Giants Hole

[Brains]

The section from the start of Pillar Crawl to the Backwash Sump originally had no water flowing down it - the blasting of the passage changed all that - so now the waterfall down from Wet Inlets is only a fraction of its former volume because it used to take the whole flow of the stream which now flows straight down the blasted passage.

I have read that several times and, apart from the first 19 words, I don't understand it.
It seems to say that the entrance water now flows down the route cavers take after stepping up to the left where Pillar Crawl used to be. What am I misunderstanding?

From the rubble floored stream it is a good yard or more up into the remains of Pillar Crawl, so it only carries major flow in severe flood now. There is a very minor dribbly inlet that enters and runs down the blasted passage. Perhaps not long after reopening the rubble was higher?

 

[braveduck]

My story of a visit to Giants before the passage was made bigger was a BPC bus meet in winter . The first Neoprene was available but only  in limited quantities .
You could only have enough to make a vest (sleeveless) . The entrance was a flat out crawl through the stream. So we did the trip just to the dams I think but the return was more memorable for me . During our time underground a blizzard arrived at Rushup Edge and the outside was a complete whiteout .The flat out crawl can only be described as liquid Ice. The return to the bus was epic  Cotton boiler suits froze solid, lace up leather boots froze solid .By the time I arrived at the gate I had no feeling in my legs up to my knees. Just the gate to climb then! The gate was now covered in ice and rime building up by the second . Climbed up with great difficulty and got astride the gate but then disaster ! Both feet slipped off at the same time and I crashed down onto the top of the gate ,the pain was so bad I then fell of off the gate head first into the  road .Good job I was wearing my helmet . I can still visualise the pain to this day . The good old days !

 

[Mrs Trellis]

My story of a visit to Giants before the passage was made bigger was a BPC bus meet in winter .  The good old days !

A bus to the car park ? Luxury! We used to have to walk back to the Wanted or even to the bottom of Barmoor Clough to catch a public service bus.

The curtain was horrible on the return - you'd probably be quite warm even in ganzies but then get freezing again and - as above- there was always a cold wind whistling down the valley.

 

[Jenny P]

The section from the start of Pillar Crawl to the Backwash Sump originally had no water flowing down it - the blasting of the passage changed all that - so now the waterfall down from Wet Inlets is only a fraction of its former volume because it used to take the whole flow of the stream which now flows straight down the blasted passage.

I have read that several times and, apart from the first 19 words, I don't understand it.
It seems to say that the entrance water now flows down the route cavers take after stepping up to the left where Pillar Crawl used to be. What am I misunderstanding?

From the rubble floored stream it is a good yard or more up into the remains of Pillar Crawl, so it only carries major flow in severe flood now. There is a very minor dribbly inlet that enters and runs down the blasted passage. Perhaps not long after reopening the rubble was higher?

I think the problem was that the rubble was all over the place initially and many floor and water levels were changed in the entrance series.  At one time you walked on a solid rock floor in places where you now walk on rocks, which are the remains of the blasting rubble.  Before the blasting, the entrance to Pillar Crawl was right up near the roof of the main stream passage, above head height, and you had to bridge up the walls to insert yourself headfirst into it.

If you were first one in the cave in the morning, it was amazing what you found under the water in the pools of Pillar Crawl because they were clear water, as opposed to the muddy gloop stirred up by passing cavers.  One of the pools near the start was nearly 4 ft. long and stretched from side to side of the passage so, although it was not very deep, unless you could bridge it you got a thorough soaking on the way in.  Cavers used to drop things like karabiners, strops, etc., which sank in the pool and they couldn't find them in the muddy water - but the mud settled out overnight so the pools were clear first thing in the morning and you could see to fish the things out.

 

[Jenny P]

We used to drop carbide into the pools in Pillar crawl and then light the acetylene giving a deep whoomph to frighten the novices. The use of Goon suits (ex-RAF orange survival suits with pee-tube included) made the whole trip slightly more comfortable than just ganzies. For some reason there was always a "dead" boiler suit floating in the water behind the dams. Also - if some group had failed to remove the bungs from the dams on exiting you had to let the water out , then replace the bungs, then bail the ****ing lot out again.

If you look at the photos referenced by the earlier post:  http://archives.bcra.org.uk/level=document&collection=king&document=photos-giants&item=0  you will see the goon suits in use - Les Salmon always wore one and I think he's in one of the photos.  These came from a collection donated to the British Caving Library by the widow of the late Barry King, who was started caving aged 17 in the late 1950s with the then Midlands section of BSA.  His caving diary and many of his photos are on the BCRA Archives section of the British Caving Library website  caving-library.org.uk  and include a collection from Giants Hole at a time when you had to pass the Curtain, get through Pillar Crawl and bail the Backwash Sump to reach the top of Garlands.

 

[Jenny P]

There are some photos from that era at: http://archives.bcra.org.uk/?level=document&collection=king&document=photos-giants&item=0

Apologies, I think I misquoted the reference from Paul - the above should work OK.