Ireby-Rift connection

[Andrew Wilson]

Just to be clear in my head about it.  You effectively pushed through in one trip?  You didn't need to spend several trips reopening the route through those muddy digs?

I also noticed on a trip down Ireby a few months ago the capping work that had been done to create a short cut to the north east inlet (and therefore the start of the connection).  Do you know who was involved with that?

Cheers and bloody good effort.

Well we had a look from the Ireby side last year and backed off, as it looks worse from that side as it is tight straight away and at that time we had no idea how much passage would be like that beyond where we could see.

Once we arrived at the back of this same location this time from Rift you are eased in gently as the passage gets lower and more blocked towards the end. We got through in one session, taking it in turns to push through.
We both had a go on our front first, as it was easier to dig this way. I got to a point where my arm was reaching open space above but my body was still 18inches away from being through. The sand quickly fills in around you as it is so wet and seems to solidify quite worryingly. You need one arm down to dig this away from beneath you.  Matt then managed to force his way through on his back with one arm pushing the sand above his head and the other behind his back excavating beneath. I then followed in the same style.

It could be dug further but I expect it would fill in quite quickly as the water comes from the rift end and it is a long low silty floored passage. The fill would be probably need to be dragged out and through Unadulterated Pleasure and added to the bags at the other side.

Re the capping, do you mean SE inlet? The Transpennine Express crawl through from Ireby was like that when we were there last year, I don?t know who opened this but would hazard a guess at the MMMMC? It has not needed excavation either time.

 

[georgenorth]

I also noticed on a trip down Ireby a few months ago the capping work that had been done to create a short cut to the north east inlet (and therefore the start of the connection).  Do you know who was involved with that

Hi Badlad, is this the ?Transpennine Express? (https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=21124.0) you are referring to, or something new?

We had a few trips through there into Slipstream in 2017, and put a fair bit of effort into trying to keep it open - I?m glad it (kind of) worked. I suspect it?s always going to be a bit miserable though. A wetsuit hood at least keeps the mud out of your ears.

Cheers,

George.

 

[Fulk]

You guys are really selling this place as a good day out! 

 

[georgenorth]

It could be dug further but I expect it would fill in quite quickly as the water comes from the rift end and it is a long low silty floored passage. The fill would be probably need to be dragged out and through Unadulterated Pleasure and added to the bags at the other side.

Ah, I suspect that this has filled up from the dig we had upstream, which is another underwater silt mine. The answer is probably to rebuild the dam upstream and dump the silt behind it...

 

[Badlad]

Hey George - so it was you guys.  It seemed to be much more open that when I last saw it and I imagined the stream taking that route rather than normally dry crawl.  Good to hear it is all still passable if you are prepared to push hard.  I still don't think it is quite One Show material just yet  .

 

[georgenorth]

If the One Show, or Bear Grills, needs a guide then I?d be delighted to show them the way 

 

[David Rose]

It is clear from reading these posts that this connection needs a lot of attention to make it more enjoyable, and passable by larger cavers, such as myself. Could the CNCC please get this sorted? The kind folks who put the via ferrata into County and made the nice footholds in Wretched Rabbit could perhaps be persuaded to undertake this work. Then the splendid Ireby - Large Pot through trip can be accessible to all!

 

[shotlighter]

I agree with Dave. Should perhaps the CNCC invest in a TBM to facilitate this. Nothing too big, infact that one thats been used to on the recent pipeline project under Keswick would be ideal & I think they're finished with it now.

 

[Badlad]

Has anyone been to the connection area since these earlier posts?

In view of the planned attempt on the full Three Counties traverse being planned for 2022 I reckon this area will be more of a crux than the diving.

 

[georgenorth]

I don?t know of anybody going through Tim. Happy to dig it open again before the occasion though! From previous experience once a couple of people have ploughed through the silt it stays open for a while.

I suspect  the crux will be founding a diver who can fit through the triangular squeeze into the Kendal Extensions!

 

[Loki]

I?m happy to put some work in here too to open it up again. It took so much work the first time! I don?t know if it?s mentioned elsewhere but when we did the original dig we built a dam of rubble sacks filled with sludge then bailed the more watery sludge behind it to get more sacks of sludge to build the dam higher. At the end of the session we?d release the watery stuff through a pipe that was through the bottom of the dam so it could be bunged and re-bailed next time. All from the rift side. It was certainly a relief the first time we popped through! I