After driving up to Nettle Pot to see 8 cars parked at the layby  BatGirl, Caverholic and I hastily changed our plans to a place none of us had been - beyond Porth Crawl.

Now, only Caverholic had actually been into the Dynamite Series at all, and none of us had seen a survey for ages, so we were simply gunna follow our noses. After a lovely trip up from the Gin Entrance we reached the first duck/squeeze and managed to not notice the bailing buckets! After another little crawl we reached a chamber with two ways on; one a phreatic passage up a climb to the right, and the other a small crawl straight ahead. The climb up was drafting strongly so we premused this was to the Flower Pot entrance. The crawl was pretty awquard so we presumed this was Porth Crawl, although it has to be said it did not live up to it's reputation if it was...


After this was a rift with a way on up and down. Down lead to a small chamber with a short phreatic crawl off to a good looking sandy dig. Up was a 4m slippery climb into a higher level phreatic development with two ways on. Back over the top soon came to a boulder choke with roots but no way on. Straight on led to a load of mine development along a prominant vein, which we were definately not expecting! All the shot holes were from a shaft up with roots coming down (from post-trip survey looking this is probably under the Eyam Dale road). After a bit further we ducked down into a flatout natural passage and up again into a large natural chamber. The way on from here was a squalid flatout crawl which i was poked in to assess for the remaining team's requirements. From here to where i stopped was between 50-80m of flatout crawling, mostly sandy mud, sometimes 50% full of static water. Every now and again there was a typical stoney cross rift, most just about big enough to sit up in, one which was actually quite big (around 6m high and 10m long at the top). For a short section the passage size was atually pretty big (1.2m dia), although mostly full of mud! Near the end was a clean-washed but run in aven. Just passed this i met a crowbar and the space over the top of the mud seemed to get much less than previous parts. Since i had already been gone 15 mins i retreated to the others and we made a quick exit from the cave before we all died of hypothermia.


Was that Porth Crawl? Where were all the pretties? What vein is that mine on? I think I can follow on the survey up to the last chamber before the squalid ming, but the passage after that seems not to be on there. It must get pretty close to Eyam Dale House Cave, although if there was a draft it was only slight. Does anyone know of a survey of these far reaches? It would be VERY intersting to see, especially to tie in the run in shaft with any surface features around there, as that would drop you into the bitter end straight away!

Rob said:

After another little crawl we reached a chamber with two ways on; one a phreatic passage up a climb to the right, and the other a small crawl straight ahead.

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Its the small crawl straight ahead,  the climb up is to fall chamber,

Check this site out there is a good survey on there, loads of other stuff too if youve not seen it

http://www.peakcavemonitoring.org.uk/content/view/7/8/

The piccy does look like Porth crawl but its 30years + since I was there

Hi Mark, yer sorry my post was a little confussing. We did go straight ahead through the small crawl, not up into the phreatic passage up the climb (is that the way to Flower Pot then?).

However the survey is a bit confusing as it seems to hint that Porth Crawl is up in Fall Chamber...



I'm pretty sure that the dotted passage right up at the very top is the start of the squalid section, but it goes for a really long way!

I wonder who the crowbar belongs to? someone must have been there before! You should have surveyed it - now you have to go back!

Hi all.

That photo is of Porth Crawl, I have horrible memories of pushing a rocket tube and tackle bag of digging gear through it on numerous occasions in the mid-1980's.  The very first flat-out bit after the big rift is called Buckley's Dig after it's initial discoverer. The passage beyond that is called Picnic Passage and was entered and pushed to it's current length by myself and other Darfar PC members in 1985. It was a dreadful flat-out helmet off dig when we first pushed it and we eventually gave up because the floor at the far end gradually got more and more calcited together. We vowed never to go back again!!

We did start to survey it, but got fed up with having to lick the mud off the compass, etc. You're welcome to finish it off! Oh, and you can keep my crowbar too if it's any good to you! 

Cheers,
Martin.

Cheers for the info. I guess the "Big Rift" you talk about is the miner's section on the vein.

Don't suppose you surveyed it?  :-\

Yes you went through Porth Crawl... I tried to get through once, but trying to get my fat chest through was too much and I gave up. Pity, as its an interesting sounding place.

In theory, the dig at the end of Eyam Dale House Cave may well connect with your final crawl, and is only a few tens of meters away (the survey you scanned does not show the full extent of the crawl you were in at the end....look at the one in COPD to compare)

If conencted, it would be a tour de force through trip to rival the Oxlow-Giants. Best dug from Eyam dale end, it is a project crying out for an eager/gullible/hard team, with the possibility of other discoveries en route.

Good news!

I have a pretty detailed sketch survey that I sent to John Beck to update the survey in COPD. I have just scanned it in and after I've tidied it up will try to insert it in my next post. If I fail in that I will add it to the cave monitoring site and post a link to it here...

Cheers,
Martin.

OK. I've tidied it and redone the labels, so here is a small version of the survey:-



If you want a full-sized version, there's one here:- http://www.peakcavemonitoring.org.uk/images/stories/Stoney_Middleton_Dale/picnic_passage.png.

As several of you have intimated, it's heading right for the nearby Eyam Dale House Cave. John Beck told me it's at about the right depth, the passage characteristics are very similar and even the draught direction fitted, I believe.

I think if we'd have had some "remotely operated calcite breaking substance"  then we'd have carried on...

Good luck, if anyone does have a go at it!

Cheers,
Martin.

IIRC the dig in EDHC was at the end of a crawl, and was a tube about 80% filled with silt and calcite on top... digging was hampered only by the distance to get spoil back to stacking space. There was airspace over the top....

Digging would need a regualar team to get the spoil out, but digging itself would be reasonably comfortable.

Id love to see it done....would be a mega through trip 

Fantastic! Not only do i now know where i was, i know that i did indeed make it to the end! Thanks V much for uploading that Martin. 

It would indeed be a cool through trip, although it's much more "mega" in and out of the Gin Entrance 

AndyF said:

IIRC the dig in EDHC was at the end of a crawl, and was a tube about 80% filled with silt and calcite on top... digging was hampered only by the distance to get spoil back to stacking space. There was airspace over the top....

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Sounds as though it needs people at both ends to establish a vocal connection, maybe even optical (now that would be an encouragement)

I would volunteer, but if AndyF doesn't fit, I certainly wouldn't. Looking at the excellent photograph of Porth Crawl I must be about twice the size of it

Looking at Martin's survey, it seems that there was a lot less water than there was on Sunday. I don't suppose anybody knows the seasonal variation of these wet bits? Was it originally dry but filled up since?

I've been wanting to go back to Eyam Dale House cave anyway - this seems like a good excuse Let's organise that vocal connection thingy

Well thats a new one for me finding the right bit of cave. It's nearly unheard of.
I wouldn't mind having a look at the eyam dale house end sounds moderately interesting. Any idea how much farther you would have to go before a break through.
(yes the term how long is a piece of string may spring to mind but an estimate would be good)

Dave H said:

I would volunteer, but if AndyF doesn't fit, I certainly wouldn't.

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It is just possible that I would fit but woosed out........

Have superimposed Martin's survey of Picnic Passage onto my Caves of Stoney Middleton survey...
Not hugely encouraging, but quite interesting.

hmmmm, tiz all very interesting(!)....

I had a look in the Dynamite Series in December but didn't get all the way to the end; partly being unsure of which route to follow to reach Clog Passage, and partly not having enough time to explore and find the way on. Admittedly here was a bit of  "thats tight and I can't be arsed if its the wrong way" too! However, we've vowed to go back and get to the far end.

However the survey is a bit confusing as it seems to hint that Porth Crawl is up in Fall Chamber

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This is where we got confused.We knew Porth Crawl was the way to the end, but using the Carlswark survey (i.e. the dynamite crop), it showed Porth Crawl as a higher level (the short climb into the phreatic tube) from "Fall Chamber" - however it also shows the passage as terminating soon after at a "T" junction - and doesn't seem to suggest a connection to the passages below. Its beginning to make a bit more sense now because...

The two surveys which have been posted on here don't correspond with each other in terms of chamber/passage names:
- Fall Chamber on the Dynamite crop is shown as Midnight Chamber on the Caves of Stoney Middleton survey.
- Porth Crawl on the Dynamite crop is shown as Fall Chamber on the Caves of Stoney Middleton survey.

Is the following correct :
- The chamber where you can either climb up into the phreatic tube or continue straight ahead is Midnight Chamber?
- If you take the phreatic tube it leads to Fall Chamber? (is there a chamber or just flat out crawl?)
- If you continue straight ahead (in what I assume is actually Midnight Chamber) then this leads to Porth Crawl? I seem to remember a short low crawl which bought you out above small pot (being careful not to fall down it head first!) - at first there appeared to be a couple of leads at the bottom of the pot but they turned out to be dead ends. Back at the top of the pot you can continue through a tight rifty looking passage - is this Porth Crawl?

Flower Pot : Where does that tie in?

Pipster said:

Is the following correct :
- The chamber where you can either climb up into the phreatic tube or continue straight ahead is Midnight Chamber?
- If you take the phreatic tube it leads to Fall Chamber? (is there a chamber or just flat out crawl?)
- If you continue straight ahead (in what I assume is actually Midnight Chamber) then this leads to Porth Crawl? I seem to remember a short low crawl which bought you out above small pot (being careful not to fall down it head first!) - at first there appeared to be a couple of leads at the bottom of the pot but they turned out to be dead ends. Back at the top of the pot you can continue through a tight rifty looking passage - is this Porth Crawl?

Click to expand...

I too am confussed in the same way as you. After much looking and thinking about it i reckon your right about the above ideas, but i have no real idea!