Starting the day with a leisurely morning meant we got to Bull Pot Farm at noon and stuck our heads underground at 1pm. The objective of the trip was some survey interpretation, navigation practice and familiarisation with the trade routes for my partner Joe, and since I know my way around reasonably well I just wanted a smooth trip! Water levels were low.
I always really enjoy the classic cleanwashed passages of Pool Sink. A wriggle in along the first 50m brings you quickly to the head of the first pitch. The rigging guides suggest 50m ropes but two 30m ropes are just right for the pull through trip. From the bottom of the pitch we headed upstream to explore the two passages, one of which leads under the beck and the other to Magpie Grotto with its excellent black and white formations. On other trips I have climbed up into the roof near to Magpie Grotto as there are some beautiful crystal pools up there but since we had plenty more to do we headed off downstream again without further ado. The rest of the short pitches went quickly by and we soon arrived in Lower T Piece Passage where we were hoping to do a little more exploration of the rather more complicated areas. A little poking around and crawling revealed a couple of places I haven't been to before but failed to locate where Spiral Staircase Passage joins - it would be easier to find it from its other end.
Carrying on down to Holbeck Junction is again straightforward and we checked out both of the places that the passage joins the Main Drain. From Holbeck Juction our way on took us up into the higher level breakdown passgaes and along to climb up into the impressive Straw Chamber. Climbing up high in the chamber took us to Dry Dock Passage which we explored to its conclusion, enjoying the excellent straws along the way. Back to Straw Chamber and downstream - up and down the boulders always makes me ponder as to the best way on.
The next stop is Stop Pot where we considered our options. The decision was made to head through the flood escape route to Four Ways Chamber and Wretched Rabbit, and then via Eureka Junction to the far side of the Stop Pot boulder choke so Joe could get his bearings. From there we retraced our steps up Lower Pierces Passage, then Lower Trident Passage to Whiteline Chamber. Back downstream for 30m or so we climbed the fixed handline and a bit more passage to another handline and the old chain ladder to arrive in Splash Chamber. From here we were on very familiar territory as we had been there only a couple of weeks back.
It was time to head out so Battle of Britain Chamber, Confusion Corner and Oxford Circus led us to the bottom of the County Pot Pitch. Here was the crux of our trip as we had not pre rigged it and had set ourselves the challenge of climbing out. The pressure was on since if we failed it would be the best part of an hour and a halfs more caving to exit from Wretched Rabbit. I have already had the pleasure of climbing County Pitch so Joe took the lead after having a good breather and with me spotting soon bridged up onto the bedding plane footholds. From there it is a fairly simple job to lasso the iron spike (four attempts!) making the rest of the climb much safer. A bit more grunting and pulling saw Joe at the top where he kindly rigged an SRT rope for me. Plain sailing from there to the surface saw us back in fresh air after four hours underground at a leisurely pace.
All in all an excellent trip with objectives achieved!!
I always really enjoy the classic cleanwashed passages of Pool Sink. A wriggle in along the first 50m brings you quickly to the head of the first pitch. The rigging guides suggest 50m ropes but two 30m ropes are just right for the pull through trip. From the bottom of the pitch we headed upstream to explore the two passages, one of which leads under the beck and the other to Magpie Grotto with its excellent black and white formations. On other trips I have climbed up into the roof near to Magpie Grotto as there are some beautiful crystal pools up there but since we had plenty more to do we headed off downstream again without further ado. The rest of the short pitches went quickly by and we soon arrived in Lower T Piece Passage where we were hoping to do a little more exploration of the rather more complicated areas. A little poking around and crawling revealed a couple of places I haven't been to before but failed to locate where Spiral Staircase Passage joins - it would be easier to find it from its other end.
Carrying on down to Holbeck Junction is again straightforward and we checked out both of the places that the passage joins the Main Drain. From Holbeck Juction our way on took us up into the higher level breakdown passgaes and along to climb up into the impressive Straw Chamber. Climbing up high in the chamber took us to Dry Dock Passage which we explored to its conclusion, enjoying the excellent straws along the way. Back to Straw Chamber and downstream - up and down the boulders always makes me ponder as to the best way on.
The next stop is Stop Pot where we considered our options. The decision was made to head through the flood escape route to Four Ways Chamber and Wretched Rabbit, and then via Eureka Junction to the far side of the Stop Pot boulder choke so Joe could get his bearings. From there we retraced our steps up Lower Pierces Passage, then Lower Trident Passage to Whiteline Chamber. Back downstream for 30m or so we climbed the fixed handline and a bit more passage to another handline and the old chain ladder to arrive in Splash Chamber. From here we were on very familiar territory as we had been there only a couple of weeks back.
It was time to head out so Battle of Britain Chamber, Confusion Corner and Oxford Circus led us to the bottom of the County Pot Pitch. Here was the crux of our trip as we had not pre rigged it and had set ourselves the challenge of climbing out. The pressure was on since if we failed it would be the best part of an hour and a halfs more caving to exit from Wretched Rabbit. I have already had the pleasure of climbing County Pitch so Joe took the lead after having a good breather and with me spotting soon bridged up onto the bedding plane footholds. From there it is a fairly simple job to lasso the iron spike (four attempts!) making the rest of the climb much safer. A bit more grunting and pulling saw Joe at the top where he kindly rigged an SRT rope for me. Plain sailing from there to the surface saw us back in fresh air after four hours underground at a leisurely pace.
All in all an excellent trip with objectives achieved!!
