Full Day of Activities

[Goydenman]

Tourist Trip, Surveying and Digging ALL in ONE Day
March 9th Team
Nick, Phil, Howard, Tony, Ian, Chris, James & Bella
Everyone met at How Stean Gorge café for breakfast. It was good to see the return of James and meet his girlfriend Bella. After some chatting and planning etc we opted for three teams to do three different activities.
Team 1 – Chris, James & Bella to go on a Tourist trip. Bella had never been caving before so a trip to Manchester Hole seemed a suitable option and possibly brief look into Goyden pot.
Team 2 – Nick, Phil and Howard to go Surveying in Goyden pot. The aim being to complete Pyridine passage, A junction and surrounding passages.
Team 3 – Ian and Tony to go Digging in Pigskin pot. The aim to make progress in Covid Way.
Team 1 Report
James, Bella and Chris
We parked at Goyden pot car park (two cars there of other cavers) and walked to Manchester Hole. The upstream fissures were taking all the water from the river into Manchester Hole and nothing flowing onto Goyden pot. The fissures have been opened up by flood action so water levels in Manchester were a bit higher than normal. Bella quickly adapted to the cave environment and required little support. Chris got into guiding mode and pointed out various features throughout the cave. There is a large increase in the amount of Snotties present within the cave now. Microbial mat of single-celled extremophilic bacteria which hang from the walls and ceilings.
We then walked over to Goyden via Bax pot and through Goyden cliff cave No. 1 replacing the grill to prevent sheep getting through. Bella was moving so well through the cave so we opted for a longer trip than originally planned. First looking at the view into Main chamber from First Window then the crawls through to Third window. Here we heard the voices and saw the lights of the cavers in the main stream passage below. From there climb up to Mud Hall pointing out the way into Pyridine passage where team 2 were surveying. A fun slide down the mud slope and then through Limley Bypass including slithering through the plastic pipes. Once in Labyrinth passage turned right and down to Goyden sump 1. A brief stoop under the low roof and we were walking up the impressive Main Stream passage on our way out. Just above the cascades we saw lights and then met four lads dressed in track suit bottoms and head torches, no helmets. Chris had a quick word commenting on admiring their adventurous spirit and suggesting in future they get helmets. The suggestion did not go down well so he wished them a good trip and carried on. Team 2 also met these lads see their report for more to this story. Having left the lads we made our way up into Main Chamber. Here was yet more evidence of roof collapse, huge blocks twice the size of fridge freezers. Seems now every winter flooding brings down more. Finally exiting the cave and going back to the cars. James and Bella needed to rush off to places elsewhere so Chris went over to see how Ian and Tony were progressing at Pigskin pot. Refer to their report.
REPORTS FROM TEAM 2 & 3 TO FOLLOW

 

[Goydenman]

Team 2 Report - Phil, Nick and Howard Surveying in Goyden pot
Surveying trip with me (Phil) , Nick and Howard. Plan was to make our way to Mud Hall and then onto the 10ft climb, via the Deep Well traverse. At the 10ft climb, we spent some time calibrating Distoxs ready for the surveying. In the midst of this a very distinct 'fragrant' smoke smell was detected, we couldn't hear anyone and it seemed a bit far from anywhere to be coming in from the surface. Note Chris, James and Bella on their trip smelt the smoke while in Mud Hall presumably from first set of cavers already in the cave, see their report.
Once distox were ready we split in two. Nick heading down towards the bottom section of the ‘A’ Junction passage, and Howard and I to survey from 10'ft climb back to Mud Hall, leaving a survey station at ‘A’ Junction, hopefully for Nick to tie into.
The surveying was largely efficient and uneventful, although the deep water in Pyridine Passage rather chilly while standing still. Back up to Mud Hall and tied into original survey. We had agreed to meet Nick here, but after hearing him behind us at some point, it was now quiet. I left Howard and returned via same route to ‘A’ Junction, down this passage and back round to 10ft climb. No sign of Nick, but there were 4 rather under dressed youths with no helmets. A brief chat, very confusing, they didn't know the way, they did know they way, they hadn't seen anyone, no they had seen someone with some tippex... Double checking they were sure they didn't need any help I carried on looking for Nick.
Eventually returned back to Howard at Mud Hall, no sign of Nick, but he had mentioned a few other areas that needed surveying. At this point I took Howard out of the cave, dropping him at cars before heading back in, conscious that Nick could be looking for us, once he returned to Mud Hall and didn’t find us!
At Mud Hall wasn't long before heard a shout and Nick appeared via Deep Well route. We headed out discussing the lads. Nick had seen them a few times, with them progressively looking more and more lost and cold. Once more back at the cars, bit of a debate. They were obviously young and unprepared, their car still there but no notes etc. By now we were well past expected time to meet the others in the Crown, but we knew we shouldn't leave just yet. We decided to go back in for a quick search. Given they had been seen in the same area of cave at least 5 times in the space of a few hours, they probably had not got far and may still be going round in circles!
We went back in, straight to the main stream via the first window, downstream to Labyrinth Passage, Five Ways and to 10ft climb. No sign and no noise. Bit of shouting for them down Cap Left and Sand Tunnel. Nothing, returned via the Limley Bypass and to Mud Hall. There it looked like someone may have recently been up the rope climb (leaves and branch's on top, as if kicked down). Headed out again. Car still there, they weren’t out. Further debate now, we would need more people to search systematically, so people could stay in one place, otherwise danger just following each other in circles. Tony turned up to see where we were.. Just as we reached plan to go to pub and maybe put UWFRA on standby we heard noises. 4 heads popped out of Goyden.
We started to get changed while waiting for them to come over. They were naturally buzzing, very excited, probably borderline shock! They had been lost, and heard us shouting but we couldn't hear them. Transpired despite me telling them not too they followed me down Pyridine, after that first encounter, got to rope climb up, didn't fancy it and went back. Where they went after that seems a bit of a mystery, even to them... They appeared to be quite conscious that they had messed up and were really unprepared. No lecture from us, just pointed them in a better direction, get some equipment, join club etc.
Off to pub, for chat about surveying and next steps. A good day out

 

[Ian Ball]

Amazing hair!

 

[Goydenman]

Team 3 Report - Tony and Ian at Pigskin Pot
After breakfast Ian and Tony drove down to the New Goyden parking spot. A new barbed wire field fence has now been errected and the old stile has not been replaced so the new route is a short walk up-valley on the road and through the field gate which is just latched. Tony went ahead as Ian sorted stuff out. At Old Quarry Pot, Tony crawled through the shallow but cold water filled "canal" to the dig face to recover a spade and a long crowbar for use in Pigskin.
At Pigskin it was cold with a chill wind. Tony took on the role of hauling up spoil and Ian went down the 7m climb to assess since last there.
The purpose of the dig was to gain access to Covid Way which we feel might be the best opportunity to ultimately connect with passages below via the 25m Aven. The begining of this passage has been dug before, but a collapse and infill had put it off our radar as we pursued Proudler Way, which is still ongoing.
Ian set to work using the bedding floor as a guide for extending the dig into the aven. Over a few hours he had dug out the adjacent aven floor which left Covid Way passage as a low but open rock arch. To reach this point he had removed some big limestone blocks which will need taking up when we next convene. Another challenge was that upon breaking up the sediment floor with a crowbar or shovel, it quickly became saturated and formed a gravelly sludge which was hard to dig and lift from above given its weight.
As he got closer to Covid Way, he was also further away from where the bucket would land when lowered down the shaft. To get from Covid Way to the bucket required an awkward manoeuvre between a block of limestone and the fluted adjacent wall. It also meant that the bucket, once filled required moving from the entrance to Covid Way to a point where it could easily be hauled from above. This was awkward and time consuming. The block of limestone has now been slated for removal
Covid Way was opened up and the success measured by the scaff pole, left in there by Chris many moons ago, being removed and then used (as per its original purpose) to prod a few boulders which were extracted.
Next steps are to make access easier to the aven from which Covid way continues. The big rocks moved today need to be removed, scaffold shoring added and possibly we wash out the sediment in Covid Way, making progress much easier.
On the surface Tony had hauled out well in excess of 30 bucket loads (he lost count) with Chris appearing for the last 40 minutes to give much needed assistance in guiding the bucket up the shaft and away from arresting protections. Too many times in the first two hours of hauling Tony had to deal with a stuck bucket, needing to lower and raise it rapidly to generate a swing to get it past obsticles protruding from the wall.
The spoil heap is now much larger and we will need to think about how we should step-wall it for the vast amounts of spoil that are projected to come out if Covid Way proves to be the hoped for lead to the 25m Aven.
Tony later made an excursion back from the pub to the caves to 1) find out what had happened to Nick, Phil and Howard (they were getting very late - more in their report) and 2) recover the long length of blue flat-lay hose pipe from the BSD gear store so various splits in the hose wall can be repaired. It was last used to wash out Proudler Way by tapping off water from a stream higher up the valley. The team are going to put this system back into action to help wash out Covid Way and use Proudler Way as the drain - as dye testing has shown that there is a rapid transit of water from Proudler Way to the exceedingly low Dye Hard Inlet in the lower reaches of Hardy Pools Passage roughly 25m below.
The exploration continues ....