Report From | Ian Bishop. |
Report Date | 01/2006. |
Published | 01/2006. |
During September Andy, Hugh, Ian, Richard pumped out Rising Damp Sump to revealed a voice connection with Wotno Streamway Passage. This was dug from above and below, resulting in a conection and a "collectors item" of a round trip. Unfortunately whilst looking for the draft and the way on a loose boulder appeared out of nowhere hitting Ian resulting in two broken ribs, one with a double fracture. Ian exited the cave carefully under his own steam.
During October Dave, Hugh, Ian, Richard undertook some maintainance work at the Christmas breakthrough point to stabilise it with more scaffolding. Access was improved at Floodgate Pitch and some more enlargement work done in Huge Crawl with work still progressing in this area. Finally the boulder blocking the end of the Tourist Trap was "technicaly adjusted" and the rocks behind it cleared away to reveal an open crawl for 5m bending round to the right. The end looked blocked by a slope of small rocks and boulders but it actually opened out into the bottom end of an elongated chamber approximately 3m x 10m. Up to the left a gentle slope lead to a 1m step and up into the other end of the chamber and a few small formations. Below these, at floor level, a very tight phreatictube leads off into the distance, too small for most people, no draught and reducing in size. Opposite an inlet passage gained via a 1.7m climb and a maneover over teetering boulders reaches an ascending 30 degree boulder slope, 4.5m long with standing room most of the way up. The boulders nearly meet the ceiling goes vertical. You can crawl in 0.5m and look up left to spaces between big bouldersand a big slab with more space beyond. Crawling straight on for 2m (a bit dangerous) between a few more rocks enters an area with more big boulders which appears to be the bottom of a boulder choked aven. There is a strong draught into the boulders and a trickle of water coming out, with evidence of foam from recent flooding! Back in the chamber a lower crawl half way up the slope on the right went for 10m to ending under a boulder blockage. This may provide an alternative route onwards.
A further visit a couple of days later (between floods) confirmed that water flows down Blore Street and also out of the Tourist Trap with lots of foam visible in places. This suggests it responds to overflow water coming down the entrance and is still not the water from the main sink. WARNING It is definately dangerous / possibly fatal during flooding in the lower parts of Waterways!
previous related report 08/2005