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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 05 March 2022

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February 8th found us out to see the new area in Bagshawe Cavern. I know that Bagshawe has many levels to explore but this was to look at the new area that is being dug. This evenings crew were  Katie, Brendan, Edvin, Bernie, John, Hal and Victoria.

We explored up a short pitch on a ladder which did not go very far. There was one short pitch which led us into some short crawls and into some rifts where digging was going on. I learned the lesson on the way out to check my gear to make sure it was my actual gear. I picked up someone’s ( who is much taller than me) hand jammer. Even on a short pitch that made it interesting. Luckily no one was injured as I chucked it back to the rightful owner.

We all decided to head down to the Dungeon to wash our suits and gear. It was quite muddy but great fun as usual!

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Written by: Victoria Kocher

Published: 05 March 2022

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A great night out with the Eldon. Katie Eavis has been super about coordinating trips out on Tuesdays. On the 1st of Feb 2022 six of us went down to explore Water Icicle Close Cavern in Monyash. On this trip the cast of characters were Katie, Brendan, John, Bernie,  Hal and Victoria. I took our 5 gas meter with us-I’m still getting used to it but all readings were in acceptable ranges. See the photo.

We were happy to get out of the predictably cold and wet weather into the warmth of the cave. We all explored the Northwest passage and slogged through the wet mud. In the North passage Katie, John, Brendan and Hal went into a few side squeezes to see what was there and Bernie and I hung tight. We went until we reached the mud choke. This trip did not take us into the gated section but Katie made a quick trip up the ladder to check the gate was locked. All was good. It is always nice to take your time to look around in Water Icicle. It’s a recommended trip.

Afterward we made it to the Bulls Head in Monyash. As the Conservation Officer for the DCA I had the pleasure of awarding Katie a £50 Starless River Voucher for her submission of a Cave Monitoring Form from a previous trip in 2021.

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Written by: Luke Cafferty

Published: 13 November 2020

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Luke and Jon. 12/11/20

With Rob and Jeff out down Cussey Jon and I were given the task of dropping a big mine shaft that Rob had found on a dog walk. He sent us a video on the group chat of him chucking a big rock down the shaft and it sounded DEEP! I happily volunteered to go and drop this, and Jon was going to come along for the ride. 

The mine in question is called Cackle Mackle Mine, we think, up on Longstone moor. It is covered by some huge wooden sleepers and pinned down with two metal rails. Looking at the photos I thought I would be able to pry the beams apart and loop a sling through but when we got there we quickly figured out that it would be impossible to move the beams even an inch, so new plan. Jon made quick work of digging out a wide enough hole so I would be able to slide under the beams, I noticed that a long girder had been placed under the wooden beams right in the middle of the shaft. We rigged a Y hang using two slings wrapped around the two side rails and I used this to get down underneath the beams. Once I was comfortably under I passed a sling around the girder and rigged off that, which let the rope hang perfectly smack bang down the middle of the shaft. I still could not see the bottom of this thing even with my torch on the brightest setting. So off I went down.

Luke descending Cackle Mackle Mine

The first 5m is all ginged but after that it’s just all solid walled. Going off how much rope we used to rig and what was left at the bottom I’d say it is a 60m shaft. The floor of the shaft has had a lot of rubbish thrown down but a way on is down a small slope. it's mostly hands and knees crawling in the workings and it is like a rabbits warren down there, little side passages going off everywhere and looping around to join back in with the main workings, very easy to get disorientated. I pushed most of the passages which either end in solid wall or small collapses. Down one steep slope I was posted out into a walking size rift. The floor was very wet mud so this obviously takes on some water at points. I followed one way until it got to a crawl, by this point I was starting to get a bit lost and since my wing man, Jon wasn't going to come down, something about his suit not being clean, I got a bit worried so decided to head back out. Finally found my way back to the shaft and set off with the long prussic out. All in all, a cool mine. Found a chiselled date of 1856 on the wall down there. We plan on going back down and surveying it. Of course the entry hole was carefully backfilled to make it even safer than when we first found it. 

Luke struggling his way out, by JonP