Armchair cave speculation

G

grahams

Well-known member
Simon Kenyon-Smith said:
Waterfall Cave itself is well worth a look at.....hard work but that is where I am going to look at when next back up in my native land! :)
Click to expand...
Unfortunately the entrance to Waterfall Cave has been walled up except for a small hole, possibly to protect the bat roost. The cave is very interesting due to its huge draught and position which I believe is on the Porcellanous Band - maybe someone with more knowledge could confirm this.

Also of interest is Blowing Pot which is just above the Litton - Stainforth bridleway. The only information I have is in Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales. The cave is 63m deep and is only about 300m from, though some distance above, the big chamber at the end of Spittle Croft Cave.
 
S

Simon Kenyon-Smith

New member
grahams said:
Unfortunately the entrance to Waterfall Cave has been walled up except for a small hole, possibly to protect the bat roost. The cave is very interesting due to its huge draught and position which I believe is on the Porcellanous Band - maybe someone with more knowledge could confirm this.

Also of interest is Blowing Pot which is just above the Litton - Stainforth bridleway. The only information I have is in Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales. The cave is 63m deep and is only about 300m from, though some distance above, the big chamber at the end of Spittle Croft Cave.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that Grahams - we did a fair bit of work upstream of the the bridge over the Skirfare in the summer of 2016. In particular, we found a new collapsed shakehole which draughted strongly. I also got to the boulder choke in Snurds Hole sump. I didn't like the place at all. The boulder choke appeared to be more of a shingle bank and I could push stuff from the top down the other side, which seemed to increase the already fast flow rate. One would have thought the opposite would have been the case. Now living in Surrey, I don't get chance to visit as often as I like.......has anyone been in there since?
 
S

Simon Kenyon-Smith

New member
grahams said:
Unfortunately the entrance to Waterfall Cave has been walled up except for a small hole, possibly to protect the bat roost. The cave is very interesting due to its huge draught and position which I believe is on the Porcellanous Band - maybe someone with more knowledge could confirm this.

Also of interest is Blowing Pot which is just above the Litton - Stainforth bridleway. The only information I have is in Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales. The cave is 63m deep and is only about 300m from, though some distance above, the big chamber at the end of Spittle Croft Cave.
Click to expand...
We investigated Blowing Pot in 2016 also, but it was not 63m deep at that time. We came away with the feeling that it was way too high up, and probably connected to the other caves on Wilsons Pasture and therefore drained to Litton Fosse and not Litton Risings? Maybe we were wrong. Back up in Littondale in July and August and my mate is back over from Oz, so going to have another concerto effort. We'll have another look in Snurds Hole sump too - Not particularly enthusiastic about it, but at the moment it would appear that is the way forward.
 
S

Simon Kenyon-Smith

New member
Duck ditch said:
Now that we are back in our armchairs can I speculate the greatest cave yet to be found in Britain.
Yes it?s my favourite the Skirfare Master Cave. How do we get into it?
I?m suggesting Snurds Hole. It?s near the main sink in Penyghent Gill, it?s thunderous in wet weather. Due to the size of this master cave the way in could be in Potts Beck Pot. The Boulder ruckle under the main chamber could be the key.
Does the master cave actually exist? Well the intriguing Spittal Croft Cave has had a fleeting glimpse of it. I remember thinking that I could snorkel mud wibble so dug it out for a look. The answer is a big fat no.
Maybe Harry Long has already found it ;)
Well that?s my favourite speculation and I?m sure there?s no better ones
Click to expand...
I dived the sump in Snurds Hole back in 2016 and reached a shingle bank, I could push stuff over the top, which rolled down the other side - has anyone been there since?
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
Back to burrington: Cafe Hole, Portch's Pot & Rickford Fox Hole are all in Dolomitic Conglomerate (& all between other caves & risings)
 
S

Speleofish

Active member
OK, being really, really speculative. As far as I can see, there are possible links between Rickford and Cheddar catchments around Ubley Hill and Pinetree Pots. If you believe the historical water traces, areas around Waldegrave Swallet may drain to Rodney Stoke Rising, crossing drainage from the Priddy area to Wookey. There doesn't seem to be an impossible barrier between Rodney Stoke and Cheddar....
It's still only a one county system but the potential for a massive, almost pan-Mendip system seems to exist.

I can't link it to St Andrews Well and the eastern Mendip risings seem to be a step or two too far but is this possible? This is obviously a question for Andy Sparrow (who has probably thought about it before).
 
S

Speleofish

Active member
That may be true, but they're all 'Somersets' which doesn't really sound like a three counties system (and, anyway, why should Mendip have to copy the North?). It would still be one hell of a cave....
 
andrewmcleod

andrewmcleod

Well-known member
The hot springs at Bath come from water from the Mendips, but I doubt you'll find a cave you can fit down to join them... (not to mention it being underwater - very underwater)
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
The lowest point of wookey is below sea level (the joy of phreatic loops) & the Severn railway tunnel hit a huge fresh water spring that originated in South Wales (& is still being drained today) - not to mention that parts of Lancashire and Cumbria are considered to be in the Yorkshire dales national park!
 
PeteHall

PeteHall

Moderator
Reminds me if an interesting phenomenon observed in a well in Shepton Mallet, where water is extracted from the Pembroke Limestone.

For various reasons of solubility of gases at pressure, there was a perched air bell 8m below the surface in an adit where the water entered through drilled holes.

Some of these drilled holes pissed out water like a fire hose, others right alongside and heading the same way were completely dry. This suggested to me that there must be a discrete body of water that some drill holes had hit and others missed, rather than a fractured area that all holes would surely have hit.

Based on the abstraction rates, that water body carries a significant flow too.

A discrete body of water flowing through Limestone nicely fits the description of an active phreattic cave.

I had hoped to return with an endoscopic drainage surveying camera and had one lined up to use, but the factory had reached the end of its shutdown and we never had a chance to see what was at the other end of the drill holes... But in the absence of evidence to the contrary, I maintain that this is a back door to Pembrokeshire. Just need permission to mine a tunnel a few metres through to the cave!

 
S

Simon Kenyon-Smith

New member
Pitlamp said:
Please would you write a dive log for the CDG Newsletter? It would be very welcome.
Click to expand...
We did lodge an activity log back in 2015ish - but will definitely be lodging another later this month/beginning of August. In the light of recent events we will be looking in a completely new direction. I don't believe that Snurds Hole is now the way forward. One thing is for sure - Spittle Croft is still very much guarded by 'The Man', who is still very much alive.
 
S

Simon Kenyon-Smith

New member
grahams said:
Unfortunately the entrance to Waterfall Cave has been walled up except for a small hole, possibly to protect the bat roost. The cave is very interesting due to its huge draught and position which I believe is on the Porcellanous Band - maybe someone with more knowledge could confirm this.

Also of interest is Blowing Pot which is just above the Litton - Stainforth bridleway. The only information I have is in Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales. The cave is 63m deep and is only about 300m from, though some distance above, the big chamber at the end of Spittle Croft Cave.
Click to expand...
Going back to Blowing pot tomorrow, 15-02-2023..... We are now convinced that this will connect with the aven in Fat Old Toad Hall.
 
S

Simon Kenyon-Smith

New member
Denis Lund - the farmer who denied all access to Spittle Croft died about 9 months ago. I'm assuming that his two sons are now in control. I honestly don't think there is anything to be gained by excavating Spittle Croft. We know about upstream, and downstream, right as far as Litton Risings is going to be very low and very wide, despite the strong draughts. For my money the way in is via Blowing Pot - strong draught, and not that far from Fat Old Toad Hall. Not an easy place. And even harder to get out of. I've not had the chance to get up there for a while. Has anyone been there recently?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top