Gavel Pot - New discovery

[Goydenman]

what a fine passage, great find. Well done team. Does the lead at the end draft?

 

[Tritim230]

Well done Badlad and team.
These discoveries are often hard won.

 

[Badlad]

what a fine passage, great find. Well done team. Does the lead at the end draft?

No draught, but then again there was no draught once we'd broken the sump - just an echo. Probably just a fragment of old passage with no open connection to the surface or other caves.

Taping still in progress. Please continue to stay away until we have finished.

 

[Badlad]

Nick's photo. Showing taping in progress. Hoping to get it finished tomorrow.

 

[Pitlamp]

A great picture - clever use of perspective almost makes it look like the Hall of the Thirteen in a certain well known foreign cave!

 

[JasonC]

A great picture - clever use of perspective almost makes it look like the Hall of the Thirteen in a certain well known foreign cave!

The word "almost" there is doing a lot of heavy lifting!
But not to take away from what is a fantastic discovery, many thanks to Badlad and Maisie!

 

[Cantclimbtom]

No draught, but then again there was no draught once we'd broken the sump - just an echo. Probably just a fragment of old passage with no open connection to the surface or other caves..

Or maybe all onward connections are blocked with more gloopy mud sumps, so no draught

 

[Badlad]

No more mud sumps (well never say never). The small invading stream which created them has now left the old phreatic route. It comes out of the roof of the Echo Chamber. Beyond, the main routes seem to be sealed with big flows of calcite. The best lead, and the one which will do least damage is been dug, but it is a small hole.

 

[Maisie Syntax]

The word "almost" there is doing a lot of heavy lifting!
But not to take away from what is a fantastic discovery, many thanks to Badlad and Maisie!

Thanks, but to be fare to all concerned, it is has been a group effort, and not just us two who've done it all.

 

[Badlad]

We've finished our work in Echo Chamber now with a photo trip. Anyone visiting will need to be very careful of the long straws, some of which are very close to the tape. Look out for a full write up in a future Descent magazine.

We have been wondering what the white powdery deposit is as seen lower right of centre in this picture. It lies on mud and looks like damp drill dust.

 

[JasonC]

As Gavel is officially KCC's adopted cave, we thought installing a cleaning station might be a good idea. However careful one is, one's oversuit is necessarily beshitten by the time the chamber is reached, so accidents are all too likely.

 

[Pegasus]

'Beshitten' excellent word

 

[langcliffe]

I went in yesterday via Short Drop to visit the new chambers. Very fine indeed.

May I complement the digging team for their very tidy, almost discrete, stacking of a considerable quantity of spoil?