all make this an excellent evening trip with lots of interest en route.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 3721

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Sam Townsend (EPC), Dave Cowley (EPC), John Barnatt, Terry Worthington, Jon Humble, Paul Mortimer, Andy Tickle, Niki Adlam-Styles, Pete Bush and others

This trip for John Barnatt's Thursday group had been planned some time ago and would be one of the first organised groups to visit Bagshawe for some time. Since we expected too many cars for the car park the group had arranged to park in the village and share cars from there. I had heard from Bob D during the week that the area of ground next to the Cavern had been flattened but it wasn't until I arrived at 7:00 p.m. that it was obvious that our parking problems were solved. The car park is now huge and there's probably room for about 15 cars! John and group arrived and we changed and headed underground. They picked up many of the mine features that we're familiar with such as the Slickensides near the bottom of the entrance stope but also found some that we might not have noticed. We went through to the newly cleared mined section at the bottom of the steps and Terry pointed out a stemple high up in the roof that I'd not noticed before. From here we headed through the passage to Calypso's Cave. A group went to have a look in Calypso's Cave and we had a good look at the pick marks on the way in. When you look it's obvious that the pick has been swung from the inside out so it looks as though a small passage has been worked back towards the entrance at some stage either by lead miners or during the development of the showcave.

We headed upstream past the Cave of Worms and up to the Hippodrome where we stopped for Jon to take some photographs. There aren't that many good photographs of Bagshawe around so was nice to get someone in there who knows his way around a digital SLR! Continued on through the wet bit and into the Upper Stream Passage to have a look at the streamway before heading back to the Hippodrome. From here the group split with some coming straight back to the Dungeon with me whilst others went to explore down the Glory Hole passage. We arrived back at the Dungeon and rigged it for SRT and ladder. Just as people were abseiling down the pitch Sam and Dave arrived and Sam headed off into the Lower Series with the first group. Dave and I followed behind. We had a good look around the Lower Series before exiting back up the ladder and out.

An excellent trip and great to get a different perspective from various PDMHS members on a cave/mine that we know very well.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 3740

Report by Dave Gledhill - North-West Correspondent
Cavers: Dave Gledhill (EPC), Dunka (EPC), Bob Toogood (EPC)

A relaxed start to the day saw our intrepid adventurers venturing forth along the tram-road from Whitewalls, basking in the bright winter sun and protected from the freezing chill courtesy of Dunca’s car heater. Spirits were high(ish) at the prospect of the imagined displays of formations to come, in what is widely reported as being the best-decorated cave in the country. None of our heroes had done this cave before and it had been high on Bob’s tick-list for the last 73 years. They were on their way, Dunca driving and Bob navigating – with these two seasoned stalwarts taking the lead, what could possibly stop them now?

After 500 yards they stopped. Turning the car around, a tactical retreat to Whitewalls was performed in order to seek directions to the cave entrance. The entrance via a small, heavy-duty steel door, was reminiscent of Fort Knox in its complexity to breach, it having taken nearly 10 minutes to find the padlock, and a further five minutes for ‘Houdini’ Dunca to overcome the complexities presented by Messrs. Chubb. With the crux of the cave behind them, our 3 heroes proceeded through the entrance and into the teeth of a fiercely howling draught.

At a reported eight miles in length, the cave has the potential for luring the unwary into situations of complete lostnessness. With this in mind, a cunning strategy had to be carefully drawn up to avoid entrapment in the Daedalen maze of this dark underworld; the decision was taken to follow the bright orange marker tape. The strategy worked well, walking through passages interspersed with stals, straws and more flowstone features than a stick could be shaken at, had a stick to be had. Alas, Stick was in absence, thus remained unshaken. Surmounting the first choke via steel ladders and bars, led our heroes into further large passage. The marker tape ploy was working well and the party advanced at a pace. A junction saw the first use of the survey and description and it is here, sad to say, became lost(ish).

A brief sojourn around the cave thereabouts found our heroes back where they’d been, and taking the ladder, rope and chain climb were once more unlost at the foot of the bloody obvious draughting way on. The choke known as second, was unlike the first, it requiring the use of a selection of grunts, some thrutching, a mild curse or two, and Anglo Saxon terms that appeared to relate to the child of an unwedded mother. The chambers and passage, encountered post-thrutch, were of a size that impressed our heroes, even if they were somewhat muddy at first. Each section that passed had more straws than the before and also increased in size. Climbing a slope, the roof soared away and the flowstone, which hung down was most good. “Is that it?” said young Dunca, with a fag in his hand “I thought it was meant to be better than this?”. The third choke that followed was squeezed through on the right, once again leading to emanations of a most foul kind. Hurricane highway was low and was long, but Bob said he was glad of the foresight to bring along a bag, from now on he won’t be without. Transcending the crawl to the passage beyond gave the fearless three respite for their knees. A right turn ahead lay in their path and was taken with hope in their hearts, for surely now they could not fail?

A large dry mud chamber, navigated by tape, led over the ruckle (or at least that’s what it said in the book). Approaching the fourth choke, our heroes heard the far-off dulcet tones of an approaching party, their accents being honed from best Dudley. Was that a tear in young Dunca’s eye as he was taken by memories of childhood past? Or was it simply his irritable bowel?

The fourth choke was conquered, as described by the book, start off right and then go to the left, a feature of most chokes it seems. The final navigable obstacle passed, two of the dashing young blades made their way to the foot of the final choke. They scoured its flanks for some means of access, but like others before found defeat. They retraced back through the fourth choke to find their companion much relieved; it was obviously not the childhood memories that had nearly brought a tear to his eye.

The journey now ended, our brave heroes returned, following tape Thesus-like to the cold remnants of day, whereupon they went to the pub.

Click [here] for Dave Gledhill's photos from the trip.