Stolen from somewhere:
Cave hunts during a holiday in Brixham, South Devon.
I had scratched together a ?possible caves? list a couple of days before our Brixham caravan site holiday and on arrival day Saturday, 18 August I spoke to a member of the Brixham Yacht Club about possibly using their changing rooms before popping into Coleman's Maze Cave (GR SX94723/56589) that was opposite in some cliffs according to my GPS. On this Saturday I thought I had briefly located the cave following the advice in the updated Concise Caves of Devon (CCOD). However, I also knew this overgrown cave was ?rarely visited? but not without interest and looking at the chest high brambles and nettles I knew I would need some secateurs. So up at 0830 on the Sunday and off to the nearest garden centre in Paignton to buy some. This was achieved and it was back to the two-hour parking bay up past the yacht club round the sharp hairpin bend and a walk back down the road with our caving kit to the yacht club to change, which both of us were rather apprehensive about. It went without a hitch, albeit it we received some strange ?looks? and we changed into our woolly bears and left our wellies and oversuits outside. Leaving our change out kit in the club changing room (Thanks to Ron the member we had spoken to). Over the road, climb up by the garage roof through some nettles and brambles wielding my new cutters I found various small solution holes but none remotely body sized. The description must be wrong and the grid reference in CCOD! But my persistence paid off, the access description is wrong in the later update, although I could and eventually did find the cave entrance by this route, my hands were scratched ribbons and I was well stung by nettles. While Sue was waiting patiently in her caving kit, I ranted and raved but eventually found the entrance. The easier route is as follows: find somewhere to park around the hairpin bend, ask very politely at the yacht club, do not lean on their white steps or take any dirty kit into their changing rooms. Go out of the club down the steps and go directly across the road under the Dolphin Court flats where there are various resident parking spaces in their car park and you will find a dustbin for flat number 6 on your right and a small rocky flower garden in front of you. Go to the right of the little flower garden, taking care not to step on it, behind the bins and up the overgrown path up to the cliff aiming up and slightly to your left. Behind the hanging ivy and creepers you will find a narrow path along the cliff face that takes you the 30 feet to the cave entrance, that is an obvious slot. It is slightly tricky to get in to, I went in feet first successfully and then off into a crawl takes you into the reasonable sized Main Chamber. This cave has bat roosts. The quarry face belongs to Torbay Borough Council and they don't know about the cave, it is recommended that we try to keep it this way. These are all holiday flats now, so just be polite if you see anyone (Note: The grumpy man who used to live in the top flat is not a resident any more).
Updated Formal Cave Description: The entrance is an awkward horizontal slot which, after a short squeeze, drops into a 15 foot high phreatic rift, a crawl continuing at floor level leads to the Main Chamber (PHOTO 1). Soon after entering the main rift a climb in the roof leads to the Upper Series. A short crawl leads off a roof level. A small chamber at the end of the crawl has three ways on. The Right-Hand Route passes some very attractive red stalactites. There is another crawl called Curtain Passage, with a muddy squeeze on the right. This contains some very attractive curtains and ends in a choke, through which Dry Chamber and the base of the previously mentioned squeeze can be gained.
A hole in the floor of main chamber on the right has a slight squeeze down into a Lower Series to a Three Way Junction. From the Three Way Junction, straight ahead is a tight squeeze into Boulder Chamber (to tight for me) although Sue got through okay into the largest chamber in the cave. It is 25 foot long, 15 foot wide and 6 feet high with some fine stalagmites. At the far end of a steeply descending rift, The Pot, leads to a drafting boulder choke. The crawl under the squeeze leads back to the crawl from the entrance rift.
At the end of Main Chamber (PHOTO 2) on the right, forward leads up slightly to a dig and to the right is a tight squeeze section (we did not get past this) leading to a chamber and a descending parallel rift section. To the left is a cul-de-sac which leads past some formations (PHOTO 3) and a dry crystal pool, aragonite crystals and on through to a chimney section with some nice flowstone and this is also a bat roosting area. Overall this is an interesting cave and quite pretty and places, ?bag it?, but do it discreetly.
