Wretched rabbit update?

Alex

Well-known member
Should we organise a working party to fix it then? I guess the work is either shore the existing stuff with scaff cage, or lever it all down with a bar, smash it to bits and drag it out of the cave. I am happy to help if I am free.

(though levering it all down may make it an entrance rift rather than a cave passage). Other options I guess are we know there are other parts near by very close to the surface could these be open as an alternative entrance?
 

lumenchild

Member
Alex said:
Should we organise a working party to fix it then? I guess the work is either shore the existing stuff with scaff cage, or lever it all down with a bar, smash it to bits and drag it out of the cave. I am happy to help if I am free.

(though levering it all down may make it an entrance rift rather than a cave passage). Other options I guess are we know there are other parts near by very close to the surface could these be open as an alternative entrance?

There is always The wretched rabbit to county pot connection with through Poetic justice,
But i would also be glad to come help clear the entrance of Wretched rabbit,
 

alanw

Active member
I'm not an expert by any means, but the whole face above the entrance looks dodgy to me. Once you start levering, when can you stop?

Some photos from April:

IMG_20210410_145711_3-m.jpg


IMG_20210410_145726_8-m.jpg


IMG_20210410_145734_4-m.jpg
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Having never seen the entrance before, it's made one of my Derbyshire dig sites suddenly feel a lot safer. That last shot's hilarious :)
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Smash the lot in the front to small pieces, insert large-diameter twinwall pipe into the hole at an angle, and then trim above and backfill around the pipe with all the smasheroo, and then concrete it in place? From what I can see from here, anyway.
 

RobinGriffiths

Well-known member
That last semi-funnel photo looks like there's a good 30' of material waiting to come down if you do any clearing. You'd probably want to stabilise that before anything else?
 
pwhole said:
Smash the lot in the front to small pieces, insert large-diameter twinwall pipe into the hole at an angle, and then trim above and backfill around the pipe with all the smasheroo, and then concrete it in place? From what I can see from here, anyway.

This is what I suggested to some members of RRCPC (who really don't need any advice from me on digging!) and they commented much as RobinGriffiths that the entire hillside about it looks suspect. Which raises the question I suppose of is it possible to secure this long term without making it an industrial-looking mess with gabions etc?  Apparently even from inside the cave the roof in the crawl out of WR looks decidedly bottom twitchy.
 

andywebman

Active member
Members of RRCPC have looked at the entrance. In fact it was our members that reported the danger and blocked the entrance. As Matt says it is quite a big job to fix. Nowhere near as easy as Aygill Caverns and that was big enough. We will be seeking the financial and technical assistance from CNCC as a lot of materials will be needed. That is only part of the problem and we will probably need the assistance from the farmer at Leck Fell House to get materials over to the cave from Lack Fell as this is the easiest access route. Man power is not an issue as I am sure we can get loads of help when the time comes.
The whole area around the entrance is unstable and also the entrance to New Cave close by. It will need considerable engineering to make it safe and stable. We would prefer to do this with natural materials rather than scaffolding or plastic or concrete pipes etc. We will post here once things are in hand
 

Speleotron

Member
From that first photo Alanw it looks like the whole riverbank above the entrance is splitting open! Might be a camera angle trick as it doesn't look that way on the photo from accross the valley, but you can see a lot of ground sinking into the passageway. Looks like it wasnts to be an entrance rift whether we like it or not!
 
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