As a follow-up to the link to Dave Shipton's excellent article I will paste below my write-up of a digging season at the end a distant 22 years ago. Photos are mentioned - one by Sean getting in Descent. If I find any I will post...............
"Ever since the Attborough Swallet was opened up at Red Quar, and the stream passage from Cotham Hall followed to it’s terminal rift, the little sump pool has always seemed unfinished business. Particularly so to Paul Brock, one of the original diggers, who would on an annual basis take Sean Howe and me to the end of Twist and Shout to consider future projects.
This passage changes from the red marl to a dolomitic conglomerate and descends in a couple of short rift-like climbs, made easy by the little chunks of protruding rock. The last few meters are body width, with a stream flowing in from a small horizontal opening on the left, almost immediately sinking in a small pool that can just about be sat in. Attempt had been made to quick-cement up the hole, leaving a vale to turn the water on and off, but this had not worked. Even good attempts at blocking the cracks with sacks just caused the water to find another exit a few feet back up the passage.
Late 2003 saw activity as Paul had awoken dormant interest in Dave Shipton, a driving force behind the original discoveries. Shoring was prepared for the piles of spoil we were to dig out, using scaffold poles secured to the wall with pins using Jake’s expert knowledge as he took a break from Morton’s Pot.
But it was too wet to do more than sit in the pool scoop out the worse of the gravel, so we waited for the water to abate in the summer when we could dam it somehow.
In June, during a good dry time, the stream at the end was still flowing well, but it was time for action. After one or two attempts with a battery drill and bang set off by Phil Rowsell, Paul decided to get serious. Phil and Jake no longer needed an electric cable for Morton’s Pot, so Paul installed that, being just about a perfect length from surface to sump. On 14th July, a 110V generator and a couple of external standard connectors saw Paul and I at the pool, with Sean keeping guard of the generator.
Drilling a few inches above the water didn’t seem to phaze Paul, and we put the tingles he got down to the excitement of it all. As the sessions progressed he dispensed with the cable-holding assistant, but we kept the guard on the generator. I’m not too sure why we kept guard: originally it was to prevent the cows from licking the off button or accidentally kicking it onto 240volts, but it might also to have been so that somebody was there to explain to any passer-by or farmer that this was quite an acceptable caving accessory these days. After drilling whoever was on guard came on down to help clear up – we always thought that by attaching the generator to the cave lid nobody would nick the thing.
The following week was not good. The usual 3 of us, Paul, Pete and Sean hurried down to the dig, and Paul settled into the pool of water and filled 6 or 8 skips which I pulled back and lifted to Sean to empty behind the plank shoring. When Paul came back for a breather saying how tired he was, I realised why I had been feeling light headed: bad air. The exit was an, er, exciting balance between a controlled slow creep, and deep-breathing panic. We lay outside for ages, and even then it took a supreme effort to get the generator back the few yards to the gate, then the van. The good news bit came in the Hunters, when we discovered the H.L.I.S. team had suffered similarly which meant that it was some nasty summer weather thing and not the cave itself to blame. Next week was much better – just a cracked rib (don’t ask).
By now Paul was often doing other trips to drill or persuade Jake or Tony to come and set off a charge.
While I took time off for the annual family holiday, Paul and Sean kept up the pressure, and on 1st Sept once again I sat outside while Paul used the rock chisel, and then joined him underground. This is what I emailed Sean who couldn’t make it: There is light, or rather dark at the end of the tunnel. The last bang in Attborough plus some electric chiseling has revealed a low roof tube a few inches above the water heading off at about 1 o'clock, where we had guessed. Apart from the freezing water on the head there was not enough room to float through, so it will probably need a couple of bangs.
After more bang, next Wednesday, Dave Shipton joined us for a non-breakthrough, as it was not possible to pass a rock ledge. Another bang, and an extra trip on Monday saw me making a little bit of aqueous progress, though with the constriction and water backing up behind, I wasn’t totally committing. (Mind you it felt fairly committing at the time!)
Just over a week later on 22nd Sept I got to the end. As the floor drops away beyond the breakthrough point, in order to avoid slipping and ending up head first down a water filled rift, I just had to back through the squeeze, and almost immediately found myself standing upright in a rift with water up to the chest. A short shuffle, and I was looking at mud formations at the end of the rift. Seam took a picture of me, which I seem to recall got into Descent, which was a bit unfair on Paul, who did most of the hard work, and all the organisation. A re-visit later with drain rods to poke down the rift was inconclusive: I felt no ‘bottom’ or ‘end’, but with all the knobbly bits of rock, and the bend on the rods, I was probably only 8 ft deep. More conclusive was the fluorescein dye test from the Tight and Nasties. It took a good 20 – 30 minutes to flow from Cotham Hall to the end of explored passage, and then to the end of Twist and Shout. I even have the photos to prove it!
So, what have we found? About 5m of wet passage, with a water level no more than 1foot lower than the original pool. The new passage is a rift, initially with gravel floor, and restricted. The sump is really just a flooded rift - think Cuthbert's entrance rift with knobbly bits. It would not make an easy dive. It would be an easy dive if somebody would like to have a go. The water certainly backs up a little quite frequently, so not exactly full of promise, though still takes a decent flow, and showed no signs of drying up last summer.
The route to Upper Wigmore awaits us yet."
