Interesting question that I haven't really thought about before. There is nothing in the roof of West Chamber, not that Ben found anyway. I can't think where a winding shaft would be. Suppose West Chamber was VERY VERY big, and all the spoil was dumped in it?

I don't think the lack of progress is for want of trying. I've kept going back and must have wandered over every inch of the area. There are little sinks round the flanks of Bole Hill and Withered Low that must enter the system, but they are rather small. The most promising one I found was near...

According to the survey figures the top (actually a knob on the right wall about 0.7m above the lip) is at 195.7m. The station on the landing at the bottom is 10.91m lower. Then it goes another 1.8m to the rock you slide over into the crawl. Then another 0.46m to the floor of the crawl. So...

I remember this: "I first met the Eldon while practising caving While practising caving down Perryfoot Way Standing just over four feet in wellies and helmet And impressed by my thinness they dragged me away. They dressed me in wetsuit and fed me bacardi Direction of Oxlow we headed one day...

"The Caving songs of Mendip" was published by the Grampian S.G.! I'm sure there is a copy somewhere in this house but it isn't in the index and I can't find it! Maybe the Grampian still have it?

Ben and I (and others) poked into all the holes off the top chambers when we were looking for a way on down. Nothing went anywhere then, but when Ben found the way down to Fox Chamber everything else became insignificant. I thought we surveyed everything, but I can't identify the page that...

Sorry for the delay. Your email prompted me to follow it up. We wasted quite a lot of time in the mid 70s digging in here! On the junction is a small stope, but it didn't go anywhere. I've attached the pages from the notebook. We dug at the end of the left hand branch a little further in...

I knew I'd seen this somewhere! Hope it's useful. It sounds like quite an interesting place, especially with its proximity to Jug Holes.

I guess the only change needed is that people let me know so that I can email Steve. Most people ring beforehand anyway to make sure I'm going to be in.

I have been talking to the new owner of Eyam Dale House, Steve Howard. It is intended that the house will be a family home. At present I hold a key at Glebe Cottage, and any bona fide caving club with insurance can collect the key and an oil can for the lock. Steve is quite happy for access...

Hi Crickleymal. That one from AM tools is as close as it has come. Might try one of those, even though it could do with a broader blade. There are lots that shape, but all too big.

Thanks for all the prompt replies! Very useful. The original digging picks looked something like this: They were excellent. Small, sharp, just the right angles to hack out clay or prise out rocks. They were called "Normans" after Norman who worked at Markham (that's how long ago it was!)...

Has anyone come across a source of sensible small digging picks? The internet came up with one or two suggestions but nothing that was right (broad blade on one end, sharp point on the other). They need to be compact, for digging hard fill in small crawls. I had several, but they have dwindled...

When we were digging a shaft in Nickergrove Mine through clay with no ventilation, Tom Proctor built this pump . It was made from readily available bits and pieces, and it worked wonderfully well. The pipes were sink pipe. No batteries, generator or anything other than a bit of muscle power.

I must put in a few words here. Doug and I met Ben in the 1970s when he turned up one night at the Rose and Crown at Eyam in an old coat and wellies. It was snowing, and he was going to walk back to the Rowter Farm hut. In the end we wouldn't let him go and this strange wild character kipped at...

Just for the record the total at Eyam for the 14 days 23rd July - 5th August was 203.4mm! Undoubtedly quite a bit more at Cavendish Mill. If we'd had that rainfall intensity in the winter it would have been catastrophic (or exciting depending on one's viewpoint).

Thanks for the Stoney figure T Pot. I thought I must have forgotten to empty the gauge after I measured 22.3mm at midnight on return from the pub. The 9.00am check this morning showed another 59mm - total 81.3mm (Eyam). What made me think it was correct was when Brian Woodall rang me and said...

Pete Mellors has asked me to post the information that restoration of access has now been agreed in principle between DCA, Chatsworth Estates, Natural England, and tenant Maurice Gregory. The precise terms are still being negotiated but are expected to be reasonably flexible. Cavers are asked to...

Hi Amy. Your fossils are still gastropods (your "snailshells") which are sectioned vertically. If they landed all jumbled on the sea floor you would not expect them all to show a neat spiral. Those you first found were sectioned horizontally, so what you see is a spiral. If they are sectioned...

The rake that runs parallel to the main road is known as Needham's Rake, and before that was Brushfield Rake. I didn't know why the name had changed until someone came to Eyam Museum with a superb picture of the Needham family standing outside the house in about 1880, taken from the field on the...