By Tony Jarratt

Continuing the saga from BBs 522 and 523.

“First you must conceive that the Earth … is everywhere full of windy caves, and bears in its bosom a multitude of fissures and gulfs and beetling, precipitous crags. You must also picture that under the Earth’s back, many buried rivers with torrential force roll their waters mingled with sunken rocks.”

Lucretius; The Nature of the Universe.    

Further Digging 9/10/05 – 26/1/06

Six digging trips between the 9th and 16th October resulted in many bags of clay, gravel and sandstone cobbles being removed from the Fi’s ‘Ole dig – resulting in a gently descending phreatic passage running above the decorated chamber of Aglarond 2. The writer, fearing mutiny in the team, was much relieved that his theory of ongoing passage beyond the “blank wall” in this dig had been verified. The 10th was noted as the 1st Anniversary of digging at Rose Cottage but the lure of the laid down bottle of Champagne in Aglarond 1 was resisted.

Unseasonal warm weather on the 17th gave an excuse for Rich W. and the writer to lay a floodwater pipe below the spoil heap and generally tidy up on the surface. 31 loads came out to the heap between the 19th and 26th when three sessions of dig enlargement took place. This continued on the 30th and 31st October and 2nd November. Anne Pugh (ITV West) and caving cameraman Gavin Newman visited to assess the site for a projected “Secret Underground” TV documentary.

A major bag-hauling session occurred on 6th November with a solo digging trip next day when the writer broke into a low airspace some five metres into the dig as predicted. Squalor was now the order of the day following heavy autumn rains causing annoying drips and trickles throughout the cave and once again proving that the BEC curse of the “Reverse Midas Touch” is still operative! The 9th also saw a good attendance with seven good men and true removing almost all of the full bags from the depths and stacking them in Mt. Hindrance Lane. 30 heavy skiploads even reached the surface! The Obscene Publications Act forbids the writer to record in print Jake B.’s comments on his hauling stance in the Corkscrew. Work continued on the 13th with many bags filled and much more spoil backfilled into the original Fi’s ‘Ole. A four shothole charge was fired at the end and the resulting large amount of broken rock cleared next day – the nearby dump being completely filled. Much of the annoying puddle was bailed into plastic drums but enough was left to make the wet-suited Fi and John N. thankful for their choice of apparel! The writer, in dry grots, opted to pull skips before venturing to the chamber at the end of the A1 Dig above (first entered by John on 27th July) where visual contact was made with John who was immersed in the slime below and who later pioneered yet another “round trip” in this sporting little cave. While tidying up the A1 terminal chamber the writer noticed a void in the boulders ahead and after much awkward digging and rearrangement of unwieldy rocks was able to squeeze through into some 5m of unstable “passage” continuing the line of the dig and above the presumed route of Fi’s ‘Ole Dig. A dodgy looking hole at the end will almost certainly give access to the lower passage (Prancer’s Pride – see later) at a future date. All of the cave beyond Mt. Hindrance Lane would appear to be one great, sloping fault plane with the upper part composed of an enormous and lengthy boulder choke on the SW side. The lowest levels are washed free of infill and well decorated and the middle level still choked by ancient stream debris but the safest and least damaging option for extending the cave. Ben O. braved the now much deeper puddle on the 16th and filled a dozen skips with wet spoil which Pete H, Sean H. and Henry B. bagged up and hauled out to Aglarond 1. In drier but freezing conditions above Phil C. and the writer hauled 23 loads to surface.

Assisted by three able Sheffield Uni. cavers, Henry Rockliff and Rob Eavis being in the current forefront of Derbyshire digging, the writer fired a three shothole charge in obstructing slabs on 19th November. Two days later he celebrated his 56th birthday by clearing the vast amount of bang debris and gaining a view into open, descending passage ahead – once again as prophesied to be running below and to one side of the A1 Dig extension. One loose rock prevented access. This was easily removed with the aid of a sling on the 23rd but access to the passage beyond was denied due to previously unseen rock slabs beyond. Gwilym, Jake B, Phil C. and Toby later shifted some of these but the passage remained inviolate.

This was also the day when Gavin Newman, assisted by Tom Chapman and Sarah Payne, filmed Aglarond 2 (aided by Sean): Fi’s ‘Ole digging operations (starring Henry and Alex): the puddle (yours truly-damn it) and skip hauling in Mt. Hindrance Lane. A surface film team simultaneously recorded the writer being interviewed by Chris Serle as the latter effortlessly winched up about a dozen loads – 44 reaching the surface in all and giving a total of 2566 recorded since the start of the dig! Chris was grateful that his presence underground was not insisted upon as, being 6ft 9ins tall he is not over fond of the average Mendip cave. The ITV team seemed pleased with the results of their efforts and Ivan’s flood lighting combined with the swirling Mendip mist to give some good atmospheric effects. Food and pints at the Hunters’ were gratefully received by the thespian diggers on this bitterly cold night.   

More clearing was done on the 26th by Carole White and Martin Smith (BPC), the latter also taking photos, and the following day they returned with the writer, John N. and Jane Clarke for further work at the face when lots more rock slabs were dragged out and some two metres of progress made into the new passage before previously hidden slabs stopped play. A flat drill battery amused the Bradford diggers but meant that Henry B. and the writer had to return on the 28th to bang the breakthrough squeeze and clear more spoil. Trenching of the floor commenced in order to drain the puddle forwards and this was continued on the 30th when partial success transformed the “lake” into a mere “slough of despond”. Lots more clearing was done throughout the cave and more slabs banged at the end where the only encouraging feature was the strong draught.

Monday 5th December saw Henry B, John N. and your scribe clearing a goodly amount of spoil from the end. An uninspired Henry was bemoaning the lack of a way on when, on moving a rock on the left, he suddenly gained a view into open passage. Much encouraged the diggers worked hard to gain access but were defeated by more large slabs and were forced to retire to H.Q. for liquid refreshment before returning in the afternoon armed with the drill and a bunch of detonators, the bang having run out. Three sessions of “micro-blasting” using a total of seven dets was just enough to break up the slabs and allow the writer to enter the new stuff feet first and kicking a large boulder forwards. Alas the way on was a calcite and boulder choked hole in the floor but in recompense a standing-sized inlet passage with a couple of rift avens and some fine formations, including a partly dried out crystal pool, yielded about 8m of cave. On later draining the “slough of despond” into the extension some entertaining gurgling noises resulted as the water sank in the hole in the floor. The totally knackered diggers then gratefully headed out, once again leaving the Champagne unopened. At least we now had plenty of stacking space and bag-hauling to the surface will thankfully be a thing of the past.

The film epic continued on the 7th when B.C.R.A. Chairman and physicist John Wilcock rushed around the paddock with his battered dowsing rods accompanied by the writer and both being interviewed by Chris. John is convinced that the cave extends SE to the junction of the Wells Road and Belfry track and from here swings round to the south to connect to St. Cuthbert’s. He predicts that a passage nearer the surface than the known St. Cuthbert’s system passes over the main passage NW-SE then joins the cave to the south, as stated earlier – time will tell if he is correct. His results appeared to delineate the general boundaries of the known Rose Cottage passages and were later partially repeated by Tony Audsley who also recorded the whole circus on camera for his web site. That evening more of the team visited the new stuff and dragged most of the remaining full bags up to the top of the Corkscrew. They also hauled rocks from Fi’s ‘Ole and commenced the dig in the floor at the end. Henry Dawson made his first appearance and became the third digger of that apparently rare caving forename to join the team. This makes the use of  “a passage full of loose Henries” no longer useable in the cave description.

The 11th December saw Fi and the writer attacking the calcite blockage and the former becoming joyously enthused on discovering the quagmire of porridge-like mud below it. Stitch drilling and a misfired two detonator charge left the stubborn calcite still in place. 1 load reached the surface and next day another 16 joined it when the two returned with Jake B. While more rock was hauled back to Aglarond 1 the dets were rewired and fired but with little effect. Excavation continued in the squalid floor dig and the nearby crystal pool was bailed to reveal no passable way on but a couple of fine, crystal covered stalactites. A drystone wall was constructed above the pool to provide a spoil dump in the rift behind it and any shortage of rock was soon solved after Jake pointed out the dangerous state of the adjacent ceiling. To prove his fears groundless your scribe poked it with his finger resulting in a mass movement, an abject apology and some deft crowbar work resulting in about half a ton of good building stone. Some digging was done in the rift above the new spoil dump but banging was needed here to reach a wider section ahead.

Excavation of the hole in the floor continued on the 14th when it was reported to be widening out below the calcite. The very last full spoil bags (touch wood!) were removed to the surface in 69 skiploads to give a total of 2,652 recorded as being dragged out over the last 14 months. At a minimum weight of 8 kilos each this totals 21,216 kilos (19.09 tons). This does not include the initial spoil removed with the mini-digger. Bloody good effort, team!

 

The next session at the end, on 19th December, saw a considerable amount of digging and dumping and the opening of a tiny, decorated airspace in the floor dig. A faulty drill prevented banging of the rift above. Work continued two days later when a vast amount of spoil was bagged and stored in and above the crystal pool – the only available space.

Another dangerous roof slab was brought down before it decimated the digging team (seximated actually as there were but six tonight and only the digger at the face was in mortal peril). Reports from the end indicated little promise but as Pub time loomed Paul B. opened up a clean washed, arm-sized hole in the floor and enthusiasm was once again restored. So much restored that on the following evening Paul, John N. and your scribe were back at the face frantically digging, hauling and stacking like three automatons. Worn out and gritty-eyed Paul came up for a spell allowing John to inspect the dig. On pulling out a few stones he was rewarded with an open and apparently deep hole from which emanated the strong draught. With closing time drawing ever closer the writer took a turn at the front and opened the hole to almost passable size – but not quite. A steeply sloping calcite floor dropped away into a black void with many fine formations visible but un-enterable without bang or another hours work. Well past 10pm the ecstatic diggers broke all records to reach the Hunters’ where festive pints of “Prancer’s Pride” provided both sustenance and a suitable name for the forthcoming and barrel-winning extension! The diggers were certain that the prophesied continuation of Aglarond 2 had finally been reached after five and a half months hard labour excavating their way along the A1 and Fi’s ‘Ole Digs (see later for proof of this). To ensure easy access the window into Prancer’s Pride was banged by Madphil on the following evening while Henry B. and the writer tidied up the spoil heap. It was very noticeable that the bang sounded particularly loud all the way back in Aglarond 1.

The Christmas Day team of assorted hangover sufferers Jake B, Paul B, Jeff Price and the writer took down a 5m ladder as an aid on the stalagmite slope and your scribe was just able to squeeze in and enlarge the breakthrough point for his larger colleagues. As is normal on these occasions the huge passage had shrunk somewhat and only c.4m of progress was made to a choke in the floor of the steeply descending bedding plane below. An inlet above this was briefly examined but was thought too pretty to push. Not despondent we headed for the Pub and festivities leaving the Champagne still unmolested but Paul’s brandy miniature sipped as a gesture. Next day the writer cleared rocks and banged the boulders.

He returned on the 27th with Fiona and a strangely uncoordinated Henry B. for a very intensive clearing session. The inlet grotto was sacrificed as a spoil dump and this passage pushed for some 5m to the base of a strongly draughting rift which needed committed squeezing to gain access. This beautifully decorated feature was suspected to connect with the more easily reached spoil dump rift in the chamber some 10m above. More rocks in the floor of the bedding plane were banged as an enlargement could be seen beyond. The writer, Bobble and a slightly less uncoordinated Henry cleared the result on the morning of the 28th and fired another charge to allow access into an elliptical and well decorated passage with a howling outward draught. On this trip your scribe pushed the inlet into a stunningly beautiful chamber where exploration would have been almost sacrilegious but was suddenly found to be unnecessary when some 8m away through the formations he espied the orange conservation tape in Aglarond 2! This explained why the bang was so noisy when fired from Aglarond 1, not that far above. At least the diggers now knew where they were and were convinced that the phreatic passage some 7-8m below was the way on. A return was made in the evening by five of the team who removed a large amount of rock from the morning’s bang enabling access to be gained to the elliptical passage which John N. pushed to a constriction with a view into a possible way on to the right. While Pete H, Jake B, Phil C. and John continued with enlarging the breakthrough point the writer, armed with a lump hammer, removed the obstacle and smashed his way through assorted formations to reach a climb down over flowstone in an exceptionally attractive junction of phreatic passages. Superb curtains, straws, flowstone and small helictites adorned this area but many had to go before it could be fully explored. This was thought to be justified after all the effort made to avoid desecrating Aglarond 2 but the noise of tinkling calcite was heart rending. Seeing large passage below the explorer shouted back the traditional and immortal “We’re in!” and clambered down the climb to reach a muddy streamway which immediately closed down below the flowstone slope. A gap over a calcited boulder above this was briefly examined but needed banging to enlarge. John came in for a look then the pair retreated to allow Jake and Pete their well deserved turn – the latter luckily having an instant camera to record the occasion. It was estimated that we had explored some 10m of quite stunning cave but the lack of a feasible way on was a great disappointment. The gods of the cave, angry at the despoliation, saw to it that the desecrator’s fingers suffered a painful squashing as he climbed out to at last open the long-standing bottle of Champagne. This was enjoyed by all – including Phil who was suffering from a Christmas headache – then the long grind out to the surface got underway and celebrations and theorising continued in the bar.

On the 30th December the writer, in Aglarond 2, established clear vocal contact with Trev Hughes and Jane C. who were in Prancer’s Pride. This indicated that the muddy streamway in the latter possibly flowed to Aglarond 3. Evaluation of the digging prospects here showed that the only feasible site was the partially calcite-filled rift above the impassable streamway and a careful banging project was thought to be acceptable. Some justification for this was gleaned from the fact that about three digging sessions in the beautiful Aglarond 2 would have gained us access to Prancer’s Pride in a lot less than five and a half months but conservation had overruled this!

Work on the calcited rift commenced next day when Tangent and the writer put three long shotholes in the flowstone coated rock on the right hand side, loaded them with 40gm cord and loudly fired the charge from Aglarond 1 above. Being a wet day the pair were treated to an amazing drumming noise emanating from beyond the dig site and put this down to water dripping onto a calcite false floor. Returning on the 2nd January with Jeff P. your scribe carefully cleared the debris and laid a two shothole charge, again fired from 1. Jeff drilled a hole in the floor of the entrance squeeze to 2 for possible future enlargement. The drumming noise was absent today, as was any sense of co-ordination in the diggers following the excesses of New Year!

Wednesday 4th January saw two separate teams working in the cave. Paul B. and the writer cleared the bang spoil in Aglarond 3 and tidied the place up. The calcite blockage was removed enough to give a view into, not the huge gallery expected, but a dried out, flowstone-lined pool decorated with scores of fine helictites which has effectively closed down this site. A rethink is needed here. A painful “housemaid’s elbow” (your scribe) and several triple hammered fingers (Paul) enlivened the trip. Pete, Fi, Henry B, John, Alex and later Paul returned to Prancer’s Pride to commence digging the RH side of the crawl. They removed a large amount of spoil in unpleasantly damp conditions.  

The 7th and 8th January saw bouts of surface work with Henry B, Chris B, Ivan, and the writer clearing out the Priddy Pot Water leat from the Belfry to the “pond” and diverting much of the stream down the cave entrance. On the 9th green drain dye (fluorescein) was put in this stream and later observed to flow along Bored of the Rings to sink in the Connection Dig. A trickle flowing down Mt. Hindrance Lane joined it. It then reappeared about a third of the way down the Corkscrew and flowed down the flowstone slope in Aglarond 1, through the impassable slot and into Aglarond 3 from where it disappeared into the distance. The surface stream was also diverted into the slumped sink adjacent to the entrance and the site of the initial dig. Purple dye (Rhodamine derived?) was introduced but this water was not observed anywhere in the known cave! Two other tiny inlet streams in A1 Dig and above Prancer’s Pride were flowing clear and may derive from water sinking in the “pond” (one of these doesn’t – see later). Some digging was done in the unpleasantly damp RH passage in Prancer’s Pride and the squeeze between Aglarond 2 and 3 was enlarged with explosives. Today’s cold and damp operatives were Henry B, Jeff P. and your scribe. The significance of the slumped sink had now increased dramatically.

The bang spoil was cleared on the 11th and the squeeze found to be easier but still a challenge. Paul B. and the writer then used plugs and feathers to widen the banged calcite flow in Aglarond 3 to gain a better view of the stunning helictites and beautiful aven above. There is no way that any further work can be done here and the aven was seen to close down anyway. Some tidying up was done and several pieces of broken calcite were removed for scientific examination by Lisa Thomas. Meanwhile Ben O, Sean H, Pete H, Henry D, Phil C, Toby M. and John N. cleared much clag from the downstream crawl in Prancer’s Pride in order to make the RH dig more user friendly. All the spoil reached the higher dump thanks to the number of diggers. Pete’s draught-testing joss sticks made the whole cave stink like a Siamese brothel on cheap night! Green dye introduced into the “pond” was not seen in this area as expected but may not have had time to filter through. There was still no trace of the purple dye.

On the 16th January Henry B, Tony A. and the writer commenced work on re-excavating the slumped sink (the original “Belfry Dig”) and after hauling out many bucket loads of mud and inwashed sediment regained the shattered limestone floor at some 2m depth. Lots of rock slabs were prised out and used to wall yet another spoil dump. The lightweight A-frame used to support the floodlight was moved over to the new dig and braced with scaffold poles following a couple of minor hauling disasters and a wooden ladder was acquired to gain access to the rapidly deepening working face. At the end of the day the Priddy Pot Water stream was directed into the hole and backed up to around a metre deep. The following morning it was found to have dropped to about half a metre with surprisingly no slumping occurring overnight. Rich W. spent some time walling the spoil dump while Tony A. continued his dowsing project and detected both the fault line and a much stronger reaction running from the cave, under the tackle / M.R.O. store and across the Belfry car park. Jane C. did a fine job of checking out the cave twice with the stream entering the dig and once with it diverted. Much to our chagrin this revealed that part or all of the water re-appeared from a tiny inlet at the bottom of Paul’s Personal Project before flowing on down Bored of the Rings. On the earlier dye test this passage was not visited and if any purple dye had got through the mud infill and into the cave it would have been overpowered by the much brighter green dye poured in from the entrance above.

Despite this setback work continued with the surface dig on the 18th when many buckets of slumped clay and several rock slabs were removed and temporary shoring installed. Sean H. photographed operations for the record. Meanwhile, below, a large team cleared another dozen skips of spoil from the RH dig in Prancer’s Pride.

With the stream diverted into the “pond” a wet trip resulted on the 20th when the spoil rift at the end of Fi’s ‘Ole and the calcited boulder blocking the streamway in Prancer’s Pride were banged resulting in Henry B. and the writer being chased out by the fumes.

Scaffold shoring of the resurrected surface dig took place next day with Duncan Butler and Henry B. spending most of the day on site with assistance from Henry D. Henry B. and Rich W. continued with this on the 22nd when more digging revealed a pretty solid limestone floor with the stream soaking away through small fissures.

Meanwhile Fi, Duncan and the writer introduced yet another Henry (Patton – Reading U.C.C.) to the delights of spoil hauling 7 ½ skips from Prancer’s Pride to the rift above. The two banged sites were also cleared. Probably due to the results of Madphil’s birthday barrels the supposedly charged drill battery was decidedly flat so next day a solo trip was made to drill and bang the terminal streamway. All went well until a presumed broken bang wire resulted in a misfire, which needed another visit to rectify. Today green water from the surface dig definitely entered the cave via a tiny choked bedding in the “skip store” alcove in P.P.P. to then partly flood Connection Dig before reappearing at the bottom of the Corkscrew and also in Pete’s Baby. The inlet at the start of A1 Dig also flowed green and it seems likely that the Pete’s Baby water reaches it via a boulder choked route above Aglarond 1. This water was diverted into the decorated virgin floor rift in Aglarond 2 and found to enter Prancer’s Pride down the main flowstone slope on the NW side. The other inlet entering this area flowed clear. The misfire was sorted out on the 24th when the spoil rift was also drilled and banged. With the stream diverted into the St. Cuthbert’s depression the cave was pleasantly dry. The debris from the two bangs was cleared next day by a five-man team and on the 26th a charge was fired in the floor of the surface dig. 

“…leave the dark cave of sin, come into the light…”

J.S.Bach

Additional Diggers and Enthusiasts

Ben Noble, Emma Heron (W.C.C.), Steve Sparham, Chris Falshaw (donation to digging fund), Anne Pugh, Chris Serle, Mary ?, John ? and colleague (director, presenter, sound woman, surface cameraman and sound man – ITV West), John Wilcock (B.C.R.A.), Gavin Newman, Tom Chapman, Sarah Payne (underground film team), Henry Rockliff, Rob Eavis, Eszter Horvath (Sheffield U.S.S.), Martin “Billy Whizz” Smith (B.P.C.), Jane Clarke, Andy Chamberlain, Henry Dawson (Reading U.C.C.), Trevor Hughes, Lisa Thomas (calcite studies), Henry Patton (Reading U.C.C.).

To be continued in your next exciting Belfry Bulletin.

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