Knotlow - Whalf Through Trip

[drainrat]

Myself, Jasonbirder and Chris met up for a quick after work session last night. I was there early, so threw a rope down Whalf engine shaft, ready for the ascent. I then made my dinner on the stove, put a brew on and waited for the others to turn up.

When everyone was ready, we marched over to the Knotlow 210' shaft. I was rigging, so lashed the rope to the anchors and hurtled down the shaft with reckless abandon. Before reaching the bottom, I tied off the rope to make a traverse into Meccano Passage. We soon regrouped and untied the rope from the traverse so we could retrieve it from the surface later on.

Meccano Passage is a tight and wet connection with Whalf Mine. The hardest bit was right near the Knotlow end, a flooded coffin level requires you to turn your head and press an ear against the ceiling. Getting out of the coffin level was a rather tight squeeze but not too bad. The rest of the connection was straightforward and we were soon out in Whalf Mine.

After a Mars bar and Lucozade, we found the base of the Whalf Engine shaft. I went up first and de-rigged the other shaft whilst waiting for the others. Top trip, recommended to anyone who hasn't done it.

Drainrat.

 

[paul]

Yes - it is an excellent trip.

BUT, if you do abseil down the Knotlow Engine Shaft and then gain access to Meccano Passage, make sure you can come back that way again in case of high Carbon Dioxide levels in Mecanno Passage.

It has been known to have high concentraions of CO2 (I was with a party who had to abort a trip through Meccano Passage when we found the levels very high) and the Knotlow end is known to sometimes have problems with CO2.

 

[drainrat]

I am well aware of the high CO2 problems thanks Paul. I never detected anyything than fresher than fresh air down there last night. Sometimes there is a funny smell in the waterfall chamber, but even that was fresh. We could easily have retrieved the rope from Meccano. It would have required some acrobatics, but it is do-able!

I'd left both engine shaft lids open for well over 2 hours before we entered, trying to flush some air through just incase.

 

[Cave_Troll]

i think its been a lot better since the lids were modified to have airflow grills on them
many years ago i had a problem with air in the coffin level towards 4ways.

 

[jasonbirder]

Great trip Drainrat 
The pollution problem wasn't bad air...It was dirty water when Drainrat emptied his wellingtons out down Whalf Climbing Shaft as i was ascending...euch!!!

 

[paul]

I am well aware of the high CO2 problems thanks Paul. I never detected anyything than fresher than fresh air down there last night. Sometimes there is a funny smell in the waterfall chamber, but even that was fresh. We could easily have retrieved the rope from Meccano. It would have required some acrobatics, but it is do-able!

I'd left both engine shaft lids open for well over 2 hours before we entered, trying to flush some air through just incase.

I thought you would know about possible CO2 problems - I know jasonbirder certainly knows. It was more of a warning to others who may be unaware and do the same trip as you did but leave the rope out of reach.

Three of us were on a trip through Mecanno end about 3 years ago (after the lids had been modified to grills, instead of solid metal) from the Hillocks end. Keith was in front and dropped down about a metere in a low section. He said he immediately "felt funny". The scary thing was that the other two of us some distance behind could hear this rapid thumping.

It turned out that it was Keith's heart which had suddenly started racing presumably due to the CO2 levels, in an attempt to get more oxygen around his body!

Needless to say, we beat a hasty retreat and Keith was back to normal soon after.

Don't go by "funny smells" or "fresher than fresh" - CO2 is odourless.

 

[drainrat]

Don't go by "funny smells" or "fresher than fresh" - CO2 is odourless.

I am quite aware of this. I was referring to watching out for signs of CO2 such as increased heart rate, diziness, headache or even the 'taste' of CO2. But still, I guess even the most experienced cavers can get caught out by this dangerous gas.

Drainrat.

 

[SeeJay]

Leaving aside the debate about CO2 (I'd seen the warnings in the guidebooks and read the notes on the shaft caps, and was looking out for the symptoms as well myself) I'd like to thank JasonBirder and Drainrat for having me along on this trip.  It was my first long abseil and prussik, exhausting but surprisingly satisfying.  Thankfully I managed to avoid any welly water by climbing while Drainrat was retrieving the rope from Knotlow engine shaft.  Meccano passage seemed to fly by, some tortuous wet and squeezy bits, a good varied trip!

Chris

 

[Pipster]

Sounds like you all had a good trip! Shame I missed it. Having planned to prepare for my weekend trip away, I ended up being at work till 1am instead