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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Pete Pollard (EPC), Dan Hibberts (EPC), Nige Strong (EPC), Jules Barrett (EPC), Chris Schofield (EPC)

I'd been halfway down Hungerhill Swallet's 40m Deep Space pitch before and turned around when I couldn't find anything to rebelay the rope to. I'd heard that there was a Spit somewhere but couldn't find any evidence of it (or any decent rock in which it might be placed). This was frustrating but when Pete said Dan was keen to get back in there I assumed that Dan had some clever way of rigging the pitch that I'd missed. Anyway, Dan, Pete and Nige went in around 7:30 p.m. under the impression that me and Chris were going down Streaks Pot and would meet them in the Miner's afterwards. In fact me and Chris had a last-minute change of plan and followed them down Hungerhill Swallet (although they didn't know that). We didn't have a description or any information about the route from the bottom of Deep Space but we'd work it out as best we could. We did have to be careful that we didn't go one way whilst they came out of the other and pulled the rope up leaving us stranded at the bottom of Deep Space. Anyway, we climbed down the entrance shaft and into the muddy crawl at the bottom. Through the squeeze and into the short section of streamway that leads to the top of Deep Space. A big (11mm) rope was tied to the one big thread and hung over the lip of the shaft in a textbook example of Indestructible Rope Technique; absolutely no mincing around with rebelays or deviations. Chris abseiled down first and I followed him trying to position the rope on the smoothest bit of limestone as I went over the edge. Deep Space is a tremendous pitch and there are a number of ledges as you go down. The walls are a very black limestone and a thick layer of calcite covers them where the water runs down. There's a lot of black mud on the walls and a fair bit of this heads south every time someone abseils. Once at the bottom we had a look at the small sump and then a climb up into the rift that leads to Elbon's Kram. Didn't climb far enough to see if Elbon's Kram is still open. Then climbed up into the Bag of Worms and had a poke around in the nice chambers up there before returning back to the bottom of the rope. Once on the rope we both prussiked very carefully back up then organised a bit of rope protection with a tackle bag for the other three. Just as we got that sorted we heard Nige's voice at the bottom of Deep Space and before long we were all on our way out of the cave.

Hungerhill Swallet is a memorable cave and it's great to do a 40m pitch so near to Stoney Middleton Dale. There is a big problem with rigging it for SRT, namely, that you can't avoid the massive rub point as the rope goes over the lip and it also rubs at various places down the shaft. Some of the rock in there is as poor as I've seen in a Derbyshire cave and that's almost certainly why Deep Space hasn't been properly bolted for SRT.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4403

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Simon Mee (TSG)

I think Ian Barker got it right when he described Winnats Head Cave as "...one of the greatest Derbyshire trips..." It's a magnificent cave with impressive chambers and rewards for those who get beyond the vertical squeezes in the second boulder choke. I'd been to the Wigwam Aven area at the top of the 'up' pitches quite a few times and always fancied having a look at the downstream pitches. The only thing I knew about them were that they're supposed to be like a Yorkshire Pot and the rigging was off Spits. Me and Simon had a midweek day off and since Simon hadn't been in Winnats Head before we went for that.

We met at the TSG hut at midday and sorted some rope and hardware. Drove up to park at Winnats Head Farm, asked permission and walked to the entrance in the little quarry. Suffered the crawl to the first small chamber and then continued to arrive in the Main Chamber. Dropped down into the first choke and threaded our way carefully through that. There are some huge boulders in here which don't seem to have a lot supporting them. Carefully made our way down to Cornwall Avenue and into the very impressive Pox Chamber. Dropped down into the second choke and down the first vertical squeeze with the in-situ handline. I dropped down through the second vertical squeeze and took the bags off Simon. Simon had a couple of goes at the squeeze but his chest wasn't having it and he kindly waited there whilst I continued on. I took one of the bags which had my SRT kit, first and second pitch ropes and some hardware. I'd use this trip as a chance to have a look at the state of the first and second pitch bolts and the last pitch could wait till another time. From the bottom chamber with the big sump pool I made my way through The Sewer on my back and put my SRT kit on at the bottom of the first 'up' pitch. Prussiked up the fixed ropes and crawled along to the top of the downstream pitches. Here the waterfall comes in from the 'up' pitches above and descends over the lip of the first pitch. Rigged the very easy traverse into the top of the first pitch and descended down past a deviation to land on a sloping floored chamber. Even though Derbyshire is very dry at the moment there was still quite a bit of water coming down out of the roof here. At the end of this chamber is the top of the second pitch so rigged this off a couple of Spits, then a rebelay to land in a wet passage with very dark limestone. My bolts had screwed into all these Spits fine. By this time I'd run out of rope and was very aware that Simon would be getting cold so after a quick look over the edge of the final pitch I got straight back on the rope and started back up; de-rigging as I went. Back down the rigged pitch, through The Sewer and back to meet Simon who kindly didn't complain at all about his hour spent sitting here on his own. The trip out was uneventful and we exited to clear skies and air starting to feel chilly towards the end of the day.

Details

Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 3888

Report by Jules Barrett
Cavers: Jules Barrett (EPC), Carl (Bog) Bergman (EPC), Chris Schofield (EPC)

We were after a trip with a decent bit of SRT and some proper caving at the end and since Chris and I hadn't been to the end of New Oxlow this seemed like a good idea. I had recently heard about a poised boulder in the Oxlow entrance shaft and it would also be good to have a look at this. I'd packed the rope in the afternoon and since I'd chopped up my 100m rope this needed a bit more thinking about. However, finished with one large bag for the first pitches, one medium bag to get us down to the bottom of the Pilgrim's Way pull-down thing and then a smallish bag with the pull-down rope and North Pitch rope; the luxury of caving as a three! We met at the Oxlow parking around 7:00 p.m. and the sky was darkening already as the nights draw in. There was a distinct chill in the air as we got ourselves sorted which reminded me that autumn is well and truly here. The only issue that I had was being unable to find a decent pair of gloves so I was wearing a pair of gucci fleece ones that are really too good for caving. We walked over to the entrance and started rigging down the pitches. Rigging was uneventful and we arrived at the bottom of the pull-down thing that leads up into Pilgrim's Way. Once here Chris took over the rigging and found the pull-down thing to work fine. Weaving the end of our rope between the strands of the pull-down rope worked well and Chris pulled the rope through. Bizarrely as he was pulling the rope down a pair of gloves fell out of the sky and landed next to our feet. They were mine which had been knocked off the top of Pilgrim's Way and come to rest on a ledge last time I was here! These were much more suitable for Pilgrim's Way crawling so I swapped. Once into Pilgrim's Way SRT kits went in a bag and we made our way along comfortable crawling passage towards Mecca Aven. Last time I'd been here was in full neoprene on the way to Giants Hole via the Connection and this trip felt much more relaxed. Once past Mecca Aven we were into lovely cave passage which allows walking to Jacob's Ladder and eventually to North Chamber. SRT kits back on and Chris rigged North Pitch to land us at the bottom. Bog has been here before so went off exploring along Pilgrim's Way having given us an idea of the delights that were to follow in the Portcullis and the Sewer. From the bottom of North Pitch we crawled through the Portcullis and continued to the Sewer. This is described in Classic Caves of the Peak District as a diminutive, aqueous crawl which it is but it's very short. Finally the passage enlarges into a high and narrow rift at Boulder Chamber and following the water forwards leads to some very impressive dams and a sump. We returned to the top of North Pitch to meet Bog and made our way out along Pilgrim's Way. Bog and Chris kindly de-rigged allowing me to escape back up the ropes with a smallish bag. Had a good look at the poised boulder in the entrance shaft and it does look as though it could do with propping up or something like that. On the surface by 11:30 p.m to a lovely clear evening with loads of stars. Pub missed but that's OK!

One of the best trips in the system; not difficult and even the passage between the bottom of North Pitch and the final sump is enjoyable really. Oxlow is great fun to rig and it's great to do some proper caving at the bottom in New Oxlow. I'm planning a return journey to have a look at stuff like Icarus' Crawl and Henry Mares' Crawl. There's also the inlet that Bob Dearman passed but I'll have to find out which one that is.