Gavel Pot - New discovery

[Badlad]

Hi all

I just wanted to update you on a new find in Gavel Pot, off the upstream end of Glasfurds Chamber. It's not very extensive, less than 100m, but it is very pretty. As such we are asking folk to stay away from the new stuff until conservation, exploration and survey work is complete.

Some of you may remember I posted a muddy photo on 1st January in the 'Photography Showcase' thread. This one in fact

Well, with a bit of effort and squalor over the rest of the month we dug into this.

and impressive lengths of straws like this.

Main diggers have been Maisie Syntax and me, assisted on occasions by a number of fellow Space Miners. More details will follow but please stay clear of upstream Glasfurds for now. The rest of Gavel is open for business as usual. Cheers

 

[Goydenman]

brilliant news. Well done team. Great find

 

[Inglesport]

Nicely done, everyone!

1. Would we at Inglesport be able to post about this find, linking back to this thread, across our social media?
2. If so, could we use your images?
3. Additionally, if so, would you like us to wait before posting for reasons stated in your own post?

Exciting news!

 

[langcliffe]

Are you any closer to Big Meanie, @Badlad ?

 

[David Rose]

Well done Tim and co. So could this be the way to the next Duke St?

 

[Badlad]

Are you any closer to Big Meanie, @Badlad ?

Other way. Heading closer to Owlfinger.

So could this be the way to the next Duke St?

Glasfurds is the same height as Duke Street and 1.6km away. Witches 2 (Shuttleworth) is slightly lower, -15m, and 600m away, but all could be part of the same phase one development. No one really understands the development here so all is speculation but I like to think Duke Street and Shuttleworth are the same passage with Glasfurds (and passage from Deathshead/Big Meanie) as an early inlet into that drainage line.

Hopes for further extension are slim as no real draught to speak of.

 

[Badlad]

Nicely done, everyone!

1. Would we at Inglesport be able to post about this find, linking back to this thread, across our social media?
2. If so, could we use your images?
3. Additionally, if so, would you like us to wait before posting for reasons stated in your own post?

Exciting news!

If you wait a few days I'll post up some more photos you can use. Please emphasize that we'd like cavers to keep away until we have finished working in there especially whilst putting in some conservation measures. Cheers

 

[speliox]

Congrats to all concerned, lovely find and nice to see Glasfurds still yielding its secrets!
When we first entered it in ‘69 we envisaged a grand stomp all the way to Gour Hall!

 

[tdobson]

Would love to hear more of the 'story' of the find if you feel like writing

 

[Maisie Syntax]

Very sad to say, but we couldn't find any need to use scaff or boards...!

 

[Alex]

Ahh wish I carried on through the water, I might have got an early preview. Well done on the discovery.

 

[Pitlamp]

Well done Badlad and team! Am I right that you found the way on beyond a short section of passage originally entered (1970s) by Geoff Yeadon after draining what proved to be a short sump? (Not been in Gavel for a while so not 100% sure.) Anyway, excellent news.

 

[snebbit]

Pitlamp's reference in the KCC journal of April 1971

 

[Badlad]

Yes, that was passed by Geoff and co in 1970 to a further chamber. In the 80s John Southworth and the Earby repasted that mud sump and dug through the next into a smaller chamber.

We opened both those mud sumps up permanently by digging a trench from way back. In all, our trench was probably around 25m long and 750mm deep.

Here's a photo of it near the start.

I'll write up more of the story as soon as I get time on my lap

 

[Badlad]

This is the same place as in the first photo once the trench reached it and we'd dug it through. This got us access to Geoffs chamber where a number of abandoned buckets, piping and strange tools were testament to the later Earby effort beyond.

 

[JAA]

Good effort chums!

 

[Badlad]

We reopened the second chamber, first entered by John Southworth in the 80s, by continuing the trench right around the first chamber. The material in the floor was very varied, but away from the mud duck it was hard going. Mostly calcited gravels and the occasional big rock. At a couple of places along the trench we uncovered old stall growing on boulders jammed in soft flows. These appeared to be testament to the different floor levels within the Glasfurds passage, where older levels must have remained dry for long periods before further influx and deposit covered them over.

At the ducks the material softened into silty muds. This must have been where, as the roof dipped, flows washed material through until the finer muds filled it up, sealing the passage. The small invading stream helping to prevent it becoming completely choked up although they were both effectively sumped.

We invented a novel method to remove the silt at the low bits. We used the slop to dam the stream allowing a good pond to build up. Then we'd stir it all up and release the water so a tsunami raced off down the passage. This was helped on its way by an adapted yard broom sweeping it down the trench all the way to Glasfurds where it disappeared amongst the downstream boulders.

It was dirty work in these areas as the sides collapsed due to the softness of the silt until the crawl through was quite wide. Here are some photos of the work on the second mud sump into Southworths chamber. Starting with a dammed up pool.

 

[Badlad]

As we dug our way through to the next chamber we didn't really know if anyone had managed to get through before. There were clear signs in Geoffs chamber of digging and bailing but had it been successful? As we lowered the mud, I managed to get a peek through and there, glaring in my light was a white enamel bucket sitting on the other side. I spoke to John Southworth shortly after and he confirmed he had pushed through and discovered what we are now calling Southworths Chamber, but there was no further progress as keeping both mud sumps open for any length of time was too problematic.

Southworths Chamber was quite small and quickly led to a further mud sump. There was enough stacking room so we continued our trench across and started to lower the mud. It soon became clear that this one would require more effort to pass than the previous blockages. The roof came down lower and for longer so digging was flat out in wet slop. Not our favourite nor what we had signed up to really.

In the photo below you can see a beauty of a cobble which came out of the mud, but in the distance you can make out the trench disappearing under the low arch and Dave's legs poking out.

Here's another. Some cavers like this style of digging, personally I'm not a big fan.

We decided we needed to make the trench deeper by going way back down the passage and reducing the gradient all the way along. That gave us another six inches to play with, but we also chose more drastic measures as seen here.

After two metres the roof started to rise quickly, but in front was just a solid mud bank with some big rocks sticking out of it. It was hard, filthy digging and capping. However, there was an echo which became progressively louder as more spoil was removed and this drove us on. This is the only photo I took here. Probably sums up the conditions. The way on is upward through calcite lying on top of the mud and rocks.

 

[speliox]

Good effort

 

[Badlad]

Following on....

To get through the calcite flow from the underside we had to employ the drill in fairly disgusting conditions. It's not what we normally like to do with the drill but it soon worked and the small echoing hole was opened up to body size in just a few hours.

I was through first with just the crowbar and my phone case in hand. I turned around to capture Dave coming through.

and again as he came into the 'the Echo Chamber'. Great long straws.

The passage leading off from the chamber shows collapsing sediment banks and more long straws.

This leads to a floating false floor with a way under full of long straws and a difficult climb to get on top of it.

The way above the false floor led for just a few tens of metres to a flowstone choke. There is a hole here with a possible way on. We'll see.