Hunters Lodge Inn Sink Closed

estelle

Member
We are sad to report that Hunters Lodge Inn Sink will be closed for at least a month while we attempt to repair, clean up and retape after what appears to be some deliberate vandalism to the cave at some point recently.

The damage was reported on the 12th March by an experienced group visiting the cave and we visited on Wednesday to assess and make a photographic record of the damage. None of us on that trip had ever seen so many broken formations in one place. :(

The vandalism is concentrated in one area of Happy Hour Highway and as you can see from the attached images, it is pretty catastrophic and we know it has occurred very recently - we are verifying any known trips within the preceding month to see if people had noticed any damage to try and pinpoint dates.

We have absolutely no idea who did this and if anyone hears or knows anything, can they please contact Roger Dors at the Hunters or let me or one of the regular diggers/cavers in the Hunters know.

It's a sad state of affairs when someone vandalises the 'cavers pub's cave'.

We will advise when the cave is reopened and any revised changes in access procedure.

Regards
Estelle
 

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Jopo

Active member
By the time I post this some 17 have read and made no comment. Cannot all be supporters of free, open, uncontrolled and ungated access  - surely?

Such a sad comment on the mentality of those who could do this. Last night two persons were seen starting fires above the SWCC - pretty much the same type of person(s) I would think.

1 post was made while typing.

Jopo
 

estelle

Member
unless somehow there is a rogue key out there, whoever did this would have had to call in the Hunters to ask Roger for the key in order to enter his cave in the pub car park, so this can only really be caver(s).
 

bograt

Active member
Bloody MORONS!!!, a concerted effort is needed to identify the perpetrators, then an 'intensive' education programme to explain the errors of their ways----------!!!
 

bagpuss

Member
Totally gutted, this is one of my favourate caves, haven't visited it this year but took my x caver Dad there a few years back to show him what he'd missed when he stopped caving. I really can't begin to understand why anyone would do such damage. You'd surely have to be a caver to know the access arrangments?
 

tony from suffolk

Well-known member
What is wrong with people? How utterly pathetic and pointless. Some sad, inadequate tossers with a pointless existence think they can make themselves big.
 

Ad W

New member
That's crazy!  Why would anyone do that?  Just mindless.

Is it a single cluster of stal, or more widespread?

Ad
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
Jopo said:
By the time I post this some 17 have read and made no comment. Cannot all be supporters of free, open, uncontrolled and ungated access  - surely?

Hi Jopo, I looked but didn't comment :( more of a reflection on wanting to know why it was closed, but not really my area. Would wish this on no caving region. :(
And sad to see it happen before I could muster a trip there.
 

Jopo

Active member
If it was 'cavers' then it is so much sadder. In a small way a rogue key would be slightly less troubling but being a caver does not endow some sort of  guarantee of respect for conservation. There have been instances of malicious damage where only competent cavers could reach. I remember the damage in the Columns OFDll area that led to the gating and requirement of a warden led trip to see the Columns.

Jopo
 

Ian

Member
Hoop. I'm another who looked but didn't comment. I didn't have the option of commenting at the time.

It's a terrible state of affairs, how, why and what for?

Ian
 

estelle

Member
Ad W said:
Is it a single cluster of stal, or more widespread?
there's a little damage about half way down Happy Hour Highway, but most is within about a 10m section nearer the bottom and pretty much all of the roof stal is gone and some of it is well off the taped route. There is also a little stal at the top of the slope down to the next section that is damaged. Nothing beyond that appears to have noticeable damage - yes there is the odd bit of muddied stal or the odd broken straw or stal that looks accidental, but nothing on this scale...
 

Peter Burgess

New member
If it's all on the floor, it's mindless vandalism. If it's missing, it's mindless vandalism and theft - for collection or sale? Either way, it may demonstrate that, as with other controlled sites, identification may be needed before keys are issued.
 

estelle

Member
the attached was a photo i took about a year after it was found - sadly all gone now...
 

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Wayland Smith

Active member
Just mindless damage.

Gives very good leverage to those against free access.
(and no I am not suggesting a deliberate political motive.)
just mindless morons.  :mad:
 

Brains

Well-known member
Wayland Smith said:
Just mindless damage.

Gives very good leverage to those against free access.
(and no I am not suggesting a deliberate political motive.)
just mindless morons.  :mad:

As you say, mindless morons - perhaps the scum are migrating in from Browns Folly?
At least CRoW will never be an issue at this venue, even sadder that gates and key access were in place and offered no protection.  :mad:
Will there be a public lynching if the culprits are identified?
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Agree with much of the comment above - but - maybe it's better to focus on remedial action in the first instance. It is possible to repair stals of course.

In the case of a large number of small ones it's a real jigsaw puzzle - but not impossible. I'm sure Estelle & friends know exactly what they're doing (as they're all very experienced cavers). But is it worth collecting all the fragments and bringing them out as soon as possible before they get trampled or go AWOL?

It's surprising how they can be put back together. Painstaking - yes - but more productive than spending the rest of our caving careers looking at all the broken ends with sadness.

Tony Brown and I put together a big dossier of articles on stal repair not too long ago. I'm sure the contents could be made available to help anyone who may contemplate a repair effort in HLS.

(None of the above is in any way a criticism of how the local cavers are trying to deal with this - just saying in case it helps. The key thing is to recover the bits and store them outside the cave safely - they can be repaired at leisure but if they start going missing it's already too late.)
 
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