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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 30 August 2024

Hits: 616

Team: Chris H, Luke C, Rob E

After reading some recent reports online I’ve assumed that some golfer-type has upped their game and started potting walling stone down Whalf Climbing shaft. I never understood golf.

A blockage near the top was cleared the next day by Gaz but the base of the shaft was proper blocked. Digging this open from above was not a realistic option cos you’d likely get squashed by some of the rocks that get hauled out, so it'd have to be poked at from below. Enter Team Awesome.

Me n Chris had never been down Whalf so were keen to go for a trip and Luke's only been a caving a few months so it'd be good practice for him. Rather than taking the direct route down the Engine shaft we opted for the scenic route via Hillocks.

I asked my Katie for some quick directions and off we went, post pre-beers and surprisingly unweird Mexican pork scratching, with and joined by Colin the collapsible ladder! Indeed it turns out to get to the bottom of the entrance shaft, where the collapse is, you need to climb up the second pitch of the climber series which is probs not rigged. At ~8m this was a perfect opportunity to finally put Colin to some underground use. Unfortunately however Colin couldn’t step up to challenge and refused to fit through the tight bit at the bottom of the first pitch in Hillocks. Maybe we should have used the Engine shaft entrance after all, but I figured we’d continue on for glory anyway.

End of the road for Colin

After freeclimbing down the second pitch (which we only realised we’d done once at the bottom!) we then literally followed our noses to the base of Whalf Engine. Something dead here lies, but we couldn’t find it. I was glad to be wielding my big crowbar, just in cases.

Following my poor memory of Katie’s directions we somehow went straight to the bottom of the climber. I took a quick look up the bottom pitch and figured it was probably an ok freeclimb. Tied the end of a rope to me and scrambled up it. To be fair it wasn’t that bad, although the top bit was a little sketchy as it opened up to the next level up. I rigged the rope and the other came up to join me.

Chris went first for a look at the blockage and he seemed pretty confident it wasn’t a big job. I dived in and started pulling out rocks, chucking them back to Chris without smashing his fingers, he passed them to Luke without smashing his, and down the pitch they went (we pulled up the rope first!).

View of the blockage from below, defs blocked

The rubble was mostly walling stones, but a single large branch had snuck in there also. Maybe it was the flag? Once that was mostly all pulled out, with only one bit colliding with my face, I slipped through into the black space beyond and started passing rocks back to Chris. This is easy cave digging, unusually satisfying. We eventually got all of us up for a quick celebration and then started heading back, high on the fact we’ve done something totally selfless for a change (still glory grabbing, obvs). A quick pull through later and we were heading back through the scenic landscape of Whalf and up the pitches.

What a cool passage

Colin was still waiting for us at the first pitch and he came out with us happy in the knowledge that his fat arse will continue to sit in my shed for another year without being used. The surface was still and beautiful, with the last of the light setting over the limestone plateau around us, we skipped back to the cars and straight to the Bull Shead to ponder over our newly found purpose of doing some good in this world.

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Written by: Jim Thompson

Published: 19 April 2024

Hits: 1299

Team: Jon / Jim / Chris / Luke

A small team headed out to Monyash for a nice leisurely trip down Knotlow climbing shaft tonight. Conditions on the surface would have had Noah on edge about the amount of rain, so it was desirable to spend as little time outside as possible. However on arriving at the turning circle and observing every bit of off-road parking looking a lot like axle deep mud, Jim immediately decided to check if it was actually axle deep mud by driving into it. It was. A lot of wheel spinning later it definitely was. No amount of pushing was going to help, although it did manage to cover Chris – still in work clothes – head to toe in the stuff. Fortunately everyone else had taken a more sensible approach to parking so armed with a ratchet strap, Chris got into towing mode and moved the van just far enough for egress before the strap broke. We decided to dump the van back in Monyash and return so by the time we were changed, it was dark and the rain was coming sideways. So much for a quick trip.

Underground was far more pleasant. We made quick progress to the waterfall pitch and Jon did a heroic bit of rigging across the traverse which was just brilliant to negotiate. Down in waterfall chamber we had a bit of fun balancing on the pipe and headed into the coffin level. I’ve recently decided that coffin levels are my least favourite thing. Just too low and narrow for comfort, claustrophobic and oppressive and in this case too full of freezing water. This one seemed to go on forever and I was losing my patience with it but with Chris behind me I pressed on with Jon encouraging me to remove my helmet ready for the duck. I duly did and was getting ready for a tantrum but turned the corner and saw that he was inevitably taking the piss.

Blessed relief for a brief moment after emergence, Jon and Luke headed down the equally wet Crimbo pipe whilst I reluctantly followed Chris back into the level. Fortunately it had got much shorter in reverse and it was an absolute delight to be swinging up off the Y hang and across the traverse once again. Chris followed in style and it was a quick and easy exit. Back on surface the April lion of a night had become far more of a lamb, and we were soon having a really fun night in a buzzing Bull’s Head

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Written by: Archie Thompson

Published: 18 March 2024

Hits: 1180

Team: Chris H, Vic, Hal, Archie, Jim T, Jon P, Luke C

The night starts off meeting the team at the artist’s corner carpark where we changed into our suits before barely fitting into Hal’s truck and driving up to the great Masson quarry. 

With Luke and Jon leading the way we descended 35 metres down the rather tight Gentlewoman’s shaft. At the bottom we left our SRT kit behind and made a steady approach towards the pipe caverns of old Jant mine. Following some technical climbing, we made it as we observed the beautiful dog tooth crystals that had formed in little crevices all up the walls of the caverns. 

Luke and Jon guide us towards the first tight squeeze which required a fair bit of digging as the team gradually moved through, with me and Vic communicating the plan to get through. Jon and Luke were the first to squeeze through the passage and immediately began shovelling and scraping the silt and gravel for Chris to squeeze through. Chris made a good effort to get through to passage which unfortunately had too much sand built up preventing him from freeing his waist out of the squeeze, where i contributed by providing myself for Chris to push off with his legs to make it through. Thanks to Luke and Jon’s digging me and Vic slipped through with no problems. 

Following a couple more tight passages me, Chris, Luke and Vic had been split up from Jim, Hal and Jon who i believe struggled to fit through the second squeeze. However we soon regrouped where we saw engravings of old miners on the walls of the cavern dating as old as the 18th century. 

We were relieved to see the pathway to the Coffin level was not blocked off this time, which provided an easy and relaxed crawl through a long winding passage dug out by the old miners. We had a quick detour to the miner’s jigging box before entering the coffin level (Ringing Rake Sough). At this point I went ahead along the passage which led to the exit out of the ground right at the carpark where we left off. 

An amazing through trip which really provided a mental challenge at times and a satisfaction I think all cavers should achieve. 

Luke in the coffin level, by Jon Pemberton

Chris the Legend