, September 2001:

Report from Dan Sullivan:

The dig at P7 has received a fair amount of attention over the last year by a team of diggers headded up by Dan Sullivan, Rick Westwood and Rich Hunt and in August they broke through into an estimated 400ft of new cave. Prior to this the P7 swallet was only a few feet long with water sinking into a silted up choke. The new section of cave includes a 40ft high chamber and a major inlet, presumed to be ascociated with P6?

The way on looks promising, with current exploration halted at a point where the passage gets too narrow. The stream can be heard flowing off into the distance, the passage looks to enlarge and there is a promising draught. The restriction will have to be enlarged before further progress can be made and an immediate return is planned.

UPDATE 14th September:

Further progress was made at the downstream end of P7. A point was reached at the top of a small pot where a streamway could seen flowing past at the bottom. A strong draught is also present. A restriction at the top of the pot will have to be enlarged before it can be descended. Again, an imediate return is planned.

Currently the cave is gated and will remain so for the duration of immediate exploration and the unstable chokes are dealt with. Is soon as work is completed general access will be arranged with the land ownwer.

next related report 02/2002

, September 2001:

Report from Wayne Sheldon:

On the 18th August 2001, Tim Allen, Pete O Neill, Robbie Shone and Glyn Roberts returned to complete explorations of these new extensions. A series of photographs was taken on the main balcony before Tim and Pete proceeded to the dig heading in the direction of The Kingdom, White River Series at the same level but this was hard going and didn t come to anything. Pete dug through a tight passage in the lower passage to join up with the higher passage where a voice connection was made.

Robbie and Glyn descended Robbie s Shaft; this is at the end of a very muddy crawl for 5 metres that leads off from the balcony. The pitch is about 13 metres in depth, into a very muddy rift, tight in places. Finally this led to Glyn s Gloom Room, a small round chamber big enough for two people. A tight passage on the left as you approach goes off from the Gloom Room, called the M2 as it is tighter and more awkward than the M1 for about 6 metres. Glyn managed to get to a point where he could see a pitch head but there was a committing squeeze to reach it, being headfirst facing downhill over a drop of unknown depth, he was forced to reverse outwards. Anybody knows that reversing uphill is difficult but especially when it s coated in glutinous mud that makes moving difficult, with several squeezes and bends thrown in. At one point he thought he was stuck but after about an hour of trying, he finally managed it.

Robbie and Tim undertook some surveying work in the shafts before returning through the connection to EMT aven, surveying as they went along.

Glyn Roberts, Wayne Sheldon returned on the 9th of September to carry on with the M2 where Glyn had got stuck on the previous attempt but this time we took our secret weapon with us, Denis Bushell who likes, and is very good in tight and awkward crawls.

Denis went down to the M2 with Glyn whilst Wayne waited higher up the rift; this time a bolt was put in then a ladder was used to descend it. Denis descended the ladder feet first this time, lifelined to reach the squeeze over the pitch head. Passing through the squeeze, he noticed a ledge so he managed to get himself onto it. The pitch was about 8 metres long, 2.5 metres wide and about 8 metres deep. Another ladder was despatched down to him and from here he proceeded down the pitch. He noticed a digging bucket on his way down, and realised it was known cave. Denis gave a description to Glyn, he told him that he was in the aven you pass through on your way to the bottom of EMT aven, which is just after the 6 metre pitch you ascend from the inlet series and just before the conveyor belt matting that leads to the boulder choke on approaching the start of EMT aven. This aven has always been described as being blind but nobody had thought about climbing it to confirm this. From the bottom you can just see the slot he popped through.

Denis did say afterwards that if it had been new cave, without a way off or connection to known cave, he would have struggled to get back up it. He won t be going down there again and in the long run, he will probably be the only person ever to do this connection as it s very tight, muddy and awkward.

previous related report 08/2001

First report 07/2001

The Tour de Farce, September 2001:

Report from Nigel Ball -

The climb of the Tour De Farce, the obscure aven close to Victoria Aven at the end of the original show cave has been concluded. It topped out at about 45M where it got too tight to continue.

previous report 01/2000