Cussey Pot, Eyam

[Rob]

Any chance of the White Rake dig connecting to A Race against Time...

As mentioned previously in this thread, White Rake is directly above the airbell in the Boil-up, which is also on a similar NW/SE fault, so they are likely to be "connected" somehow. There is a draught in WR, which obviously doesn't come from the Boil-up airbell, but that originates from the south of WR so not towards A Race Against Time.

...I'm not sure what the elevation difference between the SMMC and the Nickergrove level is.

According to survex there's 25m vertically between the SMMC and the end of the Nickergrove Level, so it's not as ideal as the plan survey makes out. The streamway in Nickergrove is on the right level though....

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Any plans for dye tests - say from Waterfall or Hunger Hill with detectors in the SMMC?

Hopefully this dry spell - set to continue I think - may mean easier access to all the new discoveris.

 

[Rob]

No dye plans yet, but there's a wealth of opportunity for sure. Although I think it makes sense to wait until this initial burst of exploration has slowed. If nothing else, i'm hoping access to SMMC will be much easier soon (can't allow the divers all the fun!).

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Yep - keep up the good exploration/discovery work.

 

[adep]

How large a caver was he?

 

[Rob]

In anticipation of the forum being shut down for a few days, I just wanted to let people know that there'll be a report going on the EPC website soon with some good news... 

 

[Rob]

With the new look forum comes the new look Cussey!

April Fools - 01/04/2022

Congratulations to all the diggers involved with forging this mega connection.

 

[underground]

The Cussey route to the east, taking in the sights of Timewarp, has now been passed by a Eldon caver of "larger build", so can't be all that bad.

And as of last night the route to the west through Shattered Dreams also passed by a girthsome Eldon legend. Verdict: easy

 

[Rob]

After five months since i first heard about the SMMC i finally got so see it this week . It really is one of the finest streamways in the Peak District!

Thanks to Rob Middleton for helping get me there, and congrats for finding it before us!

The Stoney Middleton Master Cave - 06/04/2022

 

[pwhole]

I thought John Beck found it?

 

[alastairgott]

After five months since i first heard about the SMMC i finally got so see it this week . It really is one of the finest streamways in the Peak District!

Thanks to Rob Middleton for helping get me there, and congrats for finding it before us!

The Stoney Middleton Master Cave - 06/04/2022

It was great to hear it from you first hand last night. sorry it wasn't your drill bit! from your video it looked like a very fine streamway and an incredible find!

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Looking forward to seeing video of SMMC. We can't let those noisome Tykes have all the video glory.

 

[Rob]

Unfortunately i didn't manage to capture much of the SMMC on my GoPro. This is mostly due to it being very low on my priority list, but also because it's actually pretty big so needs more time & light to film well. However I have managed to extract this short section of raw footage which isn't totally rubbish quality, and is certainly enough to get a first taste of the place.

 

[Mrs Trellis]

Thanks for that wow! - as you said more Speedwellish than Stoney Middletonish. Lovely clean passage as opposed to the gloop in Cussey & Doom/WW.

 

[pwhole]

Just fantastic - thanks for sharing

 

[danthecavingman]

Bought Descent. Interesting to read the exploration and see the survey of SMMC.

Going back to this thread on Cavendish Mill from late 2010:

Glebe Mine to close

Reported in the Derbyshire Times - Thurs 4th Nov. ".........failed to attract investors, will close its doors with the loss of 65 jobs......." Does this have any impact on local caves?

ukcaving.com

Interesting to speculate that the switching off of the pumps in Watergrove combined with recent extremely wet winters may have flushed the sediment out of the Boil Up right hand branch?

Also some interesting points made on the hydrology which will hopefully be cleared up by the recent discoveries.

Looks like the downstream sump of SMMC is indeed headed for Nickergrove.

How does the Streaks Pot stream way (which I thought flowed into Nickergrove and then onto Merlin's) fit into the picture? What's the source of the water entering Streaks at the Main Inlet upstream of the entrance series?

Great job by the divers and the EPC to get into this fascinating section of the Stoney Middleton drainage. Hopefully there's more to be found. Maybe we'll get more questions than answers?

Dan.

 

[Rob]

I should be down there now but have Covid so thought I'd come on here instead....

...Interesting to speculate that the switching off of the pumps in Watergrove combined with recent extremely wet winters may have flushed the sediment out of the Boil Up right hand branch?...

Rob Middleton may be able to add more, but my understanding is that the side passage probably wasn't looked at hard back in the 80s. Either way I'm pretty sure the pumps turning off will have had no difference. As suggested in that 2010 thread, the only noticeable difference about the pumps not running is that Merlins/Nickergrove will likely not dry up as often in dry summers. Also the Boil-up right hand branch does not normally flow, it's only assumed to be a flood overflow from the SMMC stream, which will likely feed from Waterfall Swallet, and so not be affected by the pumps.

...Also some interesting points made on the hydrology which will hopefully be cleared up by the recent discoveries.
Looks like the downstream sump of SMMC is indeed headed for Nickergrove....

For me the main interesting point made in that 2010 thread is this from JSB:

...There can be a stream in Nickergrove when Merlin is dry, so it goes to the Boil-up (there is nowhere else it could go). Under these conditions there is not enough water anywhere to account for the flow from the Boil-up, other than meteoric water from the large catchment to the west....

This suggests that there is potential for a natural connection between downstream Nickergrove and upstream Boil-up. The Downstream SMMC Sump is heading towards this gap which is pretty exciting. Good height difference between them too.

How does the Streaks Pot stream way (which I thought flowed into Nickergrove and then onto Merlin's) fit into the picture? What's the source of the water entering Streaks at the Main Inlet upstream of the entrance series?

I think that is a different picture from what SMMC can answer, as it's all upstream of a different stream. However, like you say, I'm sure we'll end up with many more questions than answers...

 

[martinb]

When 'we' regained access to Nickergrove Streamway some years back, we tried to insert a diver into the downstream streamway that JSB had been into some number of years previous, but said diver reported that access was blocked underwater.

I seem to remember bloody awkward access to get to that point.

 

[Rob]

Thanks for that, i wasn't aware it had been attempted by a diver. Do you know which one?

TBH i've never been to the Nickergrove Streamway. I've looked down the dig shaft a few times and it looks pretty perilous. Has anyone here done it in the last few years?

 

[alastairgott]

The ladders are shot, got couple of metres down before running away. Might be ok with an electron or SRT.