Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Sam Townsend (EPC)

Full Moon Chamber and the Full Moon Series was discovered in 1999 by Tony Revell, John Taylor, Dave Nixon and Dave Whiteley from the end of the Great Aven in Bagshawe's New Series. However, the route through from the end of the Great Aven via the Cosmic Juice Extractor II was very delicate and in 2002 the Eldon Pothole Club sought an alternative way to reach the well decorated Full Moon Series. This led to the Snakes Pyjamas project which involved digging through the end of the Snakes Pyjamas passage and into a known passage leading off Full Moon Chamber known as Taylor's Way. This in turn provided a route into Full Moon Chamber and the rest of the passages beyond the Aven Series.

Sam and I arrived at Bagshawe at around 7:45 p.m. and made our way down the steps in the entrance stope. On the way down we discussed the work that needs to be done to make the roof in the stope safer before heading down to The Dungeon. The Dungeon was flooded today with a pool of deep water where there's normally a pitch. Given the large amount of rain that had fallen over the last couple of days we weren't surprised - 7mm in the previous 24hrs, 31mm in the 24hrs prior to that (rainfall data from the Peak District Caving website). However, we expected the water to be on the way down and since the water was clear rather than full of sediment it looked as though this was the case. We could see that the water had been substantially higher in the last couple of days when it would have been impossible to get up the main stream passage to the Hippodrome. We stopped at the New Series Gate to run an errand before heading on through the Cave of Worms to the Snakes Pyjamas Gate. After opening the gate we started the hands and knees crawl up the Snakes Pyjamas. After a short while the going becomes more awkward as the roof lowers to only allow flat out crawling. The route through the Snakes Pyjamas and Taylor's Way is marked with conservation tape and it's important that the correct route is followed. There are nice stalactites and cave pearls in this passage and it would be a shame for them to be damaged. Eventually a short section of particularly shattered rock leads into Full Moon Chamber. This is a large chamber with some excellent straws, stalagmites and flowstone. After a nose round in there we set off along the passage known as Moose's Revenge. Moose's Revenge descends slowly past nice gours, cave pearls and a couple of pots in the floor to end abruptly at a mud blockage. It was interesting to note that the bottom of the pots at the end of Moose's Revenge contained a substantial amount of water today.

After a good look around we headed back out along Moose's Revenge, Taylor's Way and the Snake's Pyjamas before exiting the cave. An excellent trip to a lovely, quiet and dry bit of cave. This section of the cave is gated to protect the formations in the Full Moon Series and a leader system is in operation. Experienced and careful cavers should contact The Custodian to arrange a trip with a leader.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4831

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Richard Tooley (TSG), Ann Soulsby (TSG)

Titan was still rigged from the previous day and needed de-rigging so Richard and I thought we'd go from the Peak Cavern Entrance through to Titan. Neither of us had done this trip before so were both really looking forward to it. The weather was definitely marginal with an already high stream swelled with overnight rain. We thought that we would be able to get through but any more water would make life difficult. Meanwhile Ann fancied a walk up to Titan and an abseil down to the Event Horizon. Richard and I set off into Peak and before long were making our way along The Trenches and Colostomy Crawl. Eventually went down the ladders into the Speedwell Streamway and upstream past Block Hall to the bottom of the Bung. Standing looking at it from the bottom we weren't sure whether we were going to be able to get up but had a go and arrived at the top after a good drenching. Made our way up to the bottom of Leviathan and then into Stemple Highway and the Far Sump Extension. Eventually arrived at the bottom of Titan. Richard went up the ropes first and I followed de-rigging the lower part and sorting the rope ready for the big haul to the top of the pitch. Eventually got all the rope to the top and arrived at the bottom of the entrance shaft to find the Titan diggers hard at work. They kindly gave us a lift out on the winch with the bags and we made our way down Cave Dale to the TSG hut.

Would definitely recommend the through trip and it's best done this way in my opinion. You see so much more of Titan prussiking up compared with abseiling down!

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4503

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Richard Tooley (TSG), Ann Soulsby (TSG), Clive Westlake

Titan had been rigged earlier in the day by the TSG so we enjoyed a straightforward and speedy descent to the bottom. Once at the bottom RT found that he was unable to undo his central maillon so didn't go any futher. AS was keen to scoot back up the rope so did that. JB dropped down into AE passage in search of Clive Westlake, finding CDW propping up the wall waiting for someone to turn up. Clive was actually expecting us to turn up from Peak Cavern so was understandably surprised when I fell out of the bottom of the Titan choke and into AE passage. An efficient exit was followed by a pleasant walk down Cave Dale to the TSG hut. We didn't de-rig Titan as there was the possibility that the TSG lot may need to exit back this way if the Speedwell Streamway was giving it both barrels. In the end they didn't so we had to return the following day for the ropes.