Bob Leakey wrote a somewhat lengthy and controversial article about the Neil Moss incident which was circulated among some of the leading players during late April and May 1960.

Does anybody know whether it was published? I can find nothing in the online British Caving Library catalogue / bibliography.

It was added shortly after your request: http://caving-library.org.uk/collections/bobleakey.shtml

As many people won't have seen this, I thought it worth linking:
https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/assets/files/The%20Oracle/History%20and%20people/NeilMossStory.pdf

mikem said:

It was added shortly after your request: http://caving-library.org.uk/collections/bobleakey.shtml

Click to expand...

By me!

Thought it might be, but deemed it worth adding for benefit of others. Seems it may have been published too:

The Speleologist 1 3 (Jun/Jul 1965) held by: BCL
p.18-21 Robert D.Leakey The Peak Cavern Tragedy: an analysis

Click to expand...

Several of accounts of the NM incident spur debate however, one area of the reports that causes confliction and is often commented upon is whether the shaft was ever 'blocked' with concrete?
I have always been under the impression that this was urban myth and all that was done to seal the passage was a few rocks were thrown down the shaft a few days later after cessation of life was confirmed by the doctor.

Having made the trip to Moss chamber several times, I have never seen evidence the shaft was permanently blocked and I have always discounted this when asked by folk.
So, am I correct in discounting that the shaft was permanently blocked?

I can recall seeing a rough concreted section at the top of the shaft, in what was called Neil Moss Chamber at the time, with his name written in the concrete.  The concrete may have been put over the top of the rocks as it was quite a rough patch, not nicely smoothed over.  This was a number of years ago and I believe something rather better has now been put in place - perhaps someone can confirm.

skippy said:

Several of accounts of the NM incident spur debate however, one area of the reports that causes confliction and is often commented upon is whether the shaft was ever 'blocked' with concrete?
I have always been under the impression that this was urban myth and all that was done to seal the passage was a few rocks were thrown down the shaft a few days later after cessation of life was confirmed by the doctor.

Having made the trip to Moss chamber several times, I have never seen evidence the shaft was permanently blocked and I have always discounted this when asked by folk.
So, am I correct in discounting that the shaft was permanently blocked?

Click to expand...

it didn't look blocked when I was in moss chamber. It looks like you could climb down

I found this on https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/blog/   

.......His father, Eric Moss, had waited at the tunnel entrance throughout the ordeal and it was he who requested his son?s body be left in place, before anyone else risked their lives. According to those left to clear up, the lower part of the shaft was sealed with a number of loose rocks, collected from the floor of the chamber ? not with concrete as frequently reported ? and an inscription left nearby. ...... 
 
I have a memory of either seeing in person or a photograph an inscription in cement. So perhaps the confusion has arisen because a small bed of cement was laid near the top of the shaft with an inscription written in the cement. This may have been miss understood as a capping of the shaft. 
 
Maj.

The inscription is scratched directly into the rock as far as I can tell, and is sadly mis-spelled. I asked about covering this with a (correctly-spelled)  plaque a few years ago and it was suggested it may offend some people, so there you go. I can see it might, I guess - but I'm a spelling pendant and can't help it. Below are photos of the top of the shaft, the view straight down, and the inscription. It's not visibly blocked, but I think that was done beyond the S-bend which frustrated the rescue. Dave Webb's superb video has some good section diagrams of the logistics problem facing the rescuers - pretty grim really.

Posts about the potential below this shaft have been spilt to https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=26027.0

my dad harry holliday was one of the first people the police rang as he was a member of the cave rescue service, he ended up ringing todge burgess and others from orthious club, they tried to send todge down with a rope tied to his feet as he was small but he couldnt get far and lack of air was a problem as the air tanks had not arrived by then, eventualy they dropped ron peters down who quite rightly got a medal as i beleave he reached neil.
its my fathers retelling of the events that made me concentrate on mines rather than caves for the last 40 years ive been going underground.

mikem said:

It was added shortly after your request: http://caving-library.org.uk/collections/bobleakey.shtml

As many people won't have seen this, I thought it worth linking:

https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/assets/files/The%20Oracle/History%20and%20people/NeilMossStory.pdf

Click to expand...

As to be expected this link no longer works but the WayBack machine does have it at https://web.archive.org/web/2017120...e+Oracle/History+and+people/NeilMossStory.pdf

Blog still available:

There was also an audio visual display about the rescue in 2022: