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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

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Report by Jon Pemberton

Cavers: Jon Pemberton (EPC), Sam 'Dervish' Pemberton (EPC), Pippa 'Pippy' Furlong (EPC).

Went for a real quick look to inspect the timbered shaft in nickergrove, dropped the main internal shaft only to land sitting in the old cart from the 1984 dig. Pretty good bit of kit with use of a shock absorber for the self tipping mechanism (one of Tom Proctor’s creations.) Anyway we followed the railway to the clay chamber, unsure of its location I sped off the continuation level to a crawl which led to loads of stacked deads where ahead lowers until its too tight.

I met Sam & Pippa back at the clay chamber where Sam noted the spits on the wall. “Ahhhhh!” We were standing on it. We quickly removed two metal sheets a few large sleepers and a few rotten timbers to find the 6m Shaft. It has been said that this shaft is totally funked, but it’s not totally! It drops a few metres until it through timber and hits an oil drum shaft lined with three fairly solid drums. From here the way on is back underneath (towards the left wall as you enter clay chamber.) The way was through a metre square frame to a short timbered level, this leads to a solid level to a large stretch of streamway that’s sumped in both directions. Upstream is the downstream continuation of streaks east sump. Only a few metres separate the two but it has not been dived as its fairly constricted and is thick with black mud.

Downstream water is next seen in the Merlin streamway. It was pushed by Beck in the 1990 drought through a squeeze to a chamber and a continued duck to an air bell where it sumped. He said it was a very scary push, He could feel the airspace beyond and dived through into a large cross rift where the passage beyond sumped. Once it had been surveyed he got back down and started feeling for this air bell at the base of the rift but did not have a clue where it was. He eventually got out if you didn’t know but you could imagine the panic set in!

I climbed down the timber and stood on the oil drums. They seemed ok but the timbered level at the bottom may well have collapsed. If it is buggered it was noted that to gain access back to the streamway started a new shaft following down the left hand wall in the clay chamber thus deleting any need for a shored level. Although it would be a pretty difficult job as the amount of clay in there is unbelievable.
A quick climb back up the shaft and exited via the Didsbury shaft, Job done.

Oh and Pippa decked it coming out and nearly died! Haha, She said she was really having to hold back the tears, Sam just laughed, “We wouldn’t have helped you, probably just laughed.”

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4865

Report by Martin Barnicott

Time Machine, Hard Rock, Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Cavers: Martin Barnicott, Bob Toogood

Top trip. Met Bob in Crickhowell, had a couple of pints of Rev James and dossed at Whitewalls. We had the place to ourselves as we did the cave the next day. The 600m entrance crawl (more like a sideways snake slither) was taken slowly and enjoyed; I guessed that it would not give quite as much pleasure on the way out and I was right.

This was all the cave was last time I was there. Plodding on we marched and crawled and climbed up and down the various bits and bobs till we got to the Hard Rock Café (nowhere as good as the one in Bangkok or for that matter any of the others I have been to). Bob let me have a biscuit and then we started along towards the Micron passing all manner of disconnected arms and incongruous signs. Dropping down the Micron, complete with fishing rod, we stumbled up the Ankle Grinder, a superb bit of stream passage with 1001 shin scuffing potholes to emerge at the “Restaurant”. A perfect day’s caving, topped off by a quick visit to the Blue Greenies.

Now here is the rub, you have to do the whole bloody thing to get back out. Still it wasn’t so bad and despite the pair of us moaning about stiff necks in the final 600(0)m we emerged to late for the pub, 13h after entering. The bonus was that there was no gear to wash! I Will definitely invest in some of those “Nancy” pads for the elbows next time, and there will be a next time if your up for it Bob. Perhaps we can take a couple of extra biscuits though.

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Written by: Rob Eavis

Published: 12 April 2013

Hits: 4665

Report by Barny
Cavers: Martin Barnicott, Bob Toogood

After the previous days pleasant trip (Juniper), where I came out cleaner than I went in, reckon Bob wanted to remind me why everyone in Derbyshire is stained permanently mud.

A fine entrance drop down to the “Flats”, must have lost the route on the way down as I never found the narrows. After a couple of memory failures that meant we had one rope too few we found the pitch leading down to the “Freeze Squeeze”.

This more than made up for missing the narrows! After a couple of rather half hearted attempts at breaking my back we/I gave up and returned to the surface..

A tour round the streams and rivers of Derbyshire to find a good washing spot led us back to Oughtbridge where we spent longer washing the gear than we had done caving. Still a good trip and something to come back to when I feel a bit more committed.