Nidderdale Exped

Goydenman

Well-known member
On the final weekend of Sept Black Sheep Diggers organized a digging/diving weekend. With all the caving gear, cooking gear (to make our infamous full English breakfasts), sleeping gear/tents, digging gear, diving gear and more it looked like an exped hence the name of the weekend.

Friday night -
1. Guscott pot was visited to inspect the tip bucket and with 3 hours work helped it get rid of all the mud. Tony then removed a few boulders to find a strong draft coming out of a slot where the stream sank. Looks good for future progress here.
2. Loft house pot squeeze into the rift was opened up to allow future digging at this site. Hoping it will eventually connect with Low Eglin's Cave for a fine through trip
3. Goyden Pot - a new connection was dug open between Five Ways and Carbide Tin Passage in the Labyrinth of Goyden pot.

Everyone had a meal together in the Crown Hotel Lofthouse then we cooked a fine full English breakfast in the morning.

Saturday day -
Cristian (our expereinced diver) joined us for breakfast having travelled up from London. The team helped carry diving gear into Beet Route sump, Goyden pot. Quite a few of the team had not seen Beet Route passage before....a very fine clean washed light grey limestone passage with dark black chert floor and black chert bands protuding out the walls. There is presently an SRT rope rigged at High Rift allowing easier access to this passage avoiding the hard thrutchy climb. Cristian explored the sump in low viz for over 130m. A complex sump with passages going off in different directions. He was convinced at the end of the dive that he had linked up with New Stream sump and was heading north back towards Goyden. At one point he opted to go left pasat a flake that seprated the passage and on a future dive hopes to go right to see if progress can be made towards Frog pot/Aquamole Series.

The team celebarated the days work with a good curry in Pateley Bridge.

Sunday -

Two teams. One team climbed (Nick, Dave, William) into a huge aven just off the Planetarium in Hardy Pools Passage. Always assumed someone must have looked at it before but have never found a record of a climb in the past. There is a fine view of 20m ish of aven and about half way up ready to complete soon we hope. The aven bends around a corner so we cant see what is at the top, but it must be close to the surface. No sign of previous bolts.

The other team saw two novice divers (Ralf and Chris)  practice in Main Inlet and then upstream sump 1, New Goyden pot under Cristian's guidance.

 
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