Carlswark - big dig

[Andrew W]

Just come back from a trip through Carlswark. The big dig passage seemed to have a lot of water in it. Crawling was chest deep water most of the way and at (what I think was) the end of the crawl, the airspace reduced to around 4 - 5 inches. Not having expected this much water or knowing the hydrology of the cave we turned around but there was quite an impressive roar from a streamway on the other side.

How wet is this passage normally?

 

[danthecavingman]

That's spot on for winter levels - probably a wetsuit trip to do the stream comfortably this time of year. It's much easier in summer.

In really wet weather, Big Dig overflows and runs down Stalactite Passage in the rift sump at the end.

Dan.

 

[Mark]

It was like that most of the time when we dug it out, we lowered the floor right back to Dynamite passage, dug through the run in shaft and created a digging face, the water flowing over the face between digging trips would cut back several feet of fill and deposit it in the passage, all we had to do was wallow about in the sludge and let the water wash it away.

Bone dry in summer,

 

[AndyF]

It was like that most of the time when we dug it out, we lowered the floor right back to Dynamite passage, dug through the run in shaft and created a digging face, the water flowing over the face between digging trips would cut back several feet of fill and deposit it in the passage, all we had to do was wallow about in the sludge and let the water wash it away.

Bone dry in summer,

Hi Mark,

Interested that you were one of the diggers! Perhaps you can solve a puzzle. To the left off Big Dig was a mine level that led to the bottom of the "Deep Shaft" entrance to Carlswark. This was blocked/backfilled with spoil, closing off the route. Was there a reason for that? I was told Deep Shaft was unsafe at the top, so the route was considered defunct.

It would be good if the route were open, making a nice mini-abseil through trip into Carlswark

Cheers

Andy

 

[Mark]

The shaft entrance wasn't filled in, it was dug in the period when we used 45 gallon oil drums for shaft linings, which were great for about 10 years then they rusted through and the shafts collapsed, the shaft itself was very loose and dangerous when we first broke through but we pointed it up and it should still be ok, some of the timbering in the bottom level will be knackered also, it shouldnt take too much effort to reinstate it all but maybe the time and effort spent could be more worthwhile somewhere else