More from Portland - Steve's Endevour

tim.rose2

Active member
Having been told my last Portland related post was rather popular I thought I'd write up today antics...

Despite having walked by numerous times, there's a couple of caves on Portland I've never got around to visiting, one being Steve's Endevour.  So a couple of days ago myself and Richard decided it was about time.  We met early this morning at Westcliff in the drizzle and wind, kitted up and carried a random selection of climbing jangly's and caving kit down the cliff path. 

Our first stop was was a quick crawl to the end of Hopeless hole and back.  A short pheatic tube ending at choke, presumably under Steve's Endevour rift.  We left having determined any digging in here would require effort and likely result in us being burried in rubble - the ceiling at the 'dig face' was 'interesting'.  It's not even clear at the current end of the cave where the pheatic tunnel is / should be.  For those who think digging involves more than moving a couple of rocks and breaking into new passage this is probably a good spot.

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We then headed further along the cliff path to reach the climb up to Steve's Endevour.  As I stated in the Blacknor thread, getting to the entrance is always half the fun on Portland.  I should also mention the undercliff path to this point is of variable quality, which coupled with the damp weather and wind provided the warm up.  The entrance is 20m up an earth bank / gully from the path and the path is 30m up a scree slope and since it is only 1 ft wide here offering no chance of catching a descending caver the whole procedure is a little exposed.  Richard opted for the belaying whilst I had the fun of 'leading'.  Grass, wild cabbages, mud, loose rock, etc. all count as hand holds here!  There are two flakes on route which can be rigged with a sling / quickdraw to at least prevent taking a plummet down the scree slope but otherwise you're on you own to the top.  It's a lot steeper than this photo suggests.  The entrance is amongst the lowest boulders in the gully:

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Having reached the entrance Richard followed up on the rope.  We rigged the entrance pitch (approx. 5m) and dropped down into the rift.

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The rift is a little awkward at the entrance and would benefit from a couple of bolts to hang a ladder in a better place.  The rift widens as it meets a stack of wedged boulders which must be climbed for about 8m to open out in an impressively wide part of the rift containing the largest lump of rock I've ever seen hanging unsupported from a ceiling.

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This is the bottom bit of the hanging 'pebble' which stretches the full height of the rift:

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We then followed at the higher level over bits of false floor until we met an 8m pitch.  Richard decided to stay at the top whilst I explored further. 
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Down the pitch it's best to land on a wedged boulder 2m off the floor and traverse across to some more wedged stuff.  Working up through this leads to more stable looking passage which can be followed at varying heights requiring the odd bit of climbing and traversing.  After quite some distance I met a short greasy looking drop; as I was on my own I decided that was enough for one day.  I headed back to Richard, ascended the ladder and we made our way back out the cave with a brief distraction into one of the many cellars.  Peering down a small hole showed a void with a curved wall seemingly running off at an angle to the main rift.  Pheatic tube?  Probably not was our conclusion but perhaps worth a couple of hours moving some earth / rocks to check it out.

The rift was void of formations, however being rarely visited there was numerous examples of conglomerate stuck to the walls and many fossils which would likely have been spoilt with higher footfall:

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The rift could be followed a little way towards the cliff under the entrance climb to a chamber.  Some good examples of iron oxide staining could be seen here however the most impressive feature was the selection of spider sacks:

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Back out the hole to daylight, rain & wind.  We rigged a double abseil from a short length of expendable rope left in situ and then made our way back along the path to the cliff top.  A fine morning.
 

Les W

Active member
Steve's Endeavour is a superb trip. If you get to the far end it splits at high level and you can hear the wind/sea so it must almost make it back to the cliff.
The interesting thing is that it cuts through between the cliff and the Blacknor/Sandy Hole through trip, which is further inland.
Anything heading inland from Steve's Endeavour could potentially join the two caves together which would make for a superb trip.

(y)
 

tim.rose2

Active member
Yes, some sort of connection from Steve's Endevour would certain make some interesting options for through trips with the Blacknor / Sandy system.  The obviously complication is that you've got pheatic passage at two differing levels.  So in my mind there's the possibility to find pheatic passage heading inland at both ceiling and below floor level in Steve Endevour.  Find the wrong one and you end up passing above / below the sandy / blacknor system.  Has anyone worked out where squeezy rift is in relation to Steve's Endevour?

Hopeless hole is pheatic passage the same level as Sandy hole just further North and ends choked under Steve's Endevour, so clearly gives great possibility for an inland continuation should somebody wish to try to find a way on.  Personally I think connecting it to Steve Endevour would be a good start!  As with all rock on Portland the whole lot looks like it would end up on you head if poked it so perhaps locating the bit of Steve's Endevour directly above Hopeless hole and heading down would be the safer option?  I know nothing about digging so needs looking at by somebody who does. 

There's certainly potential to find new passage and connect up existing caves.  Unfortunately a little work is needed here and there to regain some of the known ones.
 
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