Bad Air and Vandalism at Star Shaft.

Jasoncardwell

New member
Hi all, please be advised that our party visiting Star Shaft (Mendips) on 09/12/18, found several issues with the cave. Upon arrival, we found that one of the p hangers had been vandalised, making it impossible to feed a rope through.

Most importantly however, we are almost certain there is a high concentration of CO2 in the shaft. The second pitch was flooded upon arrival but within minutes, our party started to show symptoms and signs of bad air. This made for a quick and calm escape, but had there been more than 4 in the party, it could have been potentially very serious. Please do not go into the cave without a meter, and it is sensible to belay the first person down. We will be contacting CSCC about the hangers.
All the best, MCG.
 

andrew

Member
See http://cscc.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=news:start

Although it should probably also be a link from the Star Shaft page
 

paulf

Member
Hi I visited Star Shaft on Saturday & found both hangers damaged, one as you said flattened, but the other one was bent too.
We decided to rig off the tree a bit further back.

Regarding the air, there were only two of us but neither noticed any problem
 

Ad W

New member
Hi,

Both of the hangers were damaged when we reported it back in September.  It looked to have been done with a rock and we assumed that it was bored kids.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Burt

New member
The same "bored kids" have also uncovered the old engine room adjacent to the shaft. I have dragged a metal cover over the top of it, but it's not that secure. There is currently an old ladder visible which leads to the engine room, and the doorway from the engine room leading to the main shaft is blocked with rubble infill, but it would only be the work of 30 mins digging to expose the full drop to the bottom.
I have some photos but have no way of posting them here. PM me if you want me to email them to you.
 

Jon_M

New member
Earlier today, a group of us from the GSS descended the shaft and while underground heard a voice/voices and the lid slamming shut on our rope .... this was with no warning or any attempt to contact us below.

After a test, we worked out the rope wasn't likely to snap (hopefully) with one of us on it & I came back up to push the lid off our rope and re-belay it (taking out the 'damaged' section).

To say that we were pissed off was putting it mildly! ... but was this the continued action of the vandal twats or just a numpty dog walker? In future, should anyone wishing to descend the shaft, close the lid after themselves?

Although the rope did not (at first glance) appear to be obviously damaged, we'll now have to cut our SRT rope at this point and make 2 shorter ones.
 

mikem

Well-known member
Expect it was someone who didn't want animals or children falling down the shaft. It is by a popular footpath, so shouldn't be left unattended when open.

If the rope still flexs the same at the point where the lid landed then it hasn't been damaged.
 
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