Chris Curry
Member
Good evening, and apologies for not keeping the UKCaving community better updated with progress on this! We (NYMCC and friends) intend to publish a full account in a Descent article at some point, but for now I’ll outline where we’ve got to. Since the last update the survey has continued, and we have ended up with three converging passages feeding into the Fairyholes main streamy. To the right, in the passage Adele describes above, the passage gets smaller and wetter heading towards some small shake holes on the hillside. The survey was stopped by an awkward boulder which just needs barring aside, and we will return to it with tools at some point. To the left, a stream emerges from a small gloopy sump. Straight on, in the main passage, the stream was followed through a series of remarkably large chambers to an eventual boulder choke. In an attempt to accurately tie all this survey data into the surface, we are now gradually resurveying the whole cave from the entrance, finding all sorts of features and side passages previously missed along the way.
Meanwhile, further along the hillside, we succeeded in digging into the collapsed Westernhope Mine, in the hope of finding clues about the upstream continuation of the cave beyond the boulderchoke. Sure enough, we found the mine level intersected a large streamway. Upstream, this has been surveyed 0.5km towards the sinks, getting increasingly miserable, and this survey work continues there when conditions and enthusiasm allow. Downstream, the water sumps and our efforts have been largely directed towards digging various leads in the hope of bypassing the sump and finding dry passage heading towards the upstream extent of Fairyholes, enabling a through-trip. One of these leads has recently yielded a series of boulder chambers, and a new dig is now being engineered through a draughty bouderchoke, heading towards the corresponding boulderchoke in upstream Fairies. According to our best estimate based on the old survey it’s around 100m away. We are hoping that:
a) this will be reduced once we have accurate survey data for Fairyholes main streamway
b) there is some open passage between the two caves, and it isn’t going to be 100m long dig through boulderchoke!
We have been kindly and enthusiastically supported throughout the project by the landowner and gamekeeper, and in the interests of good relations with them we request that anyone wanting to visit the area go through the official permit booking channels or get in touch with the NYMCC.
Meanwhile, further along the hillside, we succeeded in digging into the collapsed Westernhope Mine, in the hope of finding clues about the upstream continuation of the cave beyond the boulderchoke. Sure enough, we found the mine level intersected a large streamway. Upstream, this has been surveyed 0.5km towards the sinks, getting increasingly miserable, and this survey work continues there when conditions and enthusiasm allow. Downstream, the water sumps and our efforts have been largely directed towards digging various leads in the hope of bypassing the sump and finding dry passage heading towards the upstream extent of Fairyholes, enabling a through-trip. One of these leads has recently yielded a series of boulder chambers, and a new dig is now being engineered through a draughty bouderchoke, heading towards the corresponding boulderchoke in upstream Fairies. According to our best estimate based on the old survey it’s around 100m away. We are hoping that:
a) this will be reduced once we have accurate survey data for Fairyholes main streamway
b) there is some open passage between the two caves, and it isn’t going to be 100m long dig through boulderchoke!
We have been kindly and enthusiastically supported throughout the project by the landowner and gamekeeper, and in the interests of good relations with them we request that anyone wanting to visit the area go through the official permit booking channels or get in touch with the NYMCC.
