tim.rose2
Well-known member
Today's madness...
Believe it or not there's still a few small caves on Portland I've never visited. One of which was Anniversary Rift, discovered in 1973 by Andy MacTavish & Hardyes School CCF. Briefly dug at the time and probably seldom visited since. Having never been in myself, and Mike uncertain if he had, we decided to have a look today. If nothing else it was to get a description for the website / new Portland Cave guide book I'm working on.
What did we find? Well the first bit of fun was getting in. A couple of tent pegs were installed. We abseiled from these together with an old stake (of dubious quality, probably 30 + years old) onto the ledge previously described. The first few metres was down a loose slope followed by a drop of approx. 4 m down a vertical chimney onto an earth / rock mound (the ledge). From here we re-belayed to a crowbar hammered into the ground and dropped the final 5 m into the cave. We were greeted by a herd of pigeons and what looked like several millennia of pigeon shit. The rift is followed at floor level for approx. 10 m through a slight constriction to a 5 m chimney climb up the rift to a much wider section above. From here an upward sloping rift ends in a mud / rock choke after a further 10 m ish.
Fortunately we had a second crowbar so digging commenced. A hell of a lot of material was shifted today - if was easy digging and spoil removal was simply chucking it back down the slope. It feels like we're high up in the limestone - there can't be much above us. Wider than a lot of other rifts on the island, so plenty of potential for pitches / open passage beyond the blockage. We're certain there's a slight draught emanating from the choke too, so all good signs. Definitely one to return to.
Photos:
Me heading down to the entrance (stood across the top of the 4 m vertical chimney).
Mike in the wide bit at the top of the 5m chimney climb.
The end.
Mike's first experience SRT'ing from a crowbar (I might put some bolts in next time). As you can see we took a random selection of kit as we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into! Ladders and SRT can mix (though on this occasion the ladder didn't get used).
View from the entrance.
Much fun was had, nobody died, another one ticked off.
Believe it or not there's still a few small caves on Portland I've never visited. One of which was Anniversary Rift, discovered in 1973 by Andy MacTavish & Hardyes School CCF. Briefly dug at the time and probably seldom visited since. Having never been in myself, and Mike uncertain if he had, we decided to have a look today. If nothing else it was to get a description for the website / new Portland Cave guide book I'm working on.
What did we find? Well the first bit of fun was getting in. A couple of tent pegs were installed. We abseiled from these together with an old stake (of dubious quality, probably 30 + years old) onto the ledge previously described. The first few metres was down a loose slope followed by a drop of approx. 4 m down a vertical chimney onto an earth / rock mound (the ledge). From here we re-belayed to a crowbar hammered into the ground and dropped the final 5 m into the cave. We were greeted by a herd of pigeons and what looked like several millennia of pigeon shit. The rift is followed at floor level for approx. 10 m through a slight constriction to a 5 m chimney climb up the rift to a much wider section above. From here an upward sloping rift ends in a mud / rock choke after a further 10 m ish.
Fortunately we had a second crowbar so digging commenced. A hell of a lot of material was shifted today - if was easy digging and spoil removal was simply chucking it back down the slope. It feels like we're high up in the limestone - there can't be much above us. Wider than a lot of other rifts on the island, so plenty of potential for pitches / open passage beyond the blockage. We're certain there's a slight draught emanating from the choke too, so all good signs. Definitely one to return to.
Photos:
Me heading down to the entrance (stood across the top of the 4 m vertical chimney).
Mike in the wide bit at the top of the 5m chimney climb.
The end.
Mike's first experience SRT'ing from a crowbar (I might put some bolts in next time). As you can see we took a random selection of kit as we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into! Ladders and SRT can mix (though on this occasion the ladder didn't get used).
View from the entrance.
Much fun was had, nobody died, another one ticked off.
