Places that need cleaning up

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Let's list some places that need cleaning out.  They can be openly discussed if there is any doubt about removing stuff.  Hopefully caving groups will then take up the challenge.  Here is a couple to get started.

Boxhead Pot - Tantrum Aven.  Many years ago there was a suspended system collecting water from the aven and using it to wash mud from a dig.  It is long abandoned and all the stuff is in a disgusting heap on the floor.

Sunset Pot - Shake Cavern.  There used to be the remains of an abandoned camp in this chamber.  I'll bet it's still there.

 

Beardy

Member
I am in part responsible for the Tantrum Aven stuff and will arrange for a clean up trip Beardy

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

 

Pete K

Well-known member
Wigwam Aven in Peak Cavern has a selection of dormant kit. The large flopjack should probably remain as part of the history of the place but the tens of metres of disconnected plastic piping are not so nice. If anyone wants to claim ownership great, otherwise it needs pulling out of the cave.

Edit: And yes, I'll do it, but I've no time in instructor silly season so it will need to be autumn most likely.
 

Chocolate fireguard

Active member
Now then Pete.
Not an overwhelming response so far, but you went about that all wrong.
You should have suggested that we START with that flopjack: pages of posts virtually guaranteed.
Of course, non of the posters would have turned out to help get rid of the pipe.




 

Pete K

Well-known member
I quite like the flopjack as a feature and I often take people in to see it. I'm sure that there would have been a good discussion (argument) if I'd said it needed to come out but it's a bit of a feature now. Of course, if we're really being purist about clean-ups then it really should be removed as it is just a rusty dysfunctional relic.
 

Chocolate fireguard

Active member
I only get round there perhaps once year, but I make a point of never going directly beneath it. I always watch it carefully, but apparently not carefully enough to know what's holding it up.
Next time I shall have a better look.
Whatever it is, nothing works for ever.
 

bograt

Active member
Question is, has it served its purpose of clearing all the sh*t out of Cadbury Crawl?, after all its only been in there just over a quarter of a century!.
If all the cr*p has gone and there is a clean-washed passage, OK, take it out, if not, fettle it and let it get on with its job!, I think there's only me & Mark N. left who where involved in the original installation :-\

I think it should be maintained and left as a memorial to P.B.S. & J.S.B.
 

Pete K

Well-known member
It doesn't work and as far as I can tell all it is doing is discharging water (when tipped manually) down the passage towards Squaw's Junction.
I agree that it is a great feature. Where do the pipes come in to the equation Bograt?
 

al

Member
It doesn't go anywhere near Cadbury Crawl - that's at the same height as the flopjack, and just to its left.

The passage(s) towards Squaw Junction used to be very mud filled (so I'm told - visit the connection from these passages to The Window to get the idea) and they are much cleaner now thanks to the flopjack.

I believe that the pipework also helped with this mud-cleaning, but plugging them was also a method of backing up water behind the door in Window Dig, another hydraulic auto-digging process which involved somebody (Shaun??) opening said door after a week's build up of water and mud. You can probably imagine the rest.
 

Pete K

Well-known member
Thanks al. So by the sounds of things both the pipes and the flopjack are both quite old and no longer serving a purpose.
The pipe can come out then I guess and be rehomed, perhaps TSG would like it? As for the flopjack, does that constitute a mess to clean up or a feature of note? Could it even be tinkered with and relocated somewhere to continue living on? If so where?
 

bograt

Active member
Don't know (or can't recall) anything about pipes, they may have been added as a plan related to PB's plumbing on the inlets, I do seem to recall some guttering being introduced to divert drips into the flopjack.
The passage between the FJ towards Squaw is the one it was designed to clear of glutinous clay, has it done that?
--------
Sorry Al, your post came in as I was typing. The passage I was referring to is the one from Squaw to Wigwam Aven, the whole length was considered to be 'Cadbury' (and it was filled with glutinous mud!)  don't remember the Window dig but checking it out on the survey suggests it might be a result of PB's plumbing.
 

Mark R

Well-known member
Oxlow East Chamber- There is a huge pile of rotten wood left after our last clean up- its a big hauling exercise and one I would like to help with if anyone else is interested?

Maskhill- There is a lot of old wood stacked on ledges down the entrance series, another hauling job.

Troubled Waters (between Whirlpool Passage and The Assault Course)- there is a huge amount of conveyor matting, mainly just in a big heap on a corner and not doing anything- can this be removed?? Definitely needs floating out of Speedwell.
 

MarkS

Moderator
Mark R said:
Troubled Waters (between Whirlpool Passage and The Assault Course)- there is a huge amount of conveyor matting, mainly just in a big heap on a corner and not doing anything- can this be removed?? Definitely needs floating out of Speedwell.

Just to add to that, I remember there being a pile of woven plastic material in the SE continuation of the Assault Course passage (not sure of the passage name) just around the corner from the conveyor matting. Again, it certainly didn't look like it was achieving anything there.
 

Mark R

Well-known member
Does anyone know what the digging bucket, massive roll of thin plastic and bits of carry mat are at the corner of AI passage where it turns north west to Major sump, Just at the junction with the south east trending passage towards minor sump?
We rolled up the gigantic sheet last week and neatened things up a bit but it could definitely do with bringing out at some point if no one wants it there.

m
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
Reference the Pipes in The galena circuit
bograt said:
I think it should be maintained and left as a memorial to P.B.S. & J.S.B.

I believe these pipes were also used to create optimal diving conditions in Far sump and were integral to the successful diving of the sump, one of the rare occasions (on show) where cavers have actually done work to help divers.
I read about it in one of the old copies of descent, its in P.B. Smiths Obituary. I believe it could have been Pitlamp that wrote about it at the time, as well as a number of other well known Derbyshire cavers.

Apparently you would call up PB and tell him that you were going to be diving in a couple of days, and he would either block or unblock the pipes to settle the visibility in far sump. but I think It was very much a Bi-product of the original aim of flushing out the mud.
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Bottom of Marble Steps Pot - upstream end - best reached by swinging off the 90 and descending the last pitch of the Intestines route.  A right load of old digging junk and an eyesore.  All abandoned but a good trip for a group looking to do a good deed.  Any takers?
 
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