Great stuff! We often looked at the Dorset Caving Group newsletters that were held at Dorch library as there wasn't much other info around other than that although my Mum used to work with Mike O'Connor at County Hall and he used to draw us little sketches of cave entrances.
A quick Google produced this from School magazine 1979
THE DISCOVERY OF ARIEL TUNNEL
It was in June 1974 that we first saw the hole ... on an aerial photograph that the Naval air base had taken for us. The odd shadow appeared on three of the 40 pictures, the three that showed the highest part of the cliffs, Blacknor Point, 105' and overhanging. It wasn't even clear that it was a tunnel and we argued. We tried to judge it from the bottom, but the undercliff slopes down so sharply that even at the sea edge nothing was obvious with binoculars. And who was going to abseil over with the ropes hardly long enough? We argued and showed the Dorset Caving Group. We mentioned it on and off for months. Then the D.C.G. decided to have an abseil practice; we lent them the pictures. They reported back that Ian Wolff, ex-Sgt of the Section, confirmed it was a solution tunnel about 2' x 2'.
Volunteers were called for on 18 December. N.C.O's and experienced rock men only . And the Signals. Nine of us arrived on the cliff in a gale. Two signallers went down to the sea, way below. They radioed when we were above the tunnel. Holdfasts were driven in. We threw a wire ladder over and the wind hurled it back. Finally we persuaded it to hang down the cliff, only to be told "It's eight feet short". Another ladder was coupled up. Safety rope. All is ready, and we suddenly feel very cold. The cliff is 105', the sea is another 130' down the scree. The feeling of exposure is horrendous. No one says anything. Then David Churcher says very off-handedly "Keep me tight on safety", and ties on. Awkwardly he disappears. The radio is our link. "He's ten feet down, twenty; he's on the second ladder ... he's in the entrance!" The telephone is rapidly lowered and a few minutes later David is reporting all is fine. Now he has proved the possibility, it is easier for the next man. Neil joins him. Easier? Perhaps just a little less appalling. Don't look down ... the ladder swings ... the cliff is 2' away ... the safety line snags ... what in the name of goodness are you doing? You're mad and terrified and you know you are gripping the rungs far too tightly and you must save your energy and thank God for Philip on "safety", he'd hold a horse and I wonder if you can pass out with shock on a ladder, I feel lightheaded and there's David, securely tied on and helping me in and whew! what a way to spend a Wednesday.
Three of them started to survey with tape and compass. They reported they had reached the 100' mark. Then they rang, urgently "You'd better come down. It's like Piccadilly here. They're passages everywhere." When we finished that evening, we knew we had something big; our survey showed 400' of tunnel and passage. A week later we had to reduce the scale of our plan as the web was now 730'. Seven more trips and Ariel exceeded the 1200' of Sandy Hole and was the biggest system on Portland. It has still not been fully surveyed. Sixteen senior cadets have been involved in these expeditions, each one a day long, for it takes at least half an hour for a party of six to enter or to leave the dizzy entrance. At the end of each trip, there's the final shock as you swing out of the tunnel, 70' up on the abseil rope, and slide down, rotating gently until you land with relief in the blackberry bush. It is certainly unlikely that any of our N.C.O's will ever be involved in any exploration of greater technical difficulty or demanding such a degree of team-work.
In May the "Dorset Echo" ran a full page feature on the system, and "Descent", the national caving magazine, picked up the story and printed a leading article, noting that this was the most difficult cave to enter in the British Isles. By this time the difficulty had been stressed when a member of the D.C.G. broke his leg in Ariel at the end of June. The Cave Rescue call-out message came at tea time on Sunday and, as one would expect, the 7 nearest N.C.O's who could be reached by 'phone dropped everything, piled the emergency kit into the Landrover and got to the scene within the hour. The whole operation took five hours and went remarkably smoothly considering that cavers, Coast Guard and the R.N. helicopter worked together, and it is only right to say that the main caving problem was solved by the D.C.G. team whose long tradition of safety and regular rescue practices paid off. We paid a supporting role, clearing rocks and paying out safety lines underground, while those who were standing by on the surface distributed copies of our map of the system and clarified the problems we were facing underground to the rescue organisers on the surface.
We obviously intend to pursue our exploration and survey of the system this year, yet at the same time, the N.C.O's involved are aware that in doing so, they may destroy some of the mystique. One of the many tunnels must surely come out to the open air in some cluttered corner of the adjacent quarry. Once a new entrance is found, virtually anyone will be able to visit Grand Canyon, the Stalactite Forest and the other landmarks; and once that happens the remark "I was down Ariel yesterday" with all its implications of swinging spider-like over Blacknor Point will be no more. In the meantime, they quietly walk tall.
A.J. MacTavish.
