Oxlow - 2 Questions
- Thread starter MJenkinson
- Start date
details were recorded very comprehensively in the TSG logbook at the time.MJenkinson
Member
Bograt, asides from visiting the TSG is there any way of getting hold of the reports? My curiosity has been awakened!
However with 30 year old spits it has not been awakened enough to want to go up there ha ha!
However with 30 year old spits it has not been awakened enough to want to go up there ha ha!
steviet_scg
Member
From memory its in dca newsletter 53. I have the reference at home (but not the news letter).
MJenkinson
Member
Thanks all, I will dig it out of the club library.
pwhole
Well-known member
Last year I had a climb up the rope above the 3rd pitch in Oxlow onto the large ledge that looks out over East Chamber - there was an aven there to the right with a rope hanging down from it, but as we were doing a through trip up Maskhill I didn't have time to explore - it all looked fairly recent rigging though. As for Oxford Aven, it's accessed via the Flue, as far as I remember, turning left off Pilgrims Way right at the beginning. Would that be worth bolting properly (if it's not), just for the hell of it? It would be an awesome trip, even if it doesn't go anywhere else. Though maybe there's a little hole that was missed?
And I'll look in the Chapel Library as soon as I get the chance.
And I'll look in the Chapel Library as soon as I get the chance.
Mark Wright
Active member
Phil,
The climb above the 3rd pitch leads to Jim's Crawl as confirmed by Rob.
A more interesting bolting project might be at the far end of East Chamber, above the choked shaft in the floor. The Les Salmon survey posted earlier shows a hole with a question mark beside it.
I might have a look at this myself. We are digging in Derbyshire Hall in Nettle tonight so maybe in the next couple of weeks if anyone would like to join me for an evening trip?
Mark
The climb above the 3rd pitch leads to Jim's Crawl as confirmed by Rob.
A more interesting bolting project might be at the far end of East Chamber, above the choked shaft in the floor. The Les Salmon survey posted earlier shows a hole with a question mark beside it.
I might have a look at this myself. We are digging in Derbyshire Hall in Nettle tonight so maybe in the next couple of weeks if anyone would like to join me for an evening trip?
Mark
MJenkinson
Member
PM sent Mark.
pwhole
Well-known member
Ah - I always wondered how you got to Jim's Crawl - so that next pitch presumably can't be very high then - just a few metres? Wish I'd gone up there now.
And didn't Alan Medhurst bolt-climb that East Chamber wall ages ago? He showed me a framed photo of himself at the top on a traverse. I'm sure he said there weren't any leads up there. But I'd certainly be up for a look if convenient.
And didn't Alan Medhurst bolt-climb that East Chamber wall ages ago? He showed me a framed photo of himself at the top on a traverse. I'm sure he said there weren't any leads up there. But I'd certainly be up for a look if convenient.
MikeyP
Member
Whilst on the subject, here's another Oxlow question... Can anyone shed any light on where this is?
Caption says it's the 5th pitch. I understand Oxlow's changed a lot over the years with deads having collapsed and many of the pitches having changed character, but I can't place this at all...
These were taken in 1957. Any ideas?
Caption says it's the 5th pitch. I understand Oxlow's changed a lot over the years with deads having collapsed and many of the pitches having changed character, but I can't place this at all...
These were taken in 1957. Any ideas?
SamT
Moderator
Re the rope in west chamber ... I'd strongly advise against its use, certainly not committing to SRTing on it.
A : its poly prop
B : its been there 30 odd years.
C : god only knows what its attached to but its unlikely to be bombproof.
IIRC, that wall looks to be at an amenable angle, and looked to be fairly free climbable, with perhaps the odd new bolt for protection. Perhaps a shunt on the polyprop rope, only to be tested in the worst case situation (i.e. you fall off).
A : its poly prop
B : its been there 30 odd years.
C : god only knows what its attached to but its unlikely to be bombproof.
IIRC, that wall looks to be at an amenable angle, and looked to be fairly free climbable, with perhaps the odd new bolt for protection. Perhaps a shunt on the polyprop rope, only to be tested in the worst case situation (i.e. you fall off).
pwhole
Well-known member
I suspect those photos might be of the rather collapsed shaft at the far end of the East Chamber, in the right-hand corner of the floor when looking away from the ropes. There was a load of old manky lifting gear in there when I looked, and lots of very unstable boulders.
mmilner said:
My attention has just been drawn to an article in Eldon Pothole Club Journal, Vol. 7, No.3, 1970, p5, written by one R.S.Dearman, and entitled "FOR POSTERITY" (or how to learn, from guru's, to waste your life and enjoy it). The article begins:
"During the last unhappy years of his life, I was accosted by that notoriously suicidal cave pegger, the late J.Kinsman. Confidentially he spoke of two large holes in the roof of East Chamber, Oxlow, and how he intended to reach them. ... ".
It's well worth a read but too long to post here so, if you are interested and don't have access to the original, pm me and I can supply a scan.
Mrs Trellis
Well-known member
For those unaware J. Kinsman is Jim Kinsman of Jim's crawl, Jim's bit in Eldon etc. etc.
Mark Wright
Active member
With members of the Buttered Badgers we had a trip into East Chamber last night and with some good lighting we managed to confirm that there are no high level passages that haven't been explored.
A number of East Chamber climbs have already been mentioned but the climb carried out by Paul Dyson of the DCC, assisted by members of the DCC and the DUG (Disley Underground Group) in January 1995 was probably the most comprehensive. Paul did a pretty impressive climb and scoured the entire roof and walls of East Chamber and found nothing worth having another look at.
The dig/s in the floor at the far end of East Chamber, as mentioned by pwhole are very interesting though. The bottom of the shaft with the iron ladder has got to be one of the best looking dig sites I've seen in some time. It looks a much better prospect that the Rowter hole dig which led to over 0.5km of new stuff!
There is a lot of old and unsightly digging gear in the dig and surrounding area and doesn't look like its been dug in some time. A large wobbly boulder that has fallen onto the conveyor belting has probably put people off going down to the very bottom but with the modern digging equipment and techniques available today this project would be very interesting with the sound of a fair amount of gurgling water to urge you on.
Does anyone know who has been working down there?
We pulled out a fair amount of scrap metal from the bottom of East Chamber and took it out of the cave and if anyone else is going down there it would be worth taking an extra tackle bag and pulling a bit more rubbish out.
Mark
A number of East Chamber climbs have already been mentioned but the climb carried out by Paul Dyson of the DCC, assisted by members of the DCC and the DUG (Disley Underground Group) in January 1995 was probably the most comprehensive. Paul did a pretty impressive climb and scoured the entire roof and walls of East Chamber and found nothing worth having another look at.
The dig/s in the floor at the far end of East Chamber, as mentioned by pwhole are very interesting though. The bottom of the shaft with the iron ladder has got to be one of the best looking dig sites I've seen in some time. It looks a much better prospect that the Rowter hole dig which led to over 0.5km of new stuff!
There is a lot of old and unsightly digging gear in the dig and surrounding area and doesn't look like its been dug in some time. A large wobbly boulder that has fallen onto the conveyor belting has probably put people off going down to the very bottom but with the modern digging equipment and techniques available today this project would be very interesting with the sound of a fair amount of gurgling water to urge you on.
Does anyone know who has been working down there?
We pulled out a fair amount of scrap metal from the bottom of East Chamber and took it out of the cave and if anyone else is going down there it would be worth taking an extra tackle bag and pulling a bit more rubbish out.
Mark
Paul Dyson
New member
Hi Mark,
Did you go back up the bolt climb to the top of East chamber and come accross the small passage I went into that calcited up quickly, before I then made my retreat from and rigged a pull thru to get back down the bolt traverse to another bolt pull thru, what are the bolts and hangers like for interest sake?????? Which have been in there since 1995 unless somebody else has replaced them, since our visit??, our team back then were Mark Lowe DCC/DUG & Ivan Woolley DUG, We bolted it and surveyed it over a couple of trips if memory serves me right
Paul
Did you go back up the bolt climb to the top of East chamber and come accross the small passage I went into that calcited up quickly, before I then made my retreat from and rigged a pull thru to get back down the bolt traverse to another bolt pull thru, what are the bolts and hangers like for interest sake?????? Which have been in there since 1995 unless somebody else has replaced them, since our visit??, our team back then were Mark Lowe DCC/DUG & Ivan Woolley DUG, We bolted it and surveyed it over a couple of trips if memory serves me right
Paul
